%0 Journal Article %A Basile, Vincent %A Lopez, Enrique J. %D 2018 %I Begell House %K brilliance, criminalization, school-to-prison pipeline, boys of color, African American boys, Latino boys, science education, STEM education %N 4 %P 361-379 %R 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2018020378 %T ASSUMING BRILLIANCE: A DECRIMINALIZING APPROACH TO EDUCATING AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINO BOYS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STEM SETTINGS %U https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/00551c876cc2f027,024da55e7e21d2ce,62b5141d2826d86b.html %V 24 %X By way of a well-established and sophisticated school-to-prison pipeline, boys of color face destructive and unjust systems of oppression in their everyday school settings. Disrupting this hyper-criminalization requires purposeful and thoughtful practices. In this manuscript, we put forth the concept of assuming brilliance as a mechanism that disrupts criminalization. Derived from a multisite longitudinal empirical study focused on the experiences of elementary school African American and Latino boys in an after-school STEM program, we offer concrete examples of assuming brilliance, along with suggestions for ways in which educators, teacher preparation programs, and future research may take up this decriminalizing classroom practice. %8 2018-11-21