Deficit Thinking And Implicit Bias Have Been Barriers As A Black Male Principal Leading This P-TECH Innovation In New York City

As a proud 1992 graduate of Morehouse College, I entered the field of education because I wanted to help people. Thirty one years later, I am still in service. "Rashid you do not know enough to criticize the system". "Rashid your student outcomes do not matter it is about your teacher practices". "Rashid trust the process". The above three statements are only a few comments shared with me over the years from people who were in the roles of support or evaluation of me and school principals in the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE). Implicit bias and perceptions of success has impacted me as a Black male principal in the NYCDOE. There was some interesting data revealed this Spring 2023 in Chalkbeat New York's blog, "Why are so few Black men teachers in New York City?" The blog revealed the following: "Only 19% of?educators?in New York City’s public schools are Black—and only 4% of the city’s educators are Black men". I have more than 25 years’ experience working in NYCDOE and so unfortunately I can remember when the percentage was less than 4%. I have been in my current role of founding principal of Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) since 2011 where I played a part in the design process. We are now two months from the 12th year of P-TECH implementation. The model has been replicated in 14 states of the United States of America, and the following 7 of the 14 states have produced P-TECH college graduates: Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island and Texas. In spite of the tremendous P-TECH growth, deficit thinking, and implicit bias have been barriers for me as a Black male principal leading this innovation in New York City.

Deficit thinking refers to the belief that certain groups of people, such as black males, are inherently deficient in some way. This can lead to negative stereotypes and assumptions about our abilities and potential. When applied to me as a Black male principal in New York City, deficit thinking has led to a lack of support and resources, as well as lower expectations for my success. Before becoming principal of P-TECH, I was principal of another new school, Bronx Engineering and Technology Academy (BETA) and I shared some research on deficit thinking as part of my presentations. Jamaal Abdul-Alim wrote about it in Diverse Issues for Higher Education, College Board Forums Emphasize Expanded Postsecondary Access. My school demographics have included since inception majority Black teachers for majority Black male students in science technology engineering and math (STEM) pathways. Our students are first in line for job opportunities with Fortune 500 IBM after they have earned the 2-year degree in a STEM pathway from our early college CUNY partner, New York City College of Technology.

Implicit bias refers to the unconscious attitudes and beliefs that people hold about certain groups of people. These biases can be based on race, gender, age or other factors. When applied to me as a black male principal in New York City, implicit bias has led to assumptions about my leadership style, communication skills, and ability to manage staff and students. This has resulted in a lack of trust and respect from leaders who have been in roles of evaluation and support. A great example is comparison of college completion data of full-time, first-time freshmen attending CUNY and STEM college completion data at P-TECH Brooklyn. There are more than 70% of NYCDOE graduates who attend CUNY's two and 4-year schools. I have said that with no academic screening, no test for admissions, and no college remediation, P-TECH Brooklyn's STEM college completion results show a great value add and return on investment for New York City.

The above data shows P-TECH Brooklyn's STEM college completion rates for students who graduated by August 2015 and earned the 2-year STEM degree between 2015-2017 from CUNY college partner, New York City College of Technology. P-TECH students are not included in the Full-Time/First-Time Freshmen data. CUNY's college completion rates are based on high school graduates who have said yes to enrolling in college. The 68% P-TECH data is out of all high school graduates. If I only focused on the students who said yes to attending the City Tech program after completing the 12th grade, the 68% would be even higher. P-TECH's STEM college completion percentages show value add and a great return on investment for New York City.

Both deficit thinking and implicit bias have been significant barriers for me as a Black male principal leading this innovation in New York City. To try and overcome these barriers, it has been incredibly important for me to remain steadfast on realizing the vision and mission of P-TECH. It is unfortunate that the STEM college completion results have not been recognized and support and resources for the underrepresented populations should be better aligned. This can include mentoring and coaching programs, professional development opportunities, and efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in school leadership for innovation.