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1Running Head: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILD

The African American Child: A National Reading Achievement Gap

Patrick Davarhanian

California State University, Northridge


Abstract

Different types of research that analyzed reasons for the African American achievement gap were examined and scrutinized. The results of this analysis yielded questions and solutions about the plight of African American students who suffer from a serious national academic achievement gap. In one of the arti-cles, 800 7th-9th grade African American LAUSD public school students from low socio-economic backgrounds were randomly selected to participate in a struc-tured, planned, teaching experience. In this teaching experience students in the control group were given access to the same materials, same teachers and same teaching strategies as students in the experimental group, with the exception of code-switching techniques and texts rich with African American characters and scenarios. After a six-month teaching trial students post-test scores and pre-test scores were analyzed. This analysis yielded promising results as the students saw improvements in their reading scores.

The African American Child

I have worked in a self contained 5th grade general education classroom for about

two years now in southern Glendale. My classroom, as well as the school makeup, has al-


ways been made up of predominantly low socioeconomic students who are of Armenian,

Mexican or Filipino racial backgrounds. This year however, there are new students join-

ing our school community. We have a few African American students at our school, and I

have three African American students in my classrooms. As a progressive educator who

values diversity, I am very excited to see different racial ethnicities choosing Glendale as

their home but I also know that it is of the utmost importance to understand the needs of

all my students. Although I have had some formal education and conducted some re-

search about the African American student, I feel that I do not know enough to help my

students meet all their academic needs. So I decided to educate myself with the plight of

the African American child, and what I found was quite astonishing.

The figures for African American children, as well as African American people in

general, are truly dismal. According to the National Association of the Advancement of

Colored People (NAACP), Federal Department of Corrections statistics show that

African Americans are incarcerated at six times the rate of white Americans. Although

African American youth only make up a small percentage of America’s overall youth

population, “nationwide, African-Americans represent 26% of juvenile arrests, 44% of

youth who are detained, 46% of the youth who are judicially waived to criminal court,

and 58% of the youth admitted to state prisons” (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Jus-

tice). According to the Professional Black Caucus Foundation, only about half of African

American students graduate high school compared to their white peers who graduate at

around 75%. Also, African American students are about 2.5 times more likely to be sus-

pended than their white peers, a factor that directly contributes to the African American

educational achievement gap.


African American students are disproportionately struggling in a variety of aca-

demic areas. According to the California Department of Education (2010), African Amer-

ican students score on average 25% lower on state reading tests than their white peers.

According to this same study, there really has not been much success in terms of address-

ing this academic gap in the last two decades. In my research, I was able to find informa-

tion that might help explain why this achievement gap exists. According to Perkins

(2005), some of the reasons behind these dismal statistics have to do with student’s cul-

ture and some linguistic factors. According to Perkins (2005), many educators are not

aware of the importance of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), and as a re-

sult, dismiss this integral cultural aspect of the African American identity. This dismissal

can lead to negative feelings and attitudes about education, and can directly effect student

achievement. AAVE is a stigmatized vernacular of English because of its use in predomi-

nantly low socioeconomic African American communities, and its role throughout Amer-

ican history as a relative of slave language. Societal stereotypes have ingrained social

bias in teachers minds in regards to AAVE despite its structured and legitimate place in

the English language. AAVE is not slang, it is a structured, grammar centered, and rule

driven dialect of English, and if educators are to help their African American students,

they must accept this truth. But the problem is deeper than a few student test scores.

According to multiple studies from the Southern Poverty Law Center, African

Americans live in some of the most economically disadvantaged places in our nation, and

in comparison to every other ethnic group, are suffering under massive social and eco-

nomical inequities (2012). According to the National Urban League State Of Black

America 2014 Report, the African American unemployment rate was 20.8% compared to


that of their white peers which was at 11.8% The plight of the African American student

therefore, is most definitely directly affected by these statistics. If students do not have

the materials they need in order to foster their learning outside of school or are not in a

safe environment, then it becomes very difficult to be successful academically. These sta-

tistics are even more apparent because of the reality of my students situation. My African

American students live close to our school site in new government sponsored low income

housing units. Housing units that speak volumes to the inequities mentioned above.

These statistics are a national travesty. To see such inequality existing in America

today is astounding. African Americans only make up about 15% of the total population

in our country, however, they live in disproportionately poorer neighborhoods (United

States Census Bureau, 2010). It is therefore crucial that I commit to understanding the

plight of my students and be prepared to meet their diverse needs in order to help them

become successful. Upon the plethora of research based practices I have discovered to

have some success in isolated settings in regards to helping African American students, I

plan to pose the following research question: Can implementing all the isolated yet suc-

cessful practices I have discovered in creating an ideal classroom, help improve reading

scores for African American elementary school students?


Literature Review

In analyzing and synthesizing research studies and scholarly articles, there ap-

pears t be areas in which researchers agree on the causes of the African American

achievement gap. These areas vary in terms of academic aspects; however, they all fall

under a general umbrella-idea. African American achievement is reflective of ideas re-

lated to student’s motivation via appropriate materials, as well as quality educators who

understand their needs.


According to Flowers (2007), there is a lack of cultural understanding and respect

in the education community in regards to African American students. Quite often, teacher

populations do not represent student populations, and this is a large dilemma that influ-

ences the African American achievement gap in a variety of ways. When students cannot

connect to their teachers at a basic level, they become less motivated to learn (Kirkland,

2011). They do not see themselves and they feel left out of the education process. Identity

is a major component of the human experience, and if one's identity is not represented

then, they will find it more difficult to make meaningful connections. But the problem

reaches deeper than not having visible positive role models, or teachers who come from

the students culture (Kirkland, 2011).

Teachers are not educated about the importance of African American inclusion

and often times do not make an attempt to respect their students culture (Kirkland, 2011).

School and classroom libraries are full of stories that have no real connection to the

African American experience, and textbooks are severely lacking as well (Kirkland,

2011). The African American child does not see himself or herself represented in school

texts and cannot therefore make meaningful connections to irrelevant stories. According

to Kirkland (2011), African American youth tend to shut down psychologically once they

discover the lack of cultural representation in stories. Research shows that teachers who

do understand this connection and its importance can make a positive impact (Cartwright,

Swords, & Wheeler, 2012). This was the case with a teacher who used a combination of

highly acclaimed graphic novels to teach his African American students about Homer’s

Iliad, which turned out to be a great success. Teachers can make a difference too.


Teachers who learn about the importance of African American Vernacular Eng-

lish (AAVE), and its basic principles, will be better able to prepare their students and lead

them to success (Cartwright, Swords, & Wheeler, 2012). AAVE is a grammatically cen-

tered, rule governed form of English that is used throughout the African American com-

munity. AAVE is not slang, nor is it a deviation of the English language. It is simply a

different dialect of English (Bourke, R. (2012). Because it is not considered standard

(mainstream) English however, it has garnered a negative stigma from many educators

and members of the majority culture. This stigma however, is not based in factual or logi-

cal ideas, it simply based in fear of the unknown, and social stereotypes. Educators who

have a linguistic background or who have learned about AAVE, are able to meet the

needs of their African American students but they are sorely lacking in the field of educa-

tion, in both public and private schools. Not being familiar with AAVE is not only a cul-

tural issue, or an inclusion issue, it directly affects student achievement (Gray, 2009). Of-

ten times educators, standardized assessments and a plethora of formal assignments make

the mistake of equating AAVE markers as mistakes. This reality effects student scores,

overall perception of students in the classroom, and can be a tool of disenfranchisement

for many African American students. Teaching students code switching techniques, while

valuing their cultural backgrounds, would help resolve this problem (Gray, 2009). Being

impartial in the grading process would also greatly impact African American student

achievement. These various changes would not only help alleviate some of the motiva-

tional and systemic problems in schools with African American students but could actu-

ally impact the African American achievement gap. Teacher perception and understand-


ing in the classroom can really help African American students but it will take more than

a few bandages to solve the problem.

Educators must completely rethink the way in which they deliver their lessons or

engage their students. According to Peck (2010), research done at Quest School suggests

that inquiry based learning that engages students and motivates them to learn through

questioning can truly helps African American students improve their reading scores. Stu-

dents who participated in the Quest School’s inquiry based curriculum were able to see

their literacy scores improve substantially (Peck, 2010). Inquiry based teaching is not

only beneficial for African American students, it is a universal approach that is being her-

alded by many education reformers and a strategy that has been embraced by the Com-

mon Core State standards as well. It is the future of education, and if we are to help alle-

viate the African American achievement gap, then it should be part of the solution.

Although the dilemma that is the African American Achievement gap is quite

drastic and overwhelming, it is reparable. Researchers who are familiar with the African

American Achievement gap agree that in order to help alleviate this massive academic

gap, schools and educators must be thoroughly educated about the African American

child, active in bringing about necessary changes to help address the African American

achievement gap, and open to incorporating new strategies and new ideas that involve

stepping beyond their comfort zone. This situation can be dealt with appropriately, and

having the tools to make change will allow us to repair this national travesty.


Methodology

Based on the research that has been conducted, It is essential to continue to probe

the question of the African American reading achievement gap and the reasons behind

this phenomenon. The African American achievement gap in reading is quite evident

when comparing reading achievement scores throughout the nation between African

Americans and those of their White, Asian, and Hispanic peers.

Participants

This study will consist of 40 African American students living in the Glendale

area. The student makeup will consist of 20 male and 20 female students from various 4th


grade classrooms in different elementary schools throughout Glendale, California. The

study was chosen to be conducted in Glendale because it has a diverse socioeconomic

and cultural student population and can yield more equitable results. Also, Glendale has

seen an increase in African American students entering elementary schools in the last

decade. Fourth grade students were chosen to be in the study because the research con-

ducted previously had substantial academic data for 4th grade students, which will make it

more reasonable when comparing study outcomes.

Methods and Materials

In order to understand the academic environment of African American students, it

is important to conduct interviews with each student where they would be asked ques-

tions relating to homework concerns, report card scores, class assessments, classroom en-

vironment, teacher communication, and disciplinary action/consequences. The teachers

of the students participating in the research will be given a survey, which will be used to

compare African American achievement in relation to the class average. Questions from

the survey will include the information about student scores, disciplinary action taken, as

well as assessment results. This data will help determine the factors behind any achieve-

ment gap that may persist. Aside from interviews and surveys, the study will aim to cre-

ate an “ideal” classroom that incorporates the findings of my research.

The classroom will consist of 36 randomly selected African American 4th grade

students. The classroom will have 36 students because that is the average student popula-

tion per classroom in Glendale Public elementary schools. This figure is important if the

study is to be conducted accurately. The ideal classroom will have quality teaching mate-

rials that take students diverse cultural/linguistic backgrounds into account, and that help


teach students to code-switch from AAVE to Standard English. The classroom will have

a culturally sensitive library that will allow for plenty of exposure to stories African

American students can identify with. There will also be mandatory bi-weekly teacher

professional developments aimed at encouraging teacher collaboration and African

American cultural incorporation. This study will be an amalgamation of all the successful

research experiments mentioned in the literature review that have been conducted in iso-

lation. In incorporating the isolated practices into one ideal classroom setting, this re-

search experiment will test the success rate of the above mentioned practices ability in

improving African American reading scores. In order to analyze the results of this experi-

ment, a control group made up of the same population and grade level will be taught in a

standard self-contained classroom environment, and will be given the exact same assess-

ments as the experimental group. The control group will not be deprived of any academic

instruction, therefore, making this experiment ethical and just. The control group how-

ever, will not be exposed to the new practices mentioned in this research in order to see

its true impact in increasing African American reading scores. After one academic year,

the reading outcomes of both groups will then be used to compare the success rate of stu-

dent achievement in relation to reading. The assessments that students in both groups will

be given are based on the Glendale Unified School District’s i-Ready reading assessment.

This will ensure accuracy in determining the results of the research.

Results

To be determined based on further research and application of said experiment.


Reference Page

A Collection of Articles that Probe the Issue of African American Marginalization

Bourke, R. (2012). First graders and fairy tales: one teacher’s action research of crit-

ical literacy. The Reading Teacher, 62(4), 304-312.

Cartwright, K., Swords, R., & Wheeler, R. (2012). Factoring AAVE into reading as-

sessment and instruction. The Reading Teacher, 65(6), 416-425.

Flowers, L. (2007). Recommendations for research to improve reading achievement

for African American students. The Reading Teacher, 42(3), 424-428.

Gray, E. (2009). The importance of visibility: students' and teachers' criteria for se-

lecting African American literature. The Reading Teacher, 62(6), 472-481.

Jenkins, S. (2009). How to maintain school reading success: five recommendations

from a struggling male reader. The Reading Teacher, 63(2), 159-162.


Kirkland, D. (2011). Books like clothes: engaging young Black men with reading.

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 55(3), 199-208.

Peck, S. (2010). Not on the same page but working together: lessons from an award-

winning urban elementary school. The Reading Teacher, 63(5), 394-403.

Perkins, H., & Cooter, R. (2005). Evidence-based literacy education and the African

American child. The Reading Teacher, 59(2), 194-198.

Risko, V., & Walker-Dalhouse, D. (2007). Tapping student’s cultural funds of knowl-

edge to address the achievement gap. The Reading Teacher, 61(1), 98-100.

Sipe, L., & McGuire, C. (2006). Young children’s resistance to stories. The Reading

Teacher, 60(1), 6-13.

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