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From Opposition to Engagement: Lessons from High Achieving African American Students

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Abstract

Influential research on African American students has examined their school failure in terms of students’ opposition to school achievement. Only a few studies have explored school engagement and success among these students, and even fewer have examined the experiences of high achieving black students. This study illustrates the school context and school processes that high achieving African American students identify as contributing to their academic success. The findings reveal three main school effects impacting the students’ performance: 1) teacher practices, engaging pedagogy versus disengaging pedagogy; 2) participation in extracurricular activities and; 3) the state scholarship as performance incentive. According to the students, teacher practices were the most instrumental school effect benefiting their outcomes. Recognizing the processes that promote high achievement among African American students can help to improve our understanding of student performance, while promoting success among these students.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Middle, Secondary, K-12 Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201, University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC, 28223-0001, USA

    Greg Wiggan

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Correspondence to Greg Wiggan.

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The author wishes to thank Ron DePeter and Tekla Johnson for their comments on a previous draft of this article

Appendix

Appendix

Interview Schedule

The questions focused on students' high school experiences. They addressed quality of instruction, meaning of student achievement, school climate, as well as solutions to the achievement problem.

High School Experiences

Which high school(s) did you attend?

What was it like going to school there?

  • (If student attended more than one high school, the questions will focus on the one he or she graduated from)

Probes:

  • What were the things you liked or disliked about your high school? Why?

  • Were there any major concerns in your high school that might have impeded students’ learning? Explain?

  • How would you describe the relationship between the students and teachers in your high school? Ho well did they get along with each other?

  • Were there many conflicts in your high school? (Teacher-student, student-student, teacher-administration etc.)

  • Describe some of your high school experiences that you believe were significant. Why do you believe these experiences were significant?

  • What are some of the important aspects of your high school education you believe may or may not have benefited your readiness for college?

  • Did you find that you were prepared for your transition to college?

Quality of Instruction

Now that you have completed high school and are in college, how well do you believe your high school prepared you for higher education?

How do you feel about the quality of instruction you received in your high school?

Probes:

  • Who was one of your best teachers? Why?

  • What are the characteristics that made this teacher effective?

  • As far as teaching, what was going on in this person’s classroom?

  • Were most of your other teachers like this person?

  • How did this person teach?

  • What teaching styles did this teacher use that in turn benefited your learning? (Lectures, discussions, working in groups, class projects, using visuals, etc.)

  • What classes were you satisfied or dissatisfied with? Why?

  • Do you think your teachers incorporated technology enough in the classroom?

  • How could the quality of instruction in your high school have been improved?

Achievement

What did student achievement mean to you in high school?

Probes:

  • Do you think that your teachers were able to accurately determine how well you were learning? How so?

  • Do you believe that grades and standardized test scores were good measures of your performance? Why?

  • Were there students in your classes that you believe knew a lot more than their tests scores indicated? If yes, why was this the case?

  • What grades were you happy or unhappy with? Why?

  • How did you approach school? Were you very serious in your studies?

  • Did you study very hard for your exams? Why?

  • Did you wish your teachers had created some other measures of your performance other than test scores? (Yes, No) How could your teachers’ have assessed your performance differently?

Solutions to the Achievement Problem

What do you believe are the barriers to school achievement in high schools across the nation?

Probes:

  • How can these barriers be removed?

  • What can schools do to help students? How?

  • What do you think about placing all students on a college preparatory track?

  • Or how about having high school students attend a class on a college campus for a day to gain exposure?

  • Also, some have suggested that having disguised student researchers in the classroom would allow for true assessment of teaching styles and learning habits.

  • How can students help themselves?

  • How can teachers and administrators improve school achievement across the nation?

  • What advice might you offer to teachers, principals and administrators?

  • How should they implement these changes?

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Wiggan, G. From Opposition to Engagement: Lessons from High Achieving African American Students. Urban Rev 40, 317–349 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-007-0067-5

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