Since the U.S. Civil Rights era, the racial composition of higher education has changed dramatically, resulting in an increase in the number of African American students and African American faculty in predominantly white institutions (PWI). Nevertheless, the number of African American endowed or distinguished professors remains small. Because it is difficult for African American faculty to attain these prized positions, those who have done so possess invaluable knowledge that may be beneficial to others. Reaching the Mountaintop of the Academy: Personal Narratives, Advice and Strategies from Black Distinguished and Endowed Professors, fills an important niche in the canon of higher education literature. In the autobiographical chapters that follow, numerous distinguished and endowed professors (1) describe their personal journey to the distinguished or endowed professorship; (2) explain important life lessons that they learned during their journey; (3) describe their current professional goals; and (4) offer suggestions and recommendations for graduate students, untenured faculty, tenured faculty, and college/university administrators. At a time when many predominantly white higher education institutions continue to have difficulty attracting and retaining African American faculty, and African American faculty continue to struggle for full inclusion in the academy, this book is timely and needed.

Community colleges serve as the open door to higher education for marginalized, place bound, and/or financially challenged students and communities. One of the key ways marginalization occurs in diverse geographies is through access limitations: access to affordable postsecondary education, access to curricula that lead to viable professions, access to diverse educational role models, and access to employment opportunities that can sustain communities. This underscores the importance of understanding “place” when addressing access and equity in higher education and the role of community colleges. The discussion of access and equity through the community college has implications for teacher education. Considering the documented importance of having a diverse teacher workforce in K-12 schools and the current mismatch between the diversity of students and the teachers in their schools, community colleges have a significant role to play. This book explores many topics related to the community college role in K-12 teacher education, including the community college mission, the policy landscape, partnerships, the transfer function, the community college baccalaureate, and others. Throughout the volume, the authors explore implications of access, equity, and geography and conclude with recommendations to guide future research and practice.

Despite comprising the largest minority in rural settings, the literature to date largely subsumes African American rural students into a broader set of students, with a primarily urban focus. This volume focuses on the higher education pathways of rural African American students and highlights their experiences in US colleges and universities.

This important, timely, and provocative book explores the recruitment and retention of Black female teachers in the United States. There are over 3 million public school teachers in the US, African American teachers only comprise approximately 8 percent of the workforce. Contributions consider the implicit nuances that these teachers experience.

Between 1980 and 2005, 45 states were involved in lawsuits around equity of funding and adequacy of education provided to all students in the state. Indeed, this investigation could have included any cities in America, and the themes likely would have been the same: Lower funding and resources, disproportionate numbers of teachers and school leaders who do not look like the students they serve, debates over the public’s responsibility to provide fair and equitable education for all students in the jurisdiction, implicit biases from the top to the bottom and a resegregation of schools in America. Integration for Black families was never about an idea that Black students were better off if they could be around White students, it was about the idea that Black students would be better off if they could have access to the same education that White students had — but residential segregation still enables de facto school segregation, when it isn’t coded into policy. For the overwhelming majority of Black students, they’re stuck in segregated, underperforming schools. Schools where the teachers are dedicated to the mission, but where the cities and districts and states have failed to uphold their basic responsibility to maintain the upkeep of the schools and provide enough desks for each child and current textbooks.

This volume dedicated to the engagement of African American males in community colleges furthers the research agenda focused on improving the educational outcomes of African American males. The theme engagement also supports the anti-deficit approach to research on African American males developed by renowned research scholars. The true success of African American males in community colleges rests on how well these institutions engage young men into their institutions. This will require community colleges to examine policies, pedagogical strategies, and institutional practices that alienate African American males and fosters a culture of underachievement. The authors who have contributed to this volume all speak from the same script which proves than when African American males are properly engaged in an education that is culturally relevant, they will succeed. Therefore, this book will benefit ALL who support the education of African American males. It is our intent that this book will contribute to the growing body of knowledge that exists in this area as well as foster more inquiry into the achievement of African American males. The book offers three approaches to understanding the engagement of African American males in community college, which includes empirical research, policy perspectives and programmatic initiatives.

The work presented in this volume attests to the innovative and successful educational alternatives designed and implemented by Catholic religious groups to improve educational, career, and life outcomes for urban children, adolescents, and adults placed at risk. These efforts have helped thousands of urban citizens break away from the chains of poverty and poor academic preparation to succeed in high school and beyond and secure a place of meaning and influence in adult society. In this volume, we examine the contributions of networks of schools, such as NativityMiguel and Cristo Rey schools in the U.S. and Canada and Fe y Alegría based in South America and operating in multiple countries, as well as more local initiatives. There is much to be learned from these initiatives that can improve urban education and this edited volume provides this opportunity to educators, planners, funders, and others who are inclined to invest in effective urban education. The perspectives taken in these chapters include current approaches to critical race theory, faith perspectives that promote justice, and the building of social capital and resilience to succeed academically despite considerable adversity associated with economic poverty. The chapters included here explore educational structures that communicate high expectations for student and teacher performance and provide individualized instruction, caring mentoring, and support beyond graduation in order to help develop men and women of confidence, skill, leadership, and integrity and ensure high levels of success in a world that tends to exclude them more than welcome them. Praise for Responding to the Call for Educational Justice: "One of the most unheralded, unreported and underappreciated initiatives in education are Catholic schools that are transforming the way that young people are taught. If you have never heard the words 'Cristo Rey,' 'Nativity/Miguel' or 'Fe y Alegria,' prepare to be amazed and delighted by this thorough study of the great benefits these creative and exciting schools bring to us." ~ James Martin, SJ Author of “Jesus: A Pilgrimage” and “The Jesuit Guide” "During these very troubling times within the Church and the larger society, we need critical voices that are unapologetically committed to eradicating the ideologies and structures of inequality within urban education, yet also speak of hope and possibility. In this very timely volume, Fenzel and Wyttenbach eloquently compile an insightful set of readings that courageously respond to our deep human yearning for freedom and offer us glimpses into a more just and loving world." ~ Antonia Darder, PhD Leavey Endowed Chair of Ethics and Moral Leadership Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles

The participation of Black students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, is an issue of national concern. Educators and policymakers are seeking to promote STEM studies and eventual degree attainment, especially those from underrepresented groups, including Black students, women, economically disadvantaged, and students with disabilities. Literature shows that this has been of great interest to researchers, policymakers, and institutions for several years (Nettles & Millet, 2006; Council of Graduate School (CGS), 2009; National Science Foundation (NSF), 2006), therefore an extensive understanding of access, attrition, and degree completion for Black students in STEM is needed. According to Hussar and Bailey (2014), the Black and Latino postsecondary enrollment rates will increase by approximately 25% between 2011 and 2022. It is critical that this projected enrollment increase translates into an increase in Black student STEM enrollment, persistence and consequently STEM workforce. In view of the shifting demographic landscape, addressing access, equity and achievement for Black students in STEM is essential. Institutions, whether they are secondary or postsecondary, all have unique formal and informal academic structures that students must learn to navigate in order to become academically and socially acclimated to the institution (Tyler, Brothers, & Haynes, 2014). Therefore positive experience with the academic environment becomes critical to the success of a student persisting and graduating. Understanding and addressing the challenges faced by Black students in STEM begins with understanding the complexities they face at all levels of education. A sense of urgency is now needed to explore these complexities and how they impact students at all educational levels. This book will explore hidden figures and concerns of social connectedness, mentoring practices, and identity constructs that uncover unnoticed talent pools and encourage STEM matriculation among Black STEM students’ in preK-12 and post-secondary landscapes. Section 1-Socialization Social discourse concerning how male and females are supposed to enact their socially sanctioned roles is being played out daily in educational institutions. Individuals who chose STEM education and STEM careers are constantly battling this social discourse. It is necessary for P-20 STEM spaces to examine and integrate understanding of socialization within the larger societal culture for systemic and lasting change to happen. Section 2-Mentoring A nurturing process in which a more skilled or more experienced person, serving as a role model teaches, sponsors, encourages, counsels, and befriends a less skilled or less experienced person for the purpose of promoting the latter’s academic, professional and/or personal development. Section 3-Identity Research focusing on identity constructs in STEM has become more common, especially as it relates to student retention and attrition. Researchers have been able to use identity as a way to examine how social stigma can cause students to (dis)identify within STEM spaces.

In 2014, The Urban Education Collaborative at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte hosted its first biennial International Conference on Urban Education (ICUE) in Montego Bay, Jamaica. In 2016, the second hosting of the conference took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Additionally, in 2018, the third hosting of the conference took place in Nassau, Bahamas. These solution-focused conferences brought together students, teachers, scholars, public sector and business professionals as well as others from around the world to present their research and best practices on various topics pertaining to urban education. With ICUE’s inspiration, this book is a response to the growing need to highlight the multifaceted aspects of urban education particularly focusing on common issues and solutions in urban environments (e.g., family and community engagement, student academic achievement, teacher preparation and professional development, targeted instructional and disciplinary interventions, opportunity gaps, culturally-relevant and sustaining practices, etc.). Additionally, with this book, we seek to better understand the challenges facing urban educators and students and to offer progressive initiatives toward resolutions. This unique compilation of work is organized under four major themes all targeted at critically addressing concerns that may inhibit the success of urban learners and providing solutions that have implications for curriculum design, development, and delivery; teacher preparation and teaching diverse populations; career readiness and employment; and even more nuanced issues related to foster care, undocumented students and mental health, sustainable consumption, childhood marriage, food deserts, and marine life and urban communities.

This Festschrift has a dual purpose: (a) highlight how student affairs has grown as a field of practice in response to the growth of student diversity on college campuses, and (b) honor the remarkable career of Melvin C. Terrell. As one of the unique contributions to higher education attributed to the United States, the practice of student affairs has played a significant role in supporting students as access to college has broadened. In turn, key principles of practice had to evolve to appropriately take into consideration diverse student development theory and needs. The span of Melvin C. Terrell’s legendary accomplishments neatly aligned with the professional evolution of student affairs. Each of the chapters in this Festschrift artfully straddle the dual purpose of this volume. Researchers, practitioners, and key decision?makers will equally be empowered to employ the lessons and approaches informed by the evolution of student affairs over the past 30 years. - Presents cutting edge and thought?provoking chapters on the evolution of student affairs practice shaped by the diversification of the student body and practitioners - Contributions from some of the best minds and practitioners in the field - Includes curated chapters that capture advancements in student affairs practice informed by equity and diversity, while honoring the unique contribution of Melvin C. Terrell to the field