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8/8/2019 Educational Crisis Facing Young Men of Color[1]
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Refections on Four Days o
Dialogue on the Educational
Challenges o Minority Males
January 2010
The Educational CrisisFacing Young Men o Color
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2010 The College Board. College Board, ACCUPLACER, Advanced Placement Program, AP, SAT, SpringBoard, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board.
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Reections on Four Days o Dialogue on the
Educational Challenges o Minority Males
The Educational Crisis Facing
Young Men of ColorReflections on Four Days of Dialogue on the
Educational Challenges of Minority Males
January 2010
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Preface
Two years ago, I was struck by a book published by the Urban League that gave a description o the
social condition o Arican American males. It was grim reading. I was particularly struck by the impact
o the lack o education on a persons chances o ending up in prison. This realization led me to an
examination o two things: one was the cost, in human and scal terms, o our ailure to educate our
citizens well. The second was a consideration o what the College Board might do in response to this
issue.
It is becoming an acknowledged act that the United States is losing ground in the international
competition to produce superior intellectual talent. This is a situation that President Barack Obama has
pledged to correct. Just as accepted is the act that the population o the United States is changing
dramatically, with a signicant increase in the Hispanic and Arican American populations. These acts
lead to an inescapable conclusion: I the United States is to achieve the presidents goals, then we will
have to do a much more eective job in educating those populations with which we have traditionally
ailed. This report, The Educational Crisis Facing Young Men o Color, is a step in the direction o raising
the visibility o a pressing problem in American society. Generally speaking, the report investigates
through the voices o members o the Arican American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American and Native
American communities the rustrations, hopes and aspirations o these communities. The report
also investigates the signicant dierences in perormance between males and emales within those
minority groups.
It is my hope that this report brings much needed attention to what is already a signicant problem or
our country.
Gaston Caperton
President, The College Board
For every 100 girls enrolled in kindergarten, there are 116 boys.
For every 100 girls enrolled in high school, there are 100 boys.
For every 100 women enrolled in college, there are just 77 men.
Victor Saenz, The 'Disappearing' Latino Male: Setting the Stage. A
presentation at the College Boards Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino Males,
Chicago, Ill., May 21, 2008
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Contents
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 2
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Chapter 1: Common Themes and Voices ............................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 2: What the Data Tell Us ......................................................................................................................... 17
Chapter 3: Where to Turn Next ............................................................................................................................. 27
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................. 34
Appendixes ........................................................................................................................................................... 35
A. Participants in the College Boards Dialogue Days ...................................................................................... 35
B. Note on Data and Denitions....................................................................................................................... 37
C. Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................... 38
D. Reerences ................................................................................................................................................... 39
E. Notes ............................................................................................................................................................ 42
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The Educational Crisis
Facing Young Men of Color
In recent years, it has become common to talk about the
Two Americas, one characterized by opportunity and
wealth, and the other characterized by signicant social
and economic strie. Indeed, the current economic crisis
has exacerbated this national conversation and made the
contrasts between the Two Americas even more stark.
Many would argue that the same dichotomy exists in
our nations system o public education. One is a system
that refects the best that our schools have to oer,
with challenging courses and exciting labs, dynamic and
well-qualied teachers, strong student engagement, and
active parent involvement always with an eye toward
preparing students or college and successul careers.
The other system suers rom low student academic
achievement, a seeming inability to instill in students
a belie in the possibility o their societal success, and
ew expectations that students will even complete high
school, much less enroll in college.
There is, however, a Third America. This is an America
that is almost totally ignored by mainstream society.
This America is oten captured in popular television
documentaries and newspaper stories and includes
rightening statistics about unemployment, poverty
and high rates o incarceration. The citizens o this
Third America are primarily men, and mostly men o
color. These men now live outsidethe margins o our
economic, social and cultural systems. They are the
byproduct o many societal ailures including the
ailure o our nations schools.
Despite some progress in recent years, the United
States is acing an educational challenge o great
signicance. This crisis is most acute or young men
o color. Regrettably indeed, shockingly in
the oreseeable uture, it is apparent that i current
demographic and educational attainment trends
continue, especially or men o color, the overall
educational level o the overall American workorce will
probably decline. As the body o this report documents,
estimates suggest that the decline will be most
noticeable by the year 2020 which is the same year
that President Barack Obama has set as the deadline
or restoring the U.S. to being rst in the world in the
percentage o young adults with postsecondary degrees.
I we are to meet the presidents challenge indeed,
i we are simply to avoid a urther declinein our global
standing we need to nd some means by which we
can break the cycle. The challenge is to nd both the will
and the way to give these young men the support they
need to make meaningul contributions to American
society and to achieve their ull potential as human
beings.
A major part o the challenge lies in erasing disparities
in educational attainment so that low-income students
and underrepresented minorities have the ability to
complete degrees. Just 26 percent o Arican Americans,
18 percent o Hispanic Americans, and 24 percent o
Native Americans and Pacic Islanders have at least an
associate degree.
In addition, across the board, young women are
outperorming young men with respect to high school
graduation rates. White women perorm 4 percentage
points better than white men, while Arican American,
Hispanic, Native American and Asian women outperorm
the men in their ethnic or racial group by 9 percentage
points, 9 percentage points, 7 percentage points and
2 percentage points, respectively. In higher education,
the gap is even more pronounced. Analyses indicate
that Arican American women earn two-thirds o the
degrees awarded to Arican American students; while,
or Native Americans and Hispanics, the number is 60
percent. Whether one talks about prisons, where Arican
American males are almost hal the inmate population
and Hispanics constitute 20 percent, or whether one
talks about violent crime, where young black men
are ve times as likely to be murdered as whites, the
situation in many o these communities must be seen as
a crisis.
Dialogue Days
This report summarizes our one-day seminars organized
by the College Board to explore the educational
challenges acing young men o color in the United
States. The Dialogue Days brought together more
than 60 scholars, practitioners and activists rom the
Arican American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American and
Pacic Islander, and Native American communities.
Executive Summary
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During these our sessions, participants expressed their
opinions and listened to the voices and anxieties o
community leaders about the state o educating young
men o color in the United States. Each leader brought
a unique perspective, experience and expertise to the
discussion about the critical problems that exist.
The Dialogue Day sessions pinpointed powerul societal
orces that threaten educational aspirations o young
men o color. These include the lack o role models, the
search or respect outside the education world, the loss
o cultural memory in shaping minority male identity and
pride, barriers o language, the challenges o poverty,
extraordinary community pressures and a sense that the
education system is ailing young men.
All o this must be placed in the context o the general
disadvantaged condition o minority populations in the
United States. Whether measured by unemployment
rates, poverty, imprisonment or recidivism, the
challenges acing minorities both males and emales
are stark and undeniable.
Recommendations
Participants in the College Board Dialogue Days eltstrongly that a signicant eort must be made to
advance educational outcomes or young men o color.
Four steps will help move us orward:
The ederal government, oundations and concerned
organizations should convene a national policy
discussion about these issues to heighten public
awareness and explore policy options to improve the
perormance o young men o color.
The ederal government, oundations and civic and
community organizations should und and support
additional research to explore and clariy issues that
have an impact on minority male achievement.
K12 schools, colleges and universities, and state
higher education coordinating bodies should orge
partnerships to help males o color get ready, get in
and get through college.
The states, ederal government and oundations
should identiy and scale up the most successul
model programs designed to ensure the success
o males o color by unding their replication and
expansion.
Finding the answers will require an advocacy and
mobilization eort that combines public discussion,
more robust research and scaled-up model programs,
all leading to the development o a powerul voicesupporting world-class educational experiences or
millions o young men o color.
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We need to say there is a male minority crisis.
Older, white, well-educated workers are retiring.
People who look like us are the uture. We need to
invest in that uture. This isnt an Asian American
issue. Its not even a minority issue. Its an American
issue a very practical economic concern with
immediate nancial consequences.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian American and
Pacifc Islander Males
Over several months in 2008, the College Board held
our sessions to explore the educational challenges
acing young men o color in the United States. Known
as Dialogue Days, these gatherings brought together
more than 60 scholars, advocates and representatives
rom minority communities across the United States
or one-day conversations about the dynamic nature
o American lie, the changing shape o American
demographics, and how to help educators and minority
amilies and communities stand up to what seem to be
growing pressures on minority males. Each meeting
ocused on a particular minority group Arican
American or Black, Hispanic or Latino, Asian American
and Pacic Islanders, and Native Americans including
Alaska Natives. The ull list o participants or eachDialogue Day is provided in Appendix A.
At these meetings, participants explored policy and
practice in the morning and engaged in a roundtable
discussion in the aternoon. Participants were
encouraged to express themselves ully and candidly,
with assurances that what was said would be treated
condentially and that comments would not be attributed
to individuals unless permission were granted.
In that setting, the our minority groups engaged in a
series o sobering conversations. Concerns about school
quality, lowered expectations, and inequities in unding
and teacher distribution were a signicant part o the
conversation. In addition, broader sets o issues were
brought into the discussions: poverty, amily structure,
parenting skills, disinvestment in minority communities,
prot opportunities at the expense o minorities and
communal memories o past injustices and present
indignities.
At these meetings, it became clear that the relative
lack o success o boys and young men o color in
K12 schools and higher education is but one part o
a complex puzzle that includes gender, race, ethnicity,
poverty, residence in urban or rural America, and acility
with the English language. All o this must be placed in
the context o the general disadvantaged condition o
minorities. Whether measured by unemployment rates,
poverty, imprisonment or recidivism, the challenges
acing minorities both males and emales are stark
and undeniable.
As might be expected, each o the Dialogue Days
developed its own identity. Issues o signicant concern
at one meeting sometimes received little attention at
another. All o them, however, were structured in a
similar ashion, and all o them coalesced around a set o
themes and concerns.
This report tries to capture both the content and the
sense o urgency these leaders elt in discussing the
issues at the College Board meetings. As one o the
participants emphasized, this is not a minority issue
but an American issue, with powerul consequences
or Americas amilies and or the nations social and
economic well-being.
This report draws on participants comments during
the Dialogue Days to give voice to the set o common
concerns expressed by persons rom dierent minority
groups and to highlight the concerns unique to each o
these groups.
Structure o the Four Dialogue Days
A series o meetings in 2008 hosted by the College
Board Dialogue Days: Examining the Decline
o Minority Male Participation and Achievement inSecondary and Postsecondary Education explored
high school and college persistence and completion rates
among minority males. Separate meetings convened
experts to ocus on secondary and postsecondary
educational achievement among Arican American,
Hispanic, Asian American and Pacic Islander, and Native
American males. The meetings, held in Los Angeles
Introduction
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The Educational Crisis
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(Arican American males), Chicago (Hispanic males), San
Francisco (Asian American and Pacic Islander males),
and Denver (Native American males), were held between
April and September 2008.
The ormat or each day began with presentations
and discussion related to eective policy and practice.
Although the agendas diered slightly, each day
consisted o two breakout panels and one roundtable
discussion. Ater each panel presentation, the discussion
was opened to all participants. Participant attendance
varied between 12 and 25, allowing or an intimate
setting encouraging thorough and candid discourse.
The panels and roundtable discussion were organized
as ollows:
Policys Role in Implementing Change consisted
o a panel o three policy experts ocused on how
educators and leaders o minority communities
could infuence public policy regarding minority
males in education. Topics ranged rom personal and
gender roles, the invisibility o the minority male,
and the importance o racial identity, to the need
or responsible social roles or young males, the
signicance o a supportive political economy, and
how to increase educational opportunity.
Putting Theory into Practice included a panel
o three practitioners or activists and ocused
on existing programs that address minority
males participation in education. Topics included,
or example, academic issues acing minority
males; gender, cultural, and social vulnerability;
sel-regulation; balancing knowledge, skill, and
understanding; confict resolution; assimilation; and
communication and sel-presentation.
The roundtable discussion included all members
o the group and was normally led by College
Board representatives. This two-hour discussion
refected topics that arose throughout the day but
also extended beyond these topics. A primary goal
o the roundtable discussion was to provide ideas
or next steps toward increasing participation and
success among minority males in secondary and
postsecondary education.
Unique Concerns
There were dierences among the comments made
by the groups represented in the Dialogue Days
discussions. The individual sidebars interspersed
throughout this report open a window on minority
groups special concerns. Language barriers, as they
play themselves out in schools and society generally,
are a signicant concern or Hispanic and many Asian
American communities. Asian and Pacic Islander
peoples oten eel invisible in the discussion o
minority concerns in the United States and like
perpetual oreigners. Asian American leaders have
also long complained about the perception that
their communities represent the model minority, a
designation that ignores the serious challenges acing
many Southeast Asian and Pacic Islander communities
and implies that policymakers do not need to attend to
these concerns.
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Most income comparisons between Arican Americans
and white Americans are so dispiriting that it is easy to
think there is no point in trying to improve things. Still,
household income or Arican Americans has improved
or generations. Recent Census data indicate that about
5.7 million Arican Americans are in households withan income o $19,999 or less annually, poverty stricken
by any common-sense understanding o the term. But
nearly 7 million live in households with incomes between
$20,000 and $49,999 annually (borderline middle class,
at least); an additional 3.3 million are in households with
incomes between $50,000 and $75,000; nearly 2 million
live on between $75,000 and $99,999; and more than
2.4 million enjoy household incomes above $100,000.
Judged against household income gures or white
Americans, these gures are low. Still, they represent
hope o enough income or most Arican Americans to
look to the uture with some reasonable income security.
Another set o gures, however, represents a orce
that threatens to pull the Arican American community
apart. The U.S. has the highest rates o incarceration in
the world, with the rates or Arican American men at
historically high levels, considered by many to be in part
the result o institutionalized racism. Incarceration takes
men out o homes, makes work hard to nd or ex-
prisoners and requently disenranchises them.
Signifcant Participant Observations rom the
Dialogue Day
When our young guys are enrolled in the honor
society, the entire amily shows up mothers,
sisters, wives, girlriends, children. A minor thing to
us, its a huge deal to these amilies. Its as though
we sprinkled magic dust on the amily. Very deep.
It means a great deal. Its all about a ceremony that
symbolizesrespect or these young men.
Privately these kids will tell us they know we are
the place to fnd a mentor, but theyd never admit
that in public. They know their lives are out o
balance.
Sometimes I wonder i we werent better served
during segregation. Black kids had black male
teachers. Those teachers had nowhere else to
teach.
A ootball coach would look at what this country is
doing and realize that were giving up a third o our
power. Weve only got two-thirds o the team on the
feld. Keeping a third o the team on the bench cant
be a good way to play the game.
It will require a comprehensive and systemic
approach. We need to address the schools, but we
also need to encourage good work and values in
home and community.
The Arican American Experience
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Young black males are in a crisis in this country.
Instead o addressing the problem, society has
created entire prison industries out o our misery.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
Public discussion o a gender gap continues to
be met with skepticism because the underlying
assumption is that education systematically avors
males.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino
Males
The Dialogue Days explored the issue o minority
male educational achievement through the prism o
each o our minority groups in the United States
Arican American, Hispanic and Latino, Asian American
and Pacic Islander, and Native American. While each
conversation had a distinct ocus and provided unique
insights (outlined in sidebars throughout this report), in
combination, the Dialogue Days also pointed to a set
o shared concerns. We have identied seven common
themes:
1. There is a proound crisis in American education o
minority males that is overlooked by mainstream
society and leaders.
Chapter 1:Common Themes and Voices
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The Educational Crisis
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2. At work are destructive community pressures
that undermine minority male aspirations and
expectations or academic success.
3. Lack o male role models leads to a search or
respect outside our educational institutions.
4. Cultural and historic memory is deeply important to
minority male identity and pride.
5. Challenges o poverty, community problems and
language serve as major barriers to college access
and success.
6. Schools and colleges are ailing young men o color
across many areas and levels.
7. Society and communities must work together to
make a dierence or these young men.
1. Facing Proound Educational Crisis
An overwhelming sense emerged rom these meetings
that minority males are trapped educationally in a cycle
o low expectations and poor academic achievement,
with little hope o a better uture. Most education and
employment statistics do not begin to capture theseverity o the situation, and mainstream society has
not come to terms with the long-term damage this will
cause to our children and our nation. As a nation, we
seem unaware o the predicament in which young men
o color nd themselves today, according to participants.
The situation, grim or many years, appears to be worse
ollowing two decades o unprecedented economic
growth in the inormation technology and nancial
services industries, accompanied by a decline in heavy
industry and manuacturing that has let minority
populations, especially young men o color, behind.1
Oneconsequence is a large pool o poorly educated minority
men, increasingly disconnected rom mainstream
society. In some communities, nishing high school is
the exception to the general rule o dropping out, while
prison is as likely a short-run destination as college or
work.
Participants in these meetings did not sugarcoat the
depths o the challenge, gloss over how hard it would be
to respond eectively, or disguise their anger:
Growing anti-immigrant sentiment is a big
challenge or Hispanics. Neglect, social prejudice and
discrimination, along with school unding shortalls,
encourage dropping out.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino
Males
Intergenerational downward mobility is a sign o
something. Our young men are the canary in the
national coal mine.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian American and
Pacifc Islander Males
Kids are coming to our tribal colleges with a lot
o problems. They have issues with drugs with
methamphetamine with poverty. And yet our
society is building sports palaces instead o schools
and libraries.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Native American
Males
We have 50,000 juveniles going to jail every yearin Florida, 73 percent o them black males, while just
23,000 Arican American males graduate rom Florida
high schools. Those kids on the pipeline to prison
nd their status elsewhere, outside the schools.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
2. Destructive Pressures Undermine Minority Male
Aspirations and Expectations
The metaphor o a pipeline to prison was mentioned
several times during the Dialogue Days. As it suggests,
many young minority males nd themselves responding
to a daunting array o school, social and community
pressures that encourage misguided decisions that
fy in the ace o academic achievement. Comments
suggested that minority males are aced with an
aggressive culture that expects them to conorm socially,
to be macho and cool, and not take school seriously.
Gang recruitment, oten related to street drugs, begins
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as early as middle school, exposing young men in low-
income and minority communities to a set o values
emphasizing toughness, rearms, gang initiations
involving thet and beatings, disrespect or women, and
drug dealing as an acceptable source o income.
Dropping out in the ace o these social pressures,
ar rom being rowned on, is too oten a mark o
the acceptance o male values by these young men.
Adolescent boys want to be big men in the eyes o
their peers, suggested one participant, not in the eyes o
people running the school system. In this value system,
rewards or social achievement are immediate, while
rewards or academic achievement arrive later, i at all,
he said.
Sociocultural pressures among Latinos and other
minority males are high. Theres the stigma o
acting white. Bullying and orms o social control
within groups is common. The gang culture and
the attraction o gangs are powerul in many
communities.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino
Males
Southeast Asian peoples are in very stressedcommunities. We experience very high rates o
juvenile delinquency very high rates o teenage
pregnancy and a lot o unemployment and crime.
Gambling addiction among our young men doesnt
receive the attention it should, but its a big problem.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian American and
Pacifc Islander Males
About 10 percent o our kids will make it, no matter
what we do. Well take credit or them. Another 10
percent will ail badly maybe drugs, or booze, or
crime. Some o them will wind up in jail. Well blamethem. The other 80 percent will founder. We need to
change the air in the room or all these boys.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Native American
Males
In our state, Crips and Bloods have a ar stronger
infuence on young black kids than those o us with
letters behind our names.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
3. Lack o Role Models and Search or Respect
In sometimes startlingly direct language, participants
worried about the lack o role models representing
academic achievement and success or young men
o color. The issue emerged in dierent ways. Arican
American participants expressed concern about
masculinity dened as competition with other men and
dominance o women. Hispanic and Latino participants
pointed to values such as machismo(the need to be
tough) and amilismo(need to support amily). Native
Americans spoke proudly o an inherited warrior
culture and worried about how young men no longer
understood what it is to be a man. Meanwhile, Asian
American and Pacic Islander representatives worried
about their policy concerns being overlooked because
they are seen as the model minority.
The discussions were based on one underlying truth:
The behavior o young minority men revolved around thesearch or respect.
Machismo and amilismo are major issues in
Latino communities. Be a strong male, be someone
whos tough and independent and doesnt ask
or help. Mask your emotions. And be loyal and
responsible to the amily. Youre expected to work
and contribute to the amily very much along the
line o traditional gender roles and expectations.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino
Males
The strong Asian amily is a myth in many Asian
and Pacic Islander communities. Asians have their
own perect storm. The schools ignore them. The
kids are conused. And the amilies are stressed and
pressure the kids.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian American and
Pacifc Islander Males
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The Educational Crisis
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Schools are important, but the most important thing
in moving orward is or the community to articulate
the need or these young people to rediscover who
they are as men.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Native American
Males
Masculinity is a dicult deal or black males. Its
hallmark is dominance o women and competition
among males. So the masculine mystique involves
competition with men around athletics and music,
and dominance o women.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican AmericanMales
We live in a world o stereotypes. Were supposed to
be the model minority. Then at the other extreme,
our teenagers are gang bangers. Theres nothing
in between. O course, Asians have long been
considered the perpetual oreigner.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian American and
Pacifc Islander Males
4. Importance o Cultural Memory to Minority
Male Identity and Pride
Shared memories o the past are alive and well in most
minority communities. They are passed down by the
elders in these communities. They orm a counterbalance
to ocial histories, not so much by rebuking history as
by providing a shared consciousness o traditions and
memories too precious and important to lose. There was
a belie that awareness o cultural and historic memory
is deeply important to developing minority male identity
and pride.
During the Dialogue Days, shared memories were very
much in evidence.
The inequities and injustices o the past in Indian
education have created a legacy o ailure or Indian
males. We have to recognize that. How do we respect
our past while looking to the uture?
Participant, Dialogue Day on Native American
Males
We need to accept the unique cultural experience
o black males. Slavery and Jim Crow are nothing
to be ignored or dismissed. Its a cultural issue. In
many ways, schools are white state institutions,
perpetuating many o the inequities o our racial
past.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
Dropout rates among oreign-born and U.S.-born
Hispanic students dier dramatically. Overall,
oreign-born Hispanics drop out at three times the
rate o U.S-born students, but the rate is our times
higher or students rom Central American countries
and about twice as high or students with amilies
rom the Dominican Republic or South America.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino
Males
When I tried to act out the typical American teenage
drama, my parents were conused. Their attitude was:
The other kids dont like you? So what? We escaped
genocide and the killing elds. Get over it.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian American and
Pacifc Islander Males
You have to begin with history. We cannot separate
out the political and historical rom the cultural and
social reality o today.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Native American
Males
5. Challenges o Poverty
Poverty and its accomplices unemployment on the
one hand and overworked parents on the other, single-
parent homes, poorly educated parents and the allure o
lie in the streets were themes in the Dialogue Daydiscussions, always present at least below the surace
and requently bursting into ull expression.
Theres no work in these communities. Teenagers
are having babies while still babies themselves. We
work with tough kids, but underneath theyre little
kids who need mentors.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
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Foreign-born students o all nationalities drop out
due to poverty and the need to work. Lack o English
prociency and the inability o parents to help with
schoolwork are also challenges.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino
Males
What role does class play in all this? What about
income? We may misrame the question i we
understand it solely as a gender question. About
80 percent o immigrants rom Cambodia, Laos and
Vietnam were reugees seeking political asylum,
many o them penniless.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian American and
Pacifc Islander Males
The poverty rate or children among o-reservation
Indians is twice the national rate or all kids. For kids
on reservations, it is our times as great.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Native American
Males
Several participants commented on the importance o
providing boys with an understanding o how education
ts with the concept o what it is to be a man.
Starting in 1970, there was a big jump in Indian kids
enrolling in college, but it was 70 percent emale and
30 percent male. Males thought college wasnt cool.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Native American
Males
We should encourage young people to explore their
ethnicity, and as part o that, we should be asking:
What does it mean to be a man? Is the eminization
o boys a problem? I so, what can we do about it?
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian American and
Pacifc Islander Males
6. Schools and Colleges Are Failing These
Young Men
No one at these meetings gave schools a pass.
Questions were raised about the challenges white,
middle-class emale teachers have in dealing with
minority males; the shortcomings o programs to deal
with English language learners; overemphasis on special
education as a solution or boys acting out; outrageously
high dropout rates; or the lack o sympathy o schools
and colleges or Native Americans. Traditional schools
came in or a lot o criticism.
The dierence in educational outcomes between boys
and girls was noteworthy. In particular, the ndings
with regard to assignment to special education classes
are distressing. Boys, in general, are twice as likely as
girls to be identied as having a learning disability, and
males are twice as likely as emales to be diagnosed
with Attention Decit or Attention Decit Hyperactivity
Disorder.2
A dominant theme among Arican American, Hispanic
and Native American participants was a sense that
school practice avors girls over boys an ironic
comment on where we are today, given that less than a
generation ago, mainstream arguments held that schools
systematically avored boys. In taking up this discussion,
participants raised one o the more dicult issues in the
debate. But there is no doubt that girls get better grades
than boys and do better in school, and girls are more
likely to graduate rom high school, enter college and
complete degrees.
The consensus seemed to be that our schools are not
serving our young men well.
In the early years, including preschool, boys are in
a system mismatched with the male learning style.
They are likely to be a year to 18 months behind girls
in reading. The research shows they are more likely
to eel anxious and shamed throughout elementary
school.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino
Males
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The Educational Crisis
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We can dene a pipeline to prison through the
schools. The kids in the pipeline have been retained
at least once; theyve been suspended at least once;
they have low GPAs; very little credit accumulation
in high school; and theyre behind at least one grade
level. In 15 high schools in one city, 4,000 boys meet
those indicators some o them meet our or ve o
the indicators.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
Latino students need teachers they can connect
with. They come to school only to learn that all they
have known all their lives is wrong or taboo.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino
Males, quoting Washington State study on Latino
students
Assessment policies disadvantage English
language learners. One issue with standardized
assessment with English language learners is, What
are you testing? Curriculum content? Or language
competency?
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian and Pacifc
Islander Males
Colleges are a place where our kids are oten ruined.
Indian kids need two majors an academic major
and a major in their culture. Tribal institutions love
our kids. Mainstream institutions dont. They dont
love anyone!
Participant, Dialogue Day on Native American
Males
Sometimes I wonder i we were not better served
in a segregated system. Black teachers, male and
emale, taught our kids. Despite their shortcomings,
those schools were armative places or our kids.Todays schools are not armative or Arican
American boys. Every day these schools let these
kids know whats wrong with them.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
7. Society, Communities and Schools Must WorkTogether
I the participants were candid in their discussion o
schools, they were also highly critical o the rest o
society, arguing that the larger economy undermines
minority male aspirations. A sense emerged rom these
meetings that not only are schools ailing these young
people, society is ailing them. This is a unction o
communities in which there is no traditional work (but
many opportunities in the underground economy) o
amilies stressed to the breaking point o a society
that measures success with an index o stock prices
while ignoring the economic circumstances o most
people within the economy and o governments that
seem willing to spend eight to 10 times as much per
person to hold young men o color in jail as they do to
educate them.
In addition to other concerns, continual upheaval in living
arrangements is a signicant issue across low-income
groups. Constant household moves, sometimes several
times a year, create signicant educational challenges as
students leave one school or another, oten experiencing
curricular inconsistency. Migrant children are particularly
at risk rom such upheaval. Meanwhile, many immigrant
amilies worry about deportation, including separation
rom their children born in the United States. Also,
because o social and economic instability, many
immigrant amilies hold out little hope o college
attendance or their children.
The message that emerged rom this discussion was
repeated requently: While schools have a role to play,
they cannot be expected to x all the challenges minority
males ace. Community-based organizations, oster
care and child care systems, and youth development
programs must all be part o the response to this issue.
Minority males in and out o school are in a state
o crisis. Schools must be improved, but part o
the response required to resolve the crisis involves
individuals and agencies outside the schools.
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Reections on Four Days o Dialogue on the
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The idea that schools can x all o this is oolish.
The schools are broken, too. This is not a school
problem. It is a community, institutional and
organizational problem, and the solution should rely
on partnerships that understand these issues are not
treatable in 90 minutes a day.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
What accounts or this Hispanic gender gap at the
postsecondary level? Is it economic necessity? Do
Hispanic males eel compelled to choose work over
education? What does the traditional cultural script
have to say in terms o machismo and amilismo?
Participant, Dialogue Day on Hispanic and Latino
Males
Asian Americans have the highest levels o stress
and anxiety o any group studied on college
campuses, especially on prestige campuses. They are
also overrepresented among campus suicides.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Asian American and
Pacifc Islander Males
My uncle made a bet with me or $2,000 when I was
a boy. He bet that I would drop out. That I would windup working construction. And that I would ather
children I didnt know I had. Its hard to create policy
that works when some adults in the community
expect men to ail.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Native American
Males
Its a total mistake to believe that public schools are
the place to x all o this. We need them. We need to
x them. But we need to center this in churches and
community groups also.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
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While used interchangeably, Hispanic and Latino are not
identical terms. Hispanic encompasses all Spanish-
speaking peoples in both hemispheres. Latino tends
to be used to reer to people o Latin American origin.
A person o Latino or Hispanic background can be o
any race. Despite the act that both terms encompassCentral and South America, neither includes Brazil,
where Portuguese is the ocial language. A large
majority o Hispanics in the United States trace their
ancestry to Mexico (approaching 60 percent), but more
than 40 percent trace their backgrounds to nations
throughout the Spanish-speaking world, with signicant
educational and economic dierences by nationality.
Language challenges, especially or immigrants, are a
major educational issue.
Signifcant Participant Observations rom the
Dialogue Day
Latino high achievers in college are beating the
odds o a 50 percent high school dropout rate.
Latino males are not keeping pace. Theyre
not keeping pace in college entry, graduation or
aspiration or graduate study.
The diversity o the Latino population requires
attention. Cuban Americans are dierent culturally
rom Central and South American immigrants.
American-born Latinos are not the same as
immigrants. Immigrants come here to work, not to
go to school, while American-born Latinos may have
higher educational aspirations.
You never hear about this, but Latinos make up
about 18 percent o the rontline troops and sailors
in the U.S. armed services.
Several things are related to the success o Latino
students. Access to honors and AP courses.
Participation in extracurricular activities, including
music and intramural sports. We need to explore
what kinds o school and community organizations
can respond to the needs o young Latino men.
The Hispanic/Latino Experience
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Reections on Four Days o Dialogue on the
Educational Challenges o Minority Males
Young American men are less well educated than
their athers, while young American women are
better educated than their mothers
In this ranking o the worst or males [comparison
o bachelors completion rates or young males], the
U.S. was the worst o the worst.3
I equity, social justice, economic competitiveness and
a level educational playing eld continue to be important
goals or society, American leaders must deal with long-
standing racial/ethnic inequities in educational outcomes.
We cannot ignore the evidence that boys and young men
o color increasingly lag behind on important measures
o educational experience, achievement and persistence.
These ndings emerge rom the data available on
minority achievement in the United States, analyzed by
gender. While males, in general, lag behind emales,
outcomes or young men o color are disproportionately
behind those o their emale counterparts. This chapter
explores demographic inormation by age and race/
ethnicity, and examines educational outcomes by race/
ethnicity and gender.4
When demographic and educational change in the United
States is examined, there is a mixture o good and bad
news:
Chapter 2:What the Data Tell Us
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Within a generation, the United States will be a
much more diverse nation. Indeed, by midcentury,
no racial or ethnic group in the United States will be
a majority.
Many minority groups, including traditionally
disadvantaged groups, are participating in school and
college in record numbers.
However, the astest-growing populations in the
United States are those minority groups with the
lowest levels o educational attainment.
I current population trends and educationalattainment levels continue, the average general
educational level o Americans will probably decline
by 2020.
Across the board, young men are not persisting
in school or achieving at the same levels as young
women.
The challenge o responding is most acute or the
most disadvantaged men o color. At just about
every stage o the educational pipeline, they lag
behind minority women in terms o achievement,
persistence, and school and college completion.
A More Diverse Nation
The U.S. Census projects that minorities will represent
more than hal o all children in the United States by
2023, and that the entire U.S. population will be 54
percent minority by 2050.5 Figures 3 and 4 present the
totalU.S. population in 2005. These data show that the
U.S. population that is under 18 is signicantly more
diverse than the population that is 18 or older.
There is every reason to anticipate that the trends visible
in Figures 3 and 4 will intensiy in the years beyond
2030. Fully 70 percent o the U.S. population now over
the age o 25 is white, a proportion that declines to 59
percent or those ages 5 to 17, and to 55 percent or
those under the age o 5.6 The U.S. population that today
is characterized as minority reverses those trends:
Just 30 percent o the minority population is 25 or older,
but the gure jumps to 45 percent or minority group
members under the age o 5. Clearly, over time, a larger
proportion o the U.S. population will be made up o
groups now in the minority.
Growing diversity in the United States presents a
number o challenges, but as minorities become a
majority, diversity can also become an asset in schools,
the workorce and society. Courts have held it to be an
educational asset. Scholars have described its benets
in a democratic and open society. The best business
leaders understand that greater diversity in terms o
gender, race and ethnicity is valuable on the plant foor
and in executive suites and boardrooms. A more diverse
and multilingual America will also be better equipped to
deal with the economic and political challenges it aces
around the world.
Greater diversity, in brie, ar rom being a cause or
alarm, is something to be cherished in American lie.
The ollowing section explores some o the dimensions
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Reections on Four Days o Dialogue on the
Educational Challenges o Minority Males
o American diversity, including diversity within
communities o color.
Faced with growing diversity, the United States can take
pride in the substantial progress made in the levels o
educational attainment o minority Americans in recent
decades. Many challenges remain, but a history o some
success exists, providing a oundation on which to build.
Thinking About Educating Men o Color
This document shows the many similar concerns o
minority educators and leaders in America as well as
the signicant dierences between minority groups(and requently within minority groups). The challenges
acing minority Americans take place in dierent and
unique policy contexts. Some o these contexts are
outlined below.7
Arican Americans
Disproportionately attend urban schools, many o
them large.
Ninety percent o Arican Americans are
concentrated in Caliornia and the belt o states
running rom New York through the South and
Southwest, the Midwest and Texas.
Fity-our percent grew up in emale-headed amilies
in which young people are more likely to be poor and
less likely to have strong male role models.
One study indicates that Arican American girls
may challenge bias and discrimination, while boys
may not.
Another study suggests that black males experience
depression, anxiety, guilt and hostility at levels
considerably higher than black emales.
Hispanics and Latinos
Ninety percent o the Hispanic population lives in
the states o Washington, Illinois, Caliornia and the
Southwest and along the Eastern seaboard rom
New York to Florida.
Many Hispanic and Latino homes do not use English
as the primary language.
Cultural backgrounds vary widely. The college
attendance rate o Cuban Americans is 45 percent;
or students o Mexican or Puerto Rican origin, it is
about 30 percent.
One study indicates that girls in urban barrios see
achievement as a way to resist cultural stereotyping;
young men, on the other hand, see cutting class as a
way to socialize with peers while escaping negative
judgments and confict in school.
Asian Americans and Pacifc Islanders
Although the U.S. Census recognizes 48 ethnic
categories o Asian Americans and Pacic Islanders,
a major challenge in examining the AAPI population
is lack o data in general, limited disaggregation o
data by ethnicity and culture, and insucient data on
AAPI males.
While Hawaii and Caliornia are the states with the
largest proportion o residents who are Asian or
Pacic Islander, Caliornia had the largest number
(4.5 million), ollowed by New York (1.3 million), Texas
(648,000), New Jersey (648,000), Illinois (551,000)
and Hawaii (498,000).
In Washington State, Asian Americans and Pacic
Islanders speak more than 100 languages; 40
percent o AAPI students speak a language other
than English as their primary language; in 16
Washington school districts, these students account
or 10 percent or more o enrollment.
Asian American and Pacic Islander students
experience alienation and marginalization in
schools to varying degrees. Filipino and Southeast
Asian American students are most at risk o being
considered low achievers and gang members by
teachers.
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Native Americans
These students are very likely to attend remote rural
schools.
The Department o the Interior recognizes 562 tribal
entities in the United States.
Native Americans are concentrated in Alaska, the
Plains and Mountain States, and the Southwest. In
seven states, 5 percent or more o the population
is Native American or Alaska Native: Alaska, New
Mexico, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Montana, Arizona
and North Dakota.
Ambivalence about school is common. Discontinuity
between Native American and Western ways o
learning oten leads to disagreement.
English may not be the primary home language.
Social and behavioral norms at school may contradict
tribal cultural norms.
One-third o Native Americans are born into poverty,
oten to a mother who is not a high school graduate.
Minority Educational Progress
With regard to populations o color, here is what the data
reveal or young Americans (males and emales) ages 18
to 24:
For Arican Americans, the proportion holding a high
school credential was about the same in 2006 as it
was in 1986 (about 84 percent).8
Meanwhile, the proportion o Hispanics holding a
high school credential increased rom 59 percent to
65 percent.9
School completion rates or Asian Americans and
Native Americans in 2006 were 91 percent and 71
percent, respectively; trend line data to 1986 on
these populations are not available.10
With regard to college attendance, enrollment rates
or young Arican Americans (18 to 24) increased
rom 22 to 32 percent, while Hispanic enrollment
rates increased rom 18 to 25 percent.11
With respect to degree attainment, the number
o associate and bachelors degrees awarded
increased or all racial/ethnic groups, with minorities
accounting or almost hal the growth in associate
degrees conerred and 35 percent o the growth in
bachelors degrees.12
Trend line data on the Asian American and Pacic
Islander and Native American/Alaska Native populations
are harder to locate. However, we do know that the
proportion o Native American high school graduates
who completed a core academic high school track
jumped rom just 3 percent in 1982 to 36 percent
in 2005.13 We also know that the number o Native
American and Alaska Native youth enrolled in college
has more than doubled in the last 30 years, as did the
number o degrees awarded.14 Meanwhile, the number
o Asian American and Pacic Islander students enrolled
in higher education increased almost three-old between
1987 and 2004, with the greatest rate o increase (73
percent) experienced at the two-year college level.15
Despite the clear need to accomplish more, there is
a promising record o improving minority educational
attainment, a record on which the nation must build.
Fastest Growing Minority Populations
As valuable as that progress is, the increases outlined
above represent growth rom a very low base. Though
there has been progress, graduation rates or most
minorities still lag behind those o white Americans (and
o Asian Americans in the aggregate). In the course o
two decades (19872006), or example, Hispanic high
school graduation rates increased almost 10 percent.16
These rates (at 68 percent), however, are still ar below
the rates or Asian Americans or whites. Similar troubling
data can be seen elsewhere. Arican American highschool graduation rates have been essentially fat at
84 percent since 1986. It is true that Arican American
college participation rates jumped 10 percentage points
over the same two decades, while Hispanic rates
increased more than 7 percentage points,17 but these
college enrollment rates began at just 22 and 18 percent,
respectively.
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For comparison purposes, the data or white Americans
might serve as a benchmark. White Americans started
with a college participation rate o 30 percent in 1987. By
2006, white Americans outpaced both Arican American
(32 percent) and Hispanic (25 percent) growth rates by
reaching a participation rate o 44 percent.
Comparative 20-year data or Asian American and Pacic
Islander students are not available (although compelling
testimony is presented at the end o this chapter
o current dierential educational attainment levels
by ethnicity and place o origin or Asian Americans
and Pacic Islanders). What became clear during the
Dialogue Days was that the educational circumstances
o Pacic Islander and many Southeast Asian students
mirror those o other severely disadvantaged minority
students.
The data shortcomings or Asian Americans and Pacic
Islanders are signicant. The convention has been to count
Pacic Islander communities within the rubric o Asian
American, but the community and school experiences
o these populations are ar rom being the same. By
including students rom vastly dierent backgrounds and
places o origin (Japan, India, China, Cambodia, Vietnam
and the Pacic Islands) under an Asian American
umbrella, policymakers and educators lose sight o the
stresses acing many o these subgroups, especially
the challenges conronting Southeast Asian and Pacic
Islander students and amilies.
According to one o the Dialogue Day participants,
in Caliornia, or example, the state with the second
largest Pacic Islander population in the United States
ater Hawaii, Pacic Islander students (male and emale)
have disproportionately lower high school and college
graduation rates when compared to white students and
the broader category o Asian Americans.18
Declining Educational Levels
I current population trends and educational attainment
levels continue, the general educational levels o
Americans will decline; American society will likely see
an increasein the proportion o the population with less
than a high school diploma, while witnessing a decline
in the proportion graduating rom high school, entering
college or attaining an associate degree or higher. In
short, in an increasingly competitive world, American
society will be threatened by two realities: A larger
proportion o the population will be poorly educated,
and those with the education and skills most in demand
will be shrinking in number and as a percentage o the
population (Figure 5).
Dierences in Educational Outcomes by Gender
Boys o color are signicantly behind on the achievement
and school completion scales; girls and women o color
are only comparatively better o, and they also ace their
own challenges.
Figures 6 and 7 below provide the most recent data
available on high school completion rates and theproportion o young men and women (25 to 29) with an
associate degree or higher. Across the board, the results
or women are better than those or men. This is not
simply a phenomenon attributable to minority Americans;
the gender gap extends across all racial and ethnic
categories white, black, Hispanic, Asian American and
Pacic Islander and Native American/Alaska Native.
With regard to high school completion, what these
gures indicate is that women consistently outperorm
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men by 4 percentage points or white women,
by 9 percentage points or Arican American and
Hispanic women, by 2 percentage points or Asian
American women, and by 7 percentage points or
Native American women.19
22
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The gender gap in higher education is even morepronounced. At this level, with degree completion
dened as holding an associate degree or higher, white
women have a 10 percentage points higher degree
completion rate than white men (Figure 7). For black
women, degree completion is 8 percentage points
higher than or black men. Degree completion or
Hispanic, Asian American and Native American emales
is 7 percentage points, 6 percentage points and 4
percentage points higher than their male counterparts,
respectively. Other analyses indicate that black women
earn two-thirds o both associate and bachelors degrees
awarded to black students, while Native American andHispanic women earn 60 percent or more o the two-
year degrees awarded to Hispanic and American Indian
undergraduates. Asian women earn 57 percent o
associate degrees and 55 percent o bachelors degrees
conerred on Asian students.20
It is clear that American males are not completing high
school or college at acceptable rates. Something is going
on in American communities and classrooms at both
educational levels to produce these disparities, which are
common across all racial and ethnic categories.
Even within the limited ramework o ocial data
denitions (see below), the educational crisis acing
young Arican American, Hispanic, Native American
and, among Asian Americans, particularly Southeast
Asian and Pacic Islander men, is ormidable at the K12
level. Figures 8 and 9 display data on two salient issues:
school suspensions and dropout rates. Across the board,
males rom all racial and ethnic backgrounds are likely to
be suspended at about twice the rate o emales. In the
case o black males, however, the rate is almost three
times as high. Status dropout rates or 16 to 24-year-
olds tell a similar story. Here, while black males are morelikely than whites to be dropouts, the rate or Hispanic
males is almost our times that o whites.21
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Arrest and incarceration rates or men o color are
extraordinarily high. One recent estimate holds that the
chance o a young Arican American man going to prison
is one in three,22 and that Arican American males had
the highest rate o high school dropouts.23 Meanwhile,
about 20 percent o male inmates in state or ederal
prisons are Latinos, almost two-thirds o them between
the ages o 18 and 34.24
The National Council on Crime and Delinquency reports
that in the juvenile justice system, Arican American
rates o residential placement are our times as high as
they are or whites. Native American and Hispanic rates
also ar exceed those or whites (three times and twice
as high, respectively). Asians and Pacic Islanders are
the only racial/ethnic minority group with arrest rates
below those o whites, according to the council, which
does not distinguish between Asian Americans and
Pacic Islanders.25
When Arican American young men who have run aoul
o the juvenile and adult correctional systems (and are
hence ignored in the denition o status dropout) are
included in these estimates, ocially reported dropout
rates signicantly increase.
Implications
Two basic data points are critical with regard to
projected levels o educational attainment. First, the
youth population in the United States is becoming more
racially and ethnically diverse. Second, despite some
encouraging progress in educational attainment, minority
groups with the lowest levels o educational attainment
are growing the astest, while an aging white population
approaches or enters retirement.
An America that hopes to provide equal opportunity mustbegin with equal access to an education o high quality in
schools, colleges and universities. Individual and national
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24
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standards o living will be threatened i the United States
does not respond to the developments outlined here.
Figures 10 and 11 illustrate the dilemma acing American
policymakers.26 Figure 10 ranks developed nations
(members or associate members o the Organisation or
Economic Co-operation and Development) by tertiary
or postsecondary attainment among each nations oldest
citizens and workers, those ages 55 to 64.27 Figure 11
provides the same inormation or younger citizens and
workers, those ages 25 to 34.
These gures illustrate a growing challenge. The United
States, which ranks second out o 32 nations in terms
o postsecondary attainment or people approaching
retirement age, drops to 11th place when postsecondary
attainment among young people is examined. This
dramatic decline has prompted a number o blue-ribbon
groups to call or establishing a national goal o ensuring
that 55 percent o young Americans attain an associate
degree or higher.28 One estimate holds that eliminating
the degree gap between underrepresented people
o color (including men) and white Americans would
produce more than hal the degrees needed to meet the
55 percent goal.29
I the 55 percent goal is to be attained, the United
States can no longer ignore the act that, at each level
o education, K12 and higher education, male students
rom every racial and ethnic background ace an
educational crisis.
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Many Asian Americans and Pacic Islanders object
strenuously to several ways in which they are perceived.
They dont like to be stereotyped as monolithic because
that ignores the great diversity within the community.
They resent being stereotyped as a model minority
because that ignores serious disadvantages within thecommunity, and there is a long-held anxiety about being
considered the perpetual oreigner as though
an Asian American is not an American. Employment
preerences have brought many highly skilled and
upper-income Asians to the United States, but another
signicant source o Asian American/Pacic Islander
immigration lies in reugee populations and those
seeking political asylum.
Signifcant Participant Observations rom the
Dialogue Day
In a global society, Asian Americans and Pacifc
Islanders have a lot to oer.
Why do girls outperorm boys in these
communities? Cultural restrictions and gender roles
may help Asian American and Pacifc Islander girls
academically. They cant go out at night; they might
as well study.
Asian Americans are overrepresented in the top
scores, and theyre overrepresented in the bottom
scores also. Its true across the board.
Between 30 percent and 75 percent o the people
rom Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and India tend to
arrive here under employment preerences. But
between 80 percent and 90 percent o immigrants
rom Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam were reugees
seeking political asylum.
Many Americans dont understand the variety o
ethnic groups contained in the term Asian American/
Pacifc Islander. The U.S. Census recognizes 48
categories under that umbrella term.
The Asian American and Paciic Islander Experience
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Reections on Four Days o Dialogue on the
Educational Challenges o Minority Males
Waiting or a Miracle is James Comers book that
argues were looking or a miracle i we expect
schools alone to solve the problems o black males.
He argues that only through a national ocus on
supporting black youth, linking them to community
organizations, and providing jobs can we hope toeradicate the designated loser label that plagues our
youth.
Participant, Dialogue Day on Arican American
Males
A crisis exists and is acute or young men o color
at both the K12 level and the postsecondary level.
This concluding chapter identies common eatures
o promising programs and lays out next steps or
continuing the conversation and moving an agenda
orward to improve the achievement o minority men.
We must encourage public discussion, support research
and promote best practices.
Models or Progress
As the scale o the challenge acing young men o
color has become better understood, many schools,
universities, oundations and community groups have
responded with eorts directed at meeting the needs o
these young men. About a dozen o these programs are
described on the ollowing pages. Whichever minority
community these model programs are directed at, they
have several eatures in common.
Chapter 3:Where to Turn Next
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The Educational Crisis
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Mentoring. The emphasis on mentoring in these
programs is notable. For instance, one o the three major
program elements in Puente lies in nding mentors to
encourage Hispanic students to nish a our-year degree.
Call Me MISTER depends on a cohort system (to provide
ongoing companionship and support) and an academic
support system to see that the MISTERs have mentors
and that the MISTERs will, in turn, become mentors
or disadvantaged students in elementary schools. Adult
mentors are also a major part o the XY-Zone program
in Texas, SaeFutures Youth Centers programming or
young Asian and Pacic Islander men in Seattle, The
Chinese Mutual Aid Associations boys programming inChicago, and the Eagle Academys Saturday workshops
in New York.
Partnerships. Practically all o these eorts are built
on partnerships. The Harlem Childrens Zone could
not exist without support rom oundations and the
business community. Hispanic Heritage Awards rely on
recognition ceremonies and placement opportunities
with local businesses. Call Me MISTER is a consortium
o higher education institutions in South Carolina and
ve nearby states. The American Indian College Fund
provides support or individual Native Americans andalso serves as a resource or the unique set o tribal
colleges serving the Native American community. Unless
the University o Caliornia System and the community
colleges o Caliornia were willing to work together, the
Puente Project could never provide the services it oers
to minority students across Caliornia. Partnerships and
collaboration are essential.
Male Role Models. Male role models may simply
be another way o saying mentors, but in some o
these programs, providing the role model may be the
most signicant element in the program. It is clearrom the name (Mentors Instructing Students Toward
Eective Role Models) that providing a role model o a
disadvantaged male who successully completed college
and became a teacher is the central ocus o Call Me
MISTER. The program was built out o the observation
that some 80 percent o teachers are women and
that too many minority boys rarely see an impressive,
proessional male adult in their communities or their
schools. Call Me MISTER sets out to turn that around
as does the XY-Zone program, the Eagle Academy or
Young Men, the Harlem Childrens Zone and, SaeFutures
Youth Center.
Single-Gender Schooling. The Eagle Academy or
Young Men duplicates an educational approach that
was (and is) widespread around the world and in
religious education: single-sex schooling. One does not
have to hold that single-sex schooling is or everyone
to believe that it might be a highly desirable learning
environment or many young men (and young women).
It is entirely conceivable that some students would nd
single-sex programming useul, just as others would
not. Such approaches might be particularly appropriate
or disadvantaged boys o color since it removes
at least one distraction rom their lives. Certainly that
is the motivation behind the establishment o the
Eagle Academy, a program that appears to be highly
successul.
Wraparound Services. Building on the perceptions o
James Comer, the College Boards earlier reports, and
the recommendations o the bigger and bolder task
orce, several o these models anticipate the Obama
administrations emphasis on community services in the
most challenged neighborhoods. The conveyor belt
o powerul experiences in the Harlem Childrens Zone
is especially noteworthy here prenatal care, classes
in parenting, work skills training, and a variety o social
services and community-building opportunities in the
Harlem neighborhood. The support o the Asian Pacic
Fund or community-based and youth organizations in
and around the San Francisco Bay area suggests support
or several similar eorts.
The ollowing programs have been developed by schools,
universities, activists in communities o color, as well as
oundations and sel-help groups. Many depend on local
leadership, and several emphasize research as the basis
o their eorts.
American Indian College Fund
The American Indian College Fund provides scholarships
and other support or American Indian students. The und
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Reections on Four Days o Dialogue on the
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Reections on Four Days o Dialogue on the
Educational Challenges o Minority Males
disburses approximately 5,000 scholarships annually or
American Indian students seeking to better their lives
through continued education. As part o its support o
the tribal colleges, the und also provides support or
other needs at the schools ranging rom capital support
to cultural preservation activities.
Asian Pacifc Fund
Concerned that one in ve Asian American children
grows up in poverty and that 17 percent o dropouts in
the San Francisco Bay Area are o Asian origin, the Asian
Pacic Fund makes grants rom an annual campaign and
helps donors provide assistance in several key areas:
college scholarships, health education and childhood
obesity, program support or community service
agencies, immigration and naturalization counseling, and
youth services.
Agencies targeted include schools enrolling large
numbers o Asian American and Pacic Islander children,
Cambodian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese and Japanese
youth and community agencies. The unds nances
help support everything rom oral history projects and
community educational outreach through lm, to home
repairs, naturalization assistance, strengthening ocommunity boards and youth counseling. The unds
Growing Up Asian in America essay and art contest
involves hundreds o K12 students in nine counties
surrounding the Bay Area, helping develop writing and
artistic talent and providing an outlet or expressing pride
in ones Asian heritage.
Call Me MISTER
Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward
Eective Role Models) is a program run by Clemson
University in South Carolina that directly addresses theshortage o males in teaching. By providing support
so that young men can obtain a bachelors degree
and a teaching credential, the program expects each
MISTER to teach or one year or each year o support.
The program recruits young high school men rom
underserved, disadvantaged and at-risk communities
and expects them to return to these schools. The project
provides:
Tuition assistance through loan orgiveness
programs.
An academic support system to help assure student
success.
A cohort system or social and cultural support.
Participating academic institutions include 13 colleges
in South Carolina and ve partner universities in Florida,
Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Further inormation:www.clemson.edu/hehd/departments/education/research-service/callmemister
Chinese Mutual Aid Associations BBB Program
Chicagos Chinese Mutual Aid Association (CMAA) oers
a number o ater-school programs or toddlers, children
and adolescents. O particular interest is the Boys
Breaking Barriers (Triple B) program, an eort to increase
the sel-esteem and leadership skills o boys within the
Uptown and neighboring communities. Meeting twice
weekly and serving youth 12 to 18 years o age, the
program is designed to articulate and explore issues
important to young men in a manner geared toward their
interests, to increase their sel-condence, to improve
their interpersonal communication skills, and to build and
sustain a support network. BBB eatures a mentoring
program that brings adult mentors and young people
together regularly as part o the BBB program.
A nearly identical program is also operated or girls and
young women, ages 12 to 18 Young Women Warriors
(YWW).
Further inormation:www.chinesemutualaid.org/
youth
Summer Day Camp. In addition to the BBB and YWW
programs, CMAA oers a seven-week summer day
camp annually that serves 60 youth ages 5 to 12. The
camp ocuses on educational sessions: math, reading,
writing and spelling. In the aternoon, the children
engage in planned activities, which include arts and
crats and sports. The camp also promotes leadership
and teamwork skills among 13- to 18-year-olds by
promoting eorts to help them plan and lead activities.
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Eagle Academy or Young Men
The Eagle Academy or Young Men is a grade 912 public
school or boys that seeks to create citizens o integrity
through a partnership between students, administrators,
teachers, parents, mentors and community supporters.
It stresses academic excellence, leadership, character
development, mentoring, integrity and community
service.
The Academy emphasizes leadership and character
development with an academically rigorous curriculum
that includes AP classes, exposure to cultural institutions
and colleges and universities, and proessionals as
mentors. It also requires an Academy contract, which
sets clear standards or behavior, personal accountability
and personal responsibility. Each student signs the
contract, which is read at the opening day convocation,
as a rearmation o the students commitment to
themselves and the schools mission.
The Academy is sponsored by 100 Black Men, Inc.,
a community-based organization o minority
proessionals, which also provides a Saturday Institute
oering academic and lie-skills training.
Further inormation:www.eagleny.org/home.aspx
Harlem Childrens Zone
The Harlem Childrens Zone is one o the most extensive
community-school collaborations in the history o the
United States. It is a remarkably ambitious venture. It
boasts that although a black boy born in 2001 stood a
33 percent chance o going to prison, the same child
stood a 100 percent chance o being on grade level in
kindergarten or the sixth straight year i he attended the
Harlem Gems preschool. HCZ is a unique, innovative,
community-based organization oering education, socialservices, and community-building services to children
and amilies. It wraps a comprehensive array o child and
amily services around schools in an entire neighborhood
parenting classes, job training, health clinics, charter
schools convinced that schools refect what is going
on in the communities around them. Many o the
thousands o students in these schools show impressive
achievement gains.
HCZ replaces the pipeline to prison (seven
neighborhoods in New York City provide 75 percent o
the states prison