Empowering African American Adolescent Males through Engaging Literacy Tasks

Abstract

African American adolescent males continue to attain the lowest literacy achievement among racial/ethnic groups. It is imperative that schools attend to the instructional needs of African American adolescent males to close the achievement gap in literacy. Educators must strive to infuse the interests and experiences of African American adolescent males in literacy instruction. The chapter features research about African American adolescent males' perceptions of their engagement with literacy tasks. Despite perceived stereotypes, many African American adolescent males exemplify resilience as they navigate societal obstacles to achieve academic success. African American adolescent males are readers who possess great potential. Literacy gives them control of their lives. Educators play an integral role in mediating engagement with literacy tasks. The author discusses how to best support African American adolescent males with literacy instruction.