Prudence L. Carter

Bio: Prudence L. Carter is an academic researcher from University of California, Berkeley. The author has contributed to research in topics: Identity (social science) & Disadvantaged. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 25 publications receiving 2811 citations. Previous affiliations of Prudence L. Carter include Stanford University & University of Oxford.

Black Cultural Capital, Status Positioning, and Schooling Conflicts for Low-Income African American Youth

Abstract: Previous literature has failed to empirically demonstrate the conceptual distinction that social scientists make between "dominant" and "non-dominant" cultural capital. This article provides evidence of the coexistence of these two forms of capital within the social and academic lives of poor ethnic minority students. Using in-depth interviews with 44 low-income African American youth, I illustrate how these students negotiate their perceptions of the differential values placed by educators on these two forms of capital. Often, scholars research the effects of (dominant) cultural capital in social reproduction across various social classes, but not the influence of (non-dominant) cultural capital on status relations within socially marginalized communities. By taking into account the interplay between these two forms of capital in the lives of low-income minority students, researchers might develop a more complete and nuanced understanding of how culture ultimately affects the prospects of mobility for lower status social groups.

Keepin' it real : school success beyond black and white

Abstract: Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Minding the Gap: Race, Ethnicity, Achievement and Cultural Meanings 1 Beyond Belief: Acculturation, Accommodation and Non-compliance 2 "Black" Cultural Capital and the Conflicts of Schooling 3 Between a "Soft" and a "Hard" Place: Gender, Ethnicity, and Culture in the School and at Home 4 Next Door Neighbors: The Intersections of Gender & Pan-Minority Identity 5 New "Heads" and Multicultural Navigators: Race, Ethnicity, Poverty & Social Capital 6 School Success Has No Color Appendix

Closing the opportunity gap : what America must do to give every child an even chance

Abstract: Acknowledgements List of Contributors Chapter 1. Achievement Gaps Arise from Opportunity Gaps, Kevin G. Welner & Prudence L. Carter Chapter 2. Lack of Achievement or Loss of Opportunity?, Gloria Ladson-Billings Part One: Overcoming the Obstacles We Create for Children Chapter 3. Educationalizing the Welfare State and Privatizing Education: The Irony of Recent School Reform, Harvey Kantor & Robert Lowe Chapter 4. Going to the Roots: Race, Housing, and School Inequality Costs and Possible Solutions, Gary Orfield Chapter 5. Why Children from Lower Socioeconomic Classes, on Average, Have Lower Academic Achievement than Middle-Class Children, Richard Rothstein Part Two: Overcoming the Obstacles We Create for Schools Chapter 6. Inequality and School Resources: What it Will Take to Close the Opportunity Gap?, Linda Darling-Hammond Chapter 7. Achievement Gaps Start Early: Preschool Can Help, W. Steven Barnett & Cynthia E. Lamy Chapter 8. How Common Standards and Standardized Testing Widen the Opportunity Gap, Yong Zhao & Christopher Tienken Chapter 9. A More Perfect Union: Reconciling School Choice Policy with Equality of Opportunity Goals, Janelle Scott & Amy Stuart Wells Part Three: Overcoming the Obstacles We Create for Teachers Chapter 10. Student and School Cultures & the Opportunity Gap: Paying Attention and Engaging Better, Prudence L. Carter Chapter 11. Meeting the Needs of Language Minorities, Patricia Gandara Chapter 12. Tracking, Segregation, and the Opportunity Gap: What We Know and Why It Matters, Karolyn Tyson Chapter 13. Good Schools and Teachers for All Students: Dispelling Myths, Facing Evidence, and Pursuing the Right Strategies, Barnett Berry Part Four: Solutions/Conclusion Chapter 14. The Cumulative Costs of the Opportunity Gap, Clive Belfield & Hank Levin Chapter 15. Enhancing a Nation's Democracy through Equitable Schools, Michele Moses & John Rogers Chapter 16. Building Opportunities to Achieve, Prudence L. Carter & Kevin G. Welner Notes References Index

Straddling Boundaries: Identity, Culture, and School

Abstract: This article presents the results of an investigation of the following questions: How do low-income African American and Latino youths negotiate the boundaries between school and peer group contexts? Do variable forms of negotiation exist? If so, what are they, and how do they manifest? In addressing these questions, the author posits two arguments that directly challenge the “acting white” thesis. The first is that black and Latino students' academic, cultural, psychological, and social experiences are heterogeneous. This article examines three groups of low-income African American and Latino students who differ in how they believe group members should behave culturally—the cultural mainstreamers, the cultural straddlers, and the noncompliant believers. Second, this article returns to the sociological signification of four dimensions of the phenomenon of (resistance to) acting white and highlights the varied responses of the three groups to the social boundaries that collective identities engender and th...

You Can’t Fix What You Don’t Look At: Acknowledging Race in Addressing Racial Discipline Disparities

Abstract: Racial/ethnic stereotypes are deep rooted in our history; among these, the dangerous Black male stereotype is especially relevant to issues of differential school discipline today. Although integra...

Cultural capital in educational research: A critical assessment

Abstract: In this article, we assess how the concept of cultural capital has been imported into the English language, focusing on educational research. We argue that a dominant interpretation of cultural capital has coalesced with two central premises. First, cultural capital denotes knowledge of or facility with “highbrow” aesthetic culture. Secondly, cultural capital is analytically and causally distinct from other important forms of knowledge or competence (termed “technical skills,” “human capital,” etc.). We then review Bourdieu’s educational writings to demonstrate that neither of these premises is essential to his understanding of cultural capital. In the third section, we discuss a set of English-language studies that draw on the concept of cultural capital, but eschew the dominant interpretation. These serve as the point of departure for an alternative definition. Our definition emphasizes Bourdieu’s reference to the capacity of a social class to “impose” advantageous standards of evaluation on the educational institution. We discuss the empirical requirements that adherence to such a definition entails for researchers, and provide a brief illustration of the intersection of institutionalized evaluative standards and the educational practices of families belonging to different social classes. Using ethnographic data from a study of social class differences in family-school relationships, we show how an African-American middle-class family exhibits cultural capital in a way that an African-American family below the poverty level does not.

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria

Abstract: Race and Racism w “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” featuring Dr. Beverly Tatum’s book. w “Recovering from Racism: Redefining What it Means to be White.” w “50th Anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education.” w “The Mis-Education of the Negro” featuring Dr. Carter Woodson’s book. w “Moving Past the Margins: Creating successful strategies for Black males on campus,” presenting the Black Male Development Initiative (BMDI). w “He had a Dream... What is Yours?” Addressing Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and its current relevance in our society. w “Demystifying Malcolm X.” w “Racial Stereotyping and Responses to Terrorism.” w “Racial Stereotyping – Responding to Fear.” w “Free, White and (over) 21: Being White in a Multicultural World.” w “Constructing Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century.” w “How did I Learn about Culture and Race?” Sharing your personal experiences and memories of moments where you become aware of similarities and differences among people. w “ABC: American-Born... and Confused?” w “The Invisible Asian: Where are the Asians in Diversity?” w “100 Years of Race Talk: Is It Enough?”