Multicultural Issues: Black Students and Advanced Placement Classes: Summary, Concerns, and Recommendations

Parental Characteristics, Ecological Factors, and the Academic Achievement of African American Males

“…According to a 2006 New York Times article, Columbia, Princeton, and Harvard University experts agree that the rapidly increasing population of poorly educated African American men is “becoming ever more disconnected from the mainstream society” (Eckholm, 2006, p. 1). National statistics and studies have indicated that African American males are overrepresented in juvenile detention centers and prisons (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006), overrepresented in special education classes (Garibaldi, 2009), underrepresented in secondary school honors and advanced courses (Whiting & Ford, 2009), underrepresented on college campuses (Toldson, Braithwaite, & Rentie, 2009), and consistently reported as academically underachieving in today's schools (Entwistle, Alexander, & Olson, 2004; Mandara, 2006). In addition, the Schott Foundation for Public Education (2011), a national organization that monitors the progress of African American males, reported that only 47% of African American males graduate from high school and that “Black males are more chronically unemployed and underemployed, are less healthy, and have access to fewer health care resources, die much younger, and are many times more likely to be sent to jail for periods significantly longer than males of other racial/ethnic groups” (Schott Foundation for Public Education, 2008, p. 3).…”

Attaining the Elusive: Efficacy, Math Education and Black and Latino Students

“…This workforce shortage appears worse among Black, Latino, Native American, and South-East Asian populations. Whiting and Ford (2009), among others, have suggested a link between this under representation and a low offering of AP courses in schools, particularly serving low-income families, where these populations form the majority. Moreover, as Arellano & Padilla (1996), and Gándara (2006) have shown, the lack of familiarity with crucial information -such as the prerequisites of AP courses, when to take SAT exams, how to apply for financial aid -plays a key role in explaining the low numbers of Blacks and Latinos in the AP track.…”

“…Researchers such as Green, Walker, Hoover-Dempsey, & Sandler (2007), and Pomerantz, Grolnick, & Price (2005) argue that a critical factor at play in low STEM fields representation of Latino and Black, possibly originates from low parent involvement in the early stages of the education processes of these populations. Klopfenstein (2004), Martínez Alemán (2006, and Whiting & Ford, (2009) looked at the impact of family income on this issue. Klopfenstein (2004): indeed discovered that students in high-poverty and rural schools continue to have limited access to or be underrepresented in AP courses.…”

The Relationship between Selected Standardized Test Scores and Performance in Advanced Placement Math and Science Exams: Analyzing the Differential Effectiveness of Scores for Course Identification and Placement

“…Yet, researchers agree that as schools expand their AP program educators would benefit from having a systematic approach to the student selection process (Oakes & Gution, 1995;Hallinan, 1994: Spade & Vanfossen, 1997. Another point of agreement is that teachers play a vital role in this part of the progression (Burton, Yepes-Para, Cline and Kim, 2002;Ndura, Robinson & Ochs 2003;Whiting & Ford, 2009). Furthermore, it was cited that more "Excellent" AP programs as defined by Ndura et al (2003) were those schools that used a methodical approach.…”

“…Such is the case when dealing with students of various ethnicities, low-income, and/or females subgroups that have been historically underrepresented in AP programs at the national, state and local level (Burton et al, 2002;Ndura, Robinson, & Ochs, 2003;Lee, 2001). Whiting and Ford (2009) reported that, acting as gatekeepers; teachers and counselors often under refer these students for screening into the AP program. Yet, for many underrepresented Hispanic and African-American low-income students, exposure to such AP courses may be the best, if not the only opportunity to participate in rigorous, college-level high school curricula (ETS, 2008).…”