Black American Students in An Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement (Sociocultural, Political, and Historical Studies in Education)

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About Black American Students In An Affluent Suburb: A

Product Description John Ogbu has studied minority education from a comparative perspective for over 30 years. The study reported in this book--jointly sponsored by the community and the school district in Shaker Heights, Ohio--focuses on the academic performance of Black American students. Not only do these students perform less well than White students at every social class level, but also less well than immigrant minority students, including Black immigrant students. Furthermore, both middle-class Black students in suburban school districts, as well as poor Black students in inner-city schools are not doing well. Ogbu's analysis draws on data from observations, formal and informal interviews, and statistical and other data. He offers strong empirical evidence to support the cross-class existence of the problem. The book is organized in four parts: *Part I provides a description of the twin problems the study addresses--the gap between Black and White students in school performance and the low academic engagement of Black students; a review of conventional explanations; an alternative perspective; and the framework for the study. *Part II is an analysis of societal and school factors contributing to the problem, including race relations, Pygmalion or internalized White beliefs and expectations, levelling or tracking, the roles of teachers, counselors, and discipline. *Community factors--the focus of this study--are discussed in Part III. These include the educational impact of opportunity structure, collective identity, cultural and language or dialect frame of reference in schooling, peer pressures, and the role of the family. This research focus does not mean exonerating the system and blaming minorities, nor does it mean neglecting school and society factors. Rather, Ogbu argues, the role of community forces should be incorporated into the discussion of the academic achievement gap by researchers, theoreticians, policymakers, educators, and minorities themselves who genuinely want to improve the academic achievement of African American children and other minorities. *In Part IV, Ogbu presents a summary of the study's findings on community forces and offers recommendations--some of which are for the school system and some for the Black community. Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement is an important book for a wide range of researchers, professionals, and students, particularly in the areas of Black education, minority education, comparative and international education, sociology of education, educational anthropology, educational policy, teacher education, and applied anthropology. Review "This book raises uncomfortable questions about race, opportunity, and responsibility as it examines why the sons and daughters of wealthy black professionals aren't keeping pace academically with the children of wealthy white professionals in Shaker Heights, Ohio...Ogbu doesn't let schools entirely off the hook. But he's not letting anyone else off, either." ―American School Board Journal "Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb presents an interesting departure from traditional studies of the Black and White achievement gap....this book is an important contribution to the literature on the Black-White achievement gap." ―Journal of College Student Development "In my view, what this book adds to the field is an extension of the debate on the age-old issue of culture, race, and school achievement, in part by making the point that race (and not economics) is the key issue. It also offers evidence of the detrimental beliefs some black students hold about the effort and intelligence of themselves and their peers." ―Human Development "Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb is a provocative look at minority educational achievement. The concepts of voluntary and involuntary minorities remain intriguing. And the emphasis on the interplay between the microlevel and the macrolevel se