Black High School Seniors Research Articles

When the R Word Ain't Enough

For many, Barack Obama’s election validated criticisms that black youth in the post-Civil Rights era overemphasize racism and thereby undermine pursuits of opportunity. Research on black youths’ views of the opportunity structure show that they too embrace such motivational factors as explanations of racial disadvantage, even as they maintain an acute awareness of the significance of race in their lives. While the meanings underlying individual-level explanations of the racial hierarchy are clear, there remains a gap in scholarly understandings of structurally based views of racial disadvantage. This article utilizes interview data collected with a sample of black high school seniors residing in low-income neighborhoods in a major Midwestern metropolitan area to explore how they construct meanings of racial disadvantage, black affective bonds, and racial equality. I find that there is a range of meanings underlying “structural” or “systemic” explanations of racial disadvantage and that these variations have patterned relations to constructions of bonds and equality. Still, despite these variations, all of the youth describe depoliticized versions of “diversity” as the means to, and ends of racial equality. These findings suggest that system blame and variants of structural explanations of racial inequality frequently lack a substantive appreciation of the relational nature of oppression and privilege.

ADOLESCENT EDUCATIONAL EXPECTATIONS

Educational expectations are not perfect forecasts of how much education students will acquire. Nonetheless, we should not treat educational expectations as affective fantasies or status-based value orientations. Educational expectations are educational intentions, generated from rational calculations of the costs and benefits of educational training but subject to constant revision in response to new information. This conclusion is supported by an analysis of the association between family-background-adjusted educational expectations of high-school seniors and earnings returns on educational investments of labor market participants between the ages of 26 and 35 years. After an adjustment for family background differences, White high school seniors had lower educational expectations than Black high school seniors in the late 1970s, but increased their expectations relatively more than Black students in the 1980s. Earnings returns on education follow similar patterns across race and sex groups. If educational expectations are overly optimistic, but still based on reasonable cost-benefit calculations, then they can be considered rational fantasies. Further research is needed to determine whether this last possibility is supported by empirical evidence.

Post-High School Plans and Aspirations of Black and White High School Seniors: 1976-86

The chances of college entry declined among Black Americans from 1977 through the mid-1980s, absolutely and relative to those of Whites. During the decline, the post-high school plans of Black and White seniors followed similar trends. Annual measurements from the Monitoring the Future surveys show no trends among Blacks' or Whites' plans to attend technical or vocational school or plans or aspirations to complete a two-year college program. Plans and aspirations to enter the armed forces increased among Blacks and Whites, and the increase in plans was larger among Blacks than among Whites. Plans and aspirations to complete a four-year college program grew among Blacks and Whites, and the increase in plans was smaller among Blacks than among Whites. The upward trends among Blacks, but not among Whites, were driven by favorable changes in social background. Changes in aspirations among Black high school seniors cannot account for the decline in their chances of entering college.

Teacher Unions and Black Students' Scores on College Entrance Exams

Using data from the National Assessment of Economic Education survey, this paper examines the influence of teachers' unions and students' race on college entrance examination scores. An “education production function” is estimated for a sample of white and black high school seniors. The model accounts for variations in school distrits and student inputs and controls for the self‐selection nature of taking an entrance exam. The results indicate that students in unionized schools score higher on the SAT than like students in nonunion schools, ceteris paribus. Black students who attend unionized schools are estimated to score 13.11 percent above the black SAT mean. These findings suggest a positive productivity effect of collective bargaining for teachers which significantly benefits minority students.

Ten-Year Trends in At-Risk Behaviors

This study investigated at-risk behaviors among Black and White adolescents using data from a nationally representative sample of United States high school seniors that permits examination of cohort, gender, and race effects. Designed both to describe trends in at-risk behaviors and to examine the strength and stability of a 10-variable regression model, this study found that (a) Black high school seniors reportedfewer at-risk behaviors than did White seniors, (b) Black girls consistently reported fewer at-risk behaviors than did other race/gender groups, (c) the 10-variable model lost predictive power between 1976 and 1985, and (d) the number of nights per week that seniors went out 'forfun and recreation, "their religiousness, and their college plans had the greatest predictive power for at-risk behaviors.

Improving SAT Scores: Pros, Cons, Methods

About 7000 black high school seniors score 1000 or above on the combined Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT). This places them at about the 80th percentile on these tests. The national average is about 900. About 21,000 black high school seniors score 700 or below on the SAT (about the 15th percentile) and are a cause for concern in many circles. These proportions can be made more comparable, and this paper sets forth methods by which this can be achieved. So much controversy surrounds the SAT that it is well to begin with a discussion of this dispute, including the pros and cons of making an effort to improve SAT scores in its context. A large number of individuals argue that it would be wise to use the time and effort necessary to raise SAT scores to concentrate on richer learning experiences which may or may not translate into higher SAT scores but which may serve black youths well as they grow into adulthood. Lynn Cheney, the new director of the National Endowment for the Humanities, for example, has stated flatly-on national television-that the SAT has little relationship to success in college and that students preparing for the SAT might better use their time to master the general curriculum more fully with an eye to doing well on achievement tests. The tests and their maker and progenitor, Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the College Entrance Examination Board, have been investigated by a federal legislative body and sued by a truth-in-testing organization on the same grounds, i.e., lack of power of the SAT to predict success in college. Many individuals are convinced that the tests are simply biased against minorities and women and they can point out item after item to support this contention. As a result of charges of gender bias in scholarship awards based on the SAT, for example, the New York

High school science enrollment of black students

AbstractHow can the high school science enrollment of black students be increased? School and home counseling and classroom procedures could benefit from variables identified as predictors of science enrollment. The problem in this study was to identify a set of variables which characterize science course enrollment by black secondary students. The population consisted of a subsample of 3963 black high school seniors from The High School and Beyond 1980 Base‐Year Survey. Using multiple linear regression, backward regression, and correlation analyses, the US Census regions and grades mostly As and Bs in English were found to be significant predictors of the number of science courses scheduled by black seniors.

Academic Self-Concept among Black High School Seniors: An Examination of Perceived Agreement with Selected Others

Academic Self-Concept among Black High School Seniors: An Examination of Perceived Agreement with Selected Others

Reference group perspectives and the vocational maturity of lower socioeconomic black youth

The reference group perspectives of 188 lower socioeconomic black high school seniors were found to be related to their career maturity. Students who evidenced an orientation toward middle-class reference group perspectives obtained higher vocational maturity scores than those who subscribed to reference perspectives traditionally associated with the lower class. Students' sex and family background were not related to their reference group perspectives or to their vocational maturity ratings. It was found that students' post-high school plans (either work- or college-bound) and their views of the opportunity structure of America were related to both their reference group perspectives orientation and their career maturity scores. Questions are raised concerning the relevance of the term career maturity for analyzing the career development of lower socioeconomic black youth.

The Economics of College Plans Among Black High School Seniors

An important concern among social scientists, educators, and parents involves the problem of explaining the influence factors related to decisions of young adults regarding application for college. present study examines the role of family economics in influencing college plans. Special consideration will be given to comparisions between males and females. Pettigrew argues that, The full inclusion of Negroes into American society must certainly rank first on any agenda of domestic priorities.1 Furthermore, he notes that central to the process of inclusion is the institution of education. Although Pettigrew focuses primarily upon public education, and its shortcomings for black Americans, one can clearly see that full inclusion will necessitate having a sizeable number of the black population possessing a college education. Achievement of higher education is no guarantee of full inclusion; however, it does appear to prepare one for acquiring full inclusion status. Hollister notes: In a society which discriminates racially, education may be perceived by Negroes as the main or only channel of mobility open to them. Unless Negroes can present superior qualifications, Negroes may find the most desirable occupational opportunities closed. Parents perceiving this, and probably personally experienced it, may place more stress on education (than whites) for their children.2 In referring to the status placed on education by black parents,

Occupational Projections of Louisiana Black High School Seniors

Occupational Projections of Louisiana Black High School Seniors