...is “Who are the notable African Americans who have earned Ph.D.s in mathematics?” Would researching the answer be significant? Is it important in the science of mathematics to investigate whether five Ph.D.s awarded to five African Americans between 1925 and 2000 imparts enough impact to the field to fill the gap in the canon of mathematics and history? My intention with this paper is to offer the reader the opportunity to consider the field of mathematics in which five individuals have made and are making contributions, while at the same time suggesting that their path to their achievements were unusual. The first section of this paper is a summary of these five. The second section is concise and provides an overview of how many math Ph.D.s, were awarded to African Americans during that same period. The next two sections examine the contributions and mathematical achievements in general and the barriers and psychology that perhaps has created a dismal increase in underrepresented populations entering the field. The final section highlights the importance and implication of stagnate educational pipelines. In addition, I would like to stretch the mind to consider educational practices, as we know them now and to urge the reader to, bear in mind that in the 21st century, we need the talents, contributions and resources of all citizens in United States. A Summary of Five Ph.D.s in Math from 1925 to 2000 While there are numerous achievements by minorities the individuals...
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...Factors of the African American Achievement Gap Abstract The proposed action research study will pinpoint factors that contribute to the African American academic achievement gap. These factors impact not only the lives of families in the African American community but continues a vicious cycle of generations of poverty that hinders our country’s ability to effectively compete economically and also threatens America’s capacity to provide social equality for all. The participants in this study will comprise of parents and students of highly concentrated poverty - low academically performing African American public schools. Thirty two parents and thirty two students from eight low performing-poverty schools in the research study will be interviewed and surveyed online. Collected information and data will be researched employing qualitative and quantitative practices. Introduction There was a time when children of color were denied the hope and expectation of equal education because of racial isolation and discrimination in America’s education system. Although it’s been well over 50 years since Brown –vs.- The Board of Education which established equal education for all, today we are still faced with large racial disparities in reading and math proficiency between African American children and their thriving white contemporaries. This purpose of this study is to illustrate the connection that occurs between race and poverty with the academic achievement gap of low...
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...2015 Effects of Parental Involvement Upon Student Achievement Students’ academic achievement has long been on a startling decline in the past decades, but what is the key factor behind this decline? Do close familial relationships affect a student’s academic success? Studies have continuously proven a strong correlation between high academic achievement and parental involvement. Furthermore, students who lack a close relationship with their family tend to struggle in areas of academic achievement, while those who have a closer familial relationship tend to be more likely to achieve at a higher level. In Raquel Lopez’s The Impact of Involvement of African American Parents on Students’ Academic...
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...contemporary United States? History tells us that African Americans were discriminated for many years in the United States, and today we celebrate the achievements that were fought for and gained. The marking of civil rights anniversaries are an important part of identity and represent a truly extraordinary shift in the American culture and politics (Romano, 2014). The politics of race has been a long fought fight for African Americans to achieve given rights like the right for voting, they celebrate this through anniversaries for remembrances of given occasions and for celebration. This is emphasized by the civil rights anniversary to show the history of struggle for freedom, to show racial progress and reconciliation in increasingly multi-racial society (Romano, 2014). History shows African Americans has been fighting for the achievement of equality and justice within the state and for possible peaceful changes within the system (Romano, 2014). This can be proved by the anniversary celebration as it represent the movements of struggle for civil rights and much attention given for ending the legal segregation over the economic justice demand. History even shows, how some given deaths of prominent people occurred who were in the race fighting for the freedom of achievement of their rights (Romano, 2014). The history of politics shows the achievements that have been achieved by the African Americans like the nomination of African American president Barack Obama for two consecutive...
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...The New Negro Despite all the adversities faced by African Americans, one was still proud to be labeled a Negro. During the 1900’s African Americans had gained courage to fight back against those oppressors who attacked and proclaimed pride in his race. This great boldness stems from previous achievements made by African Americans throughout history. Such events lead Blacks to continue prosper by participating in the First World War and migrating to different parts of the North and Midwest, bringing with them a new sense of culture that would leave an everlasting impact. The “New Negro’s”, during and after the First World War, was considered self-confident as they no longer accepted black inferiority. Blacks’ participation in the Civil War, lasting from 1861-1865, resulted in African Americans having a sense of pride that one has never felt before. Now seemingly having an identity, they carried that courage to fight in the First World War. Blacks’ participated by “…distinguishing themselves as soldiers in France and as members of an international community of people of African descent, or African Diaspora. Blacks’ were skeptic about this war as it was proclaimed to be “a war to make the world safe for democracy”. African Americans were divided on whether to fight and support a war effort to assure equality for a nation while they still faced undemocratic experiences of segregation, disfranchisement, and lynching. Blacks’ looked for anti-lynching legislation, an end to...
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...Kofi Hodge Critical Perspectives in Urban Education Professor Bristol December 10, 2013 The Parenting Gap: A comparison of parenting and academic achievement: The institution of schools does not act alone it encompasses the school itself, teachers, parents, students among other factors that work simultaneously with one another. Up until just recently, I placed much of the blame for teachers’ inability to be successful with minority students in a classroom, on the teachers' inability to communicate and relate to and with students. The students' own self-victimization and the ideology that a student of a particular race or ethnicity cannot perform well because of the stereotypes that come with that race or ethnicity also plays a role. Of the many factors, the role parents play in educational achievement is often overlooked, because many believe that the task of educating solely rests with the school and the teachers. Parental involvement in students’ education gradually decreases as early as the first grade. In addition with the implementation of test based accountability, lack of student achievement is being placed on teachers because tests don’t consider factors such as if a student “pays attention in class” or “attends school regularly” (Ravitch 2010). The decrease of parental involvement results in a decrease of parent expectations of the student and allows students to matriculate through school receiving mediocre grades and their parents never know. Seeing as though the...
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...The Achievement Gap How would you feel knowing your children won’t be able to have a good education because you are a minority or just because you don’t have enough money? The achievement gap is a difference in academics between different races and even in different social statuses. The major differences in the Achievement Gap are in the different grade levels, test scores and dropout rates between different ethnic groups The Achievement Gap affects a lot of people because they drop out before they develop adequate reading, writing, and mathematical skills. The Achievement Gap is a serious problem that affects Latinos and African-Americans because it reduces their educational opportunities and there are low expectations for those students; however groups like Harvest Prep are trying to close it. For Latinos and African- Americans, the Achievement Gap reduces their educational opportunities. One way the Achievement Gap reduces their educational opportunities is that “Only 1 in 50 Latinos and 1 in 100 African American 17-year-olds can read and gain information from specialized text—such as the science section in the newspaper compared to about 1 in 12 whites.” (Bottoms) This is saying that it is much more difficult for African- Americans and Latinos to understand some texts, but reading is only part of the struggle for minorities because they don’t get help when they are little they just get passed on to the next grade for someone else to deal with them. Another way the...
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...‘The Supreme Court was the main obstacle to the achievement of African American Civil Rights between 1865 and 1915’. How far do you agree? The Supreme Court lack of involvement regarding African American was an obstacle to the achievement of their social rights between 1985 and 1915. The Supreme Court can be accused for creating an obstacle because they were incredibly lenient towards white southerners in comparison to African Americans towards the end of the period. This view can be supported in the 1883 case whereby members of the Supreme Court ruled the Second Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional; as a result African Americans were not entitled to ‘full accommodation’ in public places. This case is extremely important in highlighting the Supreme Court’s lack of involvement in achieving African American Civil Rights between 1865 and 1915 because by ruling the Second Civil Rights Act unconstitutional it enables similar cases in the future to be ruled out in the same which was the situation in 1896. Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896 was ruled constitutional, stating that African Americans were ‘separate but equal’, in other words, racially separate facilities, if equal, did not violate the constitution as ‘segregation’ in the eyes of the Court, ‘was not discrimination’. The importance of this case meant that white southerners were able to ignore particular amendments which impacted negatively on African Americans achieving their social rights as they could now segregate all...
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...academic journal article. The first of the three key points that we will be discussing is the black/white achievement gap in educational performance that affects every economic level. The second key point that we will be discussing problems plaguing lower-class Americans. The third and final key point is a list of recommendations presented Carol Swain to improve the K- 12 educational experience for low-income students. The first key point is discussing is the black/white achievement gap in educational performance that affects every economic level. African American children reared in families earning $50,000/year score no better than Caucasian and Asians reared in families earning from $10,000-$20,000/year. These distinct differences in achievement levels grow themselves during the K-12 years. The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) portrays familiar patterns of African Americans lagging behind other groups. Studies show that African Americans in their senior year of high school function at a skill level of four years behind the levels of Caucasian and Asian students. This information will be beneficial for us to understand because we see where most African Americans, Caucasians, and Asians are placed in regards of social class positioning through education. Problems plaguing lower-class Americans are our second key point. Swain lists six different problems. The first problem is that, in the lower...
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...Issues Surrounding the Graduation Rate for African American Males The American educational system is generally regarded as one of the better education systems in the world. Currently, there is much national discussion about the state of the American educational system and how it can be improved. While these discussions include students from head start to doctoral programs, there is a smaller group of students whose circumstances are exceptionally dire and go largely un-discussed. African American males have one of the highest dropout rates in the United States. This is so because African American males face significantly more obstacles in receiving a high school diploma. The main factors that contribute to African American high school males dropping out are: poverty, bad school, and family breakdown (Crouse, 2010). Conversely, there are factors that contribute to African American males graduating from high school such as culturally sensitive curricula and positive Black male role models. Understanding the scope of the contributing factors surrounding the high school graduation rate of African American males paints a picture of what it means to be Black and male in the American education system. Poverty is a contributing factor to the low high school graduation rate of African American males. "Positioning Young Black" states that 36 percent of Black children live in poverty and: In many areas, Black Americans are segregated in minority communities where children are more likely...
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...Anton Stewart 02-21-13 5th period Black History Month is still Needed Achievement. Respect. Empowering . Black History month is a month created in order to honor the African American race and the things we have done to help build this nation. However this month is under assault by Americans that believe that the month is no longer necessary. Black History month is still necessary because it displays the achievements of the African American race, to respect the history of blacks, and to potentially empower African Americans. The African American race has helped build this nation and was and still is a key reason why it continues to prosper. Black students have the right to know about their heritage. Most blacks don’t know that the first African American male was brought to the colonies as a free man (source A). Also achievements by African Americans have made lives much easier, Lewis Latimer is a black man who invented the filament in light bulbs so it would last longer. However most Americans don’t know this and only Thomas Edison receives credit for the light bulb, the traffic light and even the process for blood transfusions were both created by black men and I personally cant remember there names or other inventions by blacks. This is an example of how the achievements of blacks throughout history deserve to be taught to children. Respect our heritage. This is another reason why Black History Month should continue to be celebrated. The thousands of blacks who have...
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...Tionna Shivers EDU-230 November 18, 2012 Michelle Jervell Multicultural Field Trip The APEX Museum The APEX Museum is known as “African American Panoramic Experience Museum” (APEX, 2012). The museum contains timelines about the African American culture. There is a time line describing the accomplishments of Africans. Some accomplishments include: mastering basic arithmetic, cultivating crops, carving the first colossal sculpture, and creating glass windows. The museum also shows pictures and artifacts from that time period as well. The museum also describes the process in which Africans were brought to America through the Middle Passage. In addition, it shows how they were shackled, the type of “money” that was used to pay for slaves, a badge from the plantation police, and the door of no return. It describes the story of Henry “Box” Brown, the African American who was shipped up north in a box. There is also a section of the museum which describes the goods that were of value such as cotton, tobacco, and sugar. Also, there is a replica of a slave ship. In addition, there is a Wall of Achievement which outlines every African American who made some type of contribution to Georgia’s history. Invasion Before the invasion of the surrounding countries, Africa was separated by tribes. Some of the tribes were: Kush, Ghana, and Lake Kingdom. France and Britain invaded majority of Africa during that time period. Other countries who invaded Africa were: Portugal, Germany,...
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...of segregation and inequality are often taught in a historical context. However, if you take a look around racism is very present in today’s society and can be found by looking at the achievement gap, and mass incarceration system. Another representation that racism exists today is the concept of white privilege, which is deeply immersed into society. The achievement gap is a major aspect when we think of racism in the twenty-first century. According to the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), there are large gaps in test scores between African American students and White students (Vanneman, A., Hamilton, L., Baldwin Anderson, J., and Rahman, T. 2009). At the age of nine and thirteen students are given a test in both reading and mathematics to determine the level at which they are performing (Vannerman, et al., 2009). The results are then translated to a scale by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). From this scale experts have gathered valuable information that confirms the achievement gap is still present today. Many say that the achievement gap is due to various reasons. One main reason that seems to be associated with achievement gap is the stability of the parents (Vannerman, et al., 2009). Often when dealing with underperforming African American children you will find a correlation to the financial stability of the child’s parents. Not having a stable environment is believed to play a big part in poor test scores (Vannerman,...
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...American society and Economy – BMAN 20610 Has Affirmative Action had any positive results? Should the policy be abandoned? ‘Affirmative Action has had an indelible imprint on the university environment’ [1] With primary focus on the impact that affirmative action (AA) has had to African Americans in regard to College admission, this essay will seek to ascertain to what extent the policy has lead to positive results. While in addition, evaluating whether this policy is both a legitimate and a necessary feature within Universities in contemporary America, or should be abandoned. Following President Johnson signing into law, executive order 11246 in 1965, the concept of affirmative action was formed and subsequently integrated within the college admission process in the United States. The primary intention of the policy was to ‘redress the disadvantages associated with overt historical discrimination’. [2] While furthermore, seeking to ensure that institutions, such as Universities, were more ‘representative of the populations they serve’. [3] Since the implementation of the policy, throughout American University Campuses and the corridors of power in Washington, both debate and discourse has taken place in regard to the fairness and necessity of the practice of Affirmative Action within the College Admission process. As asserted by Garcia, those in favour of Affirmative action programs within Colleges viewed that the implementation of the policy was evidently ‘a...
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...Critical Analysis of Article Education and Urban Society, Vol. 35 No. 2 (February 3003) The Achievement Gap: Issues of Competition, Class, and Race Retrieved from http://eus.sagepub.com/content/35/2/151.full.pdf+html One of the key arguments in the Education and Urban Society, Vol. 35 No. 2 article is that closing the achievement gap between racial minorities and the racial majority does not merely require more competition and choice, but requires more objectives for educational attainment that are clearly defined, practices that are adequately implemented, and evaluations that are based on long-term effectiveness instead of short-term gains. An example given was the fact that public schools face critical challenges when defining equitable access and equality of opportunity for racial minorities in today’s standardized system of education. Due to the fact that Neither African Americans nor Hispanics have been able to receive adequate and equal opportunities to excel, their performance on standardize testing has paled in comparison to the rest of the population in the United States (Heubert & Hauser, 1999; Irvine, 1990; Jencks & Phillips, 1998; McNeil, 2000; Miller, 1995; Viadero, 2000). However, ironically enough, standardize testing is what is being used to measure the level of proficiency of students- even though these students are not being given sufficient tools to be able to learn the material given. Because of this many have scrutinized this system and have...
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