{"title":"Transforming America: Cultural Cohesion, Educational Achievement, and Global Competitiveness by Robert A. DeVillar Binbin Jiang (review)","authors":"Sohyun An","doi":"10.7709/jnegroeducation.83.2.0187","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.83.2.0187","url":null,"abstract":"Transforming America: Cultural Cohesion. Educational Achievement, and Global Competitiveness, by Robert A. DeVillar and Binbin Jiang. New York: Peter Lang, 2011, 336 pp., $36.95, paperback.Much has been written and said about educational reform for a global competitiveness in recent years. Even more has been written and said about racism and equity in education. Seldom are these two bodies of scholarly discourse brought together. Even more rarely are they joined in a way that synthesizes the best of the two. Transforming America: Cultural Cohesion, Educational Achievement, and Global Competitiveness is such a book. Moreover, it is very well written.Robert DeVillar and Binbin Jiang, the authors of this book, make a scholarly and wellresearched case for a new approach to achieving global competitiveness. This is done through eradicating racism and ensuring equity in quality schooling. The authors contend that unless the exclusion from quality learning of marginalized students stop, America will not be able to compete and lead at a global level. This central argument of the book is well supported by the depth and comprehensiveness of historical research and cotemporary data from multiple disciplines. Furthermore, the authors do an excellent job of organizing the chapters so that readers can see intricate connections between realities of racism, education, economy, and globalization that hold answers to real global competitiveness of America.In Chapter 1, the authors provide a salient illustration of the critical challenges America faces today: the erosion of national prosperity and global competitiveness. For those who still believe in the permanency of Pax Americana along with the presumption of America as the epitome of freedom, democracy and wealth, this chapter is more than disorienting. The authors reveal where America stands within what Fareed Zakaria (2011) arguably terms, \"the post American world,\" in less than flattering ways such as \"our broken economic situation\", \"eroding US competitive edge\" \"our nation is not rising to the challenge of international competition academically, economically, and geopolitically\". Then, the authors carefully walk readers through to discover the historical origins of current problems in Chapter 2: the racism and White privilege from the inception of the nation onwards. Readers are presented with a rigorous historical account of how America has maintained the privileged status of Whites up until today. Chapters 3 and 4 reveal a more disturbing history of how racism has been constructed and disseminated by academia and popular media, and further reinforced and sustained by government.In the nation's long history of racism and exclusion, marginalized groups were not powerless victims; rather, they were the ones who have challenged the racist nation to live up to its founding rhetoric, liberty and justice for all, which is thoroughly documented in Chapters 5 through 7. Particular attention is paid to the continu","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"29 1","pages":"187 - 189"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80275958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Letter to the Editor: New York City Specialized High School Student Distribution: Evidence of School Pathology Rather Than Blacks’ Intellectual Inferiority?","authors":"Rupert Green","doi":"10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.84.2.0107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.84.2.0107","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"31 1","pages":"107 - 110"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81512357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Why We Believe! Getting over the Fact that Black Boys are Brilliant (Editor’s Commentary)","authors":"I. Toldson","doi":"10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.84.2.0105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.84.2.0105","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"29 4 1","pages":"105 - 106"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90052608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elizabeth Piatt, D. Merolla, Eboni J Pringle, R. Serpe
{"title":"The Role of Science Identity Salience in Graduate School Enrollment for First-generation, Low-income, Underrepresented Students","authors":"Elizabeth Piatt, D. Merolla, Eboni J Pringle, R. Serpe","doi":"10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.3.0269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.3.0269","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:While much of the research on formal mentoring programs considers their impact on underrepresented students, there is very little research on formal mentoring programs which examines the utility of these programs for underrepresented students who are also first-generation and limited-income students. The authors addressed this gap in the literature by examining the relationships between formal mentoring program participation, science identity salience, and graduate school enrollment in a sample of first-generation, low-income, underrepresented students. Specifically, interest was in understanding whether these relationships are the same for first-generation, low-income students, underrepresented students; and what aspects of a formal mentoring program are most important for graduate school enrollment in this group. These relationships were explored using data from The Science Study, a national panel study of undergraduate STEM majors.","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"9 1","pages":"269 - 280"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87909686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Factors of Persistence for African American Men in a Student Support Organization","authors":"L. D. Simmons","doi":"10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.82.1.0062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.82.1.0062","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine factors of persistence for two African American men involved in the Project Empowerment (PE, pseudonym) student organization at a predominantly White institution. The participants are undergraduate student members of PE, a campus-based organization designed to enhance African American male retention. The researcher conducted interviews with both participants, and analyzed the data verbatim uncovering these four themes: (a) college preparedness, (b) high aspirations and goals, (c) social connections and relationships, and (d) growth through student organizational commitment. The study found that components of PE support African American male persistence. The findings implicate the need for ethnic-based programs for African American men, and for institutions to encourage program participation among this student group.","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"62 - 74"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87236657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Walking in Circles: The Black Struggle for School Reform by Barbara A. Sizemore (review)","authors":"","doi":"10.5860/choice.46-0441","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.46-0441","url":null,"abstract":"Walking in Circles: The Black Struggle for School Reform, by Barbara A. Sizemore. Chicago: Third World Press, 2008, 370 pp., $19.95, paperback. What does it mean to be the leader of school reform in an urban district? What is it like to be a Black female superintendent with passion, have the innate ability to lead, a vision for educating Black children - and not be able to make a sustained impact on the district schools? How does this leader determine the direction, the destination, and begin the journey? What crystallizes the leader's stance and pace? What defines the walking? How does this type of walking touch the soul? And, who does the walker become? To answer these questions, I delved into Walking in Circles: The Black Struggle for School Reform, an epic account of the long journey by the late Barbara A. Sizemore. The book's title, \"Walking in Circles,\" describes what some might call a vicious cycle, a brutal and continuous journey that produced a few improvements while inciting conflicts between community leaders and school administrators. Readers may be familiar with the stories about Barbara, have heard the reports, and have read the news excerpts about Dr. Barbara A. Sizemore. One Washington Post article described her tenure in the District of Columbia (DC) this way: Mrs. Sizemore assumed center stage in an arena that was wracked by social ferment, political battles and court fights during the two decades of civil rights struggles and the District's drive for home rule. The campaign for self -government ended only last year with the city's first elected mayor and Council in more than a century. (Lamb, 2004, p. B06) In DC, Barbara's tenure, like that of the superintendents before and after, mirrors the distasteful relationship between the city's school board and its superintendent. Similarly, Barbara's actions in the community were often a flashpoint for board conflict. Her book reflects her brilliance. In fact, Dr. Sizemore had a reputation of being an extraordinary educator and a courageous advocate for decentralization and community-controlled schools in DC. The embattled Dr. Sizemore made no secret that she was particularly interested in raising the academic achievement of African American students. However, Barbara's educational philosophy and administrative style led to her being terminated by the city's elected school board in 1975. As I completed the book, it became painfully apparent that Dr. Sizemore's legacy had not yet been realized. In the late 1980s, Barbara Sizemore called standardized tests \"the new lynching tool\" for the aspirations of African Americans and in 1989 stated that \"it seems the best way to eliminate tests is to help minorities to pass them.\" (p. 308). She added, \"Tests can then become the diagnostic tools they were meant to be instead of the mechanism for separating winners and losers.\" (p. 308). Therefore, I was stunned to read the unspeakable. Dr. Sizemore's tenure in DC had been terminated - too soon. How","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"26 1","pages":"93 - 95"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84832790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Effect of Western Formal Education on the Ghanaian Educational System and Cultural Identity","authors":"Ransford Pinto","doi":"10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.88.1.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.88.1.0005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century, informal education existed in Ghana with the goal of introducing young people into the society. The traditions and values of the community, as well as the meaning of life, were taught to the child. By using postcolonial theory as a framework for analysis, it is evident that the Western formal education introduced to the people of the Gold Coast by the Christian missionaries and the British Colonial government did not serve the indigenous population well. Rather, it denationalized and facilitated the indignity and loss of cultural identity of the Ghanaian. The missionary and colonial education aimed at character training and civilization resulted in cultural annihilation and religious, and linguistic hegemony.","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"2 1","pages":"16 - 5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87753944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pilot Study to Develop an Augmented Student Support Needs Scale to Address the Needs of HBCU Students","authors":"T. Gross, Qingxia Li, Adam B. Lockwood","doi":"10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.3.0213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.3.0213","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The authors completed a pilot study to examine the original Student Support Needs Scale (SSNS) and alternative forms. They assessed how the items were related to each other, how SSNS versions correlated with each other, and the SSNS versions associations with measures of student attitudes and performance. Eighty students from a historically Black college and university participated. SSNS 10-item- and 5-item-per-scale forms were created. They were compared with the original, to each other, and to other measures. The coefficients related to how items related to each other indicated that the alternative forms had similar to better correspondence between related items than the original scales. The 5-item-per-scale version was used as the augmented SSNS (SSNS-A). SSNS-A correlations with measures of student attitudes and performance were generally in the expected direction. Implications are discussed in regard to reliability and validity of the SSNS-A.","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"13 1","pages":"213 - 228"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80798177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Journey toward Becoming a Counselor Education Doctoral Student: Perspectives of Women of Color","authors":"M. Zeligman, D. Prescod, Jennifer H. Greene","doi":"10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.84.1.0066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7709/JNEGROEDUCATION.84.1.0066","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Women of color are underrepresented in university settings, both as students and faculty, when compared to national representation within the population. A lack of representation results in fewer role models for women of color, as well as limited peer support from those with a shared experience. Experiences of racism and sexism also exist, further contributing to the unique experience of being a woman of color within higher education. This study explores the journey and experiences of women of color (N = 5) as they enter into their first semesters as counselor education, PhD students. Results revealed six themes: diversity (racial/ethnic) within the program, racial/cultural awareness, setting an example, sacrifices/challenges of PhD, and the journey to a PhD program.","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"23 1","pages":"66 - 79"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83223482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
B. Burt, Alade S. McKen, J. Burkhart, Jennifer Hormell, A. Knight
{"title":"Black Men in Engineering Graduate Education: Experiencing Racial Microaggressions within the Advisor–Advisee Relationship","authors":"B. Burt, Alade S. McKen, J. Burkhart, Jennifer Hormell, A. Knight","doi":"10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.4.0493","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.4.0493","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The underrepresentation of Black men in engineering graduate programs contributes to the low numbers of Black faculty members, and in general, role models who could teach and inspire future generations of students in STEM. Addressing this national concern requires stakeholders to identify prevailing obstacles such as racial microaggressions, and where they occur.This article focuses on the advisor-advisee relationship and its effects on students’ persistence. By addressing practices and activities that turn students away from sustained participation in engineering, we may be able to increase the number of Blacks males who enroll, remain in, and graduate from engineering programs.","PeriodicalId":39914,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Negro Education","volume":"1 1","pages":"493 - 508"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91333810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}