African Americans And Boys : Understanding Literacy Gap

Less than 4% of the total student population enrolled in America’s colleges and universities (one of the smallest subgroups based on race/ethnicity and gender.) According to the Schott Foundation, the graduation rate of Black males in CT is between 51%, whereas White males in CT have an 83% graduation rate—a 32% gap. Moreover, the achievement gap between Black women and Black men is the lowest male-to female ratio among all racial/ethnic subgroups. (Strayhorn 1). The disproportionate and devastating failure of Black males in the educational system has further ramifications in our social system as black males are over-represented in the criminal justice system: “African-American males represent approximately 8.6 percent of the nation’s K-12 public school enrollment but make up about 60 percent of all incarcerated youth” (Smith 2005). In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the academic crisis of adolescent black males, one must examine the research findings surrounding the Black-White achievement gap, black male standardized test scores, black male literacy achievement, and the socio-cultural achievement barriers that obscure black males’ self-perception of themselves as readers. “According to many standardized assessments, educators in the U.S.

According to the author, education was not bestowed upon African-American by enlightened citizens. Literacy is viewed as a valuable commodity that African-Americans have had limited opportunities to acquire. And for them becoming literate is perceived as continuous struggle. So Literacy serves emancipatory function when appropriate to reconstruct a society, so it limits access to those who are not literate to participate in all cultural institutions. According to Harris, European American do not fully support the education of African-American and would prefer not to fund it at the levels comparable to funding for their children and would prefer curricula that do not enable African –American to compete with their children for access to high education and possibly opportunities .

“The socioeconomic achievement gap in education refers to the inequality in academic achievement between groups of students. The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates, among other success measures” (Ansell, 2017). Typically, when discussing the achievement gap, educators are comparing the academic progress of African-American students or Hispanic students to the progress of white students. More-often-than-not the white students will have more educational achievements than their non-white colleagues (Ansell, 2017). The most widely accepted theory as to why students with higher socioeconomic status (SES) do better academically is high parental involvement, access to economic resources and access to highly qualified teachers (Huang, 2015. Pg.6). Students of low socioeconomic status often live in poverty. This means that the student may not have sufficient school supplies or even someone at home to help him with his homework. There are numerous children in the United States’ school systems that are failing due to the achievement gap. These students are at a disadvantage because the school systems and teachers do not notice or even care about their home life and how it comes into play in their education. It is important for our nation to not only understand the achievement gap but take steps toward correcting it.

therefore it cannot be totally revolved unless their mindset has changed. According to another research done in the past, in the 1880, fully 71 percent of all black male in the range of 10-14 were illiterate. Another problem of illiteracy rate among African-American is the low involvement of parent’s in their children success. Children of illiterate parents are more likely to drop –out of school and more likely to not be able to read or write if parents are not so involved in their lives. Many actions and efforts have been taken in place to improve illiteracy among blacks. Although nowadays, libraries have become associated with technology and non-print resources, scholars, teachers, librarians and other academics recognize the importance of

There is a reason it used to be a crime in the Confederate states to teach a slave to read: Literacy is power (Matt Taibbi). Literacy and language are too structured but is also well needed in life to succeed. The complex structure of literacy can often create difficulties for students. The way that people are taught to write and speak in school is very different from the way people learned from their parents. Being African American in a “White Nation” has complications especially dealing with literacy and language. Often times many people compare races to each other as if any two races can’t be similar. This action soon leads to races pinning against each other.

A significant correlation between race and poverty exists, with Black and Hispanic Americans three times more likely to be impoverished than White Americans (Proctor and Dalaker 2002). The cycle of poverty and low-literacy functioning is well documented, as is the achievement gap between White students and students of color. Race is a persistent factor in employment statistics, educational attainment, and the acquisition of literacy skills, with significantly higher unemployment rates and lower educational attainment rates among Black and Hispanic Americans than among White Americans. The literature on learner attrition and on resistance to participation in adult literacy programs suggests that the

American students, especially African- and Latin-Americans are performing poorly on international assessments such as the PISA. On the 2012 PISA math and science scores remained below average (496) for African-Americans scoring 421 in math and 439-science and Latin-Americans 455 in math and 462 in science (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). The educational disparities is exacerbated by the low high-school graduation rates and college attendance by minorities. Part of the problem can be attributed to the disproportionately high number of minority students in remedial classes and lack of diversity in gifted education programs. Several factors contribute to a disproportionate number of minority students being placed in special education. Poverty perpetuate problems ranging from premature births to impoverished neighborhoods. Insufficient funding, inadequate resources, and poor curriculum impedes a constructive learning environment (Artiles, Harry, Reschly, & Chinn, 2002). Also the lack of cultural cohesion between teachers and students may result in students of color placed in special education programs (Bailey, 2012). In addition, some assessments used for placement may be culturally bias (Artiles, Harry, Reschly, & Chinn, 2002) and students possibly lack suitable instruction before being placed in remedial education. Students in impoverished neighborhoods receive considerably less state and local funding, the lack of resources increase the probability of being

Huge gaps between boys and girls don't reveal the sign of closing on literacy and numeracy. Boys have always left behind girls in both reading and writing. The gap in writing is the widest. But boys are better at mathematics than girls. And achievement rates in all three subjects is still not up to the standards. The gender and ethnic gaps may be more reliable. Ethnically, the gap between European and Pasifika students is narrowing slightly in reading, writing, mathematics but the one between European and Maori students has kept unchanged.

Grade school inequalities. Jacob and Ludwin (2008) identify several reasons for low academic achievement among students with low socioeconomic status. They also address a few reasons critics use to explain why high-poverty schools have low performance. Those reasons are as follows: students in poverty have access to fewer resources, the schools are unable to improve the learning environment due to a lack of funding, schools cannot afford to improve instruction, and outside factors hinder students from excelling in school. Jacob and Ludwin (2008) also provide solutions for these common criticisms: invest in early childhood education for low-income students, reduce the number of students per classroom, increase merit pay and other

Our future is based (depends) on our children’s education. Millions of remarkable theories could be discovered by children whom need an education. In the book “Brown v. Board of Education”, was a particular statement that caught my attention. The statement read, “Only a small percentage of African Americans are taught how to read and write”. Off of this the reader

Lower test results are not the huge problem impacting literacy, but it has been proven that lack of reading and writing skills can create even more problem for the society and the community. It can create a continuation of intergenerational poverty, more crime and violence in the society (Hughes, Hassel, Kumasi, 2012). Some statistics have proven how illiteracy can impact the society. Research shows that fewer than half of African-American males receive their high school diplomas. African-American men make up only 5 percent of the United States college population, while comprising only 14 percent of the national population, and the unemployment rate for African American males is nearly twice that of white male ( Hughes, Hassel , Kumasi 2012).

The achievement gap is a widely debated, yet very accepted, educational term that refers to the vast difference existing among groups of students (Bradshaw, 2005). This inequality is one of the most significant problems faced by the educational system in the United States. Preschool programs such as Head Start, Virginia Preschool Initiative, and Title I preschool have been touted as the cure-all that enables disadvantaged children to acquire the skills that will ensure they are successful in school. As the performance of

Due to their economic status, parents or the parent of the child, can not risk unemployment, with that in mind, it is not unusual that “some parents may have no option but to leave children in less reliable forms of supervision or forgo necessary care for their children (e.g., doctor appointments),” (Ha et al, 21.) There are numerous cases of children missing out on health care and other important services due to conflicts with parent’s schedules. In addition, when Pre-k children were compared with center-based children, they found that “public school-based pre-K outperformed children in center-based care on 8 of the 11 subscales, which included measures of math, literacy, social skills, motor skills, and health,” (Ansari et al, 75.) This shows that even if a child from a lower/working-class family is able to attend a center-based care facility, they still are not receiving the adequate educational, social, and language development skills that they need in order to not fall behind other children in the same grade. A prime example of this, if we take a another look at Harold, we can see how lower/working-class children begin to mimic the way the people around them speak, which can been seen when Harold says, “Them girl colors,” (Lareau 148.) He uses African American Vernacular English (AAVE), and since his mother, siblings, cousins, and the other working/lower-class children he socializes with on a daily basis, use this form of English, they do not correct him and or try to get him to elaborate on his thoughts. Thus, he and other lower/working-class children do not change their speech and therefore do not grasp what is referred to as “Good

Harold Hodgkinson (1999), a noted demographer, labels poverty as the “universal handicap,” with social class more important than race. Poverty is a reality in our world, and they are a lot of children that are affected by it. Low-income children have a hard time learning how to read because they do not have the necessary support at home. Most of this kid’s parents, work 2-3 jobs to provide their children with a house, food, etc. Since the teacher can control this situations happening at home, she/he needs to find ways to help the student in the classroom. However, this doesn’t mean that low-income parents do not care about their kid’s education. Most of them do value literacy, they just do not have the extra time to help their kids at home.

Throughout my classes at DePaul’s College of Education, I have wondered how and why socioeconomic factors have such a profound effect on children's school readiness, development, and future of learning. With the addition of clinical experiences in various schools and grades, a passion and focus area of mine has been multicultural perspectives, often volunteering at schools where students and their families live below the poverty line. I have personally witnessed that the lack of family income makes it difficult or impossible for children to learn and develop at the same capacity as their higher socioeconomic counterparts. It is under these conditions that roadblocks can occur, making academic performance difficult for at-risk students.