What if the academic achievement problems with young Black males were not actually a problem with the students themselves, but a problem with those charged with educating them?
That is a question debated by scholars and policymakers at the 3rd Annual International Colloquium on Black Males in Education held last week on the campus of Morehouse College.
“We don’t tend to have an achievement gap when it comes to Black males; we have an opportunity gap,” said Dr. Bryant Marks, associate professor of psychology and executive director of the Morehouse Research Institute. “And that’s not a kid problem; that’s an adult problem.”
Marks defined opportunity gap as a failure to provide the resources and exposure students need to be successful. Disproportionate suspension and expulsion rates, social promotion and high rates of special education labeling contribute to an inability to draw the knowledge Black male students need to thrive academically, as do disparities in advanced level course offerings.
Another issue, said Dr. Derrick Brooms, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Louisville, is an oppositional culture, or the idea that Black males just don’t care about education. When those responsible for educating students are predisposed to believe an entire subset doesn’t care about education, they are less likely to expend the effort to ensure the success of that group. However, the idea is flawed.
“In my experience, I just haven’t met too many Black males who don’t care about education,” said Brooms, who has worked with young men from middle school, high school and college.
A group of Ohio researchers examined local policy and its impact on Black males’ educational attainment. Because higher education is treated as a discretionary budget item, as opposed to a mandatory program, spending on higher education is often inadequate, said Dr. Debra Thompson, an assistant professor at Ohio University.
