Research Proposal & Preliminary Literature Review
What About African American Girls? African American girls continue to be dismissed academically at a systemic level in the K-12 public school system. Despite the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, some students remain below the learning curve, in particularly, African American females. Until the educational stakeholders take responsibility for the inferior and inequitable resources, the persistent lack of funding, the racism and the class distinction that are institutionalized in the system—the achievement gap between White and Black females, will remain firmly in place (Ladson-Billings, 2006).
In order for all students to have equal access to education, the policy makers,
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The questions that will be asked are all open-ended and will assist in determining why some African American females don’t fare as well as other ethnicities academically in the public school system. The questions will be rephrased with probes and pauses, depending on how much information is received from the participant. More questions will be added as I proceed through the research process and gather more information from the participant. The focus will be on African American females, and each question that is asked will be recorded and examined in their own words from their perspective. At the end of the study, I will conduct a formal analysis and construction of meaningful findings.
Study Context
Statement of Problem African American girls are largely ignored when the race gap is examined. While it is true that African American girls fare better than African American boys, there is still a large discrepancy between Black and White girls. Upon reading the literature, it is clear that both the race driven education movement and the feminist education movement have forgotten Black girls. This is a phenomenon that needs further research. The disenfranchisement of the African American female child in the education system is a problem that has to be addressed. This study is needed because it is imperative that the public education system addresses the needs of all groups of students, regardless of their race or
Due to the discrimination of African-Americans, and oppression resulting from it, the government, justice system, educational system, and society has made it clear that African-American teenagers obtaining a thorough and effective education is the least of their concerns. It is almost as though African-American teenagers are purposely being set up to fail. As stated in “The Oppression of Black People, The Crimes of This System and the Revolution we need”, “Today the schools are more segregated than they have been since the 1960s with urban, predominantly Black and Latino schools receiving fewer resources and set up to fail. These schools more and more resemble prisons
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.
Today's education is often viewed as failing in its goal of educating students, especially those students characterized as minorities, including African American, Hispanic, and Appalachian students (Quiroz, 1999). Among the minority groups mentioned, African American males are affected most adversely. Research has shown that when Black male students are compared to other students by gender and race they consistently rank lowest in academic achievement (Ogbu, 2003), have the worst attendance record (Voelkle, 1999), are suspended and expelled the most often (Raffaele Mendez, 2003; Staples, 1982), are most likely to drop out of school, and most often fail to graduate from high school or to earn a GED (Pinkney, 2000; Roderick, 2003).
These claims have been well documented. However, the connection to the graduation gap may be clearer with an answer of how other factors such as financial and other family problems brought about by poverty affect them. The rest of the book provides possible solutions to questions of invisibility such as respecting and valuing black students. Another solution is removing remedial programs for challenging curricula and supports that are appropriate.
“Unintended Educational and Social Consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act” Journal of Gender, Race and Justice, no. 2, Winter 2009, pp. 311. EBSCOhost. In this peer-reviewed academic journal article, Liz Hollingworth, an associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Iowa, explores the history of school reform in the United States, and the unintended consequences of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Hollingworth states that the great promise of NCLB is that schools will focus on the education of low-achieving students, reducing the gap in student academic achievement between White students and African-American, Hispanic, and Native American student populations. Hollingworth states that an unintended consequence of NCLB was that teachers and school administrators had to shift curriculum focus in an effort to raise test scores, but in some cases, they had to also abandoned thoughtful, research-based classroom practices in exchange for test preparation. NCLB also affected teachers, highly qualified teachers left high-poverty schools, with low performance rates especially those schools where teacher salaries are tied to student academic performance. Hollingworth concludes her article by stating “we need to be wary of policy innovations that amount to simply rearranging the deck chairs on the
In Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected, Kimberlé Crenshaw provides vivid examples and statistics on how black girls are often punished more in comparison to students of a different race and/or gender. As little data is collected on how black girls encounter unjust disciplinary actions on a consistent basis, educators, activists, and community members remain unaware about the consequences of these actions(Crenshaw, 2015). Due to these individuals becoming "underinformed", little action is done to improve the educational experience of black women, producing negative impacts amongst academic success (Crenshaw, 2015, p. 8). By understanding and becoming aware of the issues that black women endure, school systems can
This chapter elaborates on how racism has a negative impact on African American education, in which has been happening for many decades and is currently taking place. Furthermore, it speaks about segregation and how it currently exists in different ways. Additionally, it speaks on how segregation not only exist in one school, but it likewise exists across the school districts. It speaks on how segregation in these schools has a negative impact on students’ academic success and future success.
Although much scholarship has focused on the schooling experiences of African American boys, this article demonstrates that African American girls encounter unique educational perceptions and obstacles. Black girls in a pre- dominately minority school performed well academically, but educators often questioned their manners and behavior. Some tried to mold many of these girls into “ladies,” which entailed curbing behavior perceived as “loud” and assertive. This article advances theories of intersectionality by showing how race and class shape perceptions of femininity for Black girls, and how the encouragement of more traditionally feminine behavior could ultimately limit their academic
Ultimately the lack of reliable resources and preparation from underfunded schools leads African American students into being unprepared for college and jobs, once again reinforcing a vicious cycle of poverty within the community. Gillian B. White, a senior associate editor at The Atlantic, wrote a chilling article regarding the systematic racism that is deeply embedded in the American school system. In the article The Data: Race Influences School Funding, White states “At a given poverty level, districts that have a higher proportion of white students get substantially higher funding than districts that have more minority students” (White). In this quote White explains the clear correlation of race and inadequate funding in the American school
African Americans are not the only ethnicity group to be singled out with behavior. Racial and ethnic minority students report experiencing low teacher expectations, having less access to educational resources, being placed on lower educational tracks, and being steered toward low-paying employment (Kozol, 1991; Olsen, 2008).This low expectation is causing
For generations African Americans have been disadvantaged in America and effects of these injustices have made a lasting impression. Education is one of the leading problems in the black community. Though there have many reforms in education over the years, racial injustices still exist because no attention in placed on how legislature affects people of color. I was raised in a middle-class family of educators. My entire life I’ve been told to “stay in school, get an education, and work hard so that you can beat the system.” Recognizing the structural forces in my life has helped me understand my place in society. Being able to “understand everyday life, not through personal circumstances but through the broader historical forces that
Destiny, a black girl, always talks about how much trouble she got into during high school. She received many detentions and suspensions just because she likes to speak what is on her mind. She admits that she may have gone a little too far at times, but sometimes it just was not fair for the things she was being punished for. During middle school, she found a program called Whyld Girls. This program helps girls in poverty to be more aware of their surroundings. Destiny learned about birth control, how to survive high school, and how to apply and get into college. After joining this program, Destiny started getting better grades in school and receiving fewer detentions. Black girls do tend to have more of an outspoken attitude but that does not mean they should be suspended from learning. This essay will be discussing the sexism between men and women, and the classism and privileges between white and black people. The lives of black girls do matter and more people within our societies need to be aware and take a stance on how these girls are being treated on a daily basis.
African American students account for the larger majority of minorities in public schools in the United States. Most areas in the northern part of the United states and coastal areas are ethnically diverse. However, down south this is not the case. Students of color will experience a harder time in the education system. African American students meet the obstacle of educators who will not want them to succeed based on a preconceived thought. In fact, Caucasian teachers make up for 85% of all
Educational systems in the United States are heavily influenced by racial requirements. One of the many requirements that holds a strong impact in these systems is implementing affirmative action in these communities. Affirmative action is a product of “the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement, intended to provide equal opportunities for members of minority groups and women in education” (NCSL). In other words,
In education, white people have always been at an advantage compared to other races. African-American have had quite a setback in prior years. There was a time when African-American weren’t even allowed to learn how to write or read in our country just because of the color of their skin. There has been quite the improvement from those times in terms of African-Americans obtaining an education. According to Essentials of Sociology, only about 20 percent of African-Americans had a high school diploma in the year of 1960. The number has increased significantly to roughly 82 percent in 2013. That percentage represents a significant change that shows how our nation has progressed throughout the years. However, you are still at a set back if you aren’t white. “Black students were expelled at three times the rate of white students” (Hsieh, 2014).