BOBBEE BEE: “The Role and Influence of Environmental and Cultural Factors on the Academic Performance of African American Males"

" 76% of black boys in the Baltimore public schools never make it to high school graduation"

By Pedro A. Noguera, Ph.D, a professor in the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University

In many school districts throughout the United States, Black males are more likely than any other group to be suspended and expelled from school. From 1973 to 1977 there was a steady increase in African-American enrollment in college.

However, since 1977 there has been a sharp and continuous decline, especially among males.

Black males are more likely to be classified as mentally retarded or suffering from a learning disability and placed in special education and more likely to be absent from advanced placement and honors courses.

In contrast to other groups where males commonly perform at higher levels in math and science related courses, the reverse is true for Black males.

Even class privilege and the material benefits that accompany it fail to inoculate Black males from low academic performance.

When compared to their White peers, middleclass African American males lag significantly behind in both grade point average and on standardized tests. It is not surprising that there is a connection between the educational performance of African American males and the hardships they endure within the larger society.

In fact, it would be more surprising if Black males were doing well academically in spite of the broad array of difficulties that confront them.

 

Scholars and researchers commonly understand that environmental and cultural factors have a profound influence upon human behavior, including academic performance.

What is less understood is how environmental and cultural forces influence the way in which Black males come to perceive schooling and how those perceptions influence their behavior and performance in school.



There is considerable evidence that the ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds of students have bearing upon how students are perceived and treated by the adults who work with them within schools.