Doctoral Dissertation Research: Race, Achievement and Trust in Student-Teacher Relationships

Racial inequality in education has a long history in the United States. The most persistent manifestation of this history is the racial achievement gap. This project will address the racial achievement gap from the vantage point of black students in racially segregated, high-poverty schools. More specifically, this study examines how trust shapes the quality of their relationships with teachers and their educational outcomes. This research is guided by the premise that trust can be a lever for improving the schooling experiences and academic performance of disadvantaged students. Prior studies demonstrate that trust is a salient component of effective and cohesive school communities. However, much of the existing research on this topic fails to consider trust from the perspective of students. Trust should be a topic of concern for researchers interested in racial inequality in education and youth inequality more broadly, since research suggests that pervasive feelings of distrust can cement disadvantage initiated by larger meso-and marco-level forces. Recognizing the power of trust in shaping one?s life chances, a study of black young people's propensity to trust their teachers (i.e., student?teacher trust) is warranted as a potentially significant determinant of their educational outcomes and future well-being.

The aims of this dissertation are threefold. First, this work sets out to investigate the academic consequences of trust both for individual students and schools. Second, this work will examine the causes of students' (dis)trust in their teachers and reveal the mechanisms linking trust to student achievement. Finally, by focusing on youth, this study will advance the social science literature on trust, which to date has been preoccupied with the adult experience. To address these aims, this mixed-method study will proceed in two phases. Phase one entails a quantitative analysis of survey and administrative data on New York City (NYC) public schools. This analysis will illuminate the relationship between student?teacher trust and achievement at the school-level and will identify comparative case study schools for phase two of the study. Phase two entails semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 48 students and 20 educators across four NYC public high schools. These interviews will permit an examination of trust on the interpersonal level. While this study is centered on the student-teacher relationship, it will provide insight into processes of youth trust and inequality that can be applied to other institutional settings (e.g., the justice system). Study findings will also highlight how educators and other authority figures can harness trust as a tool for better engaging youth on the social margins.