Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males - Hardcover

Hrabowski III, Freeman A.; Maton, Kenneth I.; Greif, Geoffrey L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195102193 ISBN 13: 9780195102192

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Today, young Black men are more likely to be killed or sent to prison than to graduate from college. Yet, despite all the obstacles, some are achieving at the highest academic and professional levels.
Beating the Odds tells their remarkable stories and shows us what African American families have done to raise academically successful sons, sons who are among the top two percent of African American males in terms of SAT scores and grades. The result of extensive and innovative research, Beating the Odds goes beyond mere analysis--and beyond the relentlessly negative media images--to show us precisely how young Black men can succeed despite the roadblocks of racism, the temptations of crime and drugs, and a popular culture that values being "cool" over being educated. By interviewing parents and children from a range of economic and educational backgrounds and from both single and two-parent homes, the authors identify those constants that contribute to academic achievement and offer step-by-step guidance on six essential strategies for effective parenting: child-focused love; strong limit-setting and discipline; continually high expectations; open, consistent, and strong communication; positive racial identity and positive male identity; and full use of community resources. The proof of the effectiveness of such strategies is in the sons themselves, who speak eloquently in these pages about their struggles and successes in both the classroom and the often hostile world that surrounds it.
Essential reading for parents, teachers, and school administrators, Beating the Odds offers insight, guidance, and hope for anyone concerned about the plight of young African American men and the society they live in.

About this title

About the Author

Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, is President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences, and the National Institutes of Health on math and science education, and sits on numerous corporate and civic boards. Kenneth I. Maton is Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Director of the Community-Social Ph.D. Program in Human Services Psychology, and President-Elect of the Society for Community Research and Action, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association. He has coauthored or coedited three previous books, and has published widely in the areas of minority youth development and education, community psychology, self-help groups, and religion. Geoffrey L. Greif is Associate Dean and Professor in the School of Social Work, University of Maryland. He is the author of six books, including Single Fathers, Mothers Without Custody, and Out of Touch (OUP).

Reviews

Hrabowski leads a trio of University of Maryland scholars who describe their institution's science program to enhance the higher educational prospects of high-school-age black American men. (Hrabowski writes that his group is working in a comparable program for young black females.) The cornerstone of success, for anyone of any race, is family stability and support. For the nuances of this in the black context, the authors interviewed sons and parents, representing about 50 families, enrolled in an intensive college-prep curriculum in math and science. They extensively quote their subjects' experiences in child raising, separating those of the fathers, the mothers, and the sons. Summarizing their anecdotes, the authors endorse such time-proven attitudes as valuing achievement, reading constantly and widely, and working hard. The authors' main audience is educational professionals (footnotes abound), but students will still be able to identify with, and hear echoes of themselves in, the individual testimony that forms the bulk of this work. Gilbert Taylor

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195102193
• ISBN 13: 9780195102192
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256