Black Students And School Failure

Research findings by the National Commission on Excellence, the Children's Defense Fund, and the College Board, among others, suggest that much work remains to be done to upgrade the educational experience and performance of the fastest growing segment of the American school population, blacks and other minorities. This country's survival and strength will ultimately depend on the quality of education given to this important group that has been systematically and effectively excluded from the benefits of educational opportunity. Without these benefits, blacks and other minorities will never achieve economic independence, and the self-perpetuating cycle of poor school achievement, poverty, and teen parenthood will grind on relentlessly. This important study addresses the many facets of this complex problem by explicating its many roots, assessing strengths and weaknesses inherent in the present system, and proposing strategies for dynamic changes. Chapter 1 reviews various societal prescriptions regarding education and descriptive practices harmful to black students and uncovers a hidden curriculum. The focus of Chapter 2 is on cultural synchronization in style, language, and cognition and on how disappearing black educators increase the lack of synchronization. Chapters 3 and 4 detail the effects of teacher expectations in various contexts including grade level, subject, and time of year, and present a thorough research study of teacher-student interactions. The last two chapters outline strategies for change and implications for training and staff development exploring Afro-centric responses, parent involvement, relevant research findings, and various staff development competencies for policy development and prejudice reduction. The detailed introductory essay, the seven tables and five figures, and an appendix that provides supplemental information describing the research study methodology in Chapter 4 complete this valuable volume. Scholars and students of Afro-American and African Studies, as well as educational administrators and practitioners will find this work both timely and provocative.

Research findings by the National Commission on Excellence, the Children's Defense Fund, and the College Board, among others, suggest that much work remains to be done to upgrade the educational experience and performance of the fastest growing segment of the American school population, blacks and other minorities. This country's survival and strength will ultimately depend on the quality of education given to this important group that has been systematically and effectively excluded from the benefits of educational opportunity. Without these benefits, blacks and other minorities will never achieve economic independence, and the self-perpetuating cycle of poor school achievement, poverty, and teen parenthood will grind on relentlessly. This important study addresses the many facets of this complex problem by explicating its many roots, assessing strengths and weaknesses inherent in the present system, and proposing strategies for dynamic changes. Chapter 1 reviews various societal prescriptions regarding education and descriptive practices harmful to black students and uncovers a hidden curriculum. The focus of Chapter 2 is on cultural synchronization in style, language, and cognition and on how disappearing black educators increase the lack of synchronization. Chapters 3 and 4 detail the effects of teacher expectations in various contexts including grade level, subject, and time of year, and present a thorough research study of teacher-student interactions. The last two chapters outline strategies for change and implications for training and staff development exploring Afro-centric responses, parent involvement, relevant research findings, and various staff development competencies for policy development and prejudice reduction. The detailed introductory essay, the seven tables and five figures, and an appendix that provides supplemental information describing the research study methodology in Chapter 4 complete this valuable volume. Scholars and students of Afro-American and African Studies, as well as educational administrators and practitioners will find this work both timely and provocative.

In this incisive and practical book, H. Richard Milner IV provides educators with a crucial understanding of how to teach students of color who live in poverty. Milner looks carefully at the circumstances of these students’ lives and describes how those circumstances profoundly affect their experiences within schools and classrooms. In a series of detailed chapters, Milner proposes effective practices—at district and school levels, and in individual classrooms—for school leaders and teachers who are committed to creating the best educational opportunities for these students. Building on established literature, new research, and a number of revelatory case studies, Milner casts essential light on the experiences of students and their families living in poverty, while pointing to educational strategies that are shaped with these students' unique circumstances in mind. Milner’s astute and nuanced account will fundamentally change how school leaders and teachers think about race and poverty—and how they can best serve these students in their schools and classrooms.

The Condition of Education 2020 summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presentsnumerous indicators on the status and condition of education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. The Condition of Education includes an "At a Glance" section, which allows readers to quickly make comparisons across indicators, and a "Highlights" section, which captures key findings from each indicator. In addition, The Condition of Education contains a Reader's Guide, a Glossary, and a Guide to Sources that provide additional background information. Each indicator provides links to the source data tables used to produce the analyses.

Neckerman's analysis provides a welcome antidote to much of the historical literature on American education, which rarely examines actual policy choices....Segregation did harm blacks, as this fine book shows. Journal of American History --Book Jacket.

Why are so many Black students prematurely leaving school? What factors can be attributed toward academic achievement of Black students? Should teachers be less concerned with curriculum content and more sensitive to the social and psychological needs during child development? The authors argue that academic achievement for Black students is influenced not only by circumstances found in the individual or family and school settings, but by a whole host of factors. Social and economic environments, the development of the self-concept, peer pressure, personal attributes such as resources, skills and motivation--these are a few of the many factors contributing towards a person's ability to achieve academically. Black Students brings together current research to address these factors from a variety of perspectives and covers the full educational cycle from kindergarten through the college years. The majority of past research on academic achievement of Black students has placed blame on the individual or credited failure toward an incapability to succeed. Berry and Asamen's mission is to shift away from this narrow perspective and to look more holistically at the issues. In addition the book provides some specific programmatic directions for enhancing the academic experiences of Black students. "The editors conceptualized and produced an important, informative, issue-oriented book with contributions by prestigious, involved scholars in education, the social sciences, and mental health. . . . Recommendations for policy and programmatic changes are included, along with directions for future research." --Choice "All in all, this book was well conceived and succeeds in its high ideals of offering a useful, womanlike contribution to the riddle of the causes of under achievement of black Americans and ultimately of all black people of the diaspora; intuitively understood by all who know anything of the history of their experience, but yet to be coherently deciphered." --Education Today "Informative and thought provoking. Berry and Asamen make the reader painfully aware of the many casualties and losses of black youth, particularly low income black youth within today's educational system. . . . [It] explores the societal factors that inhibit or can enhance the academic achievement of low income black students. Black Students affirmed some of my own beliefs and provided new information." --Association for Women in Psychology Newsletter "A book written by people who obviously care about Black education. Moreover, it is difficult to take exception to Berry's conclusion that Blacks need an educational system which offers equity and excellence." --British Educational Research Journal.

" The test score gap between blacks and whites—on vocabulary, reading, and math tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence--is large enough to have far-reaching social and economic consequences. In their introduction to this book, Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips argue that eliminating the disparity would dramatically reduce economic and educational inequality between blacks and whites. Indeed, they think that closing the gap would do more to promote racial equality than any other strategy now under serious discussion. The book offers a comprehensive look at the factors that contribute to the test score gap and discusses options for substantially reducing it. Although significant attempts have been made over the past three decades to shrink the test score gap, including increased funding for predominantly black schools, desegregation of southern schools, and programs to alleviate poverty, the median black American still scores below 75 percent of American whites on most standardized tests. The book brings together recent evidence on some of the most controversial and puzzling aspects of the test score debate, including the role of test bias, heredity, and family background. It also looks at how and why the gap has changed over the past generation, reviews the educational, psychological, and cultural explanations for the gap, and analyzes its educational and economic consequences. The authors demonstrate that traditional explanations account for only a small part of the black-white test score gap. They argue that this is partly because traditional explanations have put too much emphasis on racial disparities in economic resources, both in homes and in schools, and on demographic factors like family structure. They say that successful theories will put more emphasis on psychological and cultural factors, such as the way black and white parents teach their children to deal with things they do not know or understand, and the way black and white children respond to the same classroom experiences. Finally, they call for large-scale experiments to determine the effects of schools' racial mix, class size, ability grouping, and other policies. In addition to the editors, the contributors include Claude Steele, Ronald Ferguson, William G. Bowen, Philip Cook, and William Julius Wilson. "