The Influence of Black Parenting on African American Male's
Academic Achievement
INTRODUCTION
This paper discusses in detail the research proposal on the influence of black parenting on children's academic performance. In particular, the research will focus on parenting African American males. In this research proposal, the background, context and theme of the study are presented; the objectives of the study and the research statements are formulated. Here, vital concepts, questions and assumptions are stated. Finally, the scope and limitation of the study, methodology to be used and the significance of the research are discussed.
The impetus for undertaking this study stems from the fact that more African American females have better academic achievements compared to African American males. In this context, the author believes that somehow, current black parenting strategies in relation to children's education are more beneficial to females than to males. It is therefore a very crucial factor in understanding the academic performance of black male children.
Black children across the nation are underachieving, even when circumstances are more favorable. When reviewing traditional research and literature many authors focus on how the classic variables influence parental success; Age, income, education and demographics, etc., have all been at the center of the most popular research. What we have now learned, via more current research, is that children of Black parents, across socioeconomic boundaries disproportionately occupy the most undesirable positions in American Society. We know that racism is a constant and significant variable that poses obstacles for Black youth. We also know that a number of modern day scholastic challenges facing the Black family has its roots within it.
As Donna Fords research suggests, Black parents have the same aspirations as do parent White Middle class parents of achieving children. She also goes on to explain how Black children have internalized the same desires and need for achievement as those White children who do achieve. Yet, Black children, regardless of their parental circumstance (poor, single family, married or middle income) still underachieve. This study will take a closer look, in part, at how Black parents align their aspirations for their children with their parental styles and/or behaviors.
Purpose of the Study
Generally, the purpose of the research is to conduct a descriptive study on the effectiveness of black parenting on African American male. The research will specifically investigate the kind of parenting employed by African American parents in relation to their children's educational achievement. This proposed study will detail the current theories and practices in black parenting, and will attempt to present significant findings on its effect on academic performance of African American male children. Primarily, the objectives of the study include a recommendation on how to effectively parent an African American male.
The study shall be furnishing discussions made by other authors regarding black parenting and African American male educational performance. Initially, such discussions will be based on the studies made by Brewer (2002), the African American Men Project (2001, 2002), Mays et al. (1999), Ross (1998), and Myers and Taylor
Statement of the Problem
The focus of this problem statement is to establish a relationship between black parenting and the academic performance of African American male children. Currently, in the United States
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are:
1. To examine the different black parenting strategies.
2. To discuss the academic achievement of African American males in the US
3. To know how African American male children view parenting as implemented in their families.
4. To understand the relationship between parenting and black male educational performance.
5. To know other factors that affect African American male educational performance.
Significance of the Study
This study will be a significant endeavor in promoting effective black parenting in the US
METHODOLOGY
Methods of Research to be Used
There are three kinds of research methods, correlational, experimental and descriptive. (Walliman and Baiche, 2001) The correlational kind of research method is used due to ethical problems with experiments. It is also used due to practical problems with experiments. Moreover, inferring causality from correlation not actually impossible, but very difficult. This mode of study is widely applicable, cheap, and usually ethical. Nonetheless, there exist some "third variable" issues and measurement problems.
The correlational research refers to studies in which the purpose is to discover relationships between variables through the use of correlational statistics (r). The square of a correlation coefficient yields the explained variance (r-squared). A correlational relationship between two variables is occasionally the result of an outside source, so we have to be careful and remember that correlation does not necessarily tell us about cause and effect. If a strong relationship is found between two variables, using an experimental approach can test causality.
On the other hand, the experimental method is the only method that can be used to establish cause-and-effect relationships. (Creswell, 1994) That is, it is the only one that can be used to explain the bases of behaviour and mental processes. In this method, the subjects are split into two (or more) groups. One group, called the experimental group gets the treatment that the researcher believes will cause something to happen (this treatment is formally called the independent variable). The experimental and control groups are compared on some variable that is presumed to reflect the effects of the treatment, or outcome. This is formally referred to as the dependent variable.
For this study, the descriptive research method will be utilized. In this method, it is possible that the study will be cheap and quick. It can also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, this method will be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. This descriptive type of research utilizes observations in the study. To illustrate the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) states that the descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition.
The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opts to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.
To come up with pertinent findings and to provide credible recommendations, this study will utilize two sources of research: primary and secondary. Primary research data will be obtained through this new research study. Questionnaire survey and focus group will be conducted. On the other hand, the secondary research data will be obtained from previous studies on the same topic.
This research will base its findings partially through quantitative research methods because this permits a flexible and iterative approach. During data gathering the choice and design of methods will be constantly modified, based on ongoing analysis. This will allow investigation of important new issues about employee training and questions as they arise, and allow the researcher to drop unproductive areas of research from the original research plan.
This study will also employ qualitative research method because it intends to find and build theories that will explain the relationship of one variable with another variable through qualitative elements in research. Through this method, qualitative elements that do not have standard measures such as behavior, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs will be analysed.
Furthermore qualitative research is multimethod in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Accordingly, qualitative researchers deploy a wide range of interconnected methods, hoping always to get a better fix on the subject matter at hand.
For this research design, the researcher will gather data, collate published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from books and journals; and will make a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material. Afterwards, the researcher will summarize all the information, make a conclusion based on the hypotheses posited and provide insightful recommendations on employee training.
For this study, a survey and focus group will be conducted. The process will include identifying the general population for the survey, designing of the instrument (survey-questionnaire) and validation of the instrument. After the validation, the researcher will present the instrument to the supervisor for approval, before administering the instrument. Finally, with the help of a statistician, the researcher will make the statistical analysis. After gathering the results, a preliminary analysis of the results of the survey and focus group discussion will be conducted. Then the supervisor will check the preliminary analysis. Afterwards, the researcher will conduct detailed analysis of the results.
Factors and other variables will not be considered for this study because of the relatively short period of time allotted to finish the project. This might have an impact on the results of the study.
Respondents of the Study
The general population for this study will be composed of selected black male high school students, numbering to 100 respondents. 80 respondents will be male and 20 female. Female respondents will be considered for comparison purposes. The respondents will be selected from five different secondary schools. 16 males and 4 females will come from each school. This study will not discuss in detail other variables such as socioeconomic conditions, religion, etc. The researcher thinks that a separate study is necessary for examining the aforementioned variables.
The researcher shall also conduct a focus group involving seven African American parents. These participants will only include those who have both male and female children. This is purposive because the study will attempt to compare the academic achievements of male and female children as influenced by parenting.
Instruments to be Used
To determine the effectiveness of parenting on black children's academic achievement, the researcher will prepare a questionnaire and a set of guide questions for the focus group that will be asked to the intended respondents. The respondents will grade each statement in the survey-questionnaire using a Likert scale with a five-response scale wherein respondents will be given five response choices. The equivalent weights for the answers will be:
Range Interpretation
4.50 – 5.00 Strongly Agree
3.50 – 4.00 Agree
2.50 – 3.49 Uncertain
1.50 – 2.49 Disagree
0.00 – 1.49 Strongly Disagree
Validation of the Instrument
For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a sample of the set of survey questionnaires and after approval; the survey will be conducted to five respondents. After the questions were answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument. The researcher will again examine the content of the interview questions to find out the reliability of the instrument. The researchers will exclude irrelevant questions and will change words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms.
Limitations of the Study
This paper will only cover the impact of black parenting on the academic achievements of African American males. Analysis in this study will be limited on the outcome of the survey and focus group that will be conducted. A limitation for this study includes the difficulty to disregard other variables in black parenting that affect children's educational performance. As a result, the researcher will include factors such as socioeconomic condition only as support.
Additionally, readers should be aware that the results of a qualitative study may not be highly generalizable or easily replicated. However, as this study was based on a specific set of questions, one can conjecture that it and its research methods could be replicated.
RESEARCH MANAGEMENT
To carry out the overall aim the researcher will first examine black parenting in the US
This study will be divided into five chapters. The first chapter will introduce the topic and the background of the problem. Chapter Two will discuss and review the available literature mainly on the influence of black parenting on African American male academic achievement. Chapter Three will discuss the methods that will be used. Chapter Four will be the presentation and analysis of the results of the survey and interview. Finally, the Chapter Five will provide the conclusion and recommendation.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Overview of African American Children Living Condition
Evidence shows that African American children living in urban poverty run a disproportionately higher risk for negative psychosocial and educational outcomes than more affluent African American and Caucasian children (Children's Defense Fund, 1995). This excess vulnerability is reflected in the higher prevalence of dysfunctional outcomes in urban African American children which range from mild behavior problems and early academic difficulties to more insidious and debilitating problems, such as early initiation into substance use and abuse, delinquency, school failure and dropout, adolescent parenthood, and early violent death (Black Community Crusade for Children, 1993; Hammond & Yung, 1994). This state of enhanced socio-ecologic risk can be attributed to multiple interacting factors that fall into two broad domains: (1) influences from the social context that are distal to the family, and (2) more proximal family/parental factors. In addition, both factors that confer risk and serve as protectors or mediators must be distinguished.
African American children living in inner cities reside in social contexts with depleted resources (Myers & Taylor, 1998). These communities are often characterized by substandard housing conditions, which contribute to children's increased risk for accidents (Reed, 1992; Klerman, 1991), limited access to preventive and ambulatory medical care (Klerman, 1991), and disproportionately high rates of substance abuse and crime (Myers, 1989). The schools in these neighborhoods are frequently overcrowded and lack adequate material resources necessary to provide a competitive education (Kozol, 1991). These children also suffer greater exposure to community violence due to the proliferation of illicit drug trade and blossoming gang activity. As such, they are more likely to witness violence, to engage in aggressive and violent acts, as well as to be victims of violence (Attar et al., 1994; Osofsky et al., 1994). This risk of exposure and victimization is further compounded by the lack of resources to treat effectively those children who evidence post-traumatic stress symptoms (Pynoos & Nader, 1988).
The literature clearly indicates that these factors limit the ability of families to provide adequately for and prepare their children to function optimally in society, and clearly compromise the ability of families to protect their children adequately (Garmezy, 1993; Myers, 1989).
The African American Family
It is important to note, however, that the impact distal risk factors have on families are magnified by more proximal family and parental risk and protective factors (Garbarino et al., 1991). For example, parental psychological distress, substance use, and psychopathology exacerbate the debilitating effects of socioeconomic disadvantage. Among the proximal factors that increase risk for negative outcomes in African American children are: disruptions in family structure due to economic downturns and regressive social policies, which increase the likelihood of living in persistently poor, single-parent households (McLoyd, 1990); high exposure to acute and chronic life stresses (Dressier, 1985); high parental psychological distress and physical disability (McAdoo, 1986); ineffective parental coping (Garbarino et al., 1991); hostile-rejecting parenting practices, including greater reliance on corporal punishment as a method of discipline (Halpern, 1990); and parental and sibling substance use, delinquency and psychopathology (Fleming et al., 1982; Singleton, 1989).
In recent years, a growing body of literature on resilience in childhood has focused on identifying the factors that lead to mastery and competence despite exposure to sustained and intense social and familial stressors (Rutter, 1990; Anthony & Cohler, 1987). Three domains of protective factors have been associated with adaptive outcomes in at-risk children. They include: having a supportive family and a positive relationship with at least one parent or other relative (Baldwin et al., 1990); warm, supportive parenting practices (Wyman et al., 1991); positive temperament in early childhood; and the availability of useful and positive social supports from extended family and adults outside of the family that foster positive ties to the larger community (Garmezy, 1988; Werner & Smith, 1982).
A small but growing body of research has also investigated resilience to psychosocial risk factors in low-income African American children, and identified key parental attributes and familial coping strategies that may serve to protect these children from the debilitating environments in which they live (Meyers & Taylor, 1998). Many of these attributes, however, may not be the same as those shown to be important protective factors for middle-class Caucasian children who are placed at high risk as a result of parental psychopathology or other contextual factors (Meyers & Taylor, 1998).
It has been widely suggested, for example, that the resourcefulness and adaptive nature of the African American family (Hill, 1971) may serve to buffer the impact of community, familial, and parental risk factors that threaten the well-being of a significant number of low-income African American children. Other studies have indicated that the availability of social supports (Belle, 1982), family adaptability and structure (Holliday, 1985), and nurturant caregiver-child relationships (Wyman et al., 1991) also serve to protect children from risks. Moreover, somewhat contrary to the prevailing view of effective parenting in more affluent families, Baldwin et al. (1990) found that parental restrictiveness, clarity of expectations, vigilance, and warmth are important factors associated with successful outcomes in children living in high-risk communities.
For this proposed study, flaws in African American family will be discussed. In the focus group process, the researcher will attempt to know if black parents are effectively implementing parenting. This will be achieved by asking them if their children, both male and female, are performing well in school. With this, the researcher will know if black parenting is beneficial to black male children.
Moreover, in the focus group, the participants/parents will be asked how they treat their children in general. They will be asked how they discipline their children and how they motivate them to study. Further, the researcher will attempt to know if the participants/parents accord equal motivation to their male and female children.
Academic Achievement: African American Males vs. African American Women
Black men are falling behind black women in almost every assessment of progress in higher education (Ross, 1998). The research of Slater (1994) found that African-American women enrolled in college are the reason for the gains in black enrollment figures, adding that black women eclipse black men in practically all statistical measurements in postsecondary education. Moreover, Nettles (1997) reported that between 1976 and 1994 more black women than black men entered colleges and universities nationally. In the fall of 1994, for example, 898,605 African-American women versus 549,603 African-American men enrolled in institutions of higher education--a disparity of 24 percent. Furthermore, Nettles' (1997) findings revealed that although the number of bachelor's degrees granted to African-American men increased by 19.6 percent, from 25,147 in 1977 to 30,086 in 1994, the number granted to African American women increased by 55.4 percent, from 33,489 in 1977 to 52,047 in 1994.
Nettles (1997) also noted that the number of African American women who received master's degrees at institutions of higher education was about double the number of African American men: 13,890 versus 7,002 at all institutions in 1994. With the same data, he addressed the number of doctoral degrees awarded between 1977 and 1994, which increased by 30 percent among all students--from 33,232 in 1977 to 43,185 in 1994. For African Americans, the number of doctoral degrees earned by men decreased between 1977 and 1994, while the number awarded to women increased.
The number of doctoral degrees awarded to African-American men declined by 20.5 percent, from 766 in 1977 to 609 in 1994, while the number awarded to African American women increased by 50.9 percent, from 487 in 1977 to 735 in 1994. In 1994, African-American men constituted 1.4 percent of all doctorates awarded (down from 2.3 percent in 1977), while African-American women represented 1.7 percent (up from 1.5 percent in 1977).
At the present time, 300,000 more black women attend college than black men. Since 1980 the disparity has grown by 78 percent. By 1991, 41,012 bachelor's degrees had been earned by black women, representing 62.8 percent of the total number of degrees earned by both black males and black females. If this trend continues, in a few years black women will earn two out of every three degrees.
The statistics indicate that black men are losing ground to black women in education. Slater (1994) emphasized that in recent years that trend seemed to be growing. From 1990 to 1992, the percentage of black men ages eighteen to twenty-four enrolled in college declined from 26.1 percent to 21.2 percent. Slater also reviewed the possible reasons why African-American men are faring so poorly in postsecondary education.
Slater (1994) also blamed the lack of a reliable male in the home to mentor the child; further, there are no black male role models in many elementary and secondary schools, and the black adolescent student sees a black person doing only menial tasks--such as janitorial--in many of the schools. Indeed, the only successful black men the young black male knows about are athletes, entertainers, or musicians--careers that do not require much formal education. According to Slater (1994), school is seen by black youth as an authoritarian agency not worthy of respect, and many black adolescents feel hostility to education and have an anti-achievement ethic.
Garibaldi (1992) stated that the school system is apathetic to the African-American male; contrary to public perception, the African-American male desires to finish school. In a study of 2,250 African-American males in a New Orleans school district, 95 percent reported that they expected to graduate from high school; 40 percent, however, responded that they believed that their teachers were indifferent to their achieving. Of a sample of 500 teachers (318 responded), asked if they had confidence that their black male students would pursue a college education, six out of ten replied negatively.
In this light, this study will determine factors that affect educational achievement of African American children. Through the survey that will be conducted, the researcher will be enabled to compare the experiences of African American male and female children with respect to parenting.
Family and Education
Findings of Ross (1998) shows that family is the most relevant factor in the black males' academic performance. The theme of bonding to a mother or grandmother, or both emerged as a significant factor for black males' success in life. Moreover, the theme of someone caring is a relevant factor within the lives of the respondents; when a significant person showed a "caring" attitude, students listened and learned about how they should conduct themselves in order to survive their obstacles (Ross, 1998). If the father is in the home, then the father is named as a role model. Within the realm of caring, a significant support system emerged, such as relatives.
According to Ross (1998), "Nurturing is at the center of the young black male's ability to survive and overcome his obstacles, many of which are a part of his daily environment. When a young black male is nurtured by a significant person in his life, that creates in him the capability to persist." (66) The adolescent's bonding to the particular person who provides strong guidance and is a positive role model gives the young man a sense of responsibility not to let that person down. It may be mother or grandmother, a family member, a caring mentor, or a role model. The nurturing individual and his spiritual upbringing give the individual the positive direction that he needs to stay on track and to succeed. A supportive environment the family is necessary for success.
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