In the city setting in which this article's investigation took place, high school dropout rates have remained above 50% for better than three decades. This article reports on a photographic inquiry into urban youth's perceptions of the very institution of school, revealing reasons behind the multigenerational school disengagement represented by these graduation rate statistics. Relying on visually based mechanisms with which city students are already proficient, the findings suggest that these tools can provide previously inaccessible data on school detachment as well as deepen our perspectives on what these youth believe about school leaders and leadership.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlexanderK. L., EntwisleD. R., & HorseyC. S. (1997). From first grade forward: Early foundations of high school dropout. Sociology of Education, 70, 87–107.
2.
AlexanderK. L., EntwisleD. R., & KabbaniN. (2001). The dropout process in life course perspective: Early risk factors at home and school. Teachers College Record, 703(5), 760–822.
3.
AlvermannD. E. (2001). Reading adolescents’ reading identities: Looking back to see ahead. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 44, 676–690.
4.
AlvermannD. E. (2004). Adolescents and literacies in a digital world.New York: Lang.
5.
AlvermannD. E., & HagoodM. (2000). Critical media literacy: Research, theory, and practice in “new times.”Journal of Educational Research, 93(3), 193–205.
6.
AlvermannD. E., & StricklandD. S. (2004). Bridging the literacy achievement gap: Grades 4–12.New York: Teachers College Press.
7.
AngelleP., & SchmidJ. B. (2007). School structure and the identity of teacher leaders: Perspectives of principals and teachers. Journal of School Leadership, 17(6), 771–799.
8.
AnyonJ. (1997). Ghetto schooling: A political economy of urban educational reform.New York: Teachers College Press.
9.
AnyonJ. (2005). Radical possibilities: Public policy, urban education, and anew social movement.New York: Routledge.
10.
AnyonJ. (2006). Social class, school knowledge, and the hidden curriculum revisited. In WeissL., & DimitriadisG. (Eds.), The new sociology of knowledge (pp. 37–46). New York: Routledge.
11.
AuK. (1993). An expanded definition of literacy. In AuK. (Ed.), Literacy instruction in multicultural settings (pp. 20–34). New York: Harcourt Brace College.
12.
AuerbachS. (2007). Visioning parent engagement in urban schools. Journal of School Leadership, 17(6), 699–734.
13.
AyalaJ., & GallettaA. (2009). Student narratives on relationship, learning, and change in comprehensives turned “small.”Theory Into Practice, 48(3), 198–212.
14.
AyersW. (2004). Embers of hope: In search of a meaningful critical pedagogy. Teacher Education Quarterly, 31(1), 123–130.
15.
BalfantzR., & LegtersN. (2004). Locating the dropout crisis: Which high schools produce the nation's dropouts? Where are they located? Who attends them?Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
16.
BallM., & SmithG. (1992). Analyzing visual data qualitative research series 24.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
17.
BartonP. E. (2005). One-third of a nation: Rising dropout rates and declining opportunities.Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
18.
BeaudoinN. (2005). Elevating student voice: How to enhance participation, citizenship, and leadership.Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.
19.
BeckerH. S. (2001). Visual sociology, documentary photography, and photojournalism: It's (almost) all a matter of context. Visual Sociology, 70(1-2), 4–14.
20.
BridgelandJ. M., DilulioJ. J., & MorisonK. B. (2006). The silent epidemic: Perspectives of high school dropouts.Washington, DC: Civic Enterprises.
21.
BrooksJ. S., Jean-MarieG., NormoreA. H., & HodginsD. W. (2007). Distributed leadership for social justice: Exploring how influence and equity are stretched over an urban high school. Journal of School Leadership, 77(4), 378–408.
22.
BurbulesN., & BerkR. (1999). Critical thinking and critical pedagogy: Relations, differences and limits. In PopkewitzT., & FendlerL. (Eds.), Critical theories in education: Changing terrains of knowledge and politics (pp. 45–65). New York: Routledge.
23.
CavinE. (2000). In search of the viewfinder: A study of a child's perspective [Photo essay]. Visual Sociology, 9(1), 27–41.
24.
CertoJ. L., CauleyK. M., & ChafinC. (2003). Students’ perspectives on their high school experience. Adolescence, 38, 705–724.
25.
CervoneB., & CushmanK. (2002). Moving youth participation into the classroom: Students as allies. New Directions for Youth Development, 96, 83–100.
26.
CheungR. (2009). Tensions between students and teachers in urban high schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 97(3), 53–56.
ClarkC. D. (1999). The autodriven interview: A photographic viewfinder into children's experiences. Visual Sociology, 14, 39–50.
29.
CollierJ., & CollierM. (1990). Visual anthropology: Photography as a research method.Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
30.
Cook-SatherA. (2009). Learning from the student's perspective: A methods sourcebook for effective teaching.Boulder, CO: Paradigm.
31.
CopeB., & KalantzisM. (2000). Multiliteracies: The beginning of an idea. In CopeB., & KalantzisM. (Eds.), Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures (pp. 3–8). London: Routledge.
32.
CreswellJ. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
33.
CroningerR., & LeeV. E. (2001). Social capital and dropping out of high school: Benefits to at-risk students of teachers’ support and guidance. Teachers College Record, 703(4), 548–581.
DavisS., Darling-HammondL., LaPointeM., & MeyersonD. (2005). School leadership study: Developing successful principals.Stanford, CA: Stanford University, Stanford Educational Leadership Institute.
36.
DodaN., & KnowlesT. (2008). Listening to the voices of young adolescents. Middle School Journal, 39(3), 26–33.
37.
DonaldsonG. A. (2006). Cultivating leadership in schools: Connecting people, purpose, and practice.New York: Teachers College Press.
38.
DornS. (1996). Creating the dropout: An institutional and social history of school failure.Westport, CT: Praeger.
39.
Duncan-AndradeJ. (2005). Toward teacher development for the urban in urban teaching. Teaching Education, 15, 339–350.
40.
DutroE. (2009). Children's testimony and the necessity of critical witnessing in urban classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 48(3), 231–238.
41.
EastonL., & CondonD. (2009). A school-wide model for student voice in curriculum development and teacher preparation. In Cook-SatherA. (Ed.), Learning from the student's perspective: A secondary methods sourcebook for effective teaching (pp. 176–193). Boulder, CO: Paradigm Press.
EricksonF., BagrodiaR., Cook-SatherA., EspinozaM., JurowS., ShultzJ. J. (2007). Students’ experiences of school curriculum: The everyday circumstances of granting withholding assent to learn. In ConnellyF. M., HeM. F., & PhilhonJ. (Eds.), Handbook of curriculum and instruction (pp. 198–218). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44.
EwaldW. (2001). I wanna take me a picture: Teaching photography and writing to children.Boston: Center for Documentary Studies/Beacon.
45.
Federation for Community Planning & United Way Services of Greater Cleveland. (2003). Social indicators 2003: Education, employment, and income.Cleveland, OH: Federation for Community Planning & United Way Services of Greater Cleveland.
46.
FergusonR. F. (2008). Toward excellence with equity: An emerging vision for closing the achievement gap.Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
47.
FineM., TorreM. E., BurnsA., & PayneY. (2007). Youth research/participatory methods for reform. In ThiessenD., & Cook-SatherA. (Eds.), International handbook of student experience in elementary and secondary school (pp. 805–828). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
48.
FineM., & WeisL. (1998). The unknown city: Lives of poor and working class young adults.Boston: Beacon Press.
49.
FlessaJ. (2009). Urban school principals, deficit frameworks, and implications for leadership. Journal of School Leadership, 19(3), 334–373.
50.
FletcherA. (2005). Meaningful student involvement: Guide to students as partners in school change (2nd ed.). Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://www.soundout.org
51.
FredricksJ. A., BlumenfeldP. C., & ParisA. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74, 59–109.
52.
GallegoM., & HollingsworthS. (Eds.). (2000). What counts as literacy? Challenging the school standard.New York: Teachers College Press.
53.
GeeJ. P. (2002). Millennials and Bobos, Blue's Clues and Sesame Street: A story for our times. In AlvermannD. E. (Ed.), Adolescents and literacies in a digital world (pp. 51–67). New York: Lang.
54.
GoldS. J. (2004). Using photography in studies of immigrant communities. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(12), 1551–1572.
55.
GreeneJ. P., & WintersM. (2005). Public high school graduation and college readiness rates, 1991–2002.New York: Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
56.
GreeneJ., & WintersM. A. (2006). Leaving boys behind: Public high school graduation rates.New York: Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
57.
HallingerP., & HeckR. H. (2010). Collaborative leadership and school improvement: Understand the impact on school capacity and student learning. School Leadership & Management, 30(2), 95–110.
58.
HarperD. (2002). Talking about pictures: A case for photo elicitation. Visual Studies, 77(1), 13–26.
59.
HarperD. (2005). What's new visually? In DenzinN. K., & LincolnY. S. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 747–762). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
60.
HaveP. T. (2003). Teaching students observational methods: Visual studies and visual analysis. Visual Studies, 18(1), 29–35.
61.
HibbingA. N., & Rankin-EricksonJ. L. (2003). A picture is worth a thousand words: Using visual images to improve comprehension for middle school struggling readers. Reading Teacher, 56(8), 758–770.
62.
HonigM. (2009). “External” organizations and the politics of urban educational leadership: The case of new small autonomous schools initiatives. Peabody Journal of Education, 84(3), 394–413.
63.
JanischC., & JohnsonM. (2003). Effective literacy practices and challenging curriculum for at-risk learners: Great expectations. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 8(3), 295–308.
64.
JoselowskyF. (2005). Students as co-constructors of the learning experience and environment: Youth engagement and high school reform.Providence, RI: Annenberg Institute for School Reform.
65.
KarlssonJ. (2001). Doing visual research with school learners in South Africa. Visual Sociology, 16(2), 23–38.
66.
KaufmanP., AltM., & ChapmanC. (2004). Dropout rates in the United States: 2001 (NCES Report No. 2005046). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
67.
KincheloeJ. L. (2004). Critical pedagogy primer.New York: Lang.
68.
KirkJ., & MillerM. L. (1986). Reliability and validity in qualitative research.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
69.
KistW. (2005). New literacies in action: Teaching and learning in multiple media.New York: Teachers College Press.
70.
KressG. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design.New York: Routledge.
71.
Ladson-BillingsG. (2007). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3–12.
72.
LalasJ., & ValleE. (2007). Social justice lenses and authentic student voices. Educational Leadership and Administration, 19, 75–102.
73.
LanW., & LanthierR. (2003). Changes in students’ academic performance and perceptions of school before dropping out of schools. Journal of Education for Students Place at Risk, 8(3), 309–332.
74.
LareauA. (2003). Unequal childhoods: Class, race and family life.Berkeley: University of California Press.
75.
LevineA. (2005). Educating school leaders.New York: Education School Project.
76.
LincolnY., & GubaE. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
77.
LodgeC. (2005). From hearing voices to engaging in dialogue: Problematising student participation in school improvement. Journal of Educational Change, 6(2), 125–146.
78.
MacbeathJ. L., MeuretD., & ScratzM. (2000). Self-evaluation in European schools: A story of change.London: Routledge.
79.
MahiriJ. (Ed.). (2004). What they don't learn in school: Literacy in the lives of urban youth.New York: Lang.
80.
Marquez-ZenkovK. (2007). Through city students’ eyes: Urban students’ beliefs about school's purposes, supports, and impediments. Visual Studies, 22(2), 138–154.
81.
Marquez-ZenkovK., & HarmonJ. (2007). Seeing English in the city: Using photography to understand students’ literacy relationships. English Journal, 96(6), 24–30.
82.
MarzanoR. (2007). The art and science of teaching.Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
83.
McClungM. S. (2002). Public school purpose: The civic standard.Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
84.
MillerC. J. (2006). Images from the streets: Art for social change from the Homelessness Photography Project. Social Justice, 33(2), 122–134.
85.
MitchellC., WeberS., & O'Reilly-ScanlonK. (Eds.). (2005). Just who do we think we are? Arts-based methodologies for self-study.London: RoutledgeFalmer.
86.
MitraD. (2001). Opening the floodgates: Giving students a voice in school reform. Forum, 43(2), 91–94.
87.
MitraD. (2003). Student voice in school reform: Refraining student-teacher relationships. McGill Journal of Education, 38(2), 289–304.
88.
MitraD. (2004). The significance of students: Can increasing “student voice” in schools lead to gains in youth development?Teachers College Record, 106(4), 651–688.
89.
MitraD. (2007a). Student voice in school reform: From listening to leadership. In ThiessenD., & Cook-SatherA. (Eds.), International handbook of student experience in elementary and secondary school (pp. 727–744). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
90.
MitraD. L. (2007b). The role of administrators in enabling youth-adult partnerships in schools. NASSP Bulletin, 91(3), 237–256.
91.
MitraD. L. (2009a). Collaborating with students: Building youth-adult partnerships in schools. American Journal of Education, 15(3), 407–436.
92.
MitraD. L. (2009b). Strengthening student voice initiatives in high schools: An examination of the supports needed for school-based youth-adult partnerships. Youth and Society, 40(3), 311–335.
93.
MitraD. L. (2009c). Student voice and student roles in education policy and policy reform. In PlankD. N., SykesG., & SchneiderB. (Eds.), AERA handbook on education policy research (pp. 819–830). London: Routledge.
94.
MitraD. L., & GrossS. J. (2009). Increasing student voice in high school reform: Building partnerships, improving outcomes. Educational Management, Administration, and Leadership, 37(4), 452–473.
95.
MojeE. B. (2008). The complex world of adolescent literacy: Myths, motivations, and mysteries. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 107–154.
96.
MojeE., & O'BrienD. (Eds.) (2001). Constructions of literacy: Studies of teaching and learning in and out of secondary schools.Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
97.
MorrellE. (2007). Critical literacy and urban youth: Pedagogies of access, dissent, and liberation.New York: Routledge.
98.
MorrellE., & Duncan-AndradeJ. (2006). Popular culture and critical media pedagogy in secondary literacy classrooms. International Journal of Learning, 12, 1–15.
99.
MorrisonI., EvertonT., & RudduckJ. (2000). Pupils helping other pupils with their learning: Cross-age tutoring in a primary and secondary school. Mentoring and Tutoring, 8(3), 187–200.
100.
MorseJ. M., BarrettM., MayanM., OlsonK., & SpiersJ. (2002). Verification strategies for establishing reliability and validity in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1(2), 1–19.
101.
MuijsD., AinscowM., DysonA., RaffoC., GoldrickS., KerrK. (2010). Leading under pressure: Leadership for social inclusion. School Leadership & Management, 30(2), 143–157.
102.
MurrellP. C. (2006). Toward social justice in urban education: A model of collaborative cultural inquiry in urban schools. Equity & Excellence in Education, 39(1), 81–90.
103.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). The condition of education: 2009.Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences.
104.
NevarezC., & WoodJ. L. (2007). Developing urban school leaders: Building on solutions 15 years after the Los Angeles riots. Education Studies, 42(3), 266–280.
105.
New London Group. (1999). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92.
106.
O'BrienD. G., SpringsR., & StithD. (2001). Engaging at-risk students: Literacy learning in a high school literacy lab. In MojeE. B., & O'BrienD. G. (Eds.), Constructions of literacy: Studies of teaching and learning in and out of secondary schools (pp. 105–124). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
107.
OrfieldG. (Ed.). (2004). Dropouts in America: Confronting the graduation rate crisis.Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
108.
OrfieldG., LosenD., WaldJ., & SwansonC. (2004). Losing our future: How minority youth are being left behind by the graduation rate crisis.Cambridge, MA: Civil Rights Project at Harvard University
109.
PallasA. (2002). Educational participation across the life course: Do the rich get richer? In SettersenR. A., & OwensT. J. (Eds.), New frontiers in socialization (pp. 327–354). New York: Elsevier.
110.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
111.
PoleC. (Ed.). (2004). Seeing is believing? Approaches to visual research.New York: Elsevier.
112.
PrintyS. (2010). Principals’ influence on instructional quality: Insights from US schools. School Leadership & Management, 30(2), 111–126.
113.
PrintyS., MarksH. M., & BowersA. J. (2009). Integrated leadership: How principals and teachers share instructional influence. Journal of School Leadership, 19(5), 504–532.
114.
ProsserJ., & SchwartzD. (1998). Photographs within the sociological research process. In ProsserJ. (Ed.), Image-based research: A sourcebook for qualitative researcher (pp. 115–130). Bristol, PA: Falmer Press.
115.
RagglA., & SchratzM. (2004). Using visuals to release pupils’ voices: Emotional pathways to enhancing thinking and reflecting on learning. In PoleC. (Ed.), Seeing is believing? Approaches to visual research (Vol. 7, pp. 147–162). New York: Elsevier.
116.
RodgersC. (2006). Attending to student voice: The role of descriptive feedback in learning and teaching. Curriculum Inquiry, 36(2), 209–237.
117.
RoseG. (2006). Visual methodologies: An introduction to the interpretation of visual materials.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
118.
RudduckJ. (2007). Student voice, student engagement and school reform. In ThiessenD., & Cook-SatherA. (Eds.), International handbook of student experience in elementary and secondary school (pp. 587–610). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
119.
RudduckJ., DemetriouH., & PedderD. (2003). Student perspectives and teacher practices: The transformative potential. McGill Journal of Education, 38(2), 274–288.
120.
SamuelsonB. L. (2004). “I used to go to school. Now I learn”: Unschoolers critiquing the discourse of school. In MahariJ. (Ed.), What they don't learn in school: Literacy in the lives of urban youth (103–122). New York: Lang.
121.
SchratzM., & Loffler-AnzbockU. (2004). The darker side of democracy: A visual approach to democratizing teaching and learning. In MacbeathJ., & MoosL. (Eds.), Democratic learning (pp. 132–150). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
122.
SmithJ., & FasoliL. (2007). Climbing over the rocks in the road to student engagement and learning in a challenging high school in Australia. Educational Research, 49(3), 273–295.
123.
SmythJ. (2007). Toward the pedagogically engaged school: Listening to student voice as a positive response to disengagement and “dropping out”? In ThiessenD., & Cook-SatherA. (Eds.), International handbook of student experience in elementary and secondary school (pp. 635–658). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
StraussA. L. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists.London: Cambridge University Press.
126.
StreetB. (2003). What's new in new literacy studies?Current Issues in Comparative Education, 5(2), 77–91.
127.
TeelK., & ObidahJ. (Eds.). (2008). Building racial and cultural competence in the classroom: Strategies from urban educators.New York: Teachers College Press.
ThiessenD. (2007). Researching student experience in elementary and secondary school: An evolving field of study. In ThiessenD., & Cook-SatherA. (Eds.), International handbook of student experience in elementary and secondary school (pp. 1–76). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
130.
ThomsonP., & HoldsworthR. (2003). Theorizing change in the educational “field”: Re-readings of “student participation” projects. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 6(4), 371–391.
131.
UseemE. (2009). Big city superintendent as powerful CEO: Paul Vallas in Philadelphia. Peabody Journal of Education, 84(3), 300–317.
132.
Van HornL. (2008). Reading photographs to write with meaning and purpose, Grades 4–12.Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
133.
Van LeeuwenT., & JewittC. (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of visual analysis.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
WalkerA., & RiordanG. (2010). Leading collective capacity in culturally diverse schools. School Leadership & Management, 30(1), 51–63.
136.
WalkerR. (1993). Finding silent voices for the researcher: Using photographs in evaluation and research. In SchratzM. (Ed.), Qualitative voices in educational research (pp. 77–92). London: Falmer Press.
137.
WoolleyM. (2009). Supporting school completion among Latino youth: The role of adult relationships. Prevention Researcher, 16(3), 9–12.
138.
YonezawaS., & JonesM. (2007). Using student voices to inform and evaluate secondary school reform. In ThiessenD., & Cook-SatherA. (Eds.), International handbook of student experience in elementary and secondary school (pp. 681–710). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
139.
ZenkovK. (2009). The teachers and schools they deserve: Seeing the pedagogies, practices, and programs urban students want. Theory Into Practice, 48(3), 168–175.
140.
ZenkovK., & HarmonJ. (2009). Picturing a writing process: Using photovoice to learn how to teach writing to urban youth. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 52(1), 575–584.
