ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Causes Of Poor Performance Of African-American Students in Academics

Recently, the academic achievement between African American and European

American students has had a significant disparity. Academic is important because we see

the future of our children and the way they will treat each other.Despite numerous efforts

to counter this fact, African-American students still perform less well compared to the

Europeans. Even when the variables of social economic status are controlled they still lag

behind. This result depicts that there are prevailing problems causing poor performance

of African-American students in academics which are social and structural barrier like

racism, racial identity, academic tracking, teacher expectations, and teen dating violence.

cultural identity and self-esteem are dynamics predict children’s academic outcomes

(Debnam et al.123).

According to Hoffman, et al. (243) Black, Latino and other minor races in the US

are subjected to police brutality and harassment which affects their academics. This is

majorly caused by minor offenses. He further argue that this harassment is also directed

to the children of the mentioned races. In an interview, the student stated that he is treated

with harassment. The police are constantly stopping him and frisking him. This happens

at around 7 in the morning .To make the matter worse, most of African –American

students have to undergo metal detector ,emptying pockets and removing cloths on the

daily basis makes them being late for classes .This makes the children who are black to

be behind compare to less vulnerable white students. Also, this makes the students to

concentrate less in class due to harassment by the police. Despite letting it go, it is not

easy for the African-American students. Overtime, the victims of racism in schools

develop strategies to reduce racial stressors .This has significant impact on the academic

success. Students who are victimized devalue the vitality of academic success and

conclude that doing well in school is not a part of their identity (Hoffman, et al. (243).

Additionally, the sense of belonging is lost in school. This has significantly

contributed to the educational outcome in schools. Basically, a sense of belonging is the

feeling of relatedness and association with others. Also, it translates to the extent to which

students feel personally accepted, respected, included by others. Also, students feel

supported by others mostly by the teachers and the adults in the school. Research depicts

those students who report high level of belonging in the school as experiencing

encouraging educational have better results. For instance, a high sense of belonging in

school has been positively associated with high academic achievement, high school

graduation rates, and feel great in school(Juergensen,456)

On the other hand, absence of sense of belonging has been related with despair,

nervousness, isolation, and loneliness. Consequently, these negative feelings can lead to

decreased academic motivation, engagement, and academic achievement among students.

African-American students have low sense of belonging due to numerous problems that

they encounter. Problems such as racism, discrimination, segregation, intimidation, and

high susceptibility by the police make the African –American students lack the sense of

belonging. Therefore, they are significantly affected by the outcomes that come along

with the effects of low sense of belonging. Sense of belonging should be a construct that

have similar significance and influence on educational experiences for all the racial

groups of students. Research has depicted that belongingness has a different meaning for

Urban African students whose racial group is associated with negative racial stereotypes.

Where they live give a space to signal the degree of threat or safety that an individual will

experience discrimination. As a result, high school, in particular, may present unique

challenges for African American students. In other words, absence of sense of belonging

makes the African –American students in high schools perform low compared to others

(Juergensen,456).

The racial identity has significantly contributed to the school performance for

African-American students. Racial identity translates to the meaning and importance

people attach to their groups membership. Research has showed that centrality, private

regard and public regard do not function independently. Rather, these dynamics

interrelate to impact altitudes and behavior. Racial centrality denotes to supremacy of

people’s race to his/her perception of self-concept. Due to the fact that centrality is a

stable across situations, it is measured by person’s perception of self-respect to race in

various circumstances (Rust, et al. 245).

Besides, regard entails individual’s affective or evaluative judgment of race that

comprises of two sub-scales i.e. public or private. Public regard translates to the

perception of individual of how other people view African Americans. On the other hand,

private regard refers to one optimism or pessimism feeling about African Americans as

well as the feeling about being African American. The difference in academic

achievement can be described using the concept of racial identity concepts like the public

regard and private regard. Research demonstrates that persons who possess high

centrality and high private regard have more benefits for African-American student. In

essence, high centrality and high private regard performances as buffers to negative

experiences that are interrelated within the school context. Research has demonstrated

association between positive relations between high centrality and high private regard

with the value of education, academic aspirations, high school and college attendance,

and academic achievement. Therefore, the outcomes of academics in scope of attendance,

aspiration and academic achievement are significantly affected by the racial centrality

and racial regard(Susan Warren 146).

Better still, school setting significantly affect the academic achievements of

African-American students in regard to racial identity. Schools that are congruent with

supportive of students racial identity considerably contribute to students feeling of a

robust connection to the school. Yet the responsibility of the racial centrality varies across

circumstances. Feeling related and connected to a certain group through membership may

make the African-American students resilient when faced with perception while other

may view them vulnerable when faced with negative racial stereotypes. This ensures

positive academic achievement and performance (Wallace 245).

Wallace (245) acknowledges that there are numerous risks that are involved when

African –American students identify themselves with racial group .This is due to its

history of stigmatization .The heightened status of the group stigmatization offers to the

self-esteem in contexts such as school and other social places. This can affect academic

performance when the group has previously experienced discrimination. Persons in

sidelined racial groups may choose to dis-identify with the group or the domain as a

means of self-protection. This viewpoint grips that in academic settings; African

Americans are prospective to be treated unfairly and are subjected to low expectations.

The teachers, staff and other students may have low expectations on the African-

American children due to the fact that they come from marginalized groups in the US.

The same case may apply for Latinos and other minor groups in the Country(Wallace ,

245).

Other negative moves rather than the dis-identity with the group, some individuals

will dis identify with the academics, which impact the academic achievement. Research

has found negative relation between associations between racial identity and academic

achievement. African-American students in High schools who have suffered racial

discrimination in schools and other institutions tend to dis-identify themselves with the

institutions as they feel their rights are violated. They feel that the schools have the sole

mandated to protect them from such treatments. Better still, they feel that the policies that

are in place to safeguard their interests are poor and partial. This brings discontentment

among the African-American high school student to the extent of misidentifying

themselves with their educational institutions. Subsequently, they do not want to be

associated by the institutions. This is a catalyst to dis-identity in academics(Wallace 245).

Teen dating violence (TDV) is a preventable public health issue that is heavily

linked to other forms of aggression and violence victimization. This notion is a

developing concern among the psychologists who may be in the line of work to prevent

teen dating violence and interrelated problems such as bullying. A recent study shows that

bullying victimization verbally, physical; harassment can be classified as violent

behavior. A self-data report depicts that from 17,780 adolescents 33% African –American

and 15 percent white had experienced bullying at physical, relational and verbal level.

Additionally, they were more likely to have experienced physical and emotional dating

violence. Apparent norms about students’ and adults’ bullying intermediations were

related with reduced odds of physical and emotional TDV. Findings underline the need to

improved comprehend the connection between TDV and bullying victimization to plan

and improve prevention determinations that address both forms of violence (Williams and

Portman 97).

This vice seem to be occurring among the teens. The age group is mainly found in

the high school. As a result, the problem is related to low academic achievement. From

the research, it is evident that the vice has predominantly affected the African-American

teens with a record of 54%. This is behavior is physical torture, sexual and emotional

violence in a relationship. Data reveal that African –American high school student have

been hit, slapped, or physically hurt by the boyfriend or girlfriend. This intentional and

purposeful hitting shoving or kicking a dating partner cause academic underachievement.

This is because the partner may suffer emotional distress that may cause them not to

concentrate in classes. Also, physical harm may prevent students from attending classes.

The fact that this is prevalent in African-American students means that the problem

mainly affects the African American students. This is one of the factors that have

significantly contributed to poor academic performance of African-American high school

students (Williams and Portman 97).

The notable gap of academic achievement between African-American and

European students is still evident. Despite efforts to stop the gap using socio-economic

status, African-American students still perform less well compared to the whites. This is

on the basis of test score, grades, and educational attainment and dropout rates. To ensure

these menace is well addressed, the following measures should be incorporated(Williams

and Portman 97).

.

One of the major causes of low academic achievement in African-American is the

cultural differences in between the African Americans and the whites. Schools in United

States are socializing agents that reflect, use and teach the cultural norms and values of

mainstream American society .This includes concepts such as the individualism and

competition. On the other hand, African American culture mainly highlights on

collectivism and cooperation. Study has found the cultural ideals related with the

education styles of African American students to be expressively diverse than the cultural

values that make the foundation of the pedagogy in schools (Williams and Portman 97).

Williams and Portman (97) suggested that these cultural differences can be

viewed in terms of socio-economic status, where educational institutions use norms and

values that are connected to the middles class culture. This may vary from the culture of

minority students living in poverty. Therefore, academic disparity among the African

American students understanding of their own cultural norms and values and those of

mainstream society instilled in schools. Therefore, the constant sociocultural difficulties

that African Americans that they face i.e., racism. Many African American students may

misidentify with academic achievement by not incorporating it into their self-concept or

self-esteem. This can be rescued by incorporating the American values into the Africans

curriculum and schools. This will ensure that the children are inculcated the values like

competitiveness and Individualism (Williams and Portman 97).

Additionally, this study has shown that racism is the root cause of all problems

that are evident African American educational institution. Consequently, to curb this,

racism must be tackled. Procedures includes stern measures like avoiding

stereotyping .This should be continued by sharing with others about learning to avoid

certain racist expressions and ideas. Those who have and this tactics should seriously

engage others who talk ill of others.

The government should incorporate stern measures on the people who are

involved in racism acts .This include severe fines that are enough to curb the racism.

Another important virtue is on parents. This includes teaching their children on matter of

respect races. When children grow knowing that they should respect everyone race,

racism can be tackled. Better still, campaigns in the media and social media will ensure

that racism is undertaken (Williams and Portman 97).

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teen dating violence victimization." School Psychology Quarterly, vol. 31,

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and children’s racial centrality from elementary through high

school." Developmental Psychology, vol. 53, no. 6, 2017, pp. 1130-1141.

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American High School Students’ Achievement." vol. 26, 2017,

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Collaborative Effort to Increase Student Success." The High School Journal,

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