BRONX, NY—Working in 2006–2007 with 14 high school students and two teachers from the Bronx, New York, WKCD facilitated a yearlong conversation about the lives and learning of urban youth, both in and out of school. Now, as part of Adobe Youth Voices, the students and the teachers are co-producing their own “test” based on that commentary.

SAT Bronx: What We Know That You Don’t Know, by the students of Bronx Leadership Academy 2 with Kathleen Cushman, Shannon O’Grady, and Kristin Ferrales, aims to bring new perspectives to teachers and other adults about the culture of minority youth in urban schools. And students who read it may realize just how much “insider knowledge” they have at their fingertips. Here we present a sneak peek at one section of SAT Bronx, which will be available from Next Generation Press in winter 2008. Get out your Number 2 pencils!

PEOPLE OFTEN USE terms like “black” and “Latino” to categorize Bronx students.
But students are more likely to ask of an acquaintance, “What are you?” In this
section, you will read responses in which students describe their family backgrounds.

Questions 1–10 ask you to infer from each description the student’s own beliefs
about culture, ethnicity, or national allegiance.  Download the “Who’s American” test questions (PDF)—and compare your answers with the students’.

 

Interested in using SAT Bronx as a discussion tool with youth or adults? Contact info@nextgenerationpress.org, or call 401-247-7665.