<p> This dissertation study examined how adolescent students who identify as Black, i.e., African American, Caribbean American, and African, in an urban comprehensive public high school characterized their relationships with literacy. A narrative analysis methodological framework was utilized to trace and document students&rsquo; formative primary and secondary exposures to reading and writing. The theoretical lenses of New Literacy Studies and critical literacy were employed to elucidate the in school and out-of-school literacy experiences of these minoritized adolescents and to determine how those experiences influenced their attitudes about literacy. Drawing upon multiple data sources: 1) literacy autobiographies; 2) semi-structured interviews; 3) 8^th grade English Language Arts (ELA) Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scores; and 4) 9^th grade fall and spring semester ELA report card grades, enabled me to capture a rich, nuanced description of the scholars&rsquo; literacy identities and development, academic achievement, and relationships with academic literacies.</p><p> Several provocative thematic patterns emerged from this study. Some of the most striking findings detailed how many of the scholars: a) self-identified as authors and had a personal affinity for writing; b) grew up with a strong sense of intergenerational literacies at home; c) developed an astute cognizance about diverse literary genres and text selection in order to avoid boredom; d) enacted multiliteracies and engaged in online (me)search to access supplemental curricular resources, search for spiritual understanding and enlightenment, research background information for personal writing projects, and to engage in the independent study of extracurricular activities like teaching oneself another language, ballet, and Pilates. Another key finding revealed that several students overcame being held back a grade, and did not allow that experience to define their literacy or academic identities.</p><p> The analysis of the students&rsquo; complex literacy profiles showcased that overall these Black adolescents had positive and intimate identifications with literacy. More importantly, their narratives served as counter-narratives to the dominant discourses about Black youth as their literacy practices painted a very different portrait of Black adolescent literacies and intellectualism; even though, many of the essential elements of their academic and literacy identities were nearly undetectable by school records and transcripts.</p>

<p> Autobiographical digital storytelling (DST) is a burgeoning multiliteracy practice in in- and out-of-school spaces. Recently, education researchers have explored DST's potential as a robust critical literacy tool for non-dominant youth to tell agentic counter narratives. A less explored area of youth DST practices relates to how authors account for audience (local and macro discourse) when composing digital autobiographies. Using feminist poststructural theory as a heuristic and analytical tool, I investigated the varying discourses youth authors engaged throughout their processes and products related to autobiographical DST. </p><p> The ethnographic data for this dissertation were collected in an English Language Arts high school classroom, African American Literature, over the course of four months across fall semester 2012. The three case study findings chapters illustrate three non-dominant students' approaches to negotiating their subjectivity within the school context across multiple school spaces. The findings from this study complicate notions of agency; namely the case studies demonstrate how diverse youth of color negotiated multiple and competing discourses when narrating stories of the self in relation to a perceived peer audience. More specifically, each case provides a detailed analysis of how Darius, Malcolm, and Gabriel, negotiated local and macro discourses related to Black masculinity, salient intersecting subjectivities for each. </p><p> This study holds theoretical implications in establishing the importance of using poststructural feminist theories in combination with Critical Discourse Analysis of student processes and produced related to autobiographical storytelling by way of detecting the complex power relations youth navigate within the school context. Moreover, this study reports important implications regarding the utility of digital storytelling as a culturally responsive, multimodal, critical literacy practice that affords youth opportunities to draw on personally and culturally meaningful discourses (e.g., hip-hip music) as they compose digital representations in relation to local and macro discourse. Additionally, implications for English Language Arts practice encourage future examination of how youth author's attentiveness to peer audience discourse demonstrate students' facilities in composing narratives in relation to audience.</p>

<p> The academic deficits of African American males are sadly well documented. National test data show African American male students falling woefully behind in reading and math. Only 12% of African American males scored proficient in reading on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress and only 13% scored proficient in Grade 8 math. African American males are also consistently absent from school which further impacts academic performance and the likelihood of graduating from high school. However, research indicates that students who participate in school-sponsored activities were more likely to persist in school. African American male students who participated in sports not only attend school more regularly, but also increased their grade point averages. </p><p> Long Beach Poly High School, the &ldquo;Home of Scholars and Champions,&rdquo; has a long-standing tradition of successfully preparing student athletes to accept athletic scholarships from colleges and universities. Many African American males who participate in high school sports, especially football and basketball, dream of earning athletic scholarships to play their sport in college. In hopes of replicating this experience for student athletes in other urban high schools, this qualitative case study was driven by one central research question: What systems of academic support does Long Beach Poly High School provide for African American male student athletes who aspire to earn Division 1 scholarships? Addressing three sub-questions, this study explored academic structures, co-curricular and extracurricular activities, and the extent of systems implementation. Operationalizing critical race theory as a framework, the researcher interviewed seven academic and athletic staff members and a focus group of five student athletes to understand the systems in place at Poly.</p><p> The findings illustrate how Poly has intentionally constructed an academic system of support for any student athletes&rsquo; aspirations. This system began with the student athlete&rsquo;s undeniable commitment to his academic program, whereby the academic and athletic staff, work collaboratively with teachers, support personnel, and parents to share accountability with the student athlete. With multiple opportunities for tutorials and additional assistance, student athletes delay gratification. They sacrifice today for a dream that will be born tomorrow. The mystique of being a &ldquo;Jackrabbit,&rdquo; and a rich history of academic and athletic excellence merited studying the unique environment of Long Beach Poly High School. Further recommendations for policy, practice, and research are presented and discussed.</p>

<p> Now more than ever, it is imperative that we provide spaces for our students to share and witness testimonies of trauma, specifically about losses that they may experience. With little room in the curriculum for these important avenues of expression, students are grieving in isolation without support. Black male students, who are often seen as &ldquo;problems&rdquo; or &ldquo;trouble,&rdquo; are especially not provided with the spaces or moments necessary to understand and write about death experiences or impactful moments in their lives. With a theoretical framework derived from critical race theory, trauma studies and relational teaching, I argue that spaces for sharing and building communities of loss are critical for Black male students who are particularly deprived of these opportunities. The primary goal of this study was to improve the schooling experiences for Black male students who are grieving from trauma, especially the death of a family member, by examining what happens when they are provided with space to share their stories and witness others&rsquo; testimonies. For this study, students at an all-boys&rsquo; charter high school in a large Northeast city met weekly during the Spring 2017 semester to write and share about their lived experiences. This qualitative study employed research methods from the fields of practitioner inquiry and narrative inquiry. The findings from this study revealed that: 1. Certain pedagogies lend themselves to sharing written and spoken narratives about lost loved ones and critical witnessing and reciprocal witnessing are necessary parts of these student communities. 2. When faced with loss, the students sought support structures and experienced both positive and negative support from their families, peers and school staff. 3. There was a range of emotions, from anger to joy, when remembering through writing and speaking about their deceased family members. For students who experienced loss, especially those who are marginalized and silenced because of their identities, testimonials of trauma are necessary to share, but are often suppressed and not witnessed by others. This study acknowledges the affordances of a classroom where trauma narratives are shared and witnessed. </p><p>