Urban Education

This article's primary interest is an exploration of the complexities of educational and social conditions encountered by African American males in public schools. It focuses on the ability and effectiveness of comprehensive school reform to overcome the barriers to learning that hinder the urban Black male student, such as concentrated poverty, drug use, and violence. Current trends in comprehensive school reform tend to overlook the importance of cultural relevancy and student/teacher cultural synchronization in educating Black males. As such, this article argues that efforts for the reform of policy and practice be conjoined with the recruitment of educators and school staff. Specifically, this article addresses the effectiveness of recruiting well-educated African American male teachers to teach in schools with large populations of African American male students.

This article presents information that speaks of the disparity in academic achievement between African American males and other ethnic groups, male and female alike. It also shows how after-school programs could provide services that would address and decrease some of these disparities. The article is divided into three sections. The first section addresses policy issues affecting the targeted population. The second section presents four programs that have successfully improved the academic achievement of minority students. The four programs profiled in this article are generally offered during the nonschool hours. The third section addresses additional ways in which after-school programs can develop the talents of males above and beyond academic achievement.

There is considerable confusion regarding why Black males are overrepresented in categories typically associated with negative behavioral outcomes. Drawing on research from a variety of disciplines, this article explores the influence of environmental and cultural factors on the academic performance of Black males. The article also examines the ways in which environmental and cultural forces shape the relationship between identity, particularly related to race and gender, and school performance. Finally, strategies for countering harmful environmental and cultural influences, both the diffuse and the direct, are explored with particular attention paid to recommendations for educators, parents, and youth service providers who seek to support young African American males.

Scholars have documented that Black students enter kindergarten with weaker reading skills than their White counterparts and that this disparity sometimes persists through secondary school. This Black-White performance gap is even more evident when comparing students whose parents have equal years of schooling. This article evaluates how schools can positively affect this disparity by examining two potential sources for this difference: teachers and students. It provides evidence for the proposition that teachers' perceptions, expectations, and behaviors interact with students' beliefs, behaviors, and work habits in ways that help to perpetuate the Black-White test score gap.