Addressing the Sociocultural Determinants of African American Students’ Academic Achievement: The Four Themes of the American School Counselor Association’s National Model and the Role of School Counselors

Abstract

Social justice, ensuring that all students receive access to equitable educational resources and opportunities to succeed academically, is a guiding principle for school counselors. With this ideal in mind, specific sociocultural factors that affect the academic achievement of African American students in urban school settings are considered. Subsequently, the four themes of the American School Counselor Association’s National Model—leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and systematic change—are used to provide school counselors in urban schools with guidelines to address the academic achievement of African American students related to these sociocultural factors.

Keywords

school counselors urban education multicultural schools minority academic success African American students cultural responsiveness social achievement gap race identity best practices diversity urban

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