ABSTRACT
On all of the indicators of academic achievement, educational attainment, and school success, African American males are noticeably distinguished from other segments of the American population by their consistent clustering in categories associated with failure (Noguera, 2008; Schott Foundation, 2010a). This tends to be the case at schools throughout the United States but the problems are most acute in urban schools and districts where poverty is concentrated and students are racially segregated. In such schools, African American males are typically more likely than students in other groups to be cited for behavior problems and their achievement patterns are characterized by indicators associated with risk and failure-low test scores in reading and math, low graduation rates, high rates of referral to special education, and high dropout rates (Boykin & Noguera, 2011).
