African-American Students and the Success and Failure in the School Setting

African-American Academics

African-American Students and Success and Failure in the School Setting

Do African-American students use different strategies to achieve academic success than other groups?

The strategies suggested by African-American students themselves have a lot of merit, in the matter of their own academic achievement. In a research study published by Child Study Journal (Tucker, et al., 2000), 22 elementary and 21 high school students completed an open-ended questionnaire delving into the question of how to enhance the academic success of African-American youth.

The questionnaire was given to the 43 students because, as the authors of the article suggest, "there exists a persistent and substantial gap between the school performance of African-American and European-American students." And the questions to be addressed for this paper: what are the explanations for this gap, and what strategies and programs need to be instituted to bridge the gap, prepare more African-American students for a success college experience and hence, give economic power to those young people.

The authors also mentioned that "the views of African-American students, whom are, perhaps, the real experts regarding problems that occur among themselves, are often excluded from this theorizing and intervention planning." The results of another survey conducted from interviews with "thousands of parents, teachers, and 10,000 students," also reported by Tucker, et al., showed that on the whole, students reported "high levels of school satisfaction." However, there was "general displeasure" reported by the 10,000 students with the lack of effectiveness from school counselors and administrators and "the limited encouragement given by teachers."

The results from the survey of the 22 African-American elementary students [13 females 9 males] in one important category ("Why do African-American students drop out of school more often than European-American students?") went like this: 28% of elementary students said Black students "have to work" or "girls get pregnant"; 21% said it was "disinterest in school"; 17% said "peer pressure"; 14% said "badness" was the cause; and 10% blamed "racism." Thirty-one percent of high school students surveyed believe that their Black classmates "just give up"; 21% said "personal problems"; 17% answered that "racism" is the cause; 14% believe it is "lack of attention at home"; and "peer pressure" was chosen by 10% of the students.

Both the elementary students (51%) and the high school students (26%) indicated that if parents helped students learn to study, their grades would improve. But the most important single thing both elementary and high school students reported, in terms of getting stronger academic footings in preparation for college, was that teachers need to "ask questions" specifically designed to find out if students understand the material, and if not, "provide further explanations."

On the subject of counsellors, an article in High School Journal (Butler, 2003) suggests that African-American students do indeed need different strategies to achieve academic success. Since a portion of African-American adolescents live in single-parent home environments and below the poverty level, and as a result of that environment are "likely to question the relationship between educational achievement and economic progress," school counselors must take on strategies beyond their job descriptions. "At different times," Butler writes, "their positions may require that they function...as advisors, consultants, and advocates." These interventions by counselors might include "peer instruction strategies, collaborative learning assignments... [and] an infusion of culturally relevant material into classroom curricula."

Counselors, the article continues, could and should encourage family members and respected adults in the community to be "active participants in interventions" aimed at "specific African-American urban high school students," and counselors could encourage "cultural pride and foster academic achievement and career aspirations" through "field trips to local professional companies that have large African-American staffs or leaders..."

Cooperative learning - a strategy that teams students in small groups with different levels of ability, using a diverse series of learning activities to enhance understanding - is another strategy that has proved effective among African-American youth. In an article published by the Journal of Instructional Psychology (Wilson-Jones, 2004), a qualitative study revealed that "students of color are more prone to function better within group settings," and in fact have "a preference for learning cooperatively.

This study involved faculty members from Fayetteville State University who conducted 6 face-to-face interviews with 16 African-American males over a three-month period during the school year 2002-2003. The interview subject areas included issues related to home and school experiences and "how these two environments affected their academic success."

The results showed initially that "students of color have unique cognitive and learning styles from those of other cultures"; secondly, the research indicated that African-American males are "faced daily with situations that appear to decrease their chances for academic achievement"; and thirdly, the cooperative learning strategy was preferred by virtually all 16 male students, most of whom "expressed a preference...to learn by working in groups with limited interaction with teachers."

Providing Students the Tools to Excel" is an article in Black Issues in Higher Education (Mercer, 2002), that speaks to a highly respected, successful program that exposes African-American (and other minorities) to careers in math, science, and engineering. The program, called Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP), was begun in 1976 by Kenneth Hill, has as a goal creating engineers, scientists and mathematicians out of young people who otherwise might not have had a direct path to those disciplines. "Exposure is a key part of the program," according to Raymond Gregory, a DAPCEP board member. "A lot of kids (need that), especially in the inner-city, it's not like you have an engineer living down the street from you."

Students get more than just the math, science, and engineering classes, the article asserts. "It's the recognition that African-American children can excel in technology, and those same beliefs are instilled in students." Hill is quoted as saying, "When you look at our community and if I mention a basketball player or a gospel star, there's no mystery there because the infrastructure is there to develop those careers. We said if you put in the infrastructure for technology careers, let's see what happens. Let's create that same environment for math, science and engineering as there is in our community for music and sports."