|
Bridging the
Widest Gap: Raising the Achievement of Black Boys
Laura Varlas, ASCD, August 2005
For more articles like this
visit http://www.ascd.org.
Educators cannot
overlook the persistent achievement gap between black boys and
their peers. “These patterns are not going away and are not
limited to one local area,” says Education Trust Senior
Associate Carlton Jordan. “Wherever I go, African American boys
are at the bottom.” Now that school systems must report and
analyze disaggregated data about student groups, educators have
begun “a new conversation” to find solutions for black boys,
notes Jordan.
From the Principal's Office to Prison
Reports by the American Council on Education, the Education
Trust, and the Schott Foundation show that black boys spend more
time in special education, spend less time in advanced placement
or college prep courses, and receive more disciplinary
suspensions and expulsions than any other group in U.S. schools
today. The Schott Foundation started the Black Boys Initiative
in 2003, says President Rosa Smith, because “black boys
represented the worst-case scenario for a group coming out of
public education.” The foundation's 2004 state-by-state report
on black male students found that, among other negative
indicators, more black males receive a GED in prison than
graduate from college.
“This problem is not genetic,” states author and education
consultant Jawanza Kunjufu. “It is systemic.” In many cases, a
debilitating combination of inadequate resources and low
expectations in schools that serve large numbers of black boys
results in this group being held back, researchers say. Jordan
and his colleagues report that these schools have “more than
their fair share of teachers who are out of field or long-term
substitutes. And often the curriculum and the expectations are
quite low.” Experts tracking black boys in schools also cite
inattention to gender learning styles, misinterpretation and
abuse of zero tolerance policies, negative peer pressure, and
lack of commitment to create a culture of care and nurturance
for black boys.
A 2004 study by the Schott Foundation, Public Education and
Black Male Students: A State Report Card, found that although
black males make up only 8.6 percent of public school
enrollments, they represent 22 percent of expulsions and 23
percent of suspensions. In terms of discipline, these students
face inconsistency, notes Vernon C. Polite, professor at Bowie
State University and coeditor of the book African American Males
in School and Society. In an independent study, Polite found
that for the same offense, suspension days ranged from 2 to 22.
Because of abuse and misinterpretation of federal and state
guidelines for suspension and expulsion, Polite says, large
numbers of African American boys are wandering the streets daily
and engaging in crime. This is frustrating, Polite notes,
because “the very problems we wish to mitigate are being
exacerbated.”
Gender Affects Learning Styles
In many schools, black boys are removed from mainstream
education by disciplinary interventions or by tracking them into
special education. Kunjufu argues that a major agent in the
disproportionately high representation of black boys in special
education and in disciplinary interventions is the lack of
accommodation for gender differences in learning styles. Part of
the problem is that less than 1 percent of all elementary school
teachers in the United States are African American men, Kunjufu
adds. Because 83 percent of elementary teachers are white women,
he sees a direct correlation to statistics showing that white
girls are least likely to be referred for special education. Of
black boys who enter special education, only 10 percent return
to the mainstream classroom and stay there, Kunjufu notes, and
only 27 percent graduate.
To create a more equitable learning environment for black boys,
Kunjufu advises educators to accommodate specific learning
differences tied to gender. “If you know that girls mature
faster than boys—almost a three-year difference—instead of
placing boys in special education, we should allow for those
differences or consider single-gender classrooms,” Kunjufu
suggests. Accommodations can include shortening lesson plans,
allowing more movement in the classroom, and holding physical
education classes daily. “If you know that girls are more
verbal,” he adds, “then allow for the possibility that boys will
not only communicate differently, but will also express an
interest in reading a little later than girls.” To allow for
these differences, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland either
delay the entrance of their boys until age 6 or 7, or they
separate boys and girls. In addition, the United States has 500
single-gender classrooms and more than 100 single-gender
schools.
Where single-gender is not an option, Kunjufu is optimistic
about how schools are responding to accountability pressures
from the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act. One Maryland school
implemented a prereferral process, in which teachers cannot
recommend a child for special education placement without a
six-week pre-intervention process of trying mainstreaming
strategies. As a result, he says, that school has seen a 68
percent reduction of black boys in special education.
Access to Rigor, Access to Support
Rigorous academic focus was missing at the Midwestern high
school Polite worked at and studied for his book African
American Males in School and Society. With such a lack of focus,
a student who is not geared toward college enrollment and who
remains in school tends to become the “increasingly invisible
student who sits in the back of the classroom and gets by,” says
Adam Behar, director of public relations for the Advancement Via
Individual Determination (AVID) program. AVID works with
students who achieve at average academic levels to prepare them
for four-year college eligibility by providing support during
and after school.
AVID has shown that these students are capable of completing a
college-prep curriculum, Behar says, “if we provide access to
rigorous curriculum and intensive support.” A study of AVID's
2004 African American high school seniors reported that 100
percent graduated from high school and 81 percent were accepted
to a four-year college. “Rigor and support—that's the proven
formula,” Behar says.
Polite adds that school leadership needs to shift toward a focus
on instruction instead of building management. Administrators
can begin to address instructional needs by looking at the raw
data of course enrollments. If you walk through the school and
see groups of students missing from science and math advanced
placement programs, you should be concerned, he says.
Combat Stereotypes with Care
In addition to harder data on the challenges black boys face
in public schools, researchers point to less-quantifiable
factors. Professor Melissa Roderick of the University of Chicago
notes that black boys often do not feel cared for in their
school communities. Roderick has found that the disconnect
between black boys and a caring school is most acute when they
transition from smaller, attentive middle schools to larger,
anonymous high schools. Polite also noted that at Metropolitan
High School (the name he used for the school in his book), the
perceived lack of caring was the most devastating factor for
black boys.
At Metropolitan, Polite recommended that principals and
administrators focus their hiring practices on finding people
who are able to relate to and care for students from different
backgrounds. In addition, Polite pointed to professional
development schools as places where teachers and teacher
candidates can be trained to care through inquiry, curriculum
development research, and reflection. Nell Noddings, a professor
at Stanford University, a former K–12 math teacher, and the
author of several books on caring, observes that “young black
men and boys growing up without male role models and in
conditions of poverty probably do need, more than anyone else,
that assurance that somebody really cares. Many studies show the
single most important thing in turning lives around is the
ongoing presence of a caring adult.”
Unfortunately, black boys are often alone in their
self-advocacy. They must combat the negative stereotype that
being black and masculine does not match up with being smart and
going to school. Extensive research shows that one of the
principal factors contributing to the underrepresentation of
minority men in college and their underperformance in primary
and secondary schools is the absence of minority male teachers
as role models. “No question,” says Kunjufu, “one thing we can
do for black boys is increase [the number of] black men
teaching.” As resources for change, Kunjufu suggests the 85,000
black churches, 106 black colleges, more than 10 national black
sororities and fraternities, and almost 200 black radio stations
in the United States. In Maryland, Rep. Steny Hoyer is
establishing Men Equipped to Nurture, an intensive program
designed to dramatically increase the number of African American
and other males entering the teaching profession.
Litmus Test for Leadership
The downward trend for black boys in school and society will
not end unless educators and community and business leaders make
black boys “the litmus test for their personal leadership,” says
Smith. As a former school superintendent, she encourages school
administrators to lead in ways that nurture “this student group
most vulnerable to school failure.” To improve the achievement
of black boys, she advises school leaders to bring together
reciprocal layers of communication, data collection, early
education, accountability, and literacy instruction.
In its 2003 report, Education Trust highlights some schools,
districts, and states that are improving math and reading
achievement for African American boys. Jordan points to progress
made by the D.C. KEY Academy in Washington and Norview High
School in Norfolk, Va., which are looking at their data and
making sure this vulnerable group does not fall behind.
“Regardless of race, gender, home environment, or the community
or housing complex our students come from, high expectations for
their behavior and academic performance will not change,” says
Susan Schaeffler, founding principal of the D.C. KEY Academy.
“The expectation that our children will perform at a high level
is set in stone, and our staff is committed to doing whatever it
takes to make sure our children succeed, regardless of the
obstacles they encounter.”
The original
article can be found at
http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.840389137fab17eeb85516f76
2108a0c/;jsessionid=C96pzGzxsiv0V0njpJtOwQedmVs0O1ET1ZNeSvqqz2uz0yjvuKQ6!792796539?
javax.portlet.tpst=818d37ec925d82800173fc1062108a0c_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_818d37ec92
5d82800173fc1062108a0c_viewID=article_view&javax.portlet.prp_818d37ec925d82800173fc
1062108a0c_journalmoid=02a2525b32f55010VgnVCM1000003d01a8c0RCRD&javax.portlet.prp
_818d37ec925d82800173fc1062108a0c_articlemoid=89b2525b32f55010VgnVCM1000003d01a
8c0RCRD&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=token&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=token.
back to the top ~
back to Breaking News
~ back to
What's New
|
