Black Educational Choice

Diana T. Slaughter-Defoe, PhD, is the Constance E. Clayton Professor in Urban Education in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.Howard C. Stevenson, PhD, is associate professor of education and former chair of the Applied Psychology and Human Development Division in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.Edith G. Arrington, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and a project manager at the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning, Philadelphia, PA.Deborah J. Johnson, PhD, is professor of human development and family studies at Michigan State University.

• Tables and FiguresForeword by James A. BanksPreface and AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Towards Black Educational ChoiceDiana T. Slaughter-Defoe, Michael J. Myers II, Howard C. Stevenson, Edith G. Arrington, and Deborah J. JohnsonPart I Portraits of Independent Schools and Black Children1 Negotiating Race and Class in Anderson School: 1983–1994Diana T. Slaughter-Defoe2 "It's About Race?…?No, It Isn't!" Negotiating Race and Social Class: Youth Identities at Anderson School in 2005Enora Brown3 Whither Go the Status Quo? Independent Education at the Turn of the Twenty-first CenturySavannah Shange and Diana T. Slaughter-Defoe4 "There Is a Subliminal Attitude": African American Parental Perspectives on Independent SchoolingHoward C. Stevenson and Edith G. Arrington5 "More Than What We Read in Books": Black Student Perspectives on Independent SchoolsEdith G. Arrington and Howard C. Stevenson6 The Black-White Achievement Gap in Highly Selective Independent High Schools: Towards a Model Explaining Emergent Racial DifferencesPeter Kuriloff, Amanda C. Soto, and Rachel Garver7 The Influence of Private and Public School Contexts on the Development of Children's Racial CopingDeborah J. Johnson, Diana T. Slaughter-Defoe, and Meeta BanerjeePart II Understanding Parental Educational Choices for African American Children8 Commentary: We Can't Wait for "Superman": The Importance of Parental Involvement in SchoolsKaren G. Carlson9 The Power of Positionality in the Educational Marketplace: Lessons from the School Choices of African American MothersCamille M. Wilson10 Parental Choice and Involvement in the Education of Sudanese Unaccompanied MinorsMeenal Rana, Deborah J. Johnson, Laura V. Bates, Desiree B. Qin, and Andrew SaltarelliPart III The Consequences of Choice: Educational Benefits to Children—To Communities? Special Focus on Charter Schools11 Do Charter Schools Work for African American Children? Separating the Wheat from the ChaffValerie C. Lundy-Wagner and Herbert M. Turner III12 Charter Schools in New York's Black Communities: Managing Resources in Local Organizational FieldsLuis A. Huerta, Bruce Fuller, Lynette Parker, and Chad d'Entremont13 When Community Control Meets Privatization: The Search for Empowerment in African American Charter SchoolsJanelle T. Scott14 Closed: Competition, Segregation, and the Black Student Experience in Charter SchoolsDavid R. Garcia and Monica L. Stigler15 Commentary: "The Teachers' Unions Strike Back?" No Need to Wait for "Superman": Magnet Schools Have Brought Success to Urban Public School Students for Over 30 YearsV.P. FranklinPart IV Race and the Contemporary Education of African American Children: Theoretical and Policy Issues16 Enhancing the Schooling Experience of African American Students in Predominantly White Independent Schools: Conceptual and Strategic Considerations to Developing a Critical Third SpaceRobert Cooper17 The Changing Landscape: Enhancing the Public School Option for Black YouthLara Perez-Felkner, E.C. Hedberg, and Barbara Schneider18 Where Should African American Parents Send Their Children to School? Disentangling Schools' Racial Composition from Students' Financial ResourcesJelani Mandara, Inez Moore, Scott Richman, and Fatima Varner19 Visible Now? Black Educational Choices for the Few, the Desperate, and the Far BetweenHoward C. Stevenson, Diana T. Slaughter-Defoe, Edith G. Arrington, and Deborah J. JohnsonAbout the Editors and ContributorsIndex

Diana T. Slaughter-Defoe and her colleagues have compiled a comprehensive volume that illuminates the path to the best educational choices for African American students. The perspectives and roles of parents, school administrators, teachers, students, and the community on educational choices for African American students are framed well and thoroughly documented. . . . Black Educational Choices is highly recommended to anyone with a vested interest in the academic succes of African American children.