Decreasing discipline referrals for black males.

During my time as principal of Brogden Middle School in Wayne County, N.C., I became more and more disheartened as discipline referrals for African-American males continued to climb. I became convinced that teachers needed a better understanding of the culture that accompanies African-American males to school.

At the same time, I also saw a duty to help the boys understand and adapt to the expectations of the larger culture.

Wayne County is the location of Goldsboro, N.C., a city of 40,000 and home of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Most parents tend to work in manufacturing. Of my school's enrollment of 550, about 59 percent of the students were African American, 21 percent white, 17 percent Hispanic and 3 percent other. The teaching staff was 56 percent African American, 33 percent white. About 30 percent of the teachers are male.

To decrease the number of discipline referrals of African-American males, we targeted 10 students who had accumulated the most frequent discipline referrals during the 7th-grade year. These students had frequent infractions for fighting, insubordination, disruption of school, extortion by force or threat, intimidation with threat of bodily harm, damage to property, stealing, physical injury and excessive truancy.

Though the school had experienced an overall decline in discipline referrals over the three years before this intervention, this small group was responsible for a disproportionate number of disciplinary actions. African-American males in the school accounted for between 49 and 54 percent of the discipline referrals annually, though they represented only 31 percent of the student body.

Even more alarming, the 10 targeted 8th graders accounted for 32 percent of all discipline referrals during 7th-grade, 42 percent in the 6th grade and 25 percent in the 5th grade. These boys often were out of class due to in-school or out-of-school suspensions. Not surprisingly, they were below grade level on state and local academic assessments.

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Possible Peril

My hope was to reach these boys while there was still time to turn them around. All were the appropriate age for their grade except one who turned 16 while he was in 8th grade.

According to data compiled in a 2001 study by the Justice Policy Institute, "Cellblocks or Classrooms: The Funding of Higher Education and Corrections and Its Impact on African American Men," there were 791,600 black men, 17 or older, in prison compared to 603,032 enrolled in colleges and universities. This study reported the imprisonment ratio for black males compared to their white counterparts was 28:1. The 10 targeted boys could well end up in prison if something was not done immediately to divert them.

As the leader of the school, I believed teachers had to better understand their students. I consulted with Vivian Covington, director of clinical teaching at East Carolina University, and a middle school specialist to work with the staff for a year. At the first workshop, they pointed out that young African-American males shoulder many problems in their home life. They bring these issues to school and often demonstrate a generalized anger toward society. As a result, they get into trouble and consequently their academic performance suffers.

The absence of male role models in single-parent households has hampered the young African-American male's opportunity to enter into adolescence in a healthy environment. Our school's demographics showed that 55 percent of the black boys were products of single-parent (typically female) homes. Nine of the 10 in the target group lived only with mothers.

Mentoring Connections

To combat this problem, I solicited the support of my fraternity brothers, members of the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity for African Americans. These successful college graduates became part of our school's Boys to Men Mentoring Program. The adults received training and met weekly with their students. In addition to being positive role models, they assisted with homework, served as motivational speakers and became study buddies for their assigned students.

Communication was ongoing with parents and guardians as they began to notice changes in their sons at home and in their attention to schoolwork As the boys began to improve in their behavior and academic performance, an atmosphere of trust grew between the parents and the school staff. The mentor of the boy who turned 16 in 8th-grade secured a job for him, which was much appreciated by his mother.

To expand the faculty's awareness of varying cultures, we used a local university professor, Covington, along with a trained consultant for Ruby Payne's A Framework for Understanding Poverty. The latter teaches the hidden rules of economic class and spreads the message that, despite the obstacles poverty can create in all types of interaction, strategies are available to overcome them.

The training was introduced in building block stages. In the first session, the staff learned general strategies to recognize their biases or stereotypes. They examined case studies about excluding and demeaning student groups.

In the second session, the staff learned to recognize the complexity of diversity and how to acknowledge all students' work in the classroom. Staff members committed themselves to creating an inclusive curriculum by selecting texts and readings whose language was gender neutral and free of stereotypes.

Expanded Efforts

To decrease discipline referrals of African-American males, we had to come at this problem from more than one angle.

Through the Boys to Men Program and cultural diversity training, Brogden experienced an overall 60 percent drop in discipline referrals for the 10 targeted students during the 8th-grade year. All 10 passed the state's 8th-grade gateway assessment and advanced to high school Nine of the 10 are now sophomores and doing well in their studies. The 16-year-old who dropped out continues to hold down a full-time job.

Based on these promising results, my staff and I have decided to expand our efforts for at-risk youth. We have begun a similar program for at-risk girls entitled Sister to Sister. The hope is to keep more students in school and enable them to master the behaviors and academic knowledge that will carry them successfully into high school and beyond.

Earl Moore is principal of Charles B. Aycock High School, P.O. Box 159, Pikeville, NC 27863. E-mail: [e-mail]. He moved from the principalship of Brogden Middle School in July.