| The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between racial-ethnic identity and high academic achievement of five young African-American men in 11th and 12th grade in an urban pilot high school in a predominantly Black neighborhood in the Northeast. Sociocultural theory, was chosen as the theoretical framework specifically to explore the young mens' cultural beliefs, attitudes, and practices, and how these manifest in the context of school (Cole, 1990, 1995; Rogoff, 2003; Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985). Additionally, theories and models of identity (e.g., Sellers et al., 1998; Spencer, Harpalani, Fegley, Dell'Angelo, Seaton, 2002), were selected to examine racial-ethnic identity as a factor that can promote high academic achievement in young African-American males.; Using a qualitative multiple case study design approach, and an analytical framework built on the concepts of 'claiming' and 'assertiveness', the study explored such personal factors as the participants' attitudes toward school, their beliefs about getting a "good" education, and the practices they employed to achieve academically. Fundamental to their attitudes, beliefs and practices is the concept of a healthy racial-ethnic identity, defined in the study as the individual's ability to claim school discourse, (i.e., school practices), while at the same time achieving a positive racial-ethnic identity.; Using data gathered through observations, field notes, individual and group interviews, senior portfolio data, and questionnaires, I worked collaboratively with each participant to construct in-depth case stories that provide intimate descriptive backgrounds on each young man. In summary, the findings revealed the usefulness of sociocultural theory, identity theory, and Positive Youth Development in the development of relevant assumptions concerning the ways these adolescents employ strategies of 'assertiveness' in order to 'claim' school success. |
