Reducing The Black Male Dropout Rate

[Blue_Tires]

Boys don’t drop out in the 12th grade. They physically drop out in the ninth grade, but they emotionally and academically drop out in the fourth grade.

That observation is made early by Jawanza Kunjufu, a noted educator, public speaker and publisher, in his new book, Reducing the Black Male Dropout Rate (African American Images, Chicago, 708/672-4909) He issues this challenge to readers: “Visit a kindergarten class and observe Black boys in action. They’re eager, they sit in the front, they’re on task. They love learning.”

But something happens by the time they reach the ninth grade.

Kunjufu says approximately 100,000 African-American males drop out of high school each year; in some urban areas the black male rate approaches 70 percent. Even a high school drop-out can calculate that rate amounts to 1 million Black males over 10 years. That 10-year figure is larger than the total population of Detroit, Atlanta, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston, Charlotte, Denver, Baltimore, Memphis or New Orleans.

In his book, Kunjufu provides a lesson plan for reducing the horrendous Black drop-out rate. The turnaround must begin in the home. He notes that schools have students only 9 percent of the time from infancy to 18 years of age. Parents, on the other hand, have students far more longer and must do a far better job of creating the right intellectual atmosphere at home.

“Parents, I’d like for you to do an inventory of your home,” Kunjufu writes. “Count the number of books you have vs. the number of CDs and DVDs. That will, in part, explain your child’s academic performance.”

He adds, “What you have in your house determines the kind of student that comes out of your house.”

Parents should also take firm control of their homes. The author scoffs at the idea of a child telling parents paying rent or a mortgage: “You have no right to go into my room.” Parents not only have the right to go anywhere in their house, they should also exercise the right to inspect their child’s room at anytime.

They should also listen to their children’s music and check out their friends.

http://www.seattlemedium.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=102008&sID=34&ItemSource=L

[Brewman_Jax]

1. The writer makes some good points

but like far too many black writers, is over-simplifying the situation by implying that everyone in the US lives in a perfectly equal world, which is far from the truth. Provisions have to be made to deal with, and even attack, a racist caste society with a severe prison mentality, in addition to help at the home/local level. All of the preparation in the world means nothing if your post-HS options are limited because: the local HS can't prepare students for college, or students can't get into the major state universities (see the U. of Michigan Supreme Court cases), or can't pay for college.

[Fire1]

2. Agree mostly, but the inability to pay for college hasn't been

an excuse since LBJ signed the Higher Education Act in 1965.

[Brewman_Jax]

3. That didn't change much

I know too many of my friends and other people that couldn't get money or loans to finish college. I don't know all of the circumstances, but it's too much to just blow off as "an excuse".

[Fire1]

4. Brewman, I personally know too many people, including

myself, that never would have completed college, had it not been for financial aid. As a matter of fact, I really don't know anybody who made it paying out of pocket. Veterans benefits, scholarships and financial aid. That was it!

[Brewman_Jax]

5. They had some financial aid

and I don't know anybody that had enough financial aid, etc., where they didn't have any have to cover some costs out-of-pocket.

[Fire1]

6. That may be true but point being, it absolutely did change much

for an awful lot of people. Especially, AA. I think back sometimes in amazement that I only paid $50.00 a month to repay my loans and NO interest. Those were the good ole days.

[RoyGBiv]

7. Two and a half cents ...

I wanted to add my 2.5 cents, the extra 5 mils is due to the fact I am a financial aid counselor working largely with minorities in a community college setting. Most of my students either a) don't have the grades to get into a 4-year university fresh out of high school, b) don't have the money to pay for a 4-year university without scholarships, or, most commonly c) both.

You are fundamentally correct that the Higher Education Act and subsequent modifications have helped the African American community and others, including poor whites, immigrants, etc. tremendously. Many, many people have gone to college than would have otherwise. An indirect but measurable benefit has also been that many more of these students have graduated high school than might have in the expectation of attending college, whether they actually did so or not. So, it is incorrect to say that the Higher Education Act "didn't change much," but it is correct to say that even with it, more problems continue to exist for minority students than their white counterparts, and the way the financial aid system is currently structured in some ways exacerbates those problems.

The issues are complex and difficult to summarize, so I won't try to do so here. I'll just say that the system effectively penalizes students who have to work to support themselves while they go to school and does very little to accommodate those who do have to have real jobs. The poorer you and your family are and/or the more responsibilities you have (children, infirm parents you care for, etc.) the worse it is. Broadly stated, the social issues that often affect African Americans in this country are not addressed by the financial aid system and in some ways are constructed so as to prevent them from benefiting at all from that system.

As to the drop-out issue, this is where financial aid fails most miserably. It is simply true that a 20-year-old tends to have more financial and other responsibilities than an 18 year-old straight out of high school. (As an aside, I think the HCR bill just passed will assist with this, at least if they have parents with health insurance who can continue to claim them, because health care is very often one of these issues that both directly and indirectly lead to students dropping out.) A student who at 18 was doing everything right according to the financial aid system's definition of "right" might find themselves at age 20 unable to continue doing that. Financial aid these days barely pays tuition and for some students it doesn't even pay that, which for many necessitates a job, a real job. Bosses of the kinds of jobs a student is likely to get don't care one iota about their class schedule from semester to semester, and students end up being left with a choice of keeping the job and feeding the family or going to school and struggling just to eat at night. Too often, the choice they make is to keep the dead-end job and leave school, hoping to get back to it when they can. They often never hit a place where they feel they can.

I had a student this semester that just broke my heart all to pieces. She's smart, a genius to your average CC student, but the Real World has created problems for her that have left her with a very bad hand to play. She's trying, very, very hard to make it, but she broke down in early February and left school, deciding that taking care of her dying mother is her more immediate responsibility. I couldn't disagree with her, but within the financial aid system, her problems just doubled. She's going to have to pay back about $5000 in grants before she'll even be allowed to enroll again, much less get more aid, and she doesn't have it. And, I have no idea how she'll get it. I helped her fill out an appeal to have the tuition refunded due to extraordinary circumstances, but those rarely are approved.

Anyway ... just wanted to add a bit to this discussion from an insider's perspective. I do my job because I want to help, and I try everything I can to do so, but all too often I am stonewalled by an uncaring system that sometimes addresses all the wrong problems.

[bliss_eternal]

9. thank you for this:

quote:
The issues are complex and difficult to summarize, so I won't try to do so here. I'll just say that the system effectively penalizes students who have to work to support themselves while they go to school and does very little to accommodate those who do have to have real jobs. The poorer you and your family are and/or the more responsibilities you have (children, infirm parents you care for, etc.) the worse it is. Broadly stated, the social issues that often affect African Americans in this country are not addressed by the financial aid system and in some ways are constructed so as to prevent them from benefiting at all from that system.

:thumbsup:

sad and unfortunate, but all too true reality for many, many working class students.

[bliss_eternal]

8. true...

...when i attended college, the fees in CA were super low (for state residents) at a state school.....BUT....living expenses in CA are insane. for example, housing, food, transportation, etc. making college cost prohibitive for many.

can't presume parents are always in the picture either. for some, that simply was not the case. some parents (of color) get jazzed by the idea of their child being "the first" to go to and graduate college, but have little clue the kind of support, sacrifice and effort it entails to get the child through school.

i knew some parents that wanted to reap the benefit (of bragging) that their child was "in college" but did little (to nothing) to support the child. and no, i don't merely mean financial support. some kids knew their parents could not help that way, (and accepted that). but they would have appreciated (and benefited from) emotional support (which they did not get). some of the same parents seemed to sabotage their kids....really sad.

i spent some time working in eop and school relations, the areas where most of the minority students entered my college. i witnessed some heartbreaking situations, that many aa people from middle (to upper middle class) backgrounds could not conceive of or relate to.

[mzteris]

10. here's a (technical) study of "gifted black males" -

but I think a lot of what's being said can apply to black males, period. Or even AA's period.


http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gifted%20Black%20males:%20understanding%20and%20decreasing%20barriers%20to...-a0211804442

[mzteris]

11. kick cause I don't understand why people

aren't reading this and commenting on it?

Am I missing something? I mean, I know it's technical and all, but come on people!! I'd really lilke to start a dialogue about education of African Americans andn other minorities in America. Especially for black males. Especiallly for PDS black males (Pretty darn smart . . . )

[Blue_Tires]

12. bookmarked for later