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December 1, 2002
Vol. 60
No. 4

Raising Minority Achievement in Science and Math

To close the achievement gap in math and science and prepare minority students to join the growing scientific and engineering work force, we must first give them the confidence and the opportunities to succeed.

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Recent demographic trends, coupled with the persistent achievement gap between minority and white students, pose serious challenges for U.S. schools and for the development of the future scientific and engineering work force. In the next decade, the total U.S. work force is projected to expand by 12.3 percent; minorities will account for over 40 percent of these new participants in the labor force (Fullerton, 1999).
The National Science Foundation has noted that minorities currently constitute only about 17 percent of all U.S. scientists and engineers (2000), and the National Science Board predicts that the number of new scientific and engineering jobs in the United States will grow by nearly 50 percent in the next decade (2000). Clearly, the nation will need to produce more minority scientists and engineers both to meet the increased demand and to address the underrepresentation of minorities in these fields. Schools and educators must meet two challenges: stimulating the interest of minority students in math and science and preparing them to succeed academically in these fields.

The Achievement Gap

In addressing the achievement gap between minority and white students, we must focus much of our attention on Hispanic and African American students because they are the two largest minority groups in the United States, and because they trail substantially behind whites in academic achievement. In 1998, only 60 percent of Hispanic students and 73 percent of African American students completed high school, compared with 82 percent of white students. In the same year, among 18- to 24-year-olds, only 34 percent of Hispanics and 41 percent of African Americans were in college, compared with nearly half of their white counterparts (American Council on Education, 2001). Many minority students are simply not succeeding academically.
The achievement gap is most pronounced in mathematics and science (College Board, 1999); minority students have typically not done well in these subjects at the elementary, middle, or high school levels. Even when they are successful in math and science in the early years, their confidence and interest often decline later on (Clewell, Anderson, & Thorpe, 1992). And unfortunately, educators, parents, and peers continue—often unknowingly—to perpetuate the myth that math and science are “white-male” subjects; low expectations and the lack of encouragement and exposure to role models, advanced courses, and career opportunities reinforce minority students' doubts that they can succeed at higher levels of math and science (Catsambis, 1995).
Further, colleges and universities across the United States find too few minority college candidates who have competitive grades and high standardized test scores. Many minority students have not had the necessary preparation to ensure success, or do not accept the importance of standardized tests. Recent changes to the SAT provide an assessment of students' writing and algebra competence in addition to their reading comprehension skills. These new assessments help colleges and universities determine how well students read, write, think, and compute—all essential skills.
To support all students, especially low-income and minority students, schools should offer SAT preparation courses, and families should become more involved in the process. Students learn by doing, and we must give them the support they need to achieve high standards. Some colleges and universities are making a good start by supporting local schools in helping with students' test preparation, building students' reading and math skills, and setting high expectations for the students and teachers. In addition, the following advice to parents, educators, and students can contribute immeasurably to minority students' academic achievement.

Advice to Parents

To ensure the success of minority students in math and science, K-12 educators must find ways of engaging parents and families. We should listen carefully to the voices of successful minority students to learn what factors made a positive difference in their lives. Often when I meet with African American students, they automatically take the defensive, asking, “What did we do wrong this time?” In response, I say that I am here to tell them that they must succeed in school if they want to succeed in life. At first, they doubt my sincerity. But as we talk, the students become engaged in the discussion and show pride in their ability to think.
For Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds, the two books that my coauthors and I have written on helping African American young men and women become academically successful (Hrabowski, Maton, & Greif, 1998; Hrabowski, Maton, Greif, & Greene, 2002), we interviewed more than 100 families affiliated with the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a program designed to address the shortage of minorities in professional science careers. Our goal was to provide practical information about what actually works in bringing up academically successful minority students.
  • Emphasized to their children the importance of reading.
  • Held high expectations of their children and instilled in them a strong sense of discipline.
  • Interacted closely with their children's teachers and took a strong interest in their children's homework.
  • Gave their children plenty of love and support.
  • Communicated with their children openly and consistently.
  • Contributed to their children's focus on a positive racial identity.
  • Relied on such community resources as religious groups and extracurricular activities for support.
  • Helped their children understand that defining themselves as victims of prejudice would not contribute to their ultimate success.

Advice to Educators

  • Meet with parents when their children are not doing well academically and explain the reasons for their poor performance.
  • Help parents understand the significance of their role as advocates for their children; encourage them to spend time with their children and learn about their schoolwork and interests.
  • Provide opportunities for parents to exchange suggestions and insights with one another.
  • Offer workshops that help parents understand the importance of such activities as reading to their children, connecting math problems to real-life situations, and encouraging their children to ask questions.
Educators can also directly contribute to minority students' academic and personal success simply by communicating high expectations. Expectations—both those that students have for their own performance and those that teachers hold and project—significantly influence the academic performance of underrepresented minorities.
African American and Hispanic students have poor estimates of their abilities to perform well academically, especially in comparison to white students. Researchers have now verified the long-term value of establishing high expectations, finding that the degree to which teachers overestimated students' intelligence at an early age correlated with the students' high school grade point averages and SAT scores. In other words, positive discrepancies in teachers' judgment predicted more positive student performance in the long term.
Unfortunately, researchers have found that teachers' standards are lower for African American students than for white students (Weinstein & McKown, 1998). Educators and administrators must therefore raise their expectations of minority student performance and articulate those expectations to students.

Advice to Students

In my conversations with students, they often discuss their dreams and anxieties about career and life choices. For minority students, the challenges are often even greater, especially in science and engineering. I emphasize that the skills, values, and habits they acquire and practice both before and during college will be the same ones they use to succeed in life, professionally and personally. I stress to students the importance of reading, problem-solving, asking questions, working hard, setting high standards, being dependable, and working well with others.
Technology and communication skills are particularly crucial. Students must know how to use technology and how to speak and write clearly and confidently in standard English, whether completing a middle school book report, college term paper, or doctoral dissertation, and whether applying for a job or making a presentation on the job. Students must also be open to new experiences and learn how to interact effectively with people from diverse backgrounds. Grades, and ultimately job performance, will depend heavily on these skills.
  • Take advantage of tutoring outside the classroom.
  • Get to know teachers and staff.
  • Develop good methods for reading, studying, note-taking, and test-taking.
  • Have a strong support group with other serious students.
  • Seek, listen to, and evaluate advice and constructive criticism—and have the resilience to recover and learn from mistakes and setbacks.
  • Know both their strengths and those areas that need improvement.
  • Identify strategies to motivate themselves to work hard.
  • Possess “fire in the belly”—a passion for learning and excelling.

A Model Program

The Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, puts many of these standards into practice. The Meyerhoff Scholars Program specifically recruits and nurtures minority students who excel in math, science, and engineering, but any school can use its strategies to good effect.
The university is a public, predominantly white research campus where minority student retention rates are higher than those of whites, and where virtually all freshmen share the same combined mean SAT scores (1215) and high school grade point averages (3.5). Since it began in 1989, the Meyerhoff Scholars Program has become one of the nation's leading producers of minority graduates—particularly African Americans—who go on to postgraduate study and research careers in science and technical fields. In 1999, the university ranked first in the nation in the number of undergraduate biochemistry degrees awarded to African Americans, representing nearly one-third of the nation's total. It also ranked second in the number of undergraduate biochemistry degrees awarded to minority students in general, and fourth—tied with Yale—in the number of under-graduate biochemistry degrees awarded overall (American Society of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, 2001).
More than 450 competitively selected undergraduates have enrolled in the program since its inception, and since 1993 nearly 300 Meyerhoff students have earned degrees in science and engineering, with 85 percent matriculating into graduate and professional programs nationally (Hrabowski, Maton, Greif, & Greene, 2002).
  • Offers a Summer Bridge program with math, science, and humanities coursework, as well as training in analytic problem-solving and group study.
  • Involves students in substantive summer research experiences.
  • Links students with mentors from professional and academic fields in science, engineering, and health.
  • Encourages students to take advantage of departmental and university tutoring resources.
  • Offers comprehensive merit scholarship support.
Moreover, the program ensures that it will produce well-rounded scholars by nurturing personal as well as academic development, providing personal counseling, fostering a strong sense of community among the students, and encouraging students to engage in community service. The program also encourages the involvement of the faculty in such capacities as recruiting and mentoring students in addition to teaching.
The Meyerhoff Scholars Program gives students every possible resource and opportunity for academic success. And by elevating expectations for minority students, applying some basic but effective strategies, and encouraging the full investment of faculty, administration, family, and students, any school should be able to narrow the achievement gap and spur students on to both academic and personal success.
References

American Council on Education. (2001). Minorities in higher education 2000–2001: Eighteenth annual status report. Washington, DC: Author.

American Society of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. (2001). ASBMB News, 10(1), 9.

Catsambis, S. (1995). Gender, race, ethnicity, and science education in the middle grades. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 32(3), 243–257.

Clewell, B., Anderson, B., & Thorpe, M. (1992). Breaking the barriers: Helping female and minority students succeed in mathematics and science. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

College Board. (1999). Reaching the top: A report of the national task force on minority high achievement. New York: College Board Publications.

Fullerton, H. N., Jr. (1999). Labor force projections to 2008: Steady growth and changing composition. Monthly Labor Review, 122(11), 19–32.

Hrabowski, F., Maton, K., & Greif, J. (1998). Beating the odds: Raising academically successful African American males. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hrabowski, F., Maton, K., Greif, J., & Greene, M. (2002). Overcoming the odds: Raising academically successful African American young women. New York: Oxford University Press.

National Science Board. (2000). Science and engineering indicators—2000. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation (NSB-00-1).

National Science Foundation. (2000). Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering: 2000. Arlington, VA: Author (NSF 00-327).

Weinstein, R., & McKown, C. (1998). Expectancy effects in “context”: Listening to the voices of students and teachers. In J. Brophy (Ed.), Advances in research on teaching, Vol. 7: Expectations in the classroom. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

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