scholarly journals Examining the achievement gap : the effectiveness of African American teachers instructing African American students in Kansas City Public Schools

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Jordan Campbell
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Achievement Gap ◽  
African American Students ◽  
Kansas City ◽  
African American Teachers ◽  
American Students

Making Science Homework Work: The Perspectives of Exemplary African American Science Teachers

2012 ◽  
Vol 114 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Jianzhong Xu ◽  
Linda T. Coats ◽  
Mary L. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
African American ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
African American Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
African American Teachers ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
American Science ◽  
American Students

Background/Context Despite the best intentions to close the achievement gap, the under-achievement of African American students in science is a persistent problem. It is surprising to note, however, that research on science education has often failed to consider students’ cultural diversity as it relates to science education. On the few occasions when efforts were made to link science disciplines and students’ cultural backgrounds, these studies were largely limited to classroom learning environments. Purpose/Research Question This study examines the perspectives of exemplary African American teachers toward science homework. Specifically, we address two research questions: What does science homework mean to exemplary African American science teachers? How do they approach science homework? Research Design A qualitative study was conducted, with data obtained from the following sources: (a) three open-ended, in-depth interviews with each exemplary teacher during the first year of the study, and (b) two focus group interviews with these teachers during the second year of the study. The participants were 8 exemplary African American science teachers in Grades 3–6 in the southeastern United States. Findings/Results Data revealed that these teachers shared a strong sense of urgency to use homework as an important vehicle in science learning. To help their students be successful with their homework, these teachers often provided additional provisions and used a variety of strategies to promote students’ interest in their homework. In addition, the teachers adapted an approach comparable to both Boykin's Afrocultural ethos (e.g., concerned with affect, expressive individualism, and verve) and “being a warm demander” (i.e., setting high expectations and insisting firmly yet respectfully that students meet those expectations). Conclusions These findings suggest that there is merit in integrating these two frameworks to better understand the perspectives of exemplary African American teachers toward science homework. These findings highlight the need to examine the perspectives of exemplary African American teachers toward secondary school science homework given that the poor achievement of African American students becomes more pronounced as they progress through school, and homework is found to be more strongly associated with secondary school students than elementary school students.

School Security and Student Misbehavior

2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 755-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Servoss
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
African American Students ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
American Students ◽  
Student Misbehavior ◽  
Negative Side Effects ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Despite a nationwide trend to increase security measures in schools, their effectiveness in reducing or preventing student misbehavior remains largely unexamined. In addition, there is concern that increased security may have unintended negative side effects and is applied inequitably across students of disparate racial/ethnic backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to explore student differences between high- and low-security schools and to understand the relationship of security to student misbehavior. Data from 10,577 Grade 10 students from 504 public schools from the Education Longitudinal Study were examined. Numerous differences in students served by high- and low-security schools were noted; high-security schools were more likely to serve African American students. Security was negatively associated with student self-reported misbehavior but was unrelated to teacher ratings. Security interacted with race/ethnicity such that African American students were rated as having higher levels of disruptive and attendance-related misbehavior by teachers in schools with higher levels of security.

Metacognitive Knowledge, Skills, and Awareness: A Possible Solution to Enhancing Academic Achievement in African American Adolescents

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-639
Author(s):  
Annie K. Smith ◽  
Sheila Black ◽  
Lisa M. Hooper
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
African American ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
African American Students ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
The United States ◽  
Metacognitive Knowledge ◽  
Future Research ◽  
American Students

The resegregation of public schools in the United States continues to place African American students at an academic disadvantage with—oftentimes—limited educational resources and fewer qualified teachers. Providing African American students with skills and strategies to succeed has never been more urgent. Metacognition, often defined simply as “thinking about thinking,” is a construct and process that may explain how students can improve and control their thinking and learning. Given the educational inequality African American students often face, providing strategies—with which they have control—may help empower students to better navigate and make the best of their daily academic experiences and environment composed of limited physical and human resources. Toward this end, recent research on metacognition looks promising and may be one viable option to enhance academic achievement among students. In this article, we consider three related areas that inform African American youth educational experiences: (a) the history of the educational context which African American youth have long faced, (b) the laws that have historically and currently buttress and inform the educational landscape for African American youth, and (c) one potential solution (i.e., metacognitive knowledge, skills, and awareness) to reduce or ameliorate some of the problems outlined in the history and laws that have been implicated in the low levels of academic achievement among some African American youth. Following the review of these related literature bases, we offer recommendations on how the extant literature bases may inform directions for future research that is focused on metacognition and that is ethically and culturally responsive.

Measuring Urban Teachers’ Beliefs About African American Students

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prathiba Natesan ◽  
Vincent Kieftenbeld
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Teacher Beliefs ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
African American Students ◽  
European American ◽  
Hispanic American ◽  
Urban Teachers ◽  
African American Teachers ◽  
American Students ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

Understanding urban teachers’ beliefs about African American students has become important because (a) many teachers are reluctant to teach students from other cultures, and (b) most teachers are European American. To construct a psychometrically sound measure of teacher beliefs, the authors investigate the measurement properties of a teacher beliefs factor. This factor was selected from an inventory of items that purported to measure urban teachers’ cultural awareness and beliefs. Measurement invariance of the teacher beliefs factor across European American, African American, and Hispanic American teachers addressed its construct validity. The authors examine the psychometric properties of these items using graded response multilevel analysis. The final 5-item factor showed highest level of invariance for African American and European American teachers but did not fit Hispanic American teachers well. All the five items had good psychometric properties. Analyses of latent means showed that African American teachers had more positive beliefs about African American students than European American teachers did. However, the latent scores were bimodally distributed for African American teachers showing that one subgroup of African American teachers had similar beliefs as European American teachers while another subgroup had more positive beliefs.

scholarly journals Promoting Privilege

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Douglas G Wren
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
African American Students ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
American Students ◽  
Gifted Education Programs

Point of view:  I am a cisgender, White male in my sixties.  I retired recently after working with children in a professional capacity since the mid-1970s.  My first career involved organizing and managing youth sports programs for public recreation departments.  I began my second career as an elementary school teacher in the privileged white neighborhood where I grew up near Atlanta, Georgia.  There were no African American students at any of the public schools I attended.  By the time I took a position in the central office after teaching for 14 years, Black students comprised 77% of the county’s 98,000 students (Anderson & Smith-Hunt, 2005).  I spent my last six years in the classroom teaching fifth graders and serving as the school’s gifted liaison teacher.  In the latter role, I administered tests to students to determine if they were eligible for the “gifted” label.  At that time, I also taught an assessment course to teachers who were seeking a gifted add-on endorsement to their teaching certificates.  I recently retired from a large school district in a different state after working as an educational measurement and assessment specialist for 12 years.  Value:  Numerous educational policies and procedures in the United States benefit children from privileged families over their traditionally underserved counterparts, which include students of color and low-income students.  This piece describes a public school district’s inequitable practices related to its program for gifted students, practices that are not uncommon in many American school districts.  “Education is one of the best ways to address systemic inequities, but education systems in the US seem to be increasingly subject to criticism that they are unable to change and promote equity” (Cheville, 2018, p. 1).  Despite their inherent resistance to change, educational agencies must be made aware of discriminatory policies and procedures.  Stakeholders must then hold policy makers and educational leaders to account.  As James hanged until it is faced” (1962, p. 38). Summary:  Gifted education programs in public schools comprise mainly middle-class and upper-middle-class students of European and Asian descent.  Students from low socioeconomic groups, African American students, Latinx students, and Indigenous American students continue to be underrepresented in gifted programs, despite the fact that this inequity was brought to light many years ago (Ford, 1998).  Given our nation’s long history of overt and covert racism, it is not surprising that the manner by which students are identified for gifted services is systemically entrenched and at the heart of the problem.  Most states have mandates or provide guidance to local school districts regarding identification criteria; however, very few of the measurement instruments and methods used to evaluate of children for gifted services are effective at facilitating equal representation of all groups in gifted education programs.  This piece examines one school district’s guidelines used to identify students for gifted services, including admittance to its prestigious school for gifted children.  Because the guidelines are typical of practices employed by many other school districts, the information contained herein is generalizable to a larger audience. 

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