Role Call: What Groups are Responsible for the Academic Failure of African American Students?
Matthew Lynch
When African American Children cry out for help by failing academically or acting out, who is responsible for them falling through the cracks? If you ask teachers, the parents are to blame. If you ask the parents, teachers are to blame. If you ask administrators, the fault lies with the lack of parental involvement and quality teachers. If you ask the community, schools are to blame.
The truth is that it is everyone's job to effectively guide African American students through their formative years to adulthood. My Brother's and Sister's, if we fail to nurture and cultivate the next generation of Black leaders, who will uphold our legacy? Now ask yourself, which groups should be held accountable? Here is my list:
The Role of Parents
Parent participation plays a large role in a child's academic success. Faculty and staff must seek and secure involvement and form partnerships with parents if children are to succeed academically, especially since school occupies only nine percent of children's lives.
Unfortunately, in African American communities, parent participation in schools is often low, and there are several reasons why. First of all, the underlying issue of power must be explored. African American parents often feel they lack the ability to mobilize power and resources. These parents have few avenues by which they can challenge curriculum choices, instructional strategies, or course placement decisions. They report feeling isolated, alienated, disengaged, intimidated, and a host of other negative feelings about their interactions with school personnel. Overwhelmingly, they are treated like second-class citizens, and they frequently respond by withdrawing.
The Role of Schools
While African American students' motivation must be cultivated at home, one of the most effective steps toward academic improvement is a positive school environment. Schools can increase student motivation by implementing policies that promote the following:
• Goal setting and self-regulation
• Student choices
• Student achievements
• Teamwork and cooperative learning
• Self-assessment models rather than social comparisons.
The Role of Teachers
Teachers are important to the success of all students. African American children often view teachers as mentors and role models in their lives. Through their actions, teachers send messages to children about whether they are accepted and competent enough to accomplish tasks given and about whether they are true members of the learning community.
The Role of Administrators
Effective school administrators should emphasize the acquisition of basic skills and are actively involved in the development of multicultural curricula that foster cross-cultural understanding. In order to be effective they must support staff by listening to suggestions and being empathetic to their complaints, and they must effective in maintaining discipline and order in the school building.
The Role of the Community
Like the family, the community plays a key role in the development of self-identity. African American communities are frequently viewed negatively by those who live in them and by outsiders who are ignorant of what happens there, but they may house a wealth of resources that African American students can access. In fact, all individuals should take advantage of the many learning opportunities that are available within their communities (i.e., libraries, museums, schools, jobs and entrepreneurial offers).
Role Models
African American role models and mentors can be instrumental in providing consistent help and encouragement to African American children who do not otherwise receive such support. The flight of middle-class African Americans from inner-city neighborhoods and the incidence of high unemployment among those who remain have resulted in a lack of appropriate mainstream role models in inner-city homes, communities, and media.
Interventions designed to modify and prevent behavioral problems and academic failure would be more successful if individuals, especially males, committed to consistently giving children encouragement and help. Mentors and role models don't have to speak perfect English, have prestigious jobs, or be successful as traditionally defined. They don't even have to be African American. The most important thing is that these people are respected in their communities and are committed to helping at-risk children reach their full potential.
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Matthew Lynch is the owner of Lynch Consulting Group, LLC, and the author of
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