Loss of Negro Talent in Shelby County and Memphis, Tennessee

Abstract

THE ADVANTAGES to be derived from the de velopment of human potentials, from the point of view of society as a whole, are quite apparent. Aristotle and his contemporaries were aware that broad cultivation of the mind contributed to good citizenship and the collective welfare of the commu nity. Similar outcomes for the individual are not always clearly evident. Too often short-range goals influence the decisions regarding which college to attend, which discipline to follow, or whether or not one should go to college. Much attention is be ing given to college preparatory programs in the public schools. However, there is cause for concern in relation to the extreme variety, the significance, and the effectiveness of such programs. The pat terns of college attendance for high school gradu ates do not favorably reflect the stated obj e c t i ves of college preparatory programs. The concept of refers to the failure of able high-school graduates to attend college. Dr. Donald L. Thistlethwaite at Vanderbilt Uni ve r s ity reported for the National Merit Scholarship Corpor ation among other findings that: over-all, one out of every five high-school graduates who rank in the top third of ability currently fail to enter c o 1 leges as full-time students. This report also indicates that researchers are currently revising the tradi tional definitions of talent loss in the hope that more precise definitions will lead to more accurate knowl edge about the identification of talent and its conser vation (1). This study has attempted to: 1) ascertain the col lege attendance patterns of Negro graduates from high schools in the Memphis and Shelby County school systems in Tennessee; 2) determine the pro portion of these graduates ranking in the upper quartile of their classes and not enrolled in college; and 3) reveal the reasons of these upper-quartile graduates for not attending college. COLLEGE ATTENDANCE PATTERNS