This study attempts to go beyond the individual-level factors that explain the underachievement of the Black male student and specifically focuses on the enormous growth of female-headed households. To this end, 2,849 middle school students in a large Midwestern school district in the United States were used. It was found that there is a significant association between the proportion of female-headed households and the achievement of Black male students only, in contrast to that of Black female and White students. Specifically, as the proportion of female-headed households in neighborhoods increases, Black male students tend to show poorer outcomes. Implications for the finding are reviewed.
Bankston, C. ( 2004). Social capital, cultural values, immigration, and academic achievement: The host country context and contradictory consequences. Sociology of Education, 77, 176-179.
2.
Battle, J., & Coates, D.L. ( 2004). Father-only and mother-only, single-parent family status of Black girls and achievement in grade twelve and at two-years post high school. Journal of Negro Education, 73, 392-407.
3.
Battle, J., & Scott, B.M. ( 2000). Mother-only versus father-only households: Educational outcomes for AfricanAmerican males. Journal of African American Studies, 5(2), 93-116.
4.
Blau, P. ( 1977). A macrosociological theory of social structure. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 26-54.
5.
Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G., Klebanov, P., & Sealand, N. ( 1993). Do neighborhoods affect child and adolescent development ? American Journal of Sociology, 99, 353-395.
6.
Bush, L. ( 2004). How Black mothers participate in the development of manhood and masculinity: What do we know about Black mothers and their sons? Journal of Negro Education, 73, 381-391.
7.
Cantave, C., & Harrison, R. ( 2001). Living arrangements of children. Washington, DC: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from http://www.jointcenter.org/DB/factsheet/livarg.htm
8.
Crane, J. ( 1991). The epidemic theory of ghettos and neighborhood effects on dropping out and teenage childbearing. American Journal of Sociology, 96, 1226-1259.
9.
Datcher, L. ( 1982). Effects of community and family background on achievement . Review of Economics and Statistics, 64(1), 32-41.
10.
Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2001). Annual update of the HHS poverty guidelines. Retrieved May 1, 2008, from http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/01fedreg.htm
11.
Dornbusch, S.M., Ritter, L.P., & Steinberg, L. ( 1991). Community influences on the relation of family statuses to adolescent school performance: Difference between African Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites. American Journal of Education, 99, 543-567.
12.
Duncan, G.J. ( 1994). Families and neighbors as sources of disadvantage in the schooling decisions of White and Black adolescents. American Journal of Education, 103, 20-53.
13.
Duncan, G.J., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Klebanov, P. ( 1994). Economic deprivation and early childhood development . Child Development, 65, 296-318.
14.
Elliott, D.S., Menard, S., Rankin, B., Elliott, A., & Wilson, W.J. ( 2006). Good kids from bad neighborhoods. New York: Cambridge University Press.
15.
Ensminger, M.E., Lamkin, R.P., & Jacobson, N. ( 1996). School leaving: A longitudinal perspective including neighborhood effects. Child Development, 67, 2400-2416.
16.
Gans, H.J. ( 1967). The Negro family: Reflections on the Moynihan report . In L. Rainwater & W. L. Yancey (Eds.), The Moynihan report and the politics of controversy (pp. 445-457). Cambridge, MA : MIT Press.
17.
Garbarino, J. ( 1992). The meaning of poverty in the world of children. American Behavioral Scientist, 35, 220-237.
18.
Garbarino, J., & Crouter, A. ( 1978). Defining the community context for parent-child relations: The correlates of child maltreatment. Child Development, 49, 604-616.
19.
Harry, B., & Anderson, M.G. (1994). The disproportionate placement of African American males in special education programs: A critique of the process. Journal of Negro Education, 63, 602-620.
20.
Jencks, C., & Mayer, S.E. ( 1990). The social consequences of growing up in a poor neighborhood . In L. Laurence & M. McGeary (Eds.), Inner-city poverty in the United States (pp. 111-186). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
21.
Madyun, N., & Lee, M. ( 2008). Community influences on E/BD student achievement. Education and Urban Society, 40, 307-328.
22.
Milner, H.R. ( 2007). Race, culture, and researcher positionality: Working through dangers seen, unseen, and unforeseen. Educational Researcher, 36, 388-400.
23.
Morehouse Research Institute and the Institute for American Values. (1999). Turning the corner on father absence in Black America: A statement from the Morehouse conference on African American fathers. Retrieved October 3, 2007, from www.americanvalues.org/turning_the_corner.pdf
24.
Moynihan, D.P. ( 1965). The Negro family: The case for national action. Washington, DC: Office of Policy Planning and Research, U.S. Department of Labor.
25.
Noguera, P. ( 2008). The trouble with Black boys: And other reflections on race, equity, and the future of public education. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.
26.
Pew Center on the States. (2008). One in 100: Behind bars in America 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=35904
27.
Pew Research Center. (2007). Blacks see growing values gap between poor and middle class: Optimism about Black progress declines. Retrieved April 28, 2010, from http://pewsocialtrends.org/assets/pdf/Race.pdf
28.
Portes, A., & Fernandez-Kelly, P. (2006). No margin for error: Educational and occupational achievement among disadvantaged children of immigrants . Princeton, NJ: The Center for Migration and Development. Retrieved December 14, 2007, from http://cmd.princeton.edu/papers/wp0703.pdf
29.
Raudenbush, S., & Bryk, A. ( 2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
30.
Rodney, H., & Mupier, R. ( 1999). Behavioral differences between African American male adolescents with biological fathers and those without biological fathers in the home. Journal of Black Studies, 30, 45-61.
31.
Rodney, H.E., Tachia, H.R., & Rodney, L.W. ( 1997). The effects of family and social support on feelings and past acts of violence among African-American college males. Journal of American College Health, 46(3), 103-108.
32.
Sampson, R.J. ( 1997). Collective regulation of adolescent misbehavior: Validation results from eighty Chicago neighborhoods. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 227-244.
33.
Sampson, R.J., & Groves, W.B. ( 1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 774-802.
34.
Shaw, C.R., & McKay, H.D. (1942). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
35.
U.S. Census Bureau News. (2007). Single-parent households showed little variation since 1994. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www./releases/archives/families_households/009842.html
36.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). 2004 American Community Survey. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://factfinder.census.gov
37.
Warner, B.D. ( 1999). Whither poverty? Social disorganization theory in an era of urban transformation. Sociological Focus, 32, 99-113.
38.
Williams, R., Jr. ( 1975). Relative deprivation. In L. Coser (Ed.), The idea of social structure: Papers in honor of Robert K. Merton (pp. 355-378). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
39.
Wilson, W.J. ( 1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
