Black Education: A Quest for Equality and ExcellenceWilly DeMarcell Smith, Eva Wells Chunn This highly focused collection of papers, commissioned by the National Urban League, offers a candid and courageous portrait of black education in transition. This is a period, as the editors note in their opening remarks, that is characterized by a huge shift from federal responsibility for minority education to authority and autonomy being lodged at the local government level. Further, many institutions that once worked well, no longer do so. Many ambitious social programs and policies that originally promised much, have been abandoned, have failed, or just faded away. Pivotal to these times and changes is the question of the extent to which the American educational system has been, or still is, capable of being responsive to incorporating and even instigating equity and excellence for black Americans. This volume asks the hard questions: is the educational system geared up for the maintenance of anything other than mainstream values? can it adapt to minority youth requirements? when, why, and how do educational policies of majorities and minorities clash? How are priorities to be established--on the basis of wealth or need? The legal statutes and administrative enforcement of equal educational opportunities are explored in depth and with a deep compassion for all parties involved. |
Contents
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Taking the Initiative in Education The National Urban League Agenda | 13 |
A Leadership Blueprint for Equity and Excellence in Black Higher Education | 18 |
Equity in Education A Low Priority in the SchoolReform Movement | 28 |
Educational Policy Trends in a Neoconservative Era | 36 |
Legislating for Effective Schools and Academic Excellence | 47 |
Black Teachers A Vanishing Tradition | 54 |
Improving Black Education Perspectives on Parent Involvement | 59 |
The Case for a Separate Black School System | 136 |
Desegregating with Magnet and OneRace Elementary and Secondary Schools | 146 |
The Consent Decree as a Tool for Desegregation in Higher Education | 158 |
Elements of Effective Black Schools | 176 |
School Power A Model for Improving Black Student Achievement | 187 |
Reintegration for Education Black Community Involvement with Black Students in Schools | 201 |
Memphis InnerCity Schools Improvement Project A Holistic Approach for Developing Academic Excellence | 209 |
A Community InitiativeMaking a Difference in the Quality of Black Education | 217 |
Test Fairness and Bias Measuring Academic Achievement Among Black Youth | 76 |
Sorting Black Students for Success and Failure The Inequity of Ability Grouping and Tracking | 93 |
The Eroding Status of Blacks in Higher Education An Issue of Financial Aid | 107 |
The Intended and Unintended Benefits of School Desegregation | 127 |
Black School Pushouts And Dropouts Strategies For Reduction | 227 |
Black Teenage Pregnancy A Challenge for Educators | 236 |
ABOUT THE AUTHORS | 245 |