Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Schools

by Pedro A. Noguera (Editor), Jean Yonemura Wing (Editor)

Overview

In this groundbreaking book, co-editors Pedro Noguera and Jean Yonemura Wing, and their collaborators investigated the dynamics of race and achievement at Berkeley High School–a large public high school that the New York Times called "the most integrated high school in America." Berkeley's diverse student population clearly illustrates the "achievement gap" phenomenon in our schools. Unfinished Business brings to light the hidden inequities of schools–where cultural attitudes, academic tracking, curricular access, and after-school activities serve as sorting mechanisms that set students on paths of success or failure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470384442
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	08/18/2008
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

THE EDITORS

PEDRO A. NOGUERA is a professor in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, the executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, and the co-director of the Institute for the Study of Globalization and Education in Metropolitan Settings (IGEMS).

JEAN YONEMURA WING is affiliated with UC ACCORD (University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity) and is a researcher in the Oakland Unified School District.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v

Preface ix

Preface to the Paperback Edition xvii

The Editors xxvii

Part One: The Structure and Culture of Inequality in Schools 1

Introduction: Unfinished Business: Closing the Achievement Gap at Berkeley High School 3
Pedro A. Noguera, Jean Yonemura Wing

1 Structuring Inequality at Berkeley High 29
Beth C. Rubin, Jean Yonemura Wing, Pedro A. Noguera, Emma Haydée Fuentes, Daniel D. Liou, Alicia P. Rodriguez, Lance T. McCready

2 Integration Across Campus, Segregation Across Classrooms: A Close-up Look at Privilege 87
Jean Yonemura Wing

3 The Discipline Gap and the Normalization of Failure 121
Anne Gregory, Kysa Nygreen, Dana Michiko Moran

Part Two: Agency in the Fight for Equity 151

4 Changing Teacher Practice and Student Outcomes 153
Pharmicia M. Mosely
Teacher Voices: Dana Michiko Moran, LaShawn Routé Chatmon, Miriam Klein Stahl, Tamara Friedman, Leslie Anne Plettner, Susannah Bell, Magi Discoe, James Dopman

5 Creating Demand for Equity: Transforming the Role of Parents in Schools 201
LaShawn Routé Chatmon, Katrina Scott-George, Anne K. Okahara, Emma Haydée Fuentes, Jean Yonemura Wing, Pedro A. Noguera
Parent Voices: Isabel M. Parra, Julina Bastidas-Bonilla, Michael D. Miller, Juana Villegas, Vikki C. Davis, Liz Fuentes, Valerie B. Yerger

6 Songs of Experience: Student Reflections on Four Years at Berkeley High 247
Elena Silva
Student Voices: Nabila Lee Lester, Joseph Christiano, Jimmy Thong Tran, Pranoumphone (Pam) Pradachith, Jamie E. McMaryion, Shabnam Piryaei, Niles Xi’an Lichtenstein

Conclusion: Lessons Learned: The Limits and Possibilities of Using Research to Counter Racial Inequality 281
Pedro A. Noguera

Epilogue: Finishing School 297
Jabari Mahiri

References 305

Index 311

Editorial Reviews

"Pedro A. Noguera and Jean Yonemura Wing (2006) in their edited volume, Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Schools, address this ongoing problem of what it will take to fulfill the promise of education reform and educate all students to high levels — using the Berkeley High School Diversity Project as a case study.... The editors focus on the possibilities for achieving these lofty goals through public education, arguably our nation's most equitable and democratic institution." (Teachers College Record, October 2006)

"Unfinished Business was written because of the belief that public education is vital for a healthy democracy and that schools can play a decisive role in making our nation less divided and fractured on the basis of race, class, culture, gender, and language." (Teachers College Record, October 2006)

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