Roderick L Carey | University of Delaware (original) (raw)

Papers by Roderick L Carey

Education and Urban Society, 2017

As educators and service providers in urban schools encourage student college going at higher rat... more As educators and service providers in urban schools encourage student college going at higher rates than ever, policy and practice on school improvement discourses would benefit from incorporating students’ perspectives underlying family-based, college-going dilemmas that frame their college preparation. This qualitative article features the voiced experiences of 11th-grade adolescent boys, one Black and one Latino, from one school, as they grapple with both internal dilemmas (e.g., fear of changing and being distanced from their family) and external dilemmas (e.g., their expected familial commitments) inherent in their college access, success, and graduation. Using a conceptual framework that considers the social, cognitive, and institutional factors influencing their college preparation, this article focuses on social factors and advocates for institutional practices that better meet student needs.

Journal of Adolescent Research, 2021

As researchers and school stakeholders determine ways to best support Black and Latino adolescent... more As researchers and school stakeholders determine ways to best support Black and Latino adolescent boys from low-income communities in actualizing their postsecondary future ambitions, more attention is needed on the types of futures these boys imagine and how family members influence this process. Guided by future orientations and possible selves frameworks, this school-based ethnographic study investigated the ways families influenced what the author calls the “postsecondary future selves” of Black and Latino (i.e., U.S.-born Salvadoran) 11th-grade boys ( N = 5). Described as what youth conceptualize as possible, likely, and expected for their lives after high school, postsecondary future selves considers three future domains: “college” (postsecondary education), “career” (postcollege employment trajectory), and “condition” (expected financial stability, relational and familial prospects, future living arrangements, happiness, and joy). Findings indicate that families built their b...

In this paper, we report on our own modest professional development efforts that accompanied a U.... more In this paper, we report on our own modest professional development efforts that accompanied a U.S. history curriculum intervention project for 8 graders. We identify one specific studentlearning goal located at the intersection of historical thinking and literacy: the disciplinary use of evidence in writing historical argument. In recognition of the challenges associated with such a goal, we created a one-year professional development experience to support teachers’ understanding of the intended outcomes and facility with the curriculum. The professional development course aimed to develop teachers’ conceptual understandings of history, historical thinking and writing, and student learning. We offered opportunities to analyze students’ essays and to practice specific strategies that promote historical thinking and writing. We share what teachers noticed in their students’ writing over the course of one year, including their increased attention to features of historical thinking and...

International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2020

Harvard Educational Review, 2019

In this essay, Roderick L. Carey draws from social-psychological perspectives on mattering to arg... more In this essay, Roderick L. Carey draws from social-psychological perspectives on mattering to argue that Black boys and young men have yet to achieve comprehensive mattering in social and educational contexts. Positing that Black boys and young men find their social and school lives framed by marginal mattering, which is realized through social and educational practices that criminalize, dismiss, and propel them into school failure, and partial mattering, where only some of their skills and abilities are cultivated and heralded, Carey contends that due to neoliberal reforms and stakeholders' structural incapacities to imagine and do otherwise, educators fail to construct contexts in which Black boys and young men can robustly infer their comprehensive mattering. Thus, educators and researchers miss relational opportunities to support Black boys and young men in imagining alternative lives that compel their fullness of interests, latent talents, and subsequent worth.

The Educational Forum, 2017

Educational Administration Quarterly, 2017

Background: For decades, Black students have been more likely to be suspended than their White pe... more Background: For decades, Black students have been more likely to be suspended than their White peers despite any evidence suggesting they are more likely to misbehave. This research builds on critical race theory and social justice leadership to explore and contextualize leadership practice as it relates to the racial discipline gap. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to understand how race and school context contribute to the ways principals enact discipline. Findings: Our study highlights the manner in which principals serve as key disciplinary decision makers, advocates, and intermediaries between districts, teachers, students, and families. Overall, some principals described enacting what could be called harsh punishment in the name of neutrality, consistency, and/or racial bias, while others described resisting institutional racism, challenging the status quo, and engaging in disciplinary approaches that address antecedents to misconduct and teach students about their beha...

Urban Education, 2013

In this article, I critique the labels and terms used to frame practices aimed at closing the ach... more In this article, I critique the labels and terms used to frame practices aimed at closing the achievement gap. I examine how an unacknowledged achievement gap Discourse has emerged from the language that informs practices and policies of contemporary school reform. I use Gee’s uppercase “Discourse” and a cultural analytic framework to critique what I refer to as the achievement gap “Discourse.” I challenge educational stakeholders to rethink (a) student comparisons, (b) teacher and student assessments, (c) labels, (d) community input and involvement, and (e) the collective commitment to public schooling as an institution.

Journal of Research on Adolescence

Inspired by Black Lives Matter activism, we used racialized lenses on social-psychological "... more Inspired by Black Lives Matter activism, we used racialized lenses on social-psychological "mattering" to investigate how Black high school boys' interactions shaped their perceived mattering. Researchers conducted interviews with 17 self-identified Black boys who were part of a larger school-based partnership called The Black Boy Mattering Project. Participants reported experiencing and resisting interpersonal marginal mattering (e.g., evidenced in negative interactions with educators and peers and fueled by racist stereotypes) and described mattering partially through selective love (e.g., inferring significance through athletics, yet deemed anti-intellectual). Our study exhibits how schools uphold systemic anti-Black racist notions that shape relationships between Black boys and their peers and educators and diminish adolescents' self-concepts. Implications aim to support educators and researchers in radically affirming Black boys in school contexts.

This dissertation sought to answer the following research question: How, if at all, are Black and... more This dissertation sought to answer the following research question: How, if at all, are Black and Latino adolescent boys' conceptions of their future selves shaped by school culture within an urban high school context? To answer this question, this study drew from various theoretical concepts of individuals' futures (see Kao & Tienda, 1998; Markus & Nurius, 1986; Nurmi, 1991; 2005), to utilize the term "future selves" to consider participants' goals for post secondary education, employment, and life conditions - summed up in college, career, and condition or the "Three C's." Findings centered on cultural power as operationalized within the school culture, utilizing an intersectional framework (Collins, 2009). This ethnographic case study, which foregrounded the voices of 3 Black and 2 Latino (Salvadoran) teenaged boy participants, was conducted in one urban charter school in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. over the course of eight months. Qualitative methodological approaches were used to understand the relationship between participants' future selves and salient facets of the school's college-going culture. Themes from the school culture included how the participants' experiences with self-segregation, differential treatment along racial lines by teachers, and the lack of teacher diversity, proved a diversity dilemma at the school. Getting good grades, showing effort, and avoiding trouble were hallmarks of success, and potential for leadership and college. Lastly, college going was valued more than any other life outcome. Within the college domain of future selves, participants reported varied experiences with the school's college-going culture. Selective support from teachers and administrators, college major interests, their own self-doubts, and race were key factors in participants' college choice processes. Given the career and life condition domains, participants were judicious, held realistic conceptions of their future life conditions, and wanted careers that afforded them the ability to t [...]

Writing is crucial to success in high school, college, the workplace, and civic life. Yet, little... more Writing is crucial to success in high school, college, the workplace, and civic life. Yet, little time is spent on writing in schools, and teachers seldom learn how to teach writing in their preservice or in-service experiences (National Commission on Writing, 2003). Perhaps as a consequence, only one-quarter of adolescents demonstrate proficiency on national writing assessments (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003, 2012). In addition, college instructors report that only half of their students are prepared for college-level writing, business leaders say that 65% of their employees write adequately, and 62%-65% of high school graduates feel they are prepared for either endeavor (Achieve Inc., 2005; National Commission on Writing, 2004). One recent response to this challenge has been to expand literacy instruction beyond English language arts classrooms into other subject areas. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) emphasize disciplinary literacy by making literacy instr...

Race Ethnicity and Education

ABSTRACT Educational stakeholders often recruit male teachers of color as solutions to the proble... more ABSTRACT Educational stakeholders often recruit male teachers of color as solutions to the problems facing Black and Latino boys and young men in PreK-12 schools. However, given the assumptions made of these teachers’ role in the lives of boys of color and their disproportionally low presence, few studies have considered what boys themselves report as missed because of the absence of Black and Latino male teachers. This case study drew from the voices of five Black and Latino adolescent boys in one urban secondary school in the United States to theorize what the participants missed (e.g. yearned for connections, reflections of self) and missed out on (e.g. seeing positive images of men of color) by not having a more robust presence of Black and Latino male teachers of color or misters. Findings indicated the need for boys’ voices in advancing nuanced recruitment and retention discourses for their male teachers of color.

Journal of Adolescent Research, 2021

As researchers and school stakeholders determine ways to best support Black and Latino adolescent... more As researchers and school stakeholders determine ways to best support Black and Latino adolescent boys from low-income communities in actualizing their postsecondary future ambitions, more attention is needed on the types of futures these boys imagine and how family members influence this process. Guided by future orientations and possible selves frameworks, this school-based ethnographic study investigated the ways families influenced what the author calls the "postsecondary future selves" of Black and Latino (i.e., U.S.-born Salvadoran) 11th-grade boys (N = 5). Described as what youth conceptualize as possible, likely, and expected for their lives after high school, postsecondary future selves considers three future domains: "college" (postsecondary education), "career" (postcollege employment trajectory), and "condition" (expected financial stability, relational and familial prospects, future living arrangements, happiness, and joy). Findings indicate that families built their boys' capacities for envisioning and making strides toward ideal futures. Finding "success," "being somebody," and

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Harvard Educational Review, 2019

In this essay, Roderick L. Carey draws from social-psychological perspectives on mattering to arg... more In this essay, Roderick L. Carey draws from social-psychological perspectives on mattering to argue that Black boys and young men have yet to achieve comprehensive mattering in social and educational contexts. Positing that Black boys and young men find their social and school lives framed by marginal mattering, which is realized through social and educational practices that criminalize, dismiss, and propel them into school failure, and partial mattering, where only some of their skills and abilities are cultivated and heralded, Carey contends that due to neoliberal reforms and stakeholders' structural incapacities to imagine and do otherwise, educators fail to construct contexts in which Black boys and young men can robustly infer their comprehensive mattering. Thus, educators and researchers miss relational opportunities to support Black boys and young men in imagining alternative lives that compel their fullness of interests, latent talents, and subsequent worth.

American Journal of Education, 2019

Black and Latino adolescent boys and young men from low-income communities face numerous perceive... more Black and Latino adolescent boys and young men from low-income communities face numerous perceived and actual barriers to achieving their postsecondary educational goals. To advocate for more precise interventions, this study investigated how black and Latino eleventh grade boys' college ambitions were shaped by their school's college-going culture, racial stereotyping, and their families' economic marginalization. Drawing from social cognitive theory, the author examined the boys' college-going dilemmas as internal (e.g., participants' self-assessments of their academic [un]preparedness and [un]ease about making new friends) and external (e.g., concerns about affording college, given limited financial resources and familial responsibilities).

Education and Urban Society, 2017

As educators and service providers in urban schools encourage student college going at higher rat... more As educators and service providers in urban schools encourage student college going at higher rates than ever, policy and practice on school improvement discourses would benefit from incorporating students’ perspectives underlying family-based, college-going dilemmas that frame their college preparation. This qualitative article features the voiced experiences of 11th-grade adolescent boys, one Black and one Latino, from one school, as they grapple with both internal dilemmas (e.g., fear of changing and being distanced from their family) and external dilemmas (e.g., their expected familial commitments) inherent in their college access, success, and graduation. Using a conceptual framework that considers the social, cognitive, and institutional factors influencing their college preparation, this article focuses on social factors and advocates for institutional practices that better meet student needs.

Journal of Adolescent Research, 2021

As researchers and school stakeholders determine ways to best support Black and Latino adolescent... more As researchers and school stakeholders determine ways to best support Black and Latino adolescent boys from low-income communities in actualizing their postsecondary future ambitions, more attention is needed on the types of futures these boys imagine and how family members influence this process. Guided by future orientations and possible selves frameworks, this school-based ethnographic study investigated the ways families influenced what the author calls the “postsecondary future selves” of Black and Latino (i.e., U.S.-born Salvadoran) 11th-grade boys ( N = 5). Described as what youth conceptualize as possible, likely, and expected for their lives after high school, postsecondary future selves considers three future domains: “college” (postsecondary education), “career” (postcollege employment trajectory), and “condition” (expected financial stability, relational and familial prospects, future living arrangements, happiness, and joy). Findings indicate that families built their b...

In this paper, we report on our own modest professional development efforts that accompanied a U.... more In this paper, we report on our own modest professional development efforts that accompanied a U.S. history curriculum intervention project for 8 graders. We identify one specific studentlearning goal located at the intersection of historical thinking and literacy: the disciplinary use of evidence in writing historical argument. In recognition of the challenges associated with such a goal, we created a one-year professional development experience to support teachers’ understanding of the intended outcomes and facility with the curriculum. The professional development course aimed to develop teachers’ conceptual understandings of history, historical thinking and writing, and student learning. We offered opportunities to analyze students’ essays and to practice specific strategies that promote historical thinking and writing. We share what teachers noticed in their students’ writing over the course of one year, including their increased attention to features of historical thinking and...

International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2020

Harvard Educational Review, 2019

In this essay, Roderick L. Carey draws from social-psychological perspectives on mattering to arg... more In this essay, Roderick L. Carey draws from social-psychological perspectives on mattering to argue that Black boys and young men have yet to achieve comprehensive mattering in social and educational contexts. Positing that Black boys and young men find their social and school lives framed by marginal mattering, which is realized through social and educational practices that criminalize, dismiss, and propel them into school failure, and partial mattering, where only some of their skills and abilities are cultivated and heralded, Carey contends that due to neoliberal reforms and stakeholders' structural incapacities to imagine and do otherwise, educators fail to construct contexts in which Black boys and young men can robustly infer their comprehensive mattering. Thus, educators and researchers miss relational opportunities to support Black boys and young men in imagining alternative lives that compel their fullness of interests, latent talents, and subsequent worth.

The Educational Forum, 2017

Educational Administration Quarterly, 2017

Background: For decades, Black students have been more likely to be suspended than their White pe... more Background: For decades, Black students have been more likely to be suspended than their White peers despite any evidence suggesting they are more likely to misbehave. This research builds on critical race theory and social justice leadership to explore and contextualize leadership practice as it relates to the racial discipline gap. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to understand how race and school context contribute to the ways principals enact discipline. Findings: Our study highlights the manner in which principals serve as key disciplinary decision makers, advocates, and intermediaries between districts, teachers, students, and families. Overall, some principals described enacting what could be called harsh punishment in the name of neutrality, consistency, and/or racial bias, while others described resisting institutional racism, challenging the status quo, and engaging in disciplinary approaches that address antecedents to misconduct and teach students about their beha...

Urban Education, 2013

In this article, I critique the labels and terms used to frame practices aimed at closing the ach... more In this article, I critique the labels and terms used to frame practices aimed at closing the achievement gap. I examine how an unacknowledged achievement gap Discourse has emerged from the language that informs practices and policies of contemporary school reform. I use Gee’s uppercase “Discourse” and a cultural analytic framework to critique what I refer to as the achievement gap “Discourse.” I challenge educational stakeholders to rethink (a) student comparisons, (b) teacher and student assessments, (c) labels, (d) community input and involvement, and (e) the collective commitment to public schooling as an institution.

Journal of Research on Adolescence

Inspired by Black Lives Matter activism, we used racialized lenses on social-psychological "... more Inspired by Black Lives Matter activism, we used racialized lenses on social-psychological "mattering" to investigate how Black high school boys' interactions shaped their perceived mattering. Researchers conducted interviews with 17 self-identified Black boys who were part of a larger school-based partnership called The Black Boy Mattering Project. Participants reported experiencing and resisting interpersonal marginal mattering (e.g., evidenced in negative interactions with educators and peers and fueled by racist stereotypes) and described mattering partially through selective love (e.g., inferring significance through athletics, yet deemed anti-intellectual). Our study exhibits how schools uphold systemic anti-Black racist notions that shape relationships between Black boys and their peers and educators and diminish adolescents' self-concepts. Implications aim to support educators and researchers in radically affirming Black boys in school contexts.

This dissertation sought to answer the following research question: How, if at all, are Black and... more This dissertation sought to answer the following research question: How, if at all, are Black and Latino adolescent boys' conceptions of their future selves shaped by school culture within an urban high school context? To answer this question, this study drew from various theoretical concepts of individuals' futures (see Kao & Tienda, 1998; Markus & Nurius, 1986; Nurmi, 1991; 2005), to utilize the term "future selves" to consider participants' goals for post secondary education, employment, and life conditions - summed up in college, career, and condition or the "Three C's." Findings centered on cultural power as operationalized within the school culture, utilizing an intersectional framework (Collins, 2009). This ethnographic case study, which foregrounded the voices of 3 Black and 2 Latino (Salvadoran) teenaged boy participants, was conducted in one urban charter school in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. over the course of eight months. Qualitative methodological approaches were used to understand the relationship between participants' future selves and salient facets of the school's college-going culture. Themes from the school culture included how the participants' experiences with self-segregation, differential treatment along racial lines by teachers, and the lack of teacher diversity, proved a diversity dilemma at the school. Getting good grades, showing effort, and avoiding trouble were hallmarks of success, and potential for leadership and college. Lastly, college going was valued more than any other life outcome. Within the college domain of future selves, participants reported varied experiences with the school's college-going culture. Selective support from teachers and administrators, college major interests, their own self-doubts, and race were key factors in participants' college choice processes. Given the career and life condition domains, participants were judicious, held realistic conceptions of their future life conditions, and wanted careers that afforded them the ability to t [...]

Writing is crucial to success in high school, college, the workplace, and civic life. Yet, little... more Writing is crucial to success in high school, college, the workplace, and civic life. Yet, little time is spent on writing in schools, and teachers seldom learn how to teach writing in their preservice or in-service experiences (National Commission on Writing, 2003). Perhaps as a consequence, only one-quarter of adolescents demonstrate proficiency on national writing assessments (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003, 2012). In addition, college instructors report that only half of their students are prepared for college-level writing, business leaders say that 65% of their employees write adequately, and 62%-65% of high school graduates feel they are prepared for either endeavor (Achieve Inc., 2005; National Commission on Writing, 2004). One recent response to this challenge has been to expand literacy instruction beyond English language arts classrooms into other subject areas. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) emphasize disciplinary literacy by making literacy instr...

Race Ethnicity and Education

ABSTRACT Educational stakeholders often recruit male teachers of color as solutions to the proble... more ABSTRACT Educational stakeholders often recruit male teachers of color as solutions to the problems facing Black and Latino boys and young men in PreK-12 schools. However, given the assumptions made of these teachers’ role in the lives of boys of color and their disproportionally low presence, few studies have considered what boys themselves report as missed because of the absence of Black and Latino male teachers. This case study drew from the voices of five Black and Latino adolescent boys in one urban secondary school in the United States to theorize what the participants missed (e.g. yearned for connections, reflections of self) and missed out on (e.g. seeing positive images of men of color) by not having a more robust presence of Black and Latino male teachers of color or misters. Findings indicated the need for boys’ voices in advancing nuanced recruitment and retention discourses for their male teachers of color.

Journal of Adolescent Research, 2021

As researchers and school stakeholders determine ways to best support Black and Latino adolescent... more As researchers and school stakeholders determine ways to best support Black and Latino adolescent boys from low-income communities in actualizing their postsecondary future ambitions, more attention is needed on the types of futures these boys imagine and how family members influence this process. Guided by future orientations and possible selves frameworks, this school-based ethnographic study investigated the ways families influenced what the author calls the "postsecondary future selves" of Black and Latino (i.e., U.S.-born Salvadoran) 11th-grade boys (N = 5). Described as what youth conceptualize as possible, likely, and expected for their lives after high school, postsecondary future selves considers three future domains: "college" (postsecondary education), "career" (postcollege employment trajectory), and "condition" (expected financial stability, relational and familial prospects, future living arrangements, happiness, and joy). Findings indicate that families built their boys' capacities for envisioning and making strides toward ideal futures. Finding "success," "being somebody," and

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Harvard Educational Review, 2019

In this essay, Roderick L. Carey draws from social-psychological perspectives on mattering to arg... more In this essay, Roderick L. Carey draws from social-psychological perspectives on mattering to argue that Black boys and young men have yet to achieve comprehensive mattering in social and educational contexts. Positing that Black boys and young men find their social and school lives framed by marginal mattering, which is realized through social and educational practices that criminalize, dismiss, and propel them into school failure, and partial mattering, where only some of their skills and abilities are cultivated and heralded, Carey contends that due to neoliberal reforms and stakeholders' structural incapacities to imagine and do otherwise, educators fail to construct contexts in which Black boys and young men can robustly infer their comprehensive mattering. Thus, educators and researchers miss relational opportunities to support Black boys and young men in imagining alternative lives that compel their fullness of interests, latent talents, and subsequent worth.

American Journal of Education, 2019

Black and Latino adolescent boys and young men from low-income communities face numerous perceive... more Black and Latino adolescent boys and young men from low-income communities face numerous perceived and actual barriers to achieving their postsecondary educational goals. To advocate for more precise interventions, this study investigated how black and Latino eleventh grade boys' college ambitions were shaped by their school's college-going culture, racial stereotyping, and their families' economic marginalization. Drawing from social cognitive theory, the author examined the boys' college-going dilemmas as internal (e.g., participants' self-assessments of their academic [un]preparedness and [un]ease about making new friends) and external (e.g., concerns about affording college, given limited financial resources and familial responsibilities).