June 2009: Reaching black boys

In Chicago, elementary schools and high schools are suspending and expelling students at alarming rates and African American male students are bearing the brunt of these punishments.

Cover Stories

• Black male conundrum In Chicago’s public schools, African-American males are suspended and expelled at a higher rate than any other student group. Yet educators are working to raise black male graduation rates, creating a classic case of policy and practice at odds.
  
• Three friends As freshmen, they were on track to drop out. Now they’re heading to college and the workforce. The story of how three African-American boys changed course shows how resources and changed attitudes can make a difference.
  
• A place of their own Engaging activities and an all-boys’ class helped Ryerson’s new principal cut suspensions of black males.
  
• Searching for role models Research shows that black men can be powerful classroom role models for black boys, but principals come up short when looking for candidates.
  
• Coaching students North Lawndale’s powerhouse basketball team relies on a coach who goes the extra mile to mentor his players.  The district needs more coaches like him, but finding candidates is tough.
  
• WebExtra: A disconnect in reading No more than 5 percent of the 5,000 children’s books published each year feature African-Americans as characters. Experts say black boys need to see themselves in books to foster a love of reading that will help build literacy skills.
  
• WebExtra: Teaching leadership skills Oak Park middle schools want to improve discipline and close the achievement gap by providing mentoring and other support to African-American boys.
  
• WebExtra: Mentoring to a new beat Digital Youth Network instructors take a brotherly role in teaching digital skills and media literacy.
  

Letter From the Editor Lopsided discipline takes toll on black male students African-American boys face a peculiar dilemma in Chicago’s public schools: how to get a solid education when, more than any other group of students, they are singled out for harsh punishments and sent packing for days, weeks, sometimes months at a time. Some are expelled—even in elementary school—for a year or longer. Many folks assume that these punishments are deserved. Isn’t it true, they ask, that black male students are more likely to behave in ways that warrant such sanctions?