Sanders, M. G. (2000). Schooling students placed at risk: Research, policy, and practice in the education of poor and minority adolescents. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. (ISBN 0-8058-3090-1, 387 pages)  

Malik S. Henfield, Ed.S.  

Schooling students placed at risk: Research, policy, and practice in the education of poor and minority adolescents, edited by Mavis G. Sanders, serves its purpose well in that it provides a wealth of information regarding the education of poor minority students.  Historical background information and empirical research studies are both offered with the intent of documenting the past and present experiences of students who have been and continue to be placed at risk for failure by the educational system of the United States.  Additionally, reform strategies are provided as a means of linking social science to educational practice.  

The purpose of the book is to illustrate the need to focus on five areas in education that have garnered little attention in the literature: school expenditures; educational policies; quality of school experience; school, family, and community connections; and teacher education and professional development, as opposed to racial and social class stereotypes and biases. It is the author’s belief that more attention paid to the aforementioned areas in research would lead to greater progress in improving the academic success of historically underserved youth.  

The 387-page text begins with the table of contents, which divides the book into four distinct sections. Section One, Reframing Students Placed at Risk: A Historical Look, is comprised of three chapters which provide a firm foundation for the rest of the text. Beginning with Chapter One, “Students at Promise and Resilient: A Historical Look at Risk,” a critical analysis of the term “at risk” is offered. In this chapter, Franklin conveys an important message, alerting readers to the fact that “the label at risk may place students more at risk than internal and external factors” (p. 3).  In Chapter Two, “Historical Trends in Federal Education Policies That Target Students Placed at Risk,” Mitchell discusses the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 and the impact they’ve had on schools serving poor students. Chapter Three, “Why do so Many Urban Public School Students Demonstrate so Little Academic Achievement,” written by Balfanz, asserts that students and families alone are not to be blamed for the current state of academic underperformance by many minority students “…both the location of a school within a particular district and its state and its history shapes students learning opportunities and supports in what remain largely unknown ways” (p. 37).  

Section Two, Factors Influencing Resiliency and School Failure, offers a preponderance of empirical research data.  This section begins with Chapter Four, “Student-Teacher Relations and Academic Achievement in High School.”  In this chapter, Sanders and Jordan discuss the necessary ingredients for the creation of an optimal learning environment.  In Chapter Five, “Talent Loss among High-Achieving Poor Students,” Jordan and Plank shift the focus away from monetary and examine the other factors that prevent academically capable poor students from attending an institution of higher learning.  Chapter Six, “Unpacking the Black Box of Tracking Decisions: Critical Tales of Families Navigating the Course Placement Process,” concludes the section.  In this chapter, Yonezawa offers the results of a research study that reveals four distinct processes families engage in when dealing with course placements.  

Section Three is comprised of further empirical research findings; however, attention is placed on African American students, specifically.  Sanders and Herting begin the section with Chapter Seven, “Gender and the Effects of School, Family, and Church Support on the Academic Achievement of African American Urban Adolescents”.  In this chapter, the authors investigate numerous variables affecting academic performance with regard to gender. In Chapter Eight, “African American Teachers and the Roles They Play,” Mitchell focuses on practices that have proven to be successful in helping teachers promote academic success in their students. Cooper and Datnow also explore factors contributing to academic success in Chapter Nine, “African American Student Success in Independent Schools: A Model of Family, School, and Peer Influences.”  However, they focus on African American students in elite, independent school environments.  Chapter Ten, “Creating a Climate for Diversity? The Institutional Response of Predominantly White Independent Schools to African-American Students,” concludes the section.  In this chapter, Datnow and Cooper examine the extent to which elite independent schools effectively promote success amongst its African American student population.  

After providing the reader with an abundance of information pertaining to the history of poor minority education in the U.S. in section one, empirical research results detailing the factors that contribute to poor minority students’ academic underperformance in section two, and additional research documenting the experiences of African American students in section three the book concludes with Section Four, consisting of five chapters discussing current educational policies and practical reforms.   

Chapter Eleven, “Toward an Understanding of School Reconstitution as a Strategy to Educate Students Placed at Risk,” written by Mintrop, begins the section with a discussion of school reconstitution policies and its effect on teacher motivation.  In Chapter Twelve, “Talent Development Middle Schools: Blueprint and Results for a Comprehensive Whole School Reform Model,” MacIver, MacIver, and Balfanz discuss the talent development middle school (TDMS) model and its impact on students placed at risk.  McClendon, Nettles, and Wigfield explore the Promoting Achievement in School through Sports Program, in Chapter Thirteen, “Fostering Resilience in High School Classrooms: A Study of the PASS Program (Promoting Achievement in School Through Sport)”.  The program is designed to keep students engaged in academics and build a protective environment. Chapter Fourteen, “Small Learning Communities Meet School-to-Work: Whole School Restructuring for Urban Comprehensive High Schools,” written by Legters, describes several whole-school reform projects and posits that, “…the time may be ripe for a national high school restructuring movement” (p. 333).  The last chapter of the section is Chapter Fifteen, “Building School-Family-Community Partnerships in Middle and High Schools”.  In this chapter, Sanders and Epstein discuss the findings of a research study that was conducted to explore how students, families, and communities can effectively work together to produce student academic success.  

I could not agree more with the forward, written by Dr. A. Wade Boykin, which clearly states the value of the text:  

This book brings much needed theory, research, and practical suggestions to the task of increasing the possibilities of success for students who too frequently have been marginalized by U.S. public schools.  It gives greatly welcomed attention to issues that bear on the schooling of adolescents, whose concerns too often get shortchanged in discussions of school enhancement. (p. xiii)  

To echo Dr. Boykin’s summation, the most important aspect of the text is its abundance of detailed empirical research data. The individual authors seem to have a firm understanding of the current culture of governmental policy and policymakers who place a high emphasis on research data when making decisions that affect millions of students throughout the country.  Additionally, in the conclusion of the text, Sanders offers ideas for future areas of research and emphatically re-emphasizes the need to increase research pertaining to the earlier mentioned areas: school expenditures; educational policies; quality of school experience; school, family and community connections; and teacher education and professional development. While I agree with the notion that there needs to be an increase in the aforementioned research areas, I would argue that given the history of racism in the United States and the undeniable implications it has had on our society as whole - such as innumerable systemic advantages awarded to White people (Tatum, 1997) - we would be remiss to abandon the exploration of race as a crucial variable in the present condition of poor minority students.  

In summary, Sanders has truly contributed a major body of work to the field of education that makes a substantial attempt to answer the question: Is academic success a possibility for poor and minority students? School personnel responsible for the education of these students will find within the pages a wealth of practical ideas based upon empirical research findings that may remove barriers to success that currently stand in the way of many minority students. Additionally, the text may be useful to professors as a supplemental text in teaching a doctoral-level course designed to teach students the fundamentals of multicultural research or a course emphasizing the building of healthy school-family-community partnerships.   

About the Author:  Mr. Malik S. Henfield is a second-year doctoral student and National Holmes Scholar in the counselor education program at The Ohio State University.  His research interests include academic achievement in urban education, school-family-community partnerships, parental involvement in education, and gifted and talented education.  Address correspondence to the author at The Ohio State University, College of Education, School of Physical Activity and Educational Services, 1945 N. High Street, 356 Arps Hall, Columbus, OH 43210-1120 USA; e-mail henfield.2@osu.edu.  

References  

Tatum, B. D. (1997). Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria and other conversations about race: A psychologist explains the development of racial identity. New York: Basic Books.