The Impact of a Multiyear Systemic Reform Effort on Rural Elementary School Students' Science Achievement

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96417/1/ssm12002.pd

How does cultural capital affect educational performance: Signals or skills?

In this paper, we test two mechanisms through which cultural capital might affect educational performance: (a) teachers misinterpreting cultural capital as signals of academic brilliance and (b) cultural capital fostering skills in children that enhance educational performance. We analyse data from the ECLS‐K and ECLS‐K:2011 from the United States and focus on three aspects of children’s cultural capital: participation in performing arts, reading interest and participation in athletics and clubs. We find that (1) none of the three aspects of cultural capital that we consider affects teachers’ evaluations of children’s academic skills; (2) reading interest has a direct positive effect on educational performance; and (3) the direct effect of reading interest on educational performance does not depend on schooling context. Our results provide little support for the hypothesis that cultural capital operates via signals about academic brilliance. Instead, they suggest that cultural capital fosters skills in children that enhance educational performance. We discuss the theoretical implications of our findings.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152694/1/bjos12711.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152694/2/bjos12711_am.pd

Origins of early STEM interest for Black male graduate students in engineering: A community cultural wealth perspective

The development of talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields remains a national priority, one for which increasing the number of STEM participants from historically underrepresented populations is germane. Increasing the number of historically underrepresented students who complete advanced degrees in STEM will not only aid in solving national problems such as building infrastructure and strengthening national security, but also provide more models of success for future generations. Addressing this priority requires developing a better understanding of what leads students into and through STEM pathways, and finding ways to eliminate systemic barriers to their participation in STEM. This study reports on the origins of early STEM interest among 30 Black male graduate students in engineering. Using a community cultural wealth perspective, this article uncovers the people and activities that nurtured students into and through STEM pathways. The findings from this study provide clues to the social support and activities necessary for early interest in STEM

Forms of Science Capital Mobilized in Adolescents’ Engineering Projects

The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify the forms of science capital that six groups of adolescents mobilized toward the realization of their self-selected engineering projects during after-school meetings. Research participants were high school students who self-identified as Hispanic, Latina, or Latino; who had received English as a Second Language (ESL) services; and whose parents or guardians had immigrated to the United States and held working class jobs. The research team used categories from Bourdieusian theories of capital to identify the forms of science capital mobilized by the participants. Data sources included transcripts from monthly interviews and from bi-monthly group meetings during which the group members worked on their engineering projects. Data analysis indicated that the groups activated science capital in the following categories: embodied capital in the form of formal scientific knowledge, literacy practices, and experiences with solving everyday problems; social capital in the form of connections with authorities, experts, and peers; objectified capital in the form of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and measuring tools; and institutional capital in the form of awards and titles. The participants co-mobilized multiple forms of science capital to advance their engineering projects, and some instances of co-mobilization enabled the future activation of subsequent forms of science capital. Engineering, as a vehicle for learning science, provided the youth with opportunities to draw from diverse community resources and from multilingual literacy practices, recasting these resources and skills as forms of science capital, which were mobilized toward the attainment of other high-status forms of science capital