Black Students, Middle Class Teachers »

This compelling look at the relationship between the majority of African American students and their teachers provides answers and solutions to the hard-hitting questions facing education in today's black and mixed-race communities. Are teachers prepared by their college education departments to teach African American children? Are schools designed for middle-class children and, if so, what are the implications for the 50 percent of African Americans who live below the poverty line? Is the major issue between teachers and students class or racial difference? Why do some of the lowest test scores come from classrooms where black educators are teaching black students? How can parents negotiate with schools to prevent having their children placed in special education programs? Also included are teaching techniques and a list of exemplary schools that are successfully educating African Americans.

Author Biography: Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu is the author of State of Emergency: We Must Save African American Men, Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys, and Satan, I'm Taking Back my Health. He lives in Chicago.

Library Journal

Kunjufu, an educational consultant and author of several nonfiction books on African American affairs, offers another in the wide array of recently published books on why the educational system is failing minority children. Kunjufu's book examines why black children, more than 50 percent of whom live below the poverty line, are still lagging behind in educational achievement. He cites a variety of factors, including negative peer pressure, lack of parental involvement, school funding discrepancies, and even genetics. But much of the problem, he believes, stems from the fact that 83 percent of the elementary-school teacher population is made up of white, middle-class females. Low teacher expectations, mismatched teaching and learning styles, lack of time, tracking, and an irrelevant Eurocentric curriculum are, he claims, at the root of the problem. In the last chapter, Kunjufu provides examples of successful programs aimed at closing the achievement gap between blacks and the rest of the school-age population. While there are many books on educational improvement, this one provides a fresh view from a different perspective and is recommended for academic and public libraries.-Mark Bay, Cumberland Coll. Lib., Williamsburg, KY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.