African American students' career and college readiness

This article focuses on findings from a subgroup of African-American male students as part of a broader qualitative dissertation research study, which explored how exclusion and marginalization in schools impact the lives of African-American students. The study focused on the perspectives of youth attending both middle and high schools in Michigan, and investigated how students who have experienced forms of exclusion in their K–12 schooling viewed their educational experiences. Key themes that emerged from the study were lack of care, lack of belonging, disrupted education, debilitating discipline, and persistence and resilience. These themes were analyzed in relation to their intersectionality with culture, ethnicity, race, class, and gender.

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Closing the Black-White Achievement Gap in High School: An Assessment of Evidence on Interventions to Improve Test Scores and College Prospects of African American Students

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.1875964 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Meryle Weinstein ◽

Amy Ellen Schwartz ◽

Hella Bel Hadj Amor ◽

Leanna Stiefel

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

African American ◽

Achievement Gap ◽

Test Scores ◽

African American Students ◽

American Students ◽

Assessment Of Evidence

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Friends from Home: Asset and Liability to African American Students Attending a Predominantly White Institution

NASPA Journal ◽

10.2202/0027-6014.1394 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 41 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Douglas A. Guiffrida

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Student Affairs ◽

Predominantly White ◽

Student Development ◽

African American Students ◽

Predominantly White Institution ◽

Student Affairs Practitioners ◽

Student Departure ◽

American Students ◽

The Impact

The importance of connections with peers to student development and retention has been highlighted in Astin's (1984) Theory of Student Involvement and Tinto's (1993) Theory of Student Departure, which are two of the most widely referenced and validated models in student affairs literature. However, recent research has questioned the applicability of these models to African American students who attend predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Although prior research has indicated that the models should be modified to recognize the importance of students relationships with their families, research has failed to understand the impact of relationships with friends from home. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the conditions under which friends from home were perceived as assets or liabilities to 99 African American undergraduates who attended a PWI. The results provide a link for broadening the applicability of Astins and Tinto's models and offer student affairs practitioners deeper insight into African American students' experiences at PWIs.

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