Single-Sex Schools For Black and Latino Males Emphasize the Need to “Undo” or “Address” Cultural and Structural Inequities, according to BLMSIS Brief.
Black and Latino males are more likely to obtain low test scores and grades, less likely to enroll in college, and more likely to drop out. However, while the problems are clear and undeniable, their causes are murky and complex.
The Black and Latino Male Schools Intervention Study (BLMSIS) is a longitudinal study (2006-2009) of seven single-sex schools serving primarily Black and Latino boys ages 9 to 18. The study, conducted by the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, focuses on examining the components of these schools and analyzing their effect on the boys being served.
“A key component of how the schools frame all their strategies is their understanding of the social and emotional needs of Black and Latino boys,” said Pedro Noguera, Executive Director of Metro Center. “The schools focus on changing boy’s ideas of masculinity, incorporating an academic identity, and developing community leaders.”
Racially, a key administrator highlights how “students are bombarded with imagery and the identity of being a thug, being a gangster, being hard,” defining what qualifies one as a man. This socially constructed disconnect between what it means to be a man and what it means to be a learner presents a real challenge for the schools’ young men.
There is a fear of breaking certain stereotypes, with poverty and home/family life posing significant challenges. By providing students with a secure sense of self and an academic identity transcending a street identity, single-sex schools argue that they are able to remedy the stigma associated with becoming an educated Black or Latino male.
Edward Fergus, Ph.D., Deputy Director at the Metro Center, points out the importance of a nurturing school environment. “There is a shared vision among the single-sex schools we studied around the necessity for building a positive school climate that fosters supportive relationships among and across students, teachers, and administrators. One of the key factors pivotal to the school’s success is the ‘buy in’ of the school’s mission by both students and staff. “
The interventions shared by the single-sex schools include college preparatory and rigorous curricula, culturally relevant curricula, brotherhood philosophies and community service, and preparing teachers to work with this particular population of students. The principals of the single-sex schools all stressed the importance of these types of nurturing relationships in promoting achievement.
Key findings from the BLMSIS brief:
• Black and Latino males in school confront negative images in the media and their day-to-day lives, demanding the need to create narratives that counter negative beliefs such as school is something girls do.
• The importance of single-sex schools is to establish “brotherhood” among their students, which instills the resilience necessary to developing and sustaining their emerging academic identities.
• Relevant instruction, defined as instruction that connects to students’ cultures or current lives, was conceptualized as a remedy for the deficits in Black and Latino males’ education.
The Metropolitan Center for Urban Education is a comprehensive center that focuses on educational research, policy, and practice. The Metro Center acts as a partner and resource at the local and national levels in strengthening and improving access, opportunity, and the quality of education in our schools. Our mission is to target issues related to educational equity by providing leadership and support to students, teachers, parents, administrators, and policymakers.
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