It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop: Estimating the Impact of a Culturally Responsive Classroom Intervention on Student Outcomes

• Published in: Urban education (Beverly Hills, Calif.) Vol. 56; no. 10; pp. 1748 - 1781
• Main Authors: Cherfas, Lina, Casciano, Rebecca, Wiggins, Michael Anthony
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2021; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; African American Culture; At Risk Students; Culturally Relevant Education; English language; European History; High School Students; Hip hop culture; History Instruction; Humanities; Intervention; Language Arts; Music; Outcomes of Education; Popular culture; Program Effectiveness; Quasi-experimental methods; Schools; Secondary school students; United States History; Urban Education; hip-hop education; culturally relevant pedagogy; urban education; academic achievement; subjects
• ISSN: 0042-0859; 1552-8340
• DOI: 10.1177/0042085918789729

Despite growing interest in culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), little research has examined its effect on student performance. In this article, we place CRP in a sociohistorical context and document how one intervention, Fresh Prep, draws on CRP to engage and instruct high school students identified as high risk for not graduating. Using a quasi-experimental matching methodology, we examine whether the program improves academic performance. We find Fresh Prep students have higher scores and pass rates on state English Language Arts and history exams than students in a matched comparison group, as well as retakers attending the same schools before its introduction.