215.Unstack the Odds--Latinos:Another Crisis, Pt 2

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

7. Latinos: Another Crisis, Pt 2

The nonprofit organization Excelencia in Education released its report Roadmap for Ensuring America’s Future By Increasing Latino College Completion in March 2011. That report summarized the higher education situation of Hispanics, stating “Latino educational attainment is currently lower than that of other groups (only 19 percent of Latino adults have earned an associate or higher degree.” (Roadmap for Ensuring America’s Future By Increasing Latino College Completion, Excelencia in Education, March 2011, p. 7.) http://www.edexcelencia.org/initiatives/EAF/Roadmap

Regarding Latino college preparation, Roadmap presented these data:
“The high school completion rate for Hispanics overall increased from 60 percent in 1987 to 69 percent in 2009.
Latinos are more likely to be placed into lower academic tracks throughout their secondary
schooling, which affects their college preparation.
Many Hispanic students have taken remediation courses. In 2007-08, 45% of Hispanic students
had taken a remedial course compared to 38% of all students.” (Ibid., pp. 8-9.)

As for the college enrollment of Hispanic males, these statistics were offered:
“Latino’s college-going rate is lower than other groups. The college-going rate for Latino high school completers between 18-24 years of age was 37%. In comparison, the rate was 40% for black and 49% for white high school completers. . . .
Many Latinos are the first in their family to enroll in college. In 2007-08, about 50% of Hispanics enrolled in college had parents whose highest level of education was a high school diploma or less. In comparison, 45% of black and 28% of white students were the first in their family to go to college. . . . “ (Ibid., p. 9.)

Regarding Hispanic economic background, this profile was presented:
“Latinos are more likely to be low-income. In 2007-08, almost 25% of Latino students (dependents) have family incomes less than $40,000, compared to 11% of white students. . . .
Latinos, on average, received lower amounts of total financial aid or any type of aid than all
students—except for work-study—in 2008. Latino students received a lower average financial aid award ($7,925) than all students ($9,114).” (Ibid.)

Finally, as for Latino college completion, the data offered were these:
“ In 2008, Hispanics 25 years and over in the United States were less likely to have earned a postsecondary degree (19 percent) than blacks (29 percent), whites (39 percent), and Asians (59 percent).” (Ibid.)

214.Unstack the Odds--Latinos:Another Crisis, Pt 1

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by

Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

7. Latinos: Another Crisis, Pt 1

A posting by Peter Schmidt on the 2010 A Call For Change commented on the data relating to Hispanics, saying “The latest report covers new ground, however, with a special section focusing on the nation's Hispanic population, which has the lowest rate of high-school completion and the lowest level of educational attainment of any minority group, and has made the least progress in recent decades in the growth of its share of young people going on to college . . . . “ Schmidt commented further: “Unlike many other immigrants, most Hispanic immigrants, particularly those from Mexico, come from underachieving economic and educational backgrounds, the report notes.” (Peter Schmidt, “Educational Difficulties of Men and Immigrants Hinder Efforts to Improve College Attainment,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 20, 2010.) http://chronicle.com/article/Educational-Difficulties-of/125015/

For the itinerant farmworkers’ children—American citizens by virtue of their birth in the U.S.--whose families pick the produce crop, which may involve moving frequently, their education can be disrupted. Patricia Leigh Brown described one such young male in this posting: “One boy in Mr. Ramos’s class did not attend school for five months. He spent his time on PlayStation. This year, his father will move for work. But his mother is staying in Salinas, worried, she said, that “my son is falling behind.” Almost half of these children become high-school dropouts. (Patricia Leigh Brown, “Itinerant Life Weighs on Farmworkers’ Children,” The New York Times, March 12, 2011.) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/us/13salinas.html?pagewanted=2&adxnnl=1&hpw&adxnnlx=1300104036-wFj/nGS5VdhLTnVazFb7Sw

As for Latino boys, an opinion column in USAToday offered what might be termed this “reverse pyramid” of academic achievement: “According to a study by the Center for Community Development and Civil Rights at Arizona State University, out of 100 Latino males who start elementary school, 49 leave before high school graduation. Of those who finish high school, only 10 complete college. Our high school dropout rate (29%) surpasses that of white males (7%) and African-American males (14%).” (Raul Reyes, “Education progress eludes Latinos,” USA Today, August 17, 2007, p. 11A.)

213.Unstack the Odds--Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 4

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

6. Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 4

“He says the biggest revelation he had reading his own autobiography came in the parts about his father, who abandoned the family when Jay was 11. ‘It was still wrong, at the end of the day, that he left.’ Jay says, ‘but he did stick around at a time when it wasn’t cool or popular—he married my mom at a time when guys were just leaving, and you’d never even meet your dad. So it made me ease up a little bit in how I felt about him.”--Mark Binelli, “King of America: From Coachella to the White House, How Jay-Z Runs the Game,” Rolling Stone, June 24, 2010, p. 47.

Dakarai Aarons also commented on the release of the report A Call for Change, which examined data from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). As he stated: “The council's report suggests that the underperformance of black male youths is nothing short of a national emergency, and it calls for the convening of a White House conference.”

Aarons quotes Michael Casserly from an interview as saying, "This is not just an education issue, and it is not just an urban issue. It is a broader national issue that is going to require sustained and coordinated effort on the part of a lot of people.” (Dakarai Aarons, “Black Male Achievement in a 'State of Crisis,' Study Says,” Education Week, November 9, 2010.) http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2010/11/black_male_achievement_paints.html
Chauntel Riser, coordinator of the African-American Resource Center at California State University Fullerton (CSUF), put it this way: “So it’s not that they don’t want to, they just don’t know how to graduate . . . .” According to Christina Lunceford, assistant director of the Center for Research on Education Access and Leadership at CSUF, “We are in a crisis across the country especially with African-American males. There are not a lot of African-American males going to college and even fewer are graduating.” (Soyoung Kim, “Achievement Gap Persists in African-American Graduation Rates,” Neon Tommy, March 5, 2011.) http://m.neontommy.com/news/2011/03/achievement-gap-persists-african-american-graduation-rates

Regarding the graduation gap involving Black male college athletes, Lynn O’Shaughnessy offered a posting on the graduation rates of men’s basketball teams competing in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. She drew statistics from the annual report issued by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida and commented as follows: “The gap between white and African American players, however, grew by four percentage point[s] to 32%. Ninety one percent of white basketball players graduate, but only 59% of African-American basketball players graduate. Obviously, that’s unacceptable.” (Lynn O’Shaughnessy, “2011 March Madness: Best and Worst Graduation Rates,” The College Solution: CBS Moneywatch, March 15, 2011.) http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/2011-march-madness-best-and-worst-graduation-rates/4787/?tag=col1;blog-river

By contrast, among participants on teams in the 2011 Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, the graduation gap was much smaller between the races, as “. . . 92 percent of white players graduate, compared to 84 percent of black players, or a gap of just 8 percent.” (“Women’s NCAA Teams Outdo Men in Classroom,” The Huffington Post: College, March 16, 2011.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/15/womens-ncaa-teams-outdo-m_n_836240.html

212.Unstack the Odds--Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 3

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by

Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

6. Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 3

Bob Herbert, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, also commented on the report A Call for Change in his posting, “This Raging Fire,” of November 15, 2010. As Herbert stated:
“We know by now, of course, that the situation is grave. We know that more than a third of black children live in poverty; that more than 70 percent are born to unwed mothers; that by the time they reach their mid-30s, a majority of black men without a high school diploma has spent time in prison. We know all this, but no one seems to know how to turn things around. No one has been able to stop this steady plunge of young black Americans into a socioeconomic abyss.” (Bob Herbert, “This Raging Fire,” The New York Times, November 15, 2010.) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/opinion/16herbert.html?_r=1&hp

The columnist continued: “Now comes a report from the Council of the Great City Schools that ought to grab the attention of anyone who cares about black youngsters, starting with those parents who have shortchanged their children on a scale so monstrous that it is difficult to fully grasp. . . .” (Ibid.)

Herbert then linked the report to the current U.S. recession--and attitudes in our nation's capital: “The terrible economic downturn has made it more difficult than ever to douse this raging fire that is consuming the life prospects of so many young blacks, and the growing sentiment in Washington is to do even less to help any Americans in need. It is inconceivable in this atmosphere that blacks themselves will not mobilize in a major way to save these young people. I see no other alternative.” (Ibid.)

The writer ended with this proposal: “The first and most important step would be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together. There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose parents have effectively abandoned them. It’s the family that protects the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a child to believe — truly — that wonderful things are possible.” (Ibid.)

211.Unstack the Odds--Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 2

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

6. Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 2

“Albert Taylor remembers seeing a Youngstown man blow marijuana smoke in the face of his child to make the child hungry because the boy was sick and did not want to eat. That the father felt it OK to blow marijuana in the direction of his child, who has sickle-cell anemia, demonstrates a difficulty young black people have in raising the next generation.” (John W. Goodwin Jr., “Youth and Violence,” The Vindicator, March 13, 2011, p. A1.)

In his article “Proficiency of Black Males Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected” on the release of the report A Call for Change, reporter Trip Gabriel of The New York Times cited this striking fact:
“Only 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys are proficient in reading, compared with 38 percent of white boys, and only 12 percent of black eighth-grade boys are proficient in math, compared with 44 percent of white boys. Poverty alone does not seem to explain the differences: poor white boys do just as well as African-American boys who do not live in poverty, measured by whether they qualify for subsidized school lunches.” (Trip Gabriel, “Proficiency of Black Males Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected,” The New York Times, November 9, 2010.) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/education/09gap.html?_r=2&hpw

Further, Gabriel quoted Ronald Ferguson, who directed the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard, as follows:
“There’s accumulating evidence that there are racial differences in what kids experience before the first day of kindergarten,” said Ronald Ferguson, director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard. “They have to do with a lot of sociological and historical forces. In order to address those, we have to be able to have conversations that people are unwilling to have.”

Those include “conversations about early childhood parenting practices,” Dr. Ferguson said. “The activities that parents conduct with their 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds. How much we talk to them, the ways we talk to them, the ways we enforce discipline, the ways we encourage them to think and develop a sense of autonomy.” (Trip Gabriel, “Proficiency of Black Males Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected,” The New York Times, November 9, 2010.) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/education/09gap.html?_r=2&hpw

210.Unstack the Odds--Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 1

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by

Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

6. Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 1

“Every dude wanna be da "hardest," every girl wanna be "the baddest bitch," okay, koo, tell me where u gon be in 10 years when u tryna make ends meet, no job, no future for yaself......U still wanna be "Hood???" I understand I got a lil bit in me, but I will NEVER go back to that mentality!!”—J____ F_____, posting on Facebook, March 7, 2011.

Rapper and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z said, regarding his song “American Dreamin,’” that “our aim is the same as everyone, shooting for the American dream of success and wealth, but the target is a little different: Instead of trying to land in college or in a good job, I’m trying to get rich in the streets.” (Jay-Z, Decoded, New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010, p. 33.) As the entertainer put it, “but it’s just a rational response to the reality we faced. No one was going to help us. Not even our fathers stuck around.” (Ibid. p. 86.)

Donna Ford had earlier studied variances in achievement between gifted Black males and female adolescents. Ford summarized those differences as follows: “Black males were more likely than females to be underachievers; they exerted considerably less effort in school and held more negative attitudes about school than females. They found school less relevant and personally meaningful than did their female counterparts. Further, Black males were more pessimistic about social factors than were Black females. For example, several of the early adolescent Black males spoke with anger and disappointment about the injustices Blacks must wrestle with.” (Donna Y. Ford, Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students: Promising Practices and Programs, New York: Teachers College Press, 1996, p. 128.)

In October 2010, The Council of the Great City Schools issued its research report called A Call For Change: The Social And Educational Factors Contributing To The Outcomes Of Black Males In Urban Schools. In his preface, Executive Director of the Council Michael Casserly pulled no punches: “The nation’s young Black males are in a state of crisis. They do not have the same opportunities as their male or female counterparts across the country. . . . At almost every juncture, the odds are stacked against these young men in ways that result in too much unfulfilled potential and too many fractured lives.” (A Call For Change: The Social And Educational Factors Contributing To The Outcomes Of Black Males In Urban Schools, The Council of the Great City Schools, October 2010, p. iii.)
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/opinion/A-Call-For-Change.pdf

The report summarized the situation in which Black kids may find themselves:
In 2008, Black children ages 18 and under were three times more likely to live in single-parent households than White children. Nearly two-thirds of all Black children lived in a single-parent household.
In 2007, one out of every three Black children lived in poverty compared with one out of every ten White children. (Ibid., p. 3)

Further, it supported the summary statement that “Black males continue to perform lower than their peers throughout the country on almost every indicator” (Ibid., p. 2) with these facts:
Between 2003 and 2009, the average reading scale of large city (LC) Black males was lower than the average score of White males in national public shools (NP) by at least 28 points at grade 4 and 29 points at grade 8. (Ibid., p. 3)
In 2009, the average reading scale score of large city (LC) Black males who were not eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (Non-FRPL) was one point lower at grade 4 and seven points lower at grade 8 than the score of White males in national public schools (NP) who were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL). (Ibid., p. 4)
In 2009, the average mathematics scale score of large city (LC) Black students in grade 4 and 8 was significantly lower than Hispanic students in large cities (LC). Both were lower than White students in national public schools (NP). (Ibid.)

As for the report’s “Factor 4: College and Career Preparedness,” Black males were, once again, found to be behind, as these data indicate:
Black males were more likely, compared with White males, to drop out of high school and not graduate. Fewer Black males take Advanced Placement exams or enroll in two- or four-year colleges after graduation. Furthermore, the average SAT and ACT scores of Black males were lower than those of White males. (Ibid., p. 5)
Three out of 10 Black males enrolled in a four-year institution, compared with four out of 10 White males. (Ibid.)
Approximately 15 percent of Black males graduated in four years and about one-third graduated in five years compared with 33 percent of White males graduating in four years and one-half graduating in five years. (Ibid., p. 6)

Executive Director Casserly anticipated the reaction to this report. As he stated: “This report is likely to make people angry, and it should. We hope that this is a louder and more jolting wake-up call to the nation than this country is used to hearing. The fact that the previous calls have fallen on so many deaf ears is not encouraging, but we are convinced that we must ring the alarms one more time and play a larger role in setting this situation right.” He finished by saying this: “With so many of our citizens lacking access to the fruits of the richest nation on earth, our aspirations as a truly just nation are called into question.” (Ibid.)

209. Unstack the Odds--What About the Guys?

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

5. What About the Guys?

The 2010 Met Life Teacher Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive in the fall of 2010 on a national sample “. . . of middle and high school teachers, students, parents of public school students, and business executives from Fortune 1000 companies . . . .” indicated a gender gap regarding students’ desire to access college; indeed, the Survey found the following:
“In high school, a gender gap in college expectations emerges that does not exist in middle school. [emphasis in original.] In middle school, seven in ten girls (73%) and boys (72%) plan to get at least a bachelor’s degree. However, in high school, the number of girls planning to get a college degree increases to 83%, while the number of boys planning to get a college degree remains the same as the middle school number.” (The Met Life Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers, Part 1: Clearing the Path, Fall 2010, p. 9.)
http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/american-teacher/MetLife_Teacher_Survey_2010.pdf

A Time article by David Von Drehle discussed the performance of boys in the U.S.; the author indicated lower male performance, as related to college access and success. As he put it: “Meanwhile, fewer boys than girls take the SAT. Fewer boys than girls apply to college. Fewer boys than girls, in annual surveys of college freshmen, express a passion for learning. And fewer boys than girls are earning college degrees.” (David Von Drehle, “The Myth About Boys,” Time, August 6, 2007, p. 42.) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1647452,00.html

Von Drehle elaborated on the situation of young males in the U.S.--based on a report of the federal government, entitled America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007--as follows: “Statistics collected over two decades show an alarming decline in the performance of America’s boys—in some respects, a virtual free fall. Boys were doing poorly in school, abusing drugs, committing violent crimes and engaging in promiscuous sex . . . . The standardized NAEP test, known as the nation’s report card, indicates that by the senior year of high school, boys have fallen nearly 20 points behind their female peers [in reading].” (Ibid., pp. 43-44.) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1647452-2,00.html

As for matriculation rates by gender, an online post commented on the U.S. Labor Department’s report regarding high school graduates in the Class of 2009. Although 70.1% of all students matriculated, the gender breakdown was 73.8% of females but only 66% of male graduates. (Sara Murray, “Grads Head to College In Record Numbers,” The Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2010.) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703832204575210244203411342.html

Regarding enrollment figures, based on the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 43.1% of undergrads from 2007-8 in the U.S. were men, while 56.9% were women. According to an online posting, “women outnumber men at colleges and universities, though their numbers are more even at more selective institutions. Community colleges, less-selective private colleges, and especially for-profit colleges are heavily female.” (“Who Are the Undergraduates?” The Chronicle of Higher Education, December 12, 2010.) http://chronicle.com/article/Who-Are-the-Undergraduates-/123916/