In Their Own Words: High-Achieving Black Males Operationalizing Achievement

• In Event: 68.028 - Telling a More Complete Story: Unveiling Characteristics That Lead to African American and Latino Male Success

Abstract

Objective
The scholarship examining high achieving black male students has increased within the last decade (Harper, 2012; Strayhorn 2010; Whiting, G, 2009; Ford, 2011). While the experiences of high achieving black males are varied and complex, three primary areas of analysis at the secondary level include: (a) access into gifted classes/programs (Grantham, 2013), (b) the correlation between academic and ethnic identities (Graham & Anderson 2008, Flennaugh, 2011) and (c) the forms of discrimination endured as individual, within classrooms, or in schools (Andrews, 2009). While these themes provide insight into challenges associated with this student group, the literature is limited because scholars when identifying/examining high achieving black males not only use narrow or conventional norms (i.e. grades and standardized test scores), but rarely do they center student thoughts on how to operationalize or define achievement from the perspective of a high school black male.

Theoretical Framework
Critical race theory (CRT) was used as a framework to examine how high achieving (successful) black males define achievement. One tenet of CRT that assists with understanding Black male (K-12) students’ thoughts and experiences is the centrality of experiential knowledge. Moreover, the CRT method of counterstorrytelling, according to Terry and Howard (2013), challenges the dominant narrative of the majority while giving voice to marginalized groups such as Black males. Furthermore Harper’s (2012) anti-deficit framework was utilized as a guide for the study. This theory is helpful because it employs anti-deficit questions that sheds light on various dimensions of achievement (i.e. family, school, and community).

Methods
In-depth interviews (approximately 30 mins) were conducted with 40 Black males students across two high schools in LA County. Participation was contingent on meeting the following requirements: the students had to identify as a Black male, be enrolled in the 10th-12 grades, recommended by a teacher or administrator, and have the grade point average of a 2.5 or higher. Each interview was audio recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were uploaded to a qualitative data analysis software program, Dedoose.

Findings
Participants defined achievement as extending beyond conventional markers related to success in schools. Assisting their peers, family members, and respective communities was deemed as successful because one was giving back. Moreover a number of the young men had future aspirations of obtaining financial security, promising careers, and homes. Adjectives used to describe themselves included: hardworking, determined, and having the ability to work with others.

Significance
While scholarship on high achieving black males continues to challenge negative messages about this student group, the research is limited without affording black males the opportunity to offer their own definitions of achievement. In order to provide a more complete narrative of black male achievement, it helps to have black male students have opportunities to re-define success, increase the counter-narrative of underachievement, and provide an understanding of what motivates them to be successful.

Author

• Brian Woodward, University of California - Los Angeles