Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Christy Lleras. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-54) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Printout. Vita. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2526. Adviser: William T. Trent. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-170). Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sociology, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 6, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-10, Section: A, page: 4076. Adviser: Donna Eder.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1997. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 58-01, Section: B, page: 0457. Co-Chairs: Margaret Gibbs; Janet Sigal.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 2004. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-01, Section: A, page: 0110. Chair: John P. Bean. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 12, 2006).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4113. Adviser: Jane W. Loeb. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-155) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2526. Adviser: Laurence Parker. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-146) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> This research explores the ways a student&rsquo;s implied race may impact teachers&rsquo; understanding of school discipline. While the school-to-prison pipeline has been studied extensively, the role of gender, and the factors that may shape the disproportionate punishment of African-American girls, has been neglected. This study focuses on how the implied racial identity of girls may affect which girls are punished for violating school rules, as well as the extent to which they are punished, in some cases also showing how teachers understand their own motivation to punish. This study uses four vignettes to gauge responses to hypothetical rule violations from 34 current and/or former middle or high school teachers in the United States, comparing how the educators respond to differently raced girls who are identified as breaking school disciplinary codes. This study is a small but important piece in analyzing the school-to-prison pipeline and, in particular, to see why race is often a distorting factor in understanding who we punish and how we punish them. One of the findings of this study is that racial and gendered stereotypes and biases may lead to disproportionate and overly harsh school discipline recommendations for African-American girls. Encouragingly, responses from this survey did reflect an unexpected, yet promising shift from punitive to more restorative practices in terms of how some teachers want to handle school code violations. This newer approach to school discipline could potentially reduce the number of suspensions and/or expulsions, possibly lessening the presence of African-American girls in the school-to-prison pipeline.</p><p>

Defiance, insubordination, and disrespect (together, “DID”) are the most common disciplinary infractions in U.S. secondary schools (Gregory & Weinstein, 2008). Consequences for these infractions -- challenges to the power and authority of the teacher – are disproportionately borne by students of color, males, and students from low-income families (Jordan & Anil, 2009). Yet little is known about: 1. Whether demographic differences between teacher and student lead to more DID referrals, and 2. Whether differences in teachers’ understanding of defiance and power are related to different numbers of DID referrals. To explore these questions, I conducted a mixed methods study at the “Gold Star” Middle School (GSMS), a large, urban middle school in the northeast U.S. I analyzed DID referral forms (n=922) for school year 2013-14 and semi-structured interviews with teachers (n=51). I found that the number of annual DID referrals issued per teacher at GSMS is higher when teacher and student differ by race (49.8 times more than for same-race teacher/student dyads) and by gender (29.8 times more than same-gender dyads), but lower (0.38 times less) when these dyads have different experiences with poverty. However, these effects are not additive: when teacher and student differ by race and gender, a teacher issues fewer (0.96 times less) annual DID referrals than when teacher and student differ only by gender. I also found significant differences between teachers with the highest and the lowest number of annual DID referrals. High-DID teachers rarely invoke their responsibilities for student academic or behavioral outcomes, ascribe student defiance primarily to ineffective school policies, and generally view power as hierarchical in nature. Low-DID teachers, however, describe specific responsibilities to care for their students and provide them with an effective learning environment. They ascribe student defiance primarily to teacher/student relationship issues and generally view power as relational in nature. Results from this study underscore the complex role played by demographic differences between teacher and student in the disciplinary encounter, and point to the promise of exploring differences in teachers’ views of their relationships with students, defiance, and power as a means of better understanding the origins of the discipline gap. / Culture, Communities, and Education

In 2013, the Chicago Public Schools shuttered 53 schools, citing budget limitations, building underutilization, and concerns about academic performance. Approximately 12,000 students were re-assigned to new schools; of those affected, 94% are low-income and 88% are African- American, leading many to level allegations of racism—a charge which district officials vehemently contest. In this study, I ask: what can disputes about the role of race in the Chicago school closings teach us about broader societal tensions regarding racism and urban school policy? I explore these questions by constructing a portrait of the South Side community of Bronzeville, an important site of African-American culture and history from the Great Migration to the present. Across four chapters, I draw from varying methods and perspectives to build an understanding of school closures and their impact on the community. I use historical sociology to explore the history of racialized sociopolitical change in Bronzeville, and the relationship of public school policy to the rise and fall of public housing in the community. Using critical discourse analysis of hearings and meetings surrounding school closure, I compare community members’ and district officials’ opinions of race and racism and their role in the policy decision. I then present the narrative case of Dyett High School, which was slated for closure and later set to re-open after a hunger strike and vehement community protest. Finally, I present a theory of institutional mourning, a framework for understanding the emotional aftermath of school closure, developed from interviews with community members, parents, teachers, and students. This study offers insight to Chicago stakeholders facing the post-closure landscape and will provoke a new set of questions for district leaders and community members across the country to consider as they evaluate the effectiveness of school closings as a policy. Further, the study models a framework for critically examining the popular conceptualization and social consequences of racism itself in order to enable more productive conversation about the role race plays in school closures and in debates about district policies more broadly.