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Black American Students in An Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement
John Ogbu has studied minority education from a comparative perspective for over 30 years. The study reported in this book--jointly sponsored by the community and the school district in Shaker Heights, Ohio--focuses on the academic performance of Black American students. Not only do these students perform less well than White students at every social class level, but also less well than immigrant minority students, including Black immigrant students. Furthermore, both middle-class Black students in suburban school districts, as well as poor Black students in inner-city schools are not doing well. Ogbu's analysis draws on data from observations, formal and informal interviews, and statistical and other data. He offers strong empirical evidence to support the cross-class existence of the problem.
The book is organized in four
*Part I provides a description of the twin problems the study addresses--the gap between Black and White students in school performance and the low academic engagement of Black students; a review of conventional explanations; an alternative perspective; and the framework for the study.
*Part II is an analysis of societal and school factors contributing to the problem, including race relations, Pygmalion or internalized White beliefs and expectations, levelling or tracking, the roles of teachers, counselors, and discipline.
* Community factors --the focus of this study--are discussed in Part III. These include the educational impact of opportunity structure, collective identity, cultural and language or dialect frame of reference in schooling, peer pressures, and the role of the family. This research focus does not mean exonerating the system and blaming minorities, nor does it mean neglecting school and society factors. Rather, Ogbu argues, the role of community forces should be incorporated into the discussion of the academic achievement gap by researchers, theoreticians, policymakers, educators, and minorities themselves who genuinely want to improve the academic achievement of African American children and other minorities.
*In Part IV, Ogbu presents a summary of the study's findings on community forces and offers recommendations--some of which are for the school system and some for the Black community.
Black American Students in an Affluent A Study of Academic Disengagement is an important book for a wide range of researchers, professionals, and students, particularly in the areas of Black education, minority education, comparative and international education, sociology of education, educational anthropology, educational policy, teacher education, and applied anthropology.
The book is organized in four
*Part I provides a description of the twin problems the study addresses--the gap between Black and White students in school performance and the low academic engagement of Black students; a review of conventional explanations; an alternative perspective; and the framework for the study.
*Part II is an analysis of societal and school factors contributing to the problem, including race relations, Pygmalion or internalized White beliefs and expectations, levelling or tracking, the roles of teachers, counselors, and discipline.
* Community factors --the focus of this study--are discussed in Part III. These include the educational impact of opportunity structure, collective identity, cultural and language or dialect frame of reference in schooling, peer pressures, and the role of the family. This research focus does not mean exonerating the system and blaming minorities, nor does it mean neglecting school and society factors. Rather, Ogbu argues, the role of community forces should be incorporated into the discussion of the academic achievement gap by researchers, theoreticians, policymakers, educators, and minorities themselves who genuinely want to improve the academic achievement of African American children and other minorities.
*In Part IV, Ogbu presents a summary of the study's findings on community forces and offers recommendations--some of which are for the school system and some for the Black community.
Black American Students in an Affluent A Study of Academic Disengagement is an important book for a wide range of researchers, professionals, and students, particularly in the areas of Black education, minority education, comparative and international education, sociology of education, educational anthropology, educational policy, teacher education, and applied anthropology.
342 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 31, 2022
The book is about anthropologists who study the schools at Shaker Heights, a wealthy Ohio suburb with a large achievement gap between black and white students. Lots of conclusions in the books and recommendations for both schools and the black community. Very interesting overall, I think I learned a lot but this book was WAY too repetitive, it could've been half as long.
January 21, 2016
After hearing about Ogbu's work, I added this book to a bibliography of items I would read over the next year. This ethnographic study takes place in a highly rated district in Ohio. Ogbu enters into the study hoping to help develop an understanding of many Black students' academic disengagement. Through his stay in the community, over 100 classroom observations, interviews of a variety of stakeholders, attendance at various community meetings and more, Ogbu dissects the information to determine the factors contributing to academic achievement. While it was worthwhile to read the ethnographic study, I did not feel that the conclusions/recommendation offered anything of real substance for the community. I would love to know more from the community/district's perspective about any sustainable changes that took place as a result of Ogbu's work in their community. I am not sure anything of too much value was presented by Ogbu.
May 12, 2008
Pretty fascinating "achievement gap" research that took place about 10 years ago in the town of Shaker Heights, Ohio. Some interesting theories as to how black/white academic achievement disparities persist even among students from the same SES/class background.
September 30, 2012
Maybe this will be a groundbreaking or eye-opening book for some. I found it to be relatively bland, with most of Ogbu's observations plainly obvious to anyone with a brain who has spent some time working with students in a diverse setting.
January 31, 2012
Interesting read, but tons of grammatical/editing errors.
March 18, 2026
An extremely accessible piece of social science scholarship.
This book manages to be comprehensible to a general reader while adhering to the rigorous demands of social science, that is to say, the formal structure of presenting and defending hypotheses and footnoting them endlessly. The book could have been better edited; too many errors of grammar, usage and even spelling slipped through.
I tend to trust Black commentators on American race issues. John Ogbu, like Bill Cosby, Larry Elder and Thomas Sowell, has an intellectual stature that demands he be taken seriously and an immunity to charges of racism. Another author would not have gotten away with the phrase "academic disengagement." Yet at the end of the book one realizes how appropriate that two-word appraisal is.
It is refreshing as well to read an author with an anthropologist's orientation. Ogbu's exhaustive study gave him an opportunity to repeat and reinforce earlier findings in Stockton and Oakland, California, and elsewhere and tailor findings to the Shaker Heights situation.
Blacks are, like American Indians, non-voluntary minorities. To say the least, most of their ancestors did not exactly enlist for service in the United States. The fewer and more recent voluntary black immigrants such as Colin Powell are interesting in two respects. First, their children do better in school than native born blacks. Secondly, however, subsequent generations born in the United States tend to adopt the (dysfunctional) attitudes of the native-born.
Ogbu's contention is that Blacks' profound distrust of the establishment and their conviction that they will not get a fair shake predisposes them not to give their full effort to schoolwork. Their defeatist attitudes start to emerge in the later primary years and are highly apparent by high school. Among the contributing factors are inappropriate role models -- sports and entertainment figures and various types of outlaws -- and a lack of parental involvement in the children's schooling. He describes a black expectation of a "beer mug" approach to teaching The teacher pours knowledge into the passive student. In this model the parents' job is to get the child to school, and the blame is on the teachers if he doesn't learn. He says also that parents are more attuned to whether teachers "care" than whether they are effective teachers.
He surveys a range of attempts to find solutions in changes to the school model: vouchers, charters, merit pay and so on. None have been, by his assessment, markedly successful. His recommendation is to change the culture of the learners themselves. Reinforce positive study habits, recognize achievement, and arm the students against the inevitable attempts of their peers to drag them into mediocrity.
I amend this review to refer the reader to "Crash Course" by Chris Whittle (and my review of the same). Whittle manages charter schools for underprivileged children in Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and elsewhere, and has quite a bit of success. He employs some of the ideas Ogbu advocates.
Ogbu did a workmanlike job of taking into consideration such factors as parental education, income and peer group values in comparing black and white students. He did so by drawing on his wealth of experience with Black students throughout America. Since his distinction between voluntary and involuntary immigrant status is central to his argument, it would have been useful to attempt to sort out those aspects of the Black educational experience that are unique within the American environment from those that characterize Black students in other national settings. The Nigerian-born Mr. Ogbu would have been uniquely well positioned to do so.
This book manages to be comprehensible to a general reader while adhering to the rigorous demands of social science, that is to say, the formal structure of presenting and defending hypotheses and footnoting them endlessly. The book could have been better edited; too many errors of grammar, usage and even spelling slipped through.
I tend to trust Black commentators on American race issues. John Ogbu, like Bill Cosby, Larry Elder and Thomas Sowell, has an intellectual stature that demands he be taken seriously and an immunity to charges of racism. Another author would not have gotten away with the phrase "academic disengagement." Yet at the end of the book one realizes how appropriate that two-word appraisal is.
It is refreshing as well to read an author with an anthropologist's orientation. Ogbu's exhaustive study gave him an opportunity to repeat and reinforce earlier findings in Stockton and Oakland, California, and elsewhere and tailor findings to the Shaker Heights situation.
Blacks are, like American Indians, non-voluntary minorities. To say the least, most of their ancestors did not exactly enlist for service in the United States. The fewer and more recent voluntary black immigrants such as Colin Powell are interesting in two respects. First, their children do better in school than native born blacks. Secondly, however, subsequent generations born in the United States tend to adopt the (dysfunctional) attitudes of the native-born.
Ogbu's contention is that Blacks' profound distrust of the establishment and their conviction that they will not get a fair shake predisposes them not to give their full effort to schoolwork. Their defeatist attitudes start to emerge in the later primary years and are highly apparent by high school. Among the contributing factors are inappropriate role models -- sports and entertainment figures and various types of outlaws -- and a lack of parental involvement in the children's schooling. He describes a black expectation of a "beer mug" approach to teaching The teacher pours knowledge into the passive student. In this model the parents' job is to get the child to school, and the blame is on the teachers if he doesn't learn. He says also that parents are more attuned to whether teachers "care" than whether they are effective teachers.
He surveys a range of attempts to find solutions in changes to the school model: vouchers, charters, merit pay and so on. None have been, by his assessment, markedly successful. His recommendation is to change the culture of the learners themselves. Reinforce positive study habits, recognize achievement, and arm the students against the inevitable attempts of their peers to drag them into mediocrity.
I amend this review to refer the reader to "Crash Course" by Chris Whittle (and my review of the same). Whittle manages charter schools for underprivileged children in Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and elsewhere, and has quite a bit of success. He employs some of the ideas Ogbu advocates.
Ogbu did a workmanlike job of taking into consideration such factors as parental education, income and peer group values in comparing black and white students. He did so by drawing on his wealth of experience with Black students throughout America. Since his distinction between voluntary and involuntary immigrant status is central to his argument, it would have been useful to attempt to sort out those aspects of the Black educational experience that are unique within the American environment from those that characterize Black students in other national settings. The Nigerian-born Mr. Ogbu would have been uniquely well positioned to do so.
November 9, 2019
Much of this book is repetitive, so I skimmed it, but there is so much good information here. I grew up in Philadelphia, so I did not go to Shaker Heights Public Schools, although my wife did. But I have lived in the Shaker Heights School District for the entire 37 years that I have lived in Cleveland.
Two observations stand out. First, many Black students have low expectations for themselves, and most people seem to expect less from them, too. I did not vote for George W. Bush, but he always spoke of "The soft bigotry of low expectations." It seems to exist in Shaker, and it contributes to the Black/White Achievement Gap.
Second, many Black parents, regardless of socioeconomic status, are not as engaged as White parents in their children's education. They believe that they send the child to school and the TEACHERS are now responsible for the child's education. The child usually does better when his/her parents are more actively involved. This also contributes to the Gap.
I do not know what the solution is for the Black/White Achievement Gap, but I do not think that throwing money at the problem will solve it. On many levels, the problem is, for lack of a better word, cultural.
I highly recommend this book!
Two observations stand out. First, many Black students have low expectations for themselves, and most people seem to expect less from them, too. I did not vote for George W. Bush, but he always spoke of "The soft bigotry of low expectations." It seems to exist in Shaker, and it contributes to the Black/White Achievement Gap.
Second, many Black parents, regardless of socioeconomic status, are not as engaged as White parents in their children's education. They believe that they send the child to school and the TEACHERS are now responsible for the child's education. The child usually does better when his/her parents are more actively involved. This also contributes to the Gap.
I do not know what the solution is for the Black/White Achievement Gap, but I do not think that throwing money at the problem will solve it. On many levels, the problem is, for lack of a better word, cultural.
I highly recommend this book!
June 18, 2013
Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb is a level-headed look at racial disparities in American educational achievement. Ogbu dares to posit that (gasp) Black Americans may share some responsibility for their (relatively) poor school performance and that systematic factors such as economic class and racism don't paint the whole picture.
But rest assured that, in the days of screeching loonies on both sides, this is not a "Take Individual Responsibility Ye Lazy Blacks!" book for the Limbaughs and Hannitys to thump. Ogbu acknowledges (and doesn't minimize) systematic factors -- he simply points out that systematic factors can be controlled for and that, when they are, Black Americans still come out at the bottom of the academic heap. The book asks "why is that?" without accusation or judgment.
I don't want to rehash the main findings of Ogbu's study here, but my most interesting takeaway was the extent to which distrust of The Academic System by Blacks results directly in disengagement -- which is then read as further discrimination -- leading to further disengagement. Of course Blacks certainly have good historical reason to be wary of any American System so halting that vicious cycle will be a tall task. Perhaps fewer biased, self-righteous screeds by the Michelle Alexanders and Toures of the world would be a good start...
In any case, as a White guy, this book helped me better understand the challenges facing Black Americans who have the desire to simultaneously succeed within and oppose The System. It's a nearly impossible balance to achieve, and Black childrens' poor academic record bears that out.
But rest assured that, in the days of screeching loonies on both sides, this is not a "Take Individual Responsibility Ye Lazy Blacks!" book for the Limbaughs and Hannitys to thump. Ogbu acknowledges (and doesn't minimize) systematic factors -- he simply points out that systematic factors can be controlled for and that, when they are, Black Americans still come out at the bottom of the academic heap. The book asks "why is that?" without accusation or judgment.
I don't want to rehash the main findings of Ogbu's study here, but my most interesting takeaway was the extent to which distrust of The Academic System by Blacks results directly in disengagement -- which is then read as further discrimination -- leading to further disengagement. Of course Blacks certainly have good historical reason to be wary of any American System so halting that vicious cycle will be a tall task. Perhaps fewer biased, self-righteous screeds by the Michelle Alexanders and Toures of the world would be a good start...
In any case, as a White guy, this book helped me better understand the challenges facing Black Americans who have the desire to simultaneously succeed within and oppose The System. It's a nearly impossible balance to achieve, and Black childrens' poor academic record bears that out.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews