African-American girls and the quest for educational ownership
Loading...
Authors
Barchas, Shana
Issue Date
2009
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Teaching
Alternative Title
Abstract
In the 2006-2007 school year, only 29 percent of California's African-American sixth grade students performed at proficient or advanced levels on the California Standards Test in language arts, as opposed to 64 percent of white students (Edsource, 2008). However, some African-American youth have a strong sense of personal ownership of their education that may be correlated with academic success. This qualitative study examines three African-American sixth grade girls who were chosen for in-depth interviews based on their high level of educational ownership as assessed by school personnel. The interviews were analyzed for within-case and cross-case themes which correlate with such ownership. It is the hope that this research will help teachers and counselors, as well as other researchers, learn how to support African-American sixth-grade girls and encourage these girls to take ownership of their education. In this way, African-American girls may be able to incorporate educational success into their identities and become more successful in school as a population.