Leaving Us Behind - A Political Economic Interpretation of NCLB and the Miseducation of African American Males

Oct 15, 2026

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Leaving Us Behind analyzes how the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 reshapes public school assessment and teaching practices while failing to address the human capital, curricula, and soft-skill needs demanded by the global economy. Drawing on evidence about African American male educational underachievement, the article connects low educational attainment to higher incarceration risks and argues that misalignment limits access to high-tier employment pathways. It frames NCLB Title I impacts and contrasts federal reform goals with occupational competencies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

NCLB and Title I impacts

Education, incarceration, and achievement gaps

Global economy skills and curriculum needs

Structure and section overview

Leaving Us Behind: A Political Economic Interpretation of NCLB and the Miseducation of African American Males By Jamel K. Donnor & Kmt G. Shockley Jamel K. Donnor is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia; Kmt G. Shockley is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia. Introduction The educational tribulations of African American males are well documented (Clark, 1989/1965; Davis & Jordan, 1994; Harry & Anderson, 1994; Polite & Davis, 1999; Majors & Billison, 1992). According to areport by the Schott Foundation for Public Education (2004), 70% of African American males entering the ninth grade will not graduate with their cohort (p. 2) . The foregoing figures are troubling considering that the overall percentage ofAfricanAmerican students enrolled in public schools has increased from 14.8% in 1972 to 15.6% in 20061 (U. S. Department of Education, 2008, p. 85) . Despite this modicum of progress, the education system’s ability to adequately serve African American males is worsening. The need to address the low academic achievement of Black males is important for two reasons. The first reason is the link between low educational attainment and incarceration (Mauer & King, 2004; Justice Policy Institute, 2007; Children’s Defense Fund, 2007) . The second reason is the shift in the skills needed for productive participation in the global economy (Green, 2001) . With regardstotherelationshipbetween low education attainment andincarceration, the Justice Policy Institute (2007) reported that “52% of African American male high school dropouts had prison records by their early thirties” in 1999 (p. 11) . Incidentally, the incarceration rate per 100,000 African American men between the ages of 18-64 was 7,923 compared to 1,072 for White men (Human Rights Watch, 2008) . These statistics are problematic considering that African Americans only constitute 12% of the U. S. population (U. S. Census Bureau, 2000) . Based on the foregoing statistics, one can easily surmise that there are more African American males incarcerated than in school. Conversely, the economic vitality of the United States in the 21st century is contingent upon the productivity of well-trained people and the steady stream of scientific and technical innovations they produce. Levy and Murnane (2004) point out that the nation’s challenge is to “recognize the inexorable changes in the job distribution and to prepare young people with the skills needed in the growing number of good jobs”(p. 6) . Further, expansion of international markets through globalization has contributed to the transformation of America’s economy from amass-producer of durable goods such as automobiles, to a developer and provider of information and biotechnology products and services. This economic shift has not only altered the types of products required for international competitiveness, but more importantly the requisite skills needed to ensure high-tier workforce participation has been permanently altered (Waks, 2003) . In addition to access to quality scientific, mathematical, and technological learning opportunities, a “good education” in the global age includes the development of “soft-skills”2 (Levy & Murnane, 2004; Gordon Nembhard, 2005) . For traditionally under-served students, such as African Americans males, the education policies that govern curriculum and instruction are essential to shaping the capacity of learning opportunities vital to their collective social and economic advancement. Indeed, the relationship between education and social mobility isnot a recent finding; what is new, however, is that public schools more than at any other time in American history are held accountable for preparing students to serve private interests and the public good (Kliebard, 1999; Hargreaves, 2003) . The purpose of this article is

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the article?

To discuss the misalignment between public school assessment policies and teaching practices under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the education and skills needs of the global economy for African American males.

Why does the article emphasize low educational attainment?

It links low educational attainment to incarceration outcomes and also argues that global economic participation requires different and higher-level skills that education systems must cultivate.

How does the article plan to structure its discussion?

It states that the article consists of four sections: federal NCLB-related reform practices (with focus on Title I schools), divisions of labor and soft skills for the global economy, and divergences between NCLB and competencies for high-tier employment.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by moss~