Cynthia A. Wooding
As a teacher, it is my responsibility to give the best opportunities to my students with a rich and child-centered environment in both my classroom and school community. Not only is it my responsibility but also my passion that drives me to create this social development curriculum. During my teaching career, I face the challenge of a classroom composed of socio-economically disadvantaged students. This experience had led me to research currents issues and studies of disadvantage students. I have come across a study that was published by the Horatio Alger Association,
The State of Our Nation's Youth
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The State of Our Nation's Youth
analyzes the varying types and levels of family and peer support the American youth receive. It explores their outlook on numerous issues from education to social attitudes, and what these students see as the biggest obstacles in their lives as opposed to obstacles perceived by adults and educators. The study provides strong data about today at-risk adolescents and what they are facing in today's changing society. The outcome of this study can assist professionals in education the needs that must be addressed for students to overcome their educational obstacles. The study gathered responses from 1,327 teens between the ages of fourteen and eighteen of all races and variety of demographic backgrounds. The survey outcomes were interesting in the way in which African Americans view their outcome for continuing their education and the challenges that they face for their academic future. One outcome that was significant was that 85 percent of African Americans plan to continue their education in some fashion compared to 78 percent of all students. When asked how they planned to finance their education, African Americans expect more scholarships and grants than do students of other races. (Caucasians were more likely than students of other racial backgrounds to expect to work at a job outside of school to finance their education). But further findings revealed only 7 percent of African Americans reported receiving mostly A's in school versus 27 percent of Caucasians and 27 percent of other races. Further searching through the report, there were findings that when these students were asked if there is the same amount of opportunity for students of all races and social classes, 60 percent of whites believed that there would be equal opportunity for all, but only 40 percent of African Americans felt this way. African Americans students were 20 percent less thinking that students had fewer opportunities.
Another outcome of the survey related to family earnings. The results of the survey stated that only 54 percent of those whose family earned below $30,000 felt that many opportunities would be available to them after they graduated. In contrast, 71 percent of students from families earning between $30,000 and $49,999 felt that they would have many opportunities. The United Methodist news service reports that the average African American household in the United States earned $25,050 in 1997. There is a correlation between the data from the United Methodist news service and the data from the Horatio Alger Association. There are two major concerns from these studies that addresses income and perception. The first is the average income of African American household earns $25, 050 per year, and second, the data of the Horatio Alger's survey of the 54 percent of those students families that earn below $30,000 felt they had a 17 percent less off a chance to further their education than those students whose families earned $30,000 to $49,000. It is my conclusion that the average African American student falls into a bracket where they are less likely to have opportunities. If students are not given the guidance and educational tools to over come the statistics and their perceptions, they have a greater percentage of thinking they have less opportunities.
I must note that the Horatio Alger survey stated that the overall consensus of the study was not to single out racial outcomes but student's perceptions of furthering their education. The Horatio Alger survey objectives were not used to define the perceptions of only African American students on furthering their education but of all students between the ages of fourteen and eighteen in various demographic areas within the United States.
Other findings in the Horatio Alger Association of 1999 survey were interesting in regards to student's academics. It stated that a variety of students from lower income households were less likely to:
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• Take the most difficult and challenging classes they can.
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• Believe the amount of work they do now is important to success later in life.
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• Believe that it is important that they do the best in all their classes
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• Agree that doing homework is important
This information reveals a gap between working hard in school and knowing how to accomplish successful goals to further education. Maybe students need to know how to establish their goals and to complete them. From research, it necessary to create a curriculum for African American students that will encourage them to overcome obstacles they face. This curriculum helps improve student's self-image through the exploration of successful African Americans. The curriculum would help the students become aware of positive achievers from their own cultural and race. African Americans have the intelligence and motivation to succeed; they often lack the skills and knowledge to succeed against the odds of biased school testing and challenges in poor socio-economical environments. As educators, we need to develop, implement and assess teaching strategies with the goal of creating child-centered learning environments that help students overcome these biases. These strategies will initiate and support the process of a developing positive image for the individual student.
