What contributes to persistent trends of Black male educational underachievement? Past literature has often used a deficit-informed framework to answer this question, portraying Black male students as incapable, unintelligent, disadvantaged, and at-risk to fail, feeding into negative stereotypes. In this article, our primary objective is to depart…

A number of challenges continue to influence the schooling experience of Black students. While some progress has been made for some, chronic underperformance has remained largely unchanged over the past two decades. What has become increasingly a part of the experiences of Black children and other students of color has been the increasing police…

An issue of much concern, and under much scrutiny and debate, is the persistent and extensive under-representation of African American students in gifted education. A number of efforts have been proposed and implemented to improve their recruitment and retention, but to little or no avail Progress has been slow or non-existent in many cases. In…

Researchers have called for innovative and culturally responsive intervention programs to enhance male, Black middle school students' academic achievement. Mentoring has received considerable attention as a novel remedy. Although anecdotal evidence supports the positive role of mentoring on academic achievement, these results are not consistent.…

Summarizes an intensive survey of current research undertaken in an attempt to identify cognitive factors related to discrepant achievement of economically deprived black and white rural first graders--i.e. students whose achievement was at a level unpredicted by diagnostic testing. (JM)

Reviews three prominent theories addressing social and cultural factors that can inhibit academic excellence among African American boys: Steele's stereotype threat model; Ogbu's cultural-ecological perspective; and Majors and Billson's "cool pose" theory. All three emphasize barriers preventing these boys from incorporating academics…

A study is conducted to explore the differences in self-concept, academic behavior and self-reported personal experiences between high-achieving and under-achieving African heritage student in one urban high school in Massachusetts. It is found that African American student academic achievement depends on family, self-concept and cultural history.

Discusses the severe underrepresentation of children of color in public school programs for the gifted and their concomitant overrepresentation in Special Education programs. The authors suggest policy, legal, and educational strategies for assuring equitable representation of black students in gifted programs and otherwise reversing…

In this article, the authors explore the sources of gender variations in African American middle school students' academic performance. The roots of Black males' underachievement are of particular interest. Because middle schools are essential links in the sequence of opportunities to learn, it is imperative to understand the social and…

Analyzes the structural conditions that lead to and perpetuate the disproportionate underattainment of Black youth, and the role of ideology in the justification of inequality and racism. Posits an alternate view of the relationship between the occupational structure and the educational system, and analyzes the political context and psychological…