Psychosocial Issues Affecting African-American Students

Introduction: An Educational Crisis in New York City

"They never want to hear what I have to say…it doesn't matter who started a fight, or what a teacher said to you that made you mad. You might have something heavy going on at home but no one asks. They're not interested. They just want you out of the school."
— 17-year-old 11th grade African-American female student, NYC (Sullivan, 2007, p. iii)

In New York City — one of the two largest urban public school districts in the United States — as well as throughout the country, an educational crisis exists that is particularly acute for African-American students and that links to a number of factors. According to Sullivan (2007) in the published study Deprived of Dignity: Degrading Treatment and Abusive Discipline in New York City and Los Angeles Public Schools, 58% of African-American fourth-grade students attending school in the U.S. during 2005 scored below the basic reading level for fourth graders, compared to 36% of students overall.

Even though African-American children in the U.S. repeatedly demonstrate low performance rates on standardized academic tests and exhibit high dropout rates in high school, Johnson (2011) stresses that not enough is being done to remedy this situation. This paper discusses numerous developmental factors that affect African-American children in school, with particular emphasis on the global self-concept of African-American youth in academia and how it contributes to poor performance. Other considerations include the disproportionate use of "special education" labels applied to African-American students in New York City public schools.

Booker (2006) asserts in the study "School Belonging and the African-American Adolescent: What Do We Know and Where Should We Go?" that a student's sense of belonging and association proves critical in an educational setting. Students need a sense of community and connection to others to maximize their abilities to learn and engage in academic ventures. Sullivan (2007) also expresses concern that many Black students in New York City public schools are routinely labeled as troublemakers, and that some labeled as special needs students or placed in special education classes are sometimes deliberately "expelled, transferred, or counseled out by staff" (Sullivan, 2007, p. iii). Some teachers acknowledge that a number of schools expel students to reduce overcrowding and to avoid helping students with special academic or behavioral needs. In some instances, students who experience repeated suspensions and removals do not receive supportive services, which frequently contributes to greater alienation over time. Students may in turn exhibit more misbehavior, which can also lead to dropping out of school.

Sullivan (2007) reports that recently in NYC:

Students and parents reported that some students who are labeled as troublemakers and/or are struggling academically are intentionally pushed out by being expelled, transferred, or counseled out by staff. Teachers acknowledged that some schools openly push students out as a strategy to reduce overcrowding and avoid the burden of helping students with special academic or behavioral needs. In other cases, schools subject students to repeated suspensions and removals without supportive services, contributing over time to alienation and misbehavior which can lead to pushout. These pushouts contribute to a low four-year graduation rate of 38% in New York City. (Sullivan, 2007, p. iii)

Factors Affecting Academia

"Research shows, for African-American adolescents, issues of school belonging, identification, and engagement are critical to academic performance and successful completion of high school" (Booker, 2008, p. 1).

A 2011 report obtained by the Student Safety Coalition through Freedom of Information requests and analyzed by the New York Civil Liberties Union reveals that New York City's public schools currently suspend more students, and for longer periods of time, than schools did a decade ago. In the publication "City Schools Are Suspending More Students, and for Longer," Phillips (2011) documents substantial growth in school suspensions from 1999–2000 onward in NYC schools.

In response to the fact that Black students are suspended in disproportionate numbers — with a third of suspensions occurring during months when students sit for extended periods completing state exams — NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman stated: "Education is a child's right, not a reward for good behavior. . . . Sadly, the growing reliance on suspensions in New York City schools all too often denies children — often the most vulnerable and in need of support — their right to an education" (Phillips, 2011). Excessively harsh approaches to discipline, combined with aggressive policing in schools, frequently transitions youth from the classroom into the criminal justice system.

The report also found:

Students with disabilities are four times more likely to be suspended than students without disabilities. Black students, who compose 33% of the student body, served 53% of suspensions over the past ten years. Black students with disabilities represent more than 50% of all suspended students with disabilities. Black students served longer suspensions on average and were more likely to be suspended for subjective misconduct, such as profanity and insubordination. Thirty percent of suspensions occur in March and May of each school year, when students are often taking exams (Phillips, 2011; Analysis finds dramatic spike in NYC suspensions, 2011).

Among its recommendations, the report stresses the need for NYC schools to provide support services to address students' emotional and psychological needs. Schools also need to invest in school aides, guidance counselors, and social workers trained in conflict resolution and restorative justice methods to address and help resolve disciplinary infractions. Schools should also collaborate with community-based organizations as well as medical, mental health, and social service providers to help students better address non-academic developmental needs (Phillips, 2011).

Bruce, Getch, and Ziomek-Daigle (2009) report in "Closing the Gap: A Group Counseling Approach to Improve Test Performance of African-American Students" that, historically as in contemporary society, education proves to be of critical value and an indispensable prerequisite for an individual to succeed and experience at least a moderately high quality of life as an adult. African-Americans, however, comprise a major portion of the most at-risk populations for underachieving in school and in society.

As Bruce, Getch, and Ziomek-Daigle (2009) note:

Black men are more highly represented in the prison system than in higher education, and only 15.5% of Black Americans have graduated from college compared to 27.7% of White Americans and 42.4% of Asian-Americans. Regardless of race, opportunities for youth without a high school diploma are scarce, and individuals without a high school diploma are approximately four times more likely to be unemployed than college graduates. . . . Additionally, the poverty rate among African-Americans is approximately three times that of White Americans. (Bruce, Getch, & Ziomek-Daigle, 2009, Literature Review Section, para. 2)

Data from Bruce, Getch, and Ziomek-Daigle (2009) and other credible sources confirm that addressing contemporary challenges relating to African-American youth proves critical to determining the future of these young people. Increases in educational achievement, attainment, and employment need to be implemented to help bridge the existing educational gap in the United States.

Identity Development and Racial Self-Concept

Thomas-Cottingham (2004), a clinical psychologist, explains that Erik Erikson emphasized that culture and society significantly influence a person's development. A person resolves each stage of development — each characterized by a crisis — with either adaptive or maladaptive coping. Erikson's theory of psychosocial development identifies the adolescent stage as identity vs. identity diffusion. As the adolescent struggles to develop a sense of self, teens typically "try on" or experiment with various identities. As teens transition from childhood to adulthood, this period provides the opportunity to contemplate who they are and who they will ultimately become. Definitions of self include ethnic identity, religious affiliations, political viewpoints, sexual orientation, and educational and occupational aspirations. Friends, peers, and others in the psychosocial realm prove critical in this struggle. Ideally, the adolescent exits this stage and enters early adulthood with a strong sense of self and identity. At times, however, teens do not develop a clear sense of self and merely adopt vague beliefs or perceptions devoid of definition, contributing to an undesirable condition defined as identity diffusion.

The following table presents Erikson's psychosocial stages of development along with adaptive ways of coping at each stage (Thomas-Cottingham, 2004):

Trust vs. Mistrust (Birth to 18 months): When a caregiver proves responsive to the infant's needs, the child will develop a sense of trust.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (18 months to 3 years): When a caregiver permits the child to explore and become an independent being, the child will develop a sense of autonomy.

Initiative vs. Guilt (3 to 6 years): When a caregiver encourages the child's self-initiated activities, the child will develop a sense of initiative.

Industry vs. Inferiority (6 to 12 years): When parents and teachers provide positive feedback as children master new skills, children will develop a sense of industriousness.

Identity vs. Identity Diffusion (12 to 18 years): When the adolescent can begin to answer the question "Who am I?" — identifying values, beliefs, and aspirations — he or she will develop a sense of identity.

Intimacy vs. Isolation (Early adulthood): When the adult can establish close, committed relationships with others, the adult will develop a sense of intimacy.

Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle adulthood): When the adult can reach out and guide members of the next generation, he or she will develop a sense of generativity — a concern for future generations becoming productive members of society.

Integrity vs. Despair (Late adulthood): When the adult can reflect on life and feel a sense of satisfaction, he or she will develop a sense of integrity.

Thomas-Cottingham (2004) asserts that because positive associations with one's ethnicity relate to a positive sense of self, children of ethnic minorities need to develop and relate positively to their ethnic group. According to the model developed by Phinney and Devich-Navarro, adolescents on their identity search adopt one of four paths for determining their ethnic identity: (1) assimilation, (2) marginalization, (3) separation, and (4) biculturalism (Thomas-Cottingham, 2004).

Rowley and Bowman (2009) express concern about the acute need to counter contemporary trends in the realm of African-American education, particularly when considered alongside data on African-American incarceration rates. Research reveals a number of variables associated with the academic achievement of African-Americans, including "individual-level factors as well as family, neighborhood, school and macro-structural forces" (Rowley & Bowman, 2009, para. 2). Even though overall high school graduation rates and college participation rates for African-Americans have steadily increased during the past two decades, African-American college enrollment still lags behind that of Whites and Asians. For African-Americans who successfully complete high school, attaining college degrees involves various financial, social, emotional, and psychological challenges.

Research indicates that the adjustment and academic outcomes of African-American students in high school as well as in college partly relate to whether they attend a predominantly White school or one with high Black enrollment. Other psychosocial, non-cognitive factors include the actual and perceived racial climate of the campus, peer relationships, and the quality of student-faculty relationships. Poor academic and psychosocial outcomes for many African-American students may evolve from experiences of isolation, low social support, a lack of mentoring, and an absence of racial and ethnic representation among peers and faculty (Rowley & Bowman, 2009). Some research indicates that African-American students feel more accepted and supported in their academic pursuits when attending schools with higher Black student enrollment, and are also reportedly more involved in their schools' social activities compared to their counterparts in predominantly White schools.

Greer (2008) asserts that students, faculty, and staff reflect the values of the larger society, which include its biases and prejudices. Cokley (2002) asserts that no significant institutional differences in academic self-concept are solely attributable to the racial balance of a school's student body, and that reported mean institutional differences can prove misleading. Once society focuses on the underlying causes associated with the gap in African-American education, schools will more likely begin to do the same.

Conclusion

"Education of the child shall be directed to the development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential [and] the development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms." (Sullivan, 2007, Executive Summary)

The answer to the question of why so many African-American students prematurely leave school, particularly in the NYC school system, according to much past research on academic achievement of Black students, projected blame on the individual student or attributed failure to the student's perceived inability to succeed. Berry and Asamen (1989) argue that not only do circumstances inherent in the individual, the family, and the school setting influence academic achievement for Black students — social and economic environments also impact this concern. A few of the many relevant factors may include "the development of the self-concept, peer pressure, personal attributes such as resources, skills and motivation" (Berry & Asamen, 1989, Book Preview Section). Berry and Asamen shift from the common consensus regarding the gap in educational attainment for African-Americans to consider the number of casualties and losses that Black youth routinely experience — especially low-income Black youth — within the contemporary educational system.

Clark (1984) challenges the commonly cited reasons for poor urban children experiencing academic problems, such as broken homes, poverty, racial or ethnic background, poorly educated parents, and working mothers. These reasons do not reliably predict or explain the extensive variation in academic achievement that children and youth experience. Clark contends that the total family life encompasses the most significant indicators of academic potential, while acknowledging that "Every single American family is in some ways like all other American families, in other ways like some American families, and in still other ways like no other American family" (Clark, 1984, p. 11). What differs is the family's ethnic or racial background, as this has historically determined the way other groups have responded to the family and its members.

Clark (1984) further explains:

Differences between the particular social histories of ethnic groups in the United States have led to fundamental differences in the quality and level of knowledge acquired by particular ethnic groups. It is these life quality differences in (a) personal life histories, (b) opportunities for economic and knowledge resources, and (c) residential segregation over time that have produced different sensibilities in parents about how to organize their particular family unit for survival. (Clark, 1984, p. 11)

Despite unique ethnic and racial group experiences in the NYC school system as well as in other school systems in the U.S., many identical communication dynamics and processes contribute to the success or failure of adolescents in school — regardless of racial background, income, or family structure. What must be considered to successfully combat the contemporary crisis regarding psychosocial issues affecting African-American students in NYC public schools is the antithesis to the statement made by the 17-year-old 11th-grade African-American female student quoted at the start of this paper. Those involved in the schools and other aspects of the educational system need to make a point of hearing what students have to say.

In the ongoing effort to address the educational gap that African-American students routinely encounter, what matters most is that those who care about the United States, its children, and the future of America do whatever must be done to ensure that all youth — regardless of race — receive the kind of education that will help them grow into the best adults they can be. As Erikson observed, even though these youth may not yet be what they ought to be, they are not yet what they are going to be (adapted from Erikson, as cited in Brown, 2008). Like the youth they seek to serve, those working to close the achievement gap in education still have much to learn.

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