African American Boys Research Paper

How Parental Involvement effects the academic achievement of African American boys?

Introduction
Background
According to Osie Wood (2012), “The nation’s young African American males are currently in a state of crisis (pg. 6). Concurrently, over the last four decades perhaps, the most persistent debate in education has been on how to close the achievement gap between White students on the one hand and Black and Hispanic students on the other (Green, 2001; Simpson, 1981). This achievement gap exists in virtually every measure of educational progress, including standardized tests, GPA, the dropout rate, the extent to which students are left back a grade, and so forth (Green, 2001). Given that parental involvement has been demonstrated
Enacted in 1965, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary School Act (ESEA) Section 8, discusses the policy on parental involvement. Its goal is to have parents, school staff and community agencies collaborate to help improve students’ academic achievement Kunjufu (2009) encourages teachers to create an atmosphere that encourages parental involvement to help close the achievement gap of African American boys.
Lack of Parental Support in the African American Male Culture
Lack of parental involvement is clearly detrimental to the development of African American youth. Miscommunication between parents and teachers can lead to high dropout rates, low students motivation, high suspension rates, and high placement in special education programs for students with emotional disabilities (Brandon, 2007). In addition, lack of involvement increases the chances of parental stereotyping by educators; who perceive the lack of involvement as carelessness from the parents (pg.10)
With the high rates of single-parent homes in the African American male culture, parents are not able to be involved in their children’s academic achievements, due to having other responsibilities (Manz et al., 2004). Community leadership programs have been put in place to help improve African American boys’ school
Researchers found that the more active a role the parent takes in the children’s education, the greater the outcome of the positive success of child (Riddick ,2010). The lack of male leadership in the home is a major barrier for African American boys’ school performance . Research indicates that parental involvement makes it more likely for children to do their homework (Balli, 1998; Balli, Demo, & Wedman, 1998; Villas-Boas, 1998), improve their language skills (Bermudez & Padron, 1990), have low school absentee rates (Nesbitt, 1993), and even have strong musical skills (Zdzinski, 1996). Parent Involvemt is directly linked to postive school outcomes. The more active a role the parent takes in the childrens education, the greater the outcome of the positive success of child (Riddick ,2010). One way to foster parental involvement is for parents and educators to establish mutual goals, combined with developing activities that bridge home and school. In these ways, parental involvement promotes a healthy and consistent learning environment (Christenson, 1995). pursuits, limiting non -productive and destructive activities (e.g, television, radio, and video games) and creating a constant and positive dialogue with the teachers and school officials, Another way to encourage parental involvement is to help parents understand that participation in school-related networks, for example, can help them