African American School Students - Why They Lag Behind and How to Help

By Anthony L. Hubbard

African Americans are one of the biggest minority communities in the United States today. The community has, however been having many problems mainly with education, which seems to be continuing with no end in sight. There have been many studies done through the years about the problems faced by the community, but they have mostly looked at the differences between the African American community and the majority population in the country. However, recent surveys have shown that there are differences even within the community, which have not been adequately studied or worked upon.

Gap between African American girls and boys in school – is it real?

Although earlier researches have taken the community as a whole, it has been more recently observed that there are differences between the academic performance of African American girls and boys. From as early the fourth grade, there are differences that have been noticed between boys and girls of the community. On the whole, girls seem to be doing much better academically than their male counterparts, a difference that starts off early and carries through to university and beyond. It is now clear that the internal academic differences between the members of the same community are a reality and not a misconception.

Be it K-12 or higher, girls seem to perform much better than boys academically. Of all the youngsters who graduate from the community, 62 percent are females. The gap is much higher that what is seen among other majority and minority communities in the country.

Reasons for educational gap between African American boys and girls

Since it is a trend that has only recently been observed, there is not much known on the subject. There is still a lot to be analyzed when it comes to the reasons for such major differences in academic performance within members of the same community. However, initial surveys and studies have suggested a few possible reasons for these differences, including emotional and health issues.

• Although most African American boys and girls come from similar socio-economically classified families, girls seem to cope better than boys with their socio-economic problems.
• Cognitive development among boys has been tested to be lower than girls of the community, even from a very young age of 24 months.
• Girls also did much better as far as physical health and wellness was concerned compared to boys from their early years.
• Boys seem to have more trouble forming close-knit relationships with others in their family and community, while girls seem to have strong ties with family and society. The security that such attachments brings could make a lot of difference and explain to an extent why girls seem to perform better academically.

However, there are some factors that keep all the youngsters of the community unmotivated and unwilling to strive for success, irrespective of whether they are girls or boys.

• There is a strong fear of failure in all the children and youngsters of the community, which keeps them from trying hard to succeed. They rather look like they do not care than as those struggling hard, but are not able to reach their goals.
• Many students from the community go to schools that have a known history of students dropping out and not graduating. Bring in an environment that is so demotivating where they see their seniors dropping out frequently, there is no motivation for these students to strive hard to graduate or do well academically.
• There is a lack of good role models within the community or even at school for many African American students. Not having someone they identify with to look up to, it becomes more difficult to set goals and realize that they can achieve their aim if they try.

These are a few of the reasons that are seen as possible explanations to the differences among boys and girls of the African American community and the gap in their academic performance. They also try to explain why students from the community suffer as a whole academically.

Strategies to help African American students perform better at school

Teachers play a huge role in students’ lives, spending more time with them than their parents during their schooling years. So teachers can make a big difference to African American students and their academic performance.

• Making teachers more aware of the community – their way of taking, behavior, socio-economic problems and so on – could go a long way in their attitudes towards African American students and how they deal with them. It could help teachers look beyond prejudices and stereotypes and treat these students as equals rather than as intellectually lower.
• There should be regular workshops and training sessions for teachers who deal with a lot of African American students. These sessions and workshops could teach them more about the history of the community. Understanding the community and their culture better could help teachers understand the behavior of students and deal with them more effectively without making them aggressive or offending them.
• Teachers could take time out to train and guide weaker students from the community to help them excel academically. They should not have lower expectations from students of the community, because knowing that someone believes in them and expects them to do better is a great motivation for those struggling to find motivation.
• There should be unbiased counselors and guides for students who may have problems at home, either with family of friends, which may be affecting their academic performance. Having someone who they could speak to freely and not be judged can  help these students clear their mind and concentrate on their academics.

These are a few strategies that could possibly help African American students perform better academically from early on, so that the percentage of those graduating from the community increases. What the youngsters from the community seem to need is some real motivation and guidance of how to get ahead in life by doing well academically.