Gail L. Thompson - The Power Of One: How You Can Help Or Harm African American Students

The Power of
ONE

Gail L. Thompson

The Power of ONE

How You Can Help or Harm African American Students

Copyright 2010 by Corwin

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thompson, Gail L., 1957

The power of one: how you can help or harm African American students / Gail L. Thompson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4129-7676-3 (pbk.)
1. African American studentsPsychology. 2. African American studentsServices for. 3. Teacher-student relationships. 4. Motivation in education. 5. Racism in education. I. Title.

LC2717.T49 2010
371.82996073dc22 2009032761

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

09 10 11 12 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

A s always, I am grateful to God; my husband, Rufus; my children, Nafissa, NaChe, and Stephen; my son-in-law, Derrick; sister, Tracy Harkless; and other family membersfor their ongoing support and encouragement. I would also like to thank Dan Alpert, a wonderful, enthusiastic, and supportive editor, and Allyson Sharp and Megan Bedell for their hard work and encouragement. My mentor, Dr. David E. Drew, former colleague, Dr. Lourdes Arguelles, friends Cynthia Hebron, Mary David, Deborah Tavasti, Sharon Holmes-Johnson, Dr. Angela Louque, Malinda West, Ardelia Rhone, and colleagues Dr. Delacy Ganley, Dr. Anita Quintanar, Lisa Loop, and Dr. Barbara DeHart have also been extremely supportive. I am also grateful to my pastor, Dr. Terrence Rhone, and his wife, Elizabeth, for constantly reminding African American youth and adults that a good education is invaluable.

Dr. Gail L. Thompson, a professor of Education at Claremont Graduate University, has written five books: A Brighter Day: How Parents Can Help African American Youth; Up Where We Belong: Helping African American and Latino Students Rise in School and in Life; African American Teens Discuss Their Schooling Experiences; What African American Parents Want Educators to Know; and Through Ebony Eyes: What Teachers Need to Know But Are Afraid to Ask About African American Students, a book that has received a considerable amount of attention from educators, talk show hosts, and news reporters across the nation. One of her essays was published in USA Today, and her work has been published in numerous academic journals and three edited books.

Dr. Thompson has appeared on PBS televisions Tony Browns Journal, National Public Radio, and Tavis Smileys radio show. She has been interviewed for Scholastic Instructor and Inside Higher Education and has been quoted in numerous newspaper articles. She has served as a reviewer for the Educational Broadcasting Network, Millmark Education, Houghton Mifflin, and several academic journals, and has done presentations, keynote addresses, workshops, and consultant work throughout the United States and two presentations in Canada. Dr. Thompson, who taught junior high and high school for 14 years, is a member of the California Department of Educations African American Advisory Committee. She has received several awards from student organizations and a civic award for teaching. In 2009, Claremont Graduate University gave her its Distinguished Alumna award.

Dr. Thompson is married to Rufus Thompson, a veteran educator, with whom she has three children: Dr. Nafissa Thompson-Spires; NaChe, a college undergraduate; and Stephen, a college undergraduate.

I n July 2008, I received three e-mails and a telephone call that were similar to many others Ive gotten during the last 11 years. The telephone call was from a school administrator in California. The e-mails were from district-level school administrators in Virginia, Florida, and California. They all wanted the same thinghelp in doing a better job of educating African American K12 students. Like countless educators throughout the nation, these administrators realized that in spite of the abundance of research on the achievement gaps, many teachersperhaps even moststill need help in this area. Unfortunately, most teacher-preparation programs are still failing to adequately prepare teachers to work effectively with African American students and other students who have historically been shortchanged by the education system, and most professional development for teachers either doesnt last long enough to do an adequate job or fails to address this issue at all. This is disturbing because, in spite of the No Child Left Behind Act, recent statistics suggest that the public school system in the United States is failing an alarming number of African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Latino K12 students.

• High school dropout rates have decreased for all racial and ethnic groups during the past 30 years. However, black and Hispanic students continue to have much higher dropout rates than whites. In 2006, 5.8% of whites, 10.7% of blacks, and 22.1% of Hispanics dropped out.
• High school graduation rates for the Principal School Districts Serving the Nations 50 Largest Cities range from 24.9% to 77.1%.
• Suburban school districts tend to have much higher graduation rates than urban districts.
• In terms of gender, Asian/Pacific Islanders had the highest graduation rate for males (76.5%), and black males (46.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native males (44.6%) had the lowest. Among females, Asian/Pacific Islanders had the highest graduation rate (82.1%), and American Indian/Alaska Natives (50%) and black females (59.6%) had the lowest.

These statistics should alarm any concerned American, but especially educators, because the level of education a person attains largely determines the type of future that individual will have. Many of the social problems that plague our nation are linked to poverty, and of course, a good education is the only legitimate way that most low-income children will be able to escape from poverty. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, individuals who dont complete high school are twice as likely as those who do to end up living in poverty as adults, and those who dont complete high school are nearly six times more likely than individuals who earn a bachelors degree to end up living in poverty as adults.