Helping African-American Students Prepare for College - Introduction and Academic Preparation

Sep 21, 2026

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Helping African-American Students Prepare for College explores why African-American students have historically faced uneven academic preparation and how that gap affects success in earning baccalaureate degrees. It reviews Great Society-era recruitment pressures while emphasizing that preparation in school systems still falls short. The text explains influences such as peer expectations, teachers’ and counselors’ expectations, and especially parental expectations, including the unique challenge faced by first-generation college students. It argues that meaningful progress requires coordinated school-home collaboration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages44

Reading Time1 h 8 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Academic Preparation

College Admission

Regular Admission

Special Admission

Parental Expectations

Study Schedules and Expectations

Involvement in School Programs and Activities

Understanding What Teachers Do

Demonstrating that Learning Is Valued

Parent Support Groups

Student Peer Groups

Revitalizing the African-American Community

Conclusion

References

11F37 # FASTBACK no.0413African-AmericanStudents Preparefor CollegeO.Gilbert Brown # Helping and an ad- O. at Indiana junct viously,he Univ in student serv( llege,and affai Indic CentralUniversityeducationMISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITYer's degreeCMSU 1431-90 ɔm Miami Bi of K: from in c( Univeiy viun10v.ii cpuu ius doctoratein education at Indiana University in 1992. Brown is a frequent conference speaker on enhancing theacademic achievement of African-American students.Healso is the author of the Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foun-dation hnnk Dohunkino tho Mu+h·'Storioc nf African-Amorican 山11 F37 no. Helping African-American students prepare for collegeBrown,0.Gilbert. 5-20-9 # Helping African-American StudentsPrepare for College byO.Gilbert Brown 609202 CentralMISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY CMSU 1431-90 522A 、 312等志53了412 2r n!一 Table of Contents Introduction……………………… 7 Academic Preparation 11 College Admission…… 15 Regular Admission 15 16 Special Admission.. Parental Expectations……… 19 Study Schedules and Expectations 21 Involvement in School Programs 24 and Activities…………………………… Understanding What Teachers Do. 25 Demonstrating that Learning Is Valued………… 27 Parent Support Groups…………… 28 31 Student Peer Groups…………………… Revitalizing the African-American 36 Community……………… 39 Conclusion……………… 41 References……………… 609207 ## Introduction 入anyAmericans haveused theattainmentofabach-IVlelor's degree as a first step on the social escalatorto improve theirstationin life.Forvarious reasons,whitestudents,particularly those from Europeanbackgrounds,have been more successful than African-American stu-dents in attaining baccalaureate degrees from predomi-nately white institutions of higher education.Often thislack of success by African-American students is erro-neously blamed on historically racial factors,a promi-nent fallacy being that African-American students didnotattend"white universities"prior to the 1960s.In fact,both before and after the turning-point year of 1968,small cohorts of African-Americans could be found atmost predominately white universities(Brown 1992). However,the small size of those cohorts of African-American students from economic and educationalbackgrounds similar to their white counterparts istelling.The Great Society years,therefore,broughtabout significant changes.A fundamental tenet of theGreat Society philosophy was that social mobility forAfrican Americans could be achieved by attainment of the baccalaureate degree.Thus a variety of forces,fromcivil rights demonstrations to the enactment of theHigher Education Act of 1965,set in motion by about1968apowerfuldrive among predominately white uni-versities to recruit African-American students(Brown1992).Many universities continue to actively recruitAfrican-American students today. However,recruitment is only a small part of the pic-ture.Amoreimportant factoris preparation.And in thatarea,schoolsingeneralhave fallen short.Many African-Americanstudentsstill arenot well-prepared to achievesuccess in college.Levine and Nidiffer comment: In 1940,a black person age twenty-five to twenty-nine had a 25%likelihood of a comparably aged whiteperson of completing four years of college.By 1989,thepercentage had increased to 52%.After a brief decline,the chances of a black student earning a college degreeinched up to almost54%of that of whites as of 1993,thelast year data were available.Of the more than 1.5 mil-lion bachelor's and associate degrees earned by Amer-icans in 1992,slightly less than7%of them were earnedby black students,although blacks make up 12%of theUS population and 16%of the nation's twenty-year-olds.(1996,p.4) The African-American students'uneven academicpreparation for college is a key factor in shaping the dis-parity between whites and blacks in earning baccalaure-ate degrees.Experience shows that the truism is indeedaccurate:

FAQs

Why does the book emphasize academic preparation rather than only recruiting African-American students?

Recruitment is described as only a small part of the overall picture; schools have fallen short in preparing many African-American students for college success.

What factors are identified as important influences on African-American students’ future college success?

The text highlights peer expectations, teachers’ and counselors’ expectations, solid academic achievement, and especially parental expectations.

How does the book address the challenge faced by first-generation college students?

It notes that first-generation students may lack direct parental college experience, and argues that educators should help non-college-educated parents set realistic, optimistic goals.

Sep 21, 2026

Upload by Maeve