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African American Youth Program

2109 Words9 Pages

Youth program providers work extremely hard to offer services that they believe will enhance the lives and future prospects of African-American male youth. But how can they be sure that their program is having the intended impact? How can funders and policy makers ensure that their investments in programs are paying off in substantially improved outcomes for these youth and their communities? In order to determine which strategies providers should implement to effectively serve the needs of African American young adults, I sought evidence based research recommendations for best practices. As I reviewed numerous studies on this topic, four major themes emerged. To better understand the data found, I have organized the literature review into …show more content…

Their analysis of 35 youth programs reported that standardized test scores of low-income, at-risk youth improved after participation in after-school programs (Lauer et al., 2006). Lauer discovered positive and significant effects among students at risk of failure in reading or math, producing positive results on reading achievement, particularly in lower elementary grade levels and in high school students. Researchers also found positive and significant effects on math achievement, particularly for middle and high school …show more content…

This is especially true in the case of African American male youth whose deficiencies are well documented and compelling (Bandy, 2011). The research demonstrated that programs are more effective at meeting the needs of African American male participants by diversifying the types of services they provide. The rising trend is to offer two or more services in varying combinations of activities such as academic remediation or enrichment, extracurricular activities, job skills training, character development, etc. According to research, multi-service programs are more effective than single-service because they give youth a mix of choice and structure which is especially effective in retaining youth participants (Deschenes et al., 2010). Furthermore, given the wide array of youth needs, especially in impoverished areas, as Weiss et al. (2009) argues, “no single support is sufficient to ensure children’s school success” (p.4). My research is necessary to give community stakeholders an evidence based outline of which strategies should be implemented to effectively serve the needs of African American young adults. This is vitally important as negative statistics for Black males continue to climb even as resources to improve their condition decline. This research will increase the body of knowledge in the sociological fields

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Harlem Children’s Zone case provided long-range goals that were outlined in the case study; however, this paper will hone in on students’ test performances and graduation rate as described by the Harlem Children’s Zone TRUCE program. The TRUCE program was designed as a comprehensive youth development program that served adolescents between the ages of 12-19 (Grossman & Curran, 2004). Based upon the establishment of the program, the TRUCE program was resourceful in providing two of the key performance indicators that were long-range goals of Harlem Children’s Zone; henceforth, it fostered academic growth and career

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Seeing as many of these “at-risk” youth lack educational goals, this is a great and effective way of laying out possible future goals and educational paths. As a result of the Cops Mentoring Kids program, there has and continues to be a drastic increase in class attendance, healthier attitudes toward school and home, and probability to enroll in college. This program also introduces a decrease in liability to skip school, use of alcohol, “tempt to initiate drug use, and incline to strike another person” (Sanchez, 2017). Thanks to Hollywood, Florida, Police Department (HPD), over 20,000 at risk youth have participated and benefited from this miraculous program (Sanchez, 2017). The CMK program has been a lifesaver for many youth and their families, therefore this program deserves to be recognize and

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Children who grow up in poverty are faced with a series of issues which impact their education and social atmosphere. In both the school and home setting these children lack the proper resources which they need to succeed academically. Across the country, people have begun creating programs which aim to help children in poverty succeed, despite their socioeconomic status. These programs range from after-school reading, tutoring services, charter schools, and free summer programs. All of these programs provide children with extra academic help which they may not be receiving in school or at home.

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Children of any culture require nurturing in order to grow to become a productive member of society. However, In African American communities often children are left to fend for themselves. In a one-parent home all responsibilities fall on the shoulders of one person, by default creating a

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Affirmative Action
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The only way dreams will be achieved is coming from the youth who want to make a difference. By informing the youth at a young age allows them to understand the challenges they will face, and what can they do to help rise above and achieve the American Dream of an equality society for all African-Americans. Through the American Dream, this allowed African-Americans to aspire to be something within our society and the equality that they

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The United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights shows that there has been a constant overrepresentation of minority children in what is known as special education courses. The majority of this overrepresentation occurs for African American children. Unfortunately this has been occurring for years, during the 1980’s African American students only made up sixteen percent of the total school population make up, however they represented thirty-eight percent of children that were in classes for students that were in need of special education courses. Forty years later this is still occurring, there is still an overrepresentation of African American children in special education courses, which leads to an overrepresentation of African

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African-American youth can clearly identify that the color of their skin differs from that of their European American peers. Therefore, if the only lesson African-American children and adolescents hear refers to European accomplishments, and the accomplishments of people of color are more or less non-existent, they will subliminally attribute success to the individual that looks like the people they are learning

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African American teen fathers have other responsibilities that may affect their ability to care for their child or children financially. For example, school, sports, and maybe the responsibility of caring for other siblings could affect time and ability to care for their child or children financially. A study conducted by Lerman (2010), found that young, minority, and poorly educated teen fathers in fragile families have little capacity to support their children financially and are hard-pressed to maintain stability in raising those children. In this study Lerman explored the capabilities and contribution of fathers and how that changes as the child get older. Lerman (2010) found, “ employment levels, and employment growth is that 40 percent of fathers, nonresident fathers are teen fathers, compared with only about 16 percent of cohabiting fathers and 0.1 percent of married fathers.

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The source of the difference is no secret. African Americans have been subject to a long history of social and economic oppression and disadvantage; they have experienced higher levels of poverty and lower levels of education than white Americans. After the Brown decision in 1954, the federal government and many states adopted policies to redress the past inequities, but those systems were insufficient to overcome generations of racism, which limited access to jobs and education. Despite significant progress in expanding educational access, education attainment, and economic opportunities for black citizens in the past half century, blacks continue to agonize. African Americans face many trials such as being disproportionately poor and attending racially isolated communities, where children are likely to be exposed to violence, gangs, and drug

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1122 Words | 5 Pages

Special programs have been tried at high school levels such as one in Oakland California. In California they made the African American Male Achievement program(AAMA). This program looks at African American history, runs career academies, leadership counselors, and has role models from the community. This greatly helped the schools the amount of black student graduation rose by six percent and the suspensions of black kids decreased by one-third in their school. This is one example of how one program can greatly improve things.

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202 Words | 1 Pages

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At-Risk Youth do not have Adequate Afterschool Programs in the United States As we witness and analyze the complexity and diversity of society today, it is easy to forget and dismiss the relevant and ever-present needs of at-risk youth. It is also easy to forget and dismiss our ability to facilitate engagement and present opportunity. The at-risk youth are facing widespread potential for failure if they do not receive assistance and/or adequate access to intervention programs and services. Julie K. S. Sprouse, Sandra Wolf Klitzing, and Mary Parr, writers for Parks and Recreation estimate that “increasing numbers of youth are considered to be ‘at risk’. The U.S. Census Bureau in 2000 reported the youth population as 71.6 million (qtd.

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However, a closer look at Americas social, economic and political fabric reveals a grim truth – that close to two centuries after gaining their freedom, African-Americans are still discriminated based on their racial identity. This paper focuses on the issue of racial discrimination of African-Americans as it relates to schools, and also explores what role existing solutions such as the diversification of student populations, parent outreach programs, and the promotion of positive racial identity serve in the mitigation of the problem. Problem Statement The problem as identified in this essay is the issue of racial discrimination of African-American students within the school system.

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