High School Context and Black Student Performance (original) (raw)
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The article presents an analysis of the key findings of a research project which examines the factors and conditions that lead to high attaining Black pupils. The analyses of four case study schools forms the basis of discussion and illuminates those factors that have had a substantial impact on the high achieving pupils. These include strong leadership, high teacher expectations, effective teacher-pupil relationships, good partnerships with parents, a high level of parental involvement, creative extracurricular activities. The article pays particular attention to head teachers' awareness and understanding of the experiences of Black pupils together with the learning experiences and the attitudes towards schooling of the pupils themselves. The article has implications for school leadership and illuminates further the notions of social justice, quality and equality of education for all.
Constructing Success for Black Students in Suburban High School
2011
Considerable literature supports that teachers are important to student achievement, but few studies have assessed the student voice to determine what specific teacher behaviors and interactions affect achievement. This study is a secondary analysis of existing data from a local implementation of a national survey of student appraisals of teacher-student relationships, school experiences and their impacts on achievement. Data were analyzed to explore differences in perceptions for White and Black students, for higher-and lower-performing Black students and for Black males and females who attend suburban, high SES, high-performing, predominantly White high schools. Findings indicate an achievement gap between Black and White students, Black higherand lower-performing and Black male and female students in predominantly White high schools. Students' perceptions of specific teacher interactions, school experiences and achievement differed and were impacted by race and gender effects, but more positive appraisals of student-teacher interactions and school experiences were positively related to improved achievement for all students.
Toward a Theory of African American School Achievement. Report No. 16
1993
Past attempts to develop an explanatory model for African-American school achievement have focused disproportionately on failure. But if one considers the long and persistent denial and limiting of educational opportunity to African Americans, from slavery to the present, and African Americans' corresponding achievements, the historically and educationally useful question becomes: How have African Americans succeeded in producing a leadership and intellectual class? This paper reviews the research on theories of African-American school achievement, examining the work of black family scholars on racial socialization, recent studies of the social constiuction of "whiteness," and ongoing investigations about the relative power of the cultural differences versus social mobility explanations of school achievement among racial minorities. The cultural differences model is problematized and reformulated to include the concept of whiteness as a social construction with a cultural corollary. It is argued that in order to achieve in school, African-American children have to develop competency in the negotiation of multiple identities, including membership in: (1) mainstream society; (2) the Black community defined as a racially discriminated group; and (3) a cultural group in opposition to which whiteness has been constructed as a social category. (Contains 201 references.) (MDM)
2013
Much of the literature dedicated to the academic achievement o f African American males focuses on failure, obstacles, negative influences and explanations of factors that negatively impact their academic success. This qualitative research study provided an opportunity for African American male students at the high school level to articulate their experiences and speak to the factors that they perceived as contributing to their academic success. The constructs of identity and cultural capital were offered by this researcher as a conceptual framework into the insight o f factors that impacted the academic achievement of this student group. Through interviews, a classroom observation and document review, the perceptions of six African American male seniors from two public high schools located in southeastern Virginia were collected and analyzed. The themes derived from the data showed that these young men were successful due to the support they received from their teachers, parents and peers, their approach to challenging and difficult situations, and the opportunities that they were afforded that led to their use of the educational process to reach their goals and dreams. FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES: PERCEPTIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS xiv Chapter 1: Statement of the Problem Historically, minority populations across the United States and the world have dealt with inequities that have included the denial of the right to vote, to own property, to be meaningfully employed, and to pursue an education. In the United States, many of these rights were restored through landmark cases such as Brown v. Board o f Education and the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Davis (2005) and Monroe (2005 a & b) suggested that there remains a residual effect of these inequities, which can be seen in education as manifested in issues of achievement, drop-out rates, discipline practices, over representation of minority student groups in categories such as special education, and under-representation in areas such as gifted and talented. Data provided by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for the state of Virginia illustrates the issue of inequities for African American males (Holzman, 2010). Data indicate that there are approximately 162,679 black males enrolled in K-12 programs in Virginia. The 2007-2008 graduation rate for African American males was 49% while the graduation rate for White males was found to be 73% (Holzman, 2010). The data revealed that out-of school-suspension rates for Black males was equivalent to 18% of Virginia's enrollment of African American males while White male students were suspended at a rate equivalent to seven percent of their enrollment. The data also indicated that African American males were expelled at a proportion that was twice that of their enrollment. While significant numbers o f African American males are removed
Rising Out of the Gap: Early Adolescent Black Males and Academic Success
The Qualitative Report, 2018
This qualitative inquiry examined the lived experiences of 14 high-achieving, eighth-grade, Black males in three inner city middle schools. Anchored in a social constructivist paradigm, this study focused on factors that influence the educational experiences of early adolescent Black males. Participant selection was based on state test scores, GPA, and SES; data were collected by classroom observation and semi-structured interviews. Six themes and twenty-two subthemes related to factors which promote achievement and the meaning of achievement were found. Results show that high achieving students were motivated to excel, in part, by striving to counter negative assumptions about Black males. Participants faced many personal and contextual challenges, but they were able to identify individual and environmental resources that they used to fuel their drive for academic success.
2015
The purpose of the study was to gain a deep understanding of the educational experiences and perceptions of junior and senior African American male secondary school students attending a diverse urban high school in the Northeast. The case study was bound by self-identification as African American male, 11th or 12 th grade level, and the school setting. Ten participants were profiled by low, medium, and high GPAs. Data were collected through focus groups, in-depth participant interviews, and observations of informal school environments. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative method as different levels of codes emerged. Analysis of the data suggested themes in nine areas: identity, social dimension of school climate, peer influences, academic dimension of school climate, factors related to academic achievement, school culture, family influences, future selves, and participants' recommendations for school changes. The significance of each theme and its implication for practitioners and researchers were discussed and offered.
Perceptions of Secondary School Attainment and Opportunities among Black Students
Education is an essential tool in the development of today’s world. The ability to develop oneself plays a critical role in creating future opportunities for individuals. It was apparent that the school system had some technical and social issues that needed working out. There was a realization that albeit being affected by other factors outside the school such as poverty and peer pressure the school system also played a significant part in the student’s low attainment and expectations about opportunities. The study found institutional racism and a breakdown in the student-teacher relationship to be a major factor in lower attainment by Black boys relative to student from other ethnicities. While there is need for a more in-depth study into the findings of the results.