Urban African American High School Students - Essay Example

Factors Affecting the Academic Performance of Urban African American High School Adolescence is a turbulent period in an individual’s life. It is a time of searching for one’s personal identity and coping with several expectations, challenges, problems and frustrations. Such turmoil is expected of this stage of human development across cultures. However, it is an extra challenge for African-American adolescent students due to the developmental task of “integrating their individual personal identity with their racial identity. This integration process is a necessary and inevitable developmental task of growing up Black in the midst of White mainstream culture (Ward, 1995, Cross, 1991) Living with their predecessors’ legacy of being racially discriminated and historically exploited and abused by the White people may have left generational scars in their psyche, that even up to now, being Black in an urban setting remains to be an issue. Many social scientists, politicians, and the media tend to paint a bleak picture for youth living in predominantly Black urban settings in this country (Barbarin, 1993). Poverty, academic failure, early death due to poor health care and violence, drug abuse and addiction, high unemployment rates, teenage pregnancy, gangs, and high crime rates are some of the conditions highlighted to describe the state of the urban underclass in which children must develop and attempt to survive (Dryfoos, 1990; Halpern, 1990; Masten, Best, & Garmezy, 1990; Werner, 1990). Several researches have been done to explore the effects of such racial differences in the African American youth. During adolescent period, individuals are confronted with the necessity of effectively managing the psychological, emotional, and behavioral adjustments to physiological changes and the assumption of new roles within the family structure, the high school setting, and ones peer group (Stark, Spirito, Williams, & Buevremont, 1989). This paper attempts to investigate the affective and contextual factors that may affect the academic performance of urban African-American youth. Review of Literature According to a recent report from the United States (US) Census Bureau (2001), African Americans currently comprise nearly 13% of the total US population. Over one-half of all African Americans in the US live in large urban areas, and more than 35% of African Americans under age 18 live in poverty (US Census Bureau, 1999). These figures suggest that African Americans are over-represented among the poor urban school-aged population. Because of environmental factors stemming from living in poverty (e.g., unemployment and exposure to crime and violence), researchers and educators have often applied the term "at risk" in reference to urban African American adolescents (Franklin, 2000). Such a classification, however, could compromise the academic development of these high school students (Constantine, Erickson, Banks, & Timberlake, 1998; DAndrea, 1995) because of the assumption that they are "predestined" to fail at academic pursuits or achievements. As an example of the consequence of this type of label, "at-risk" students are often placed in vocational or trade-specific school tracks that are geared toward low status and often low paying occupations (Constantine et al., 1998; Franklin, 2000). Some literature that addresses academic achievement in urban African American adolescents has focused on the "deficit model" (e.g., Fordham & Ogbu, 1986), which neither assumes nor endorses strength and resilience in this population but promotes self-fulfilling prophecies of lowered expectations and academic failure (Spencer, Noll, Stoltzfus, & Harpalani, 2001). However, by conceptualizing factors that affect urban African American adolescents to include models that emphasize their resilience and strength (Gutman, Sameroff, & Eccles, 2002), school counselors may be able to identify and institute culturally relevant means of promoting academic achievement in this population. (Butler, 2003) Theoretical conceptualizations of factors that influence urban African American adolescents academic achievement have included deficiency models, which focus on factors that may preclude some of these youths form achieving academic success. Fordham & Ogbu, (1986) have asserted that in order for these Black American adolescents to succeed academically, they should adopt more Eurocentric values regarding education. This "acting White" hypothesis has largely assumed a positive correlation between endorsing Eurocentric values and high scholastic achievement. Challenges to this theory have come from a few empirical studies, in which the endorsement of mainstream socialization messages and Eurocentric values were negatively associated with school and general self-esteem (Constantine & Blackmon, 2002; Spencer et al., 2001). In fact, Constantine and Blackmon suggested that "acting White" could be detrimental to many urban African American students academic self-efficacy within predominantly Black school settings. For some urban African American adolescents who attempt to act “white”, such behaviors may result in bullying, ridicule, social isolation, reduced peer and social self-esteem, and feelings of community and cultural betrayal (Constantine et al., 1998; Steward et al, 1998; Wilson, Cooke, & Arrington, 1997), In fact, adopting Africentric cultural orientations or endorsing attitudes and behaviors that reflect ethnic or racial pride may better promote the academic and psychological well being of many urban African American high school students. In contrast to deficiency models of academic achievement, Allen-Meares (1999) presented several examples of systemic-ecological models that attempt to explain why some urban African American high school students might not experience academic success. One such example relates to the "cultural contradictions" that exist in many urban school settings (Butler, 2003). These occur when African American students are unable to relate their Black cultural heritage to the lessons or experiences presented in their classrooms. “A potential manifestation of cultural contradiction may be found in academic situations in which independent and competitive forms of learning and achievement are emphasized. Such approaches may greatly conflict with the cooperative and collaborative learning styles preferred by some African American youths, who may more readily embrace or be comfortable with pedagogical methods that are consistent with Africultural values such as communalism and collectivism (Allen-Meares, 1999; Chizhik, 2001; Mueller & Fleming, 2001; Spector, 2001 as mentioned in Butler, 2003). For many urban African American high school students, collaborative learning interventions may not only motivate them to engage more fully in academic activities, but they may help them to develop more positive and constructive peer relationships (Wentzel & Watkins, 2002). Another factor responsible in the perceived difficulties of such adolescents with academic achievement may be Institutional racism. (Butler, 2003). This may be described as differential access to educational opportunities based on racial or ethnic group membership (Jones & Carter, 1996). As an example, some urban African American high school students may be prohibited from gaining access to quality education and school facilities because of contemporary structural factors (e.g., racism and low socioeconomic status) that perpetuate historical injustices (e.g., slavery) (C. P. Jones, 2000). Allen-Meares (1999) reported that the "conditioned failure model" could represent a form of institutional racism against urban African American students in that these students are often brainwashed into believing that they are inferior to their White peers. An ecological and cognitive approach to conceptualizing academic performance among African American adolescents is offered by Mickelson (1990). His model claims that Black adolescents may have high educational aspirations coupled with low academic performance as a function of contrasting abstract and concrete attitudes. Abstract attitudes are commonly held beliefs about the role of education, such as its perceived importance in securing economic mobility. Concrete attitudes reflect the values learned from personal experiences that may relate to culture (e.g., institutional barriers to higher education or vertical mobility). As a result, some urban African American high school students may believe that education might promote success on an abstract level, but they may still operate from concrete beliefs related to their perceptions that there are external barriers (e.g., racism) that prevent them from attaining their goals. (Butler, 2003). In an attempt to understand the overlapping spheres of influence on the academic performance of urban African American high school students, Epstein (1995) has identified the factors that affect school achievement in school as family, community support and the interlocking influences of these support systems (Sanders, 1998; Sanders & Herting, 2000; Steward et al., 1998). Epsteins model delineates six types of school-family-community involvement that are important for student success: parenting children as students; communicating school issues and students progress; volunteering for school programs; providing families with information on how to help students with school work; involving parents in decision-making about school programs; and collaborating with the community (Epstein, 1995). More specific studies on urban African American high school students have likewise focused on their coping strategies as determinants in school success. Coping strategies are defined as components of personal characteristics that one displays to manage psychological adjustment to stimuli within the life setting (Horowitz & Bordens, 1905). Such strategies are essential to survival, especially in adolescent students who are faced with multiple challenges to the development of their personhood and racial identity. Studies have shown that African American adolescents have used a wider range of coping strategies and more optimistically evaluate stressful events than White peers (Daly, Jennings, Beckett, & Leashore, 1995; Halstead, Johnson, & Cunningham, 1993). It is quite surprising considering they have been assumed to suffer lower self-esteem due to their feelings of inferiority with their White counterparts. Given the potential for cultural differences and the documentation that some African American adolescents achieve greater levels of psychological adjustment than others, it becomes even more critical to understand the unique coping strategies of urban African American adolescents. A number of psychological scales have been used to measure certain aspects in the African American youth personality traits. One test is the Affects Balance Scale (ABS) which is a self-report adjective mood scale with a construct base rooted in the idea that healthy psychological adjustment or well being is represented by the manifestation of positive affects or emotions as well as the relative absence of negative emotions. Mood and affect states are reflected in the ABS by four positive affect dimensions (Joy, Contentment, Vigor, and Affection) and four negative affect dimensions (Anxiety, Depression, Guilt, and Hostility). The overall score on the test, the Affect Balance Index (ABI), reflects the balance between positive and negative affects expressed in standardized scores. The larger the ABI, the more the positive psychological adaptation is represented. (Steward, et al, 1998) The Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-COPE) has likewise been widely used among Black American high school students. It is a coping inventory designed to identify the behaviors adolescents find helpful in managing problems or difficult situations. The normal developmental tasks of adolescents center on the search for identity, both as part of a group and as individuals, with attention focused on physical, social, and psychological aspects of the self. The need to develop enough independence from ones family, to discover ones separateness and uniqueness, frequently creates an atmosphere of conflict in the family. (Steward, et al, 1998) Steward, et al’s study on the psychological adjustment and coping styles of urban African American high school students yielded results that highlighted an important link between the adolescents’ psychological adjustment, as indicated by the ABI, and their coping strategies (i.e., the use of family members and humor) and academic performance. Adolescents whose positive affect most exceeded negative feelings were considered those who had the most positive psychological adjustment and achieved well in their academic performance. In a study done by Steward, Smith-Jobski, Harvell, Eades, Eldridge and Lin, (2002 a), gender differences were explored among African American high school students. Findings indicated that: (taken from the study) Female African-American high school students in an urban setting were found to have significantly higher cumulative grade point averages than male African-American high school students. Females were found to report the use of social support as a means of coping to a significantly higher degree than males. The use of social support includes efforts to stay emotionally connected with other people through reciprocal problem solving and expression of affect. Females were found to report the use of Avoidance as a means of coping to a significantly higher degree than males. The use of Avoidance includes the use of substance and food as a means to escape problems. Females were found to report racial attitudes to a significantly greater degree than males. This is associated with strong sense of identity regarding ‘blackness’ and group cultural identity and a sense of ‘anti-Whiteness’. This stage is associated in the literature with an interpersonal presentation interpreted as being angry. Males were found to report the experience of negative affect (anxiety, depression, guilt and hostility) to a significantly higher degree than females. In another study by Steward, Harvell, Eades, Tashima, Smith-Jobski, Lin, Eldridge (2000 b), racial identity was investigated in relation to school performance. Results of the study show that adolescents who have high pre-encounter racial identity subscale scores assume beliefs that Black and Black culture are inferior to White people or to White culture due to immorality, lower intelligence and lower motivation and a lack of focus and ability to self-direct, view Blacks as a group with a sense of shame and rejection, attempt to “prove” his or her superiority over other Blacks by attempting to gain acceptance by Whites, and have a primary information-procession strategies are selective perception and obliviousness to socio-racial concerns (Thompson & Carter, 1997). Findings from this study suggest that greater adherence to such beliefs within an urban predominantly Black high school setting and community is associated with both lower academic performance and less positive psychological adjustment which was critical in leading to positive outcomes in the development of all adolescents in movement toward becoming fully functioning healthy young adults. Such findings support the notion that actually adhering to anti-Black attitudes may be detrimental for African American urban youth. (Steward, et al, 2000 b) Within school systems, counselors can provide academic guidance and support to urban African American high school students in a variety of ways. At different times, their positions may require that they function not only as counselors, but also as advisors, consultants, and advocates (Constantine, 2002). As such, school counselors could consult with teachers in their school settings to help them identify and promote academic interventions that make educational pedagogy and curricula more appealing to urban African American high school students (Price, 2000). Such interventions might include peer instruction strategies, collaborative learning assignments and exercises, and self-instruction strategies. School counselors might also engage in advocacy for greater infusion of culturally relevant material into classroom curricula and for greater representation of African American administrators and teachers in school settings. Research, based on systemic models of influences in urban African American adolescents development, has highlighted indigenous supportive factors that could also promote academic achievement in these individuals. For example, parental involvement in school, expectations of academic achievement, and perceptions of less-democratic family decision making styles have been shown to have positive effects on cognitive (e.g., personal academic expectations and aspirations) and behavioral (e.g., grade point average, school attendance, and conduct) measures of urban African American adolescents attitudes towards education (Gutman et al., 2002; Sanders & Herting, 2000; Trusty, 2002; Wilson et al., 1997). Furthermore, the endorsement of cultural beliefs affirming African American identity and values may promote global self-worth (McMahon & Watts, 2002), peer self-esteem (Constantine & Blackmon, 2002), and high academic achievement (Spencer et al, 2001) in urban African American high school students. 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Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Wilson, M. N., Cooke, D. Y., & Arrington, E. G. (1997). African-American adolescents and academic achievement: Family and peer influences. In R. W. Taylor & M. C. Wang (Eds.), Social and emotional adjustment and family relations in ethnic minority families (pp. 145-155). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Read More