Our attention to the theories surrounding these strategies rests on the presumption that school practice involves complex processes and theories that are often overlooked, especially in current educational reform efforts (e.g., whole school reform, "turnaround" schools strategies). Our analytical approach to understanding single-sex schools for boys of color is to ask the question: what do you do and why do you do it.

Our analysis of interviews and focus groups with 75 practitioners (e.g., administrators, teachers, guidance counselors, and social workers) uncovered two overarching theories regarding Black and Latino boys that guide the design of these schools: 

• Theory 1 - schools need to understand and have a knowledge base of the social/emotional needs of Black and Latino boys and 
• Theory 2 - schools need to understand how the academic needs of Black and Latino boys have surfaced and target strategies for addressing those needs. 

As this brief demonstrates, it is such an analytical perspective that begins to outline the theory of single-sex schools as an educational equity intervention for Black and Latino boys.

Thomas Jefferson, one school staff member described missed developmental opportunities:
[T]he socio-emotional first is going to really help the academic growth, definitely. For Black and Latino boys definitely, because like I say Black and Latino boys are of a generation that, they have to raise other siblings, have to go to work early, they haven’t been allowed to be kids sometimes as far as activities, they’re the only, really gender and race that have been forced to do those things. You look at White kids, they’re allowed to do activities, and they’re allowed to do a lot of things. If there’s a younger sibling, 17 they’re not responsible for them, there’s a babysitter. For Latino and African American homes, that’s not the case. It’s almost expected, hey, you’re the big brother take care of your little brother or sister until I get home. So I think that we’re going to show them that we’re going to allow them do the things that are necessary, the things that they want to do and I think that it’s going to show some academic growth.