Unlocking the Potential of African American Students: Keys to Reversing Underachievement

Abstract

The potential of many African American students is undetected due to misperceptions about their intellectual ability and achievement. These misperceptions cause inadequate instructional responses, which in turn perpetuate the cycle of underachievement. This article analyzes the bases for many of these misperceptions, explores the impact of culture on learning, and provides guidelines for eliciting and nurturing the potential of African American students for whom race is a factor in school.

Differentiated learning: from policy to classroom

“…When this occurs, group identity, or indeed solidarity, is not encouraged. We would suggest, as indeed much of the differentiation literature does (see for example , Jackson, 2005;de Jager, 2013), that students from marginalized backgrounds will benefit from having their cultures valued in the classroom, and that those from more privileged backgrounds will also reap the benefits from pedagogical practices that expose them to rich and diverse forms of knowledge and understandings about the world.…”

Εντοπισμός Και Υποστήριξη Εφήβων Μέσων Και Υψηλών Ικανοτήτων Με Υποεπίδοση

“…Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι πολλές από τις σχετικές εκπαιδευτικές παρεμβάσεις απευθύνονται αποκλειστικά σε μαθητές από μειονεκτικά κοινωνικοοικονομικά περιβάλλοντα ή πολιτισμικές μειονότητες και δίνουν έμφαση στην καλλιέργεια γλωσσικών δεξιοτήτων, οι οποίες θεωρούνται ως το κλειδί για τη βελτίωση της επίδοσης εντός του πλαισίου της γλωσσοκεντρικής σχολικής εκπαίδευσης (Jackson, 2005, Mahiri, 2004. Πάντως, αν και οι εκπαιδευτικοί που εμπλέκονται σε εκπαιδευτικά-διδακτικά προγράμματα για την αντιμετώπιση της υποεπίδοσης τείνουν να τα αξιολογούν ως ιδιαίτερα αποτελεσματικά με θετικό αντίκτυπο στις επιδόσεις των μαθητών, στην πλειονότητά τους δεν περιλαμβάνουν ποσοτικές μετρήσεις, που επιτρέπουν την σαφή εκτίμηση των επιδράσεων των παραπάνω παρεμβάσεων (π.χ.…”

To whom much is given: a study of Black female leadership within the context of spouses of historically Black college and university presidents

“…The messages she internalized at home, about her own academic preparedness, school readiness and intellectual capability, empowered Claire to circumvent the discrimination and low expectations inflicted upon her by her teachers. Yvette Jackson (2005) posits that low expectations for their Black students influence teachers' choices and lead to "under-challenging" instruction. Jackson explains that such limited instruction is often translated by students into messages that result in a lack of confidence in their own abilities and intelligence.…”

“…Jackson explains that such limited instruction is often translated by students into messages that result in a lack of confidence in their own abilities and intelligence. Such internalized low expectations, if not met with a deep belief in one's own potential, can perpetuate a cycle of underachievement (Jackson, 2005) for Black students. The affirming messages Claire received from her parents protected her from this very cycle of underachievement.…”