Evalua&on

of Mentoring African
American Male Students in the
School Se8ng
Crystal C. Davis

North East Leadership Academy

Problem of Prac&ce
The academic prociency of African American (AA) male
students is consistently lower than other subgroups.
When reviewing data, AA students are dispropor&onately
disciplined for inappropriate behavior.
The 8th grade AA males at Franklinton Middle School were 3%
College and Career Ready on their previous year End-Of-
Grade tests.
As a subgroup, AA male students at Franklinton Middle School
make up 21% of our school popula&on, yet are disciplined at a
considerably higher rate than other subgroups in the school.
Implemen&ng a program for AA males that involves
mentorship and tutorials should improve their school
experience by decreasing disciplinary issues, increasing
academic prociency, and improving overall self-percep&on.

2015 Findings- Prociency

2015 EOG Prociency for Current 8th Grade Cohort
Franklinton Middle Compared to District and State
FMS
Franklin County Schools
State

51.5
46.7
37

34.5

37.1
31.9

25.1

24.7
20

3
FMS Composite

Current 8th Grade

African American CCR

FMS AA Male CCR

Source: University of Pennsylvanias Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Educa&on

2016 Findings- Discipline

Percentage of African American
Males at Franklinton Middle

Percentage of Visits to ISS Over a

3 Month Period
ISS Visits

School PopulaEon (272)

AA
Males=
58
(21%)

Rest of
FMS=
214
(79%)

Visits by AA Males
Visits by rest of students

Visits by
rest of
students
= 149
(60%)

Visits by
AA
Males=
100
(40%)

Logic Model

The FMS Brotherhood Pledge

I Pledge
To believe in myself
To make sound decisions
To be serious about my education
To be disciplined in my actions and
resilient after setbacks
I pledge to be the best man I can be.
- Adapted from Principal Baruti K. Kafeles Motivating Black Males to Achieve in
School and In Life (2009)

DATA SOURCES
Discipline Data- ISS Logs for
3 months
Franklinton Middle School
Report Card Data
CASE21 District Benchmark
Assessment Data
Google Form Survey

EVALUATION QUESTIONS
Quan&ta&ve
How many students will be par&cipa&ng in
the Brotherhood program?
Out of 18, how many students were
procient coming into 8th grade?
Out of 18, how many students show
growth toward prociency during the
mentoring program (according to CASE21
Data)?
How does the discipline data of
par&cipants compare to AA males in 6th
and 8th grade who are not par&cipa&ng?
Percep&on
What por&on of the program did
par&cipants like best?
Guest Speaker
Tutoring groups
Rap sessions

Results
Discipline- Number of Student Visits
to ISS Over a 3 Month Period
300

250

249

200
150
100

100

50

43

49
8

0
Total
Schoolwide Total Total AA Males
AA Male 6th
AA Male 8th

AA Male 7th

Academic Prociency ProjecEons

for AA Males Compared to 3%
Prociency in 2015
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

61
44
28

Projected Math
Projected Science

Projected ELA

Results
Which Programming did you
like best?

Tutoring
17%
Rap
Sessions
44%
Guest
Speakers
39%

Comments from Par&cipants:

I wish we had been doing
this all year.
I didnt realize we had that
much stu in common.
Being in the Brotherhood
really made me think about
what I want to do with my
life.
I really feel good about
myself aler these
mee&ngs.

Recommenda&ons
Early implementa&on of a school-wide mentorship program
for AA males.
Focus more &me assis&ng AA males with making the
connec&on between educa&on and career opportuni&es.
Focus more &me assis&ng AA males in overcoming the nerd
eect and other paradigms that impact their experiences.
Increased parental involvement
Provide professional development for sta on ways to
improve the success of AA males.
Address paradigms, reasons for referrals
Collaborate on best prac&ces that would t the culture and
expecta&ons of our school.

Collabora&on to nd ways to increase the number of school

and community stakeholders involved.

Reec&ons
I have gained a more focused view of how the AA male sees himself and his
interac&ons with his peers.
We must be cognizant of our overall expecta&ons for all students.
Although our students come from a variety of backgrounds, they displayed
similar ac&ons and challenges in the classroom (i.e. lack of organiza&onal
skills, missing assignments, feelings of mistreatment or feeling misunderstood
by teachers, failure to express the need for help, etc.).
When anemp&ng to target subgroups for evalua&on, sensi&vity and
forethought are impera&ve as to not impose personal beliefs, perpetuate
stereotypes, or make individuals feel singled out because of their iden&ty.
According to the study, The Color of Discipline: Sources of Racial Gender
Dispropor&onality in School Discipline, researchers found that when black
students are referred for administra&ve discipline the info on the write ups
tends to require a more subjec&ve interpreta&on. When their white
counterparts are wrinen up it is objec&vely wrinen (according to policy):
skipping, vandalism, smoking, etc.
Based on my experience, I believe that the data could be higher when it
comes to the number of disciplinary incidents due to inaccuracies in recording
data (ie- kids ge8ng &me-out in ISS, but no documents completed).
With eec&ve guidance, opportuni&es to learn from challenges, and exposure
to successful male role models, African American male students can
experience success in the school se8ng and in life.