Only 3 out of every 100 Black males who enter kindergarten will graduate from college in the state of South Carolina. The same holds true for most states throughout the United States.For 25 years I have written books on this subject (www.rspublishing.com), worked with schools, churches, and community organizations, and, together with my wife, sent one son to college and currently preparing another son (sixth grader) for college. As parents of two Black boys, my wife and I must know the issues and obstacles that will confront them as they enter into public education if we are to ensure that they are properly educated as they exit a public high school. So too, must you, if you are a concerned parent, teacher, or mentor of a Black male.
Thus, the reason for this blog.
I presented this calculation to parents at Middle School in South Carolina. Throughout the school day, I interacted with sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students, all of whom had read my book, Follow Your Dreams: Lessons That I Learned in School. During my interactions with students I discussed issues raised in the book and asked students, “Raise your hand if you are planning on going to college.” Interestingly, nearly every student in each student session acknowledged that he or she was planning on going to college. Equally interesting, most students acknowledged that they had not qualified for the school’s honor roll, frequently were tardy for class or absent from school, fell asleep in class, missed assignments, frequently failed tests and quizzes, and routinely failed to pay attention in class.
Students were good-natured and openly honest in acknowledging that their daily actions were totally inconsistent with their future aspirations. Hence, a huge problem that we cannot avoid in graduating Black students from high school, getting them into college, and ultimately getting them to graduate from college is making early connections between the daily drudgery of school and their long-term aspirations. Many students simply do not make the connection between aspirations of becoming a doctor and the importance of math and science in elementary through middle school. Boys, in particular, do not make the connection between dreams of pursuing careers as professional athletes and achieving the grades and SAT/ACT scores needed to register with the NCAA Clearinghouse, a prerequisite to scholarship eligibility and competing as a college student-athlete.
I explained to both parents and students that of 100 Black males entering a South Carolina kindergarten, only 40 are expected to graduate from high school (40%). [Public Education and Black Male Students: The 2006 State Report Card, The Schott Foundation, p. 2.]
Of the 40 Black males who graduate from high school, only 9 (23%) are projected to attend college. [Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates, Manhattan Institute, 1991-2002, p. 2.]
Of the 9 who attend college, only 3 are projected to graduate from college (32.4%). [One Step from the Finish Line: Higher College Graduation Rates are Within Our Reach, Education Trust, January, 2005, p. 5.]
The reality of far too many Black males is that we, as parents, teachers, and mentors are disconnected from the many issues, obstacles, and negative influences hindering their daily success in schools and classrooms. In essence, we are sending them to school without plans and hoping for the best. Subsequently, they are more likely to be incarcerated than graduate from college; more likely to play high school football than to take honors or AP classes; and more likely to be at the bottom of the achievement gap in their state and local school district.
The attitudes and behaviors of these middler schoolers were tolerated, if not shaped, by low expectations of parents, teachers, and mentors long before they entered the sixth grade.
If you are a parent, teacher, or mentor of Black boys, you must become familiar with the unique issues and obstacles confronting them in your state and local school system. Then, you must develop an action plan to guide their journey from preschool through college. We must create future generations of Black men who are educated, do not have criminal records, and prepared to fully participate in shaping national and local legislative policy.
