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In their Own Voices

An Ethnographic Study of Low-Achieving Students within the Context of School Reform

Oakland Unified School District

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to investigate the causes of school failure from a student perspective. Interviews were conducted with 40 students who were experiencing academic difficulties in an urban high school undergoing reform into a science academy. Drawing on the innovative methodology employed by Farrell, Peguero, Lindsey, and White, this study used low-achieving students as collaborative researchers to conduct and analyze interviews with their peers. Interviewees revealed minimal, although significant, peer and home influences on their levels of achievement and focused primarily on the impact of school structures. Students also discussed the transformative influence that teachers have had on their lives, particularly when classrooms incorporated challenging curriculum and high expectations, interactive learning, and closer relationships with students. These findings magnify issues of power, resistance, and diversity intricately linked to patterns of student achievement that many urban schools must address before advancing specific restructuring efforts.

Urban Education, Vol. 34, No. 2, 214-244 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/0042085999342005


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