I saw this article on the fight to help a group of New Orleans Charter school students overcome their circumstances. Very interesting read because it delves into the struggles of these students and talks about some of the findings that may help future students that attend Sci Academy.
thanks for sharing that article. I have so many thoughts about it all; I felt sad after reading that though.
Very interesting article. It’s a complex problem to solve. HBCUs can be a good option, but they are often unaffordable due to lack of the financial resources necessary to offer the grants low income students need. PWIs are trying to help their low income minority students graduate, but there is still much room for improvement. And some do it better than others. These charter schools need to identify the ones that do fairly well at it and shepherd their students towards those schools. I experienced the same cultural shock at an overwhelmingly white elite private college back in the day. It was very isolating. But I didn’t drop out. I instead became determined, kept to myself and found ways to self-entertain, got great grades, and graduated a year early. I was the only black student that started in my class to graduate on time. I think one or two others graduated in 5 years. I don’t know what happened to the others since I graduated early.
I saw from your recent posts that your son has decided to focus on HBCUs. Similar social concerns?
The article starts with this headline: “Nearly all the seniors at this charter school went to college. Only 6 out of 52 finished on time.”
I thought the article was going to go completely negative, but I was happy to see that there were some positive findings, among them that some of the students who dropped out had already found good jobs/careers. The saddest factoid from the piece was that only 1 out of every 10 low income students finishes college on time which never gets enough attention, because we tend to only hear about the success stories. But I am thankful for those successes and the people who are working to help low income students.
The 3 things that were mentioned in the article that I was happy to see mentioned that I have also observed (from my own life and others):
- Fit really matters and social integration into a school matters.
- Having alternative paths/vocations without a college degree is okay. Not going to college is okay, but not having a plan is not okay.
- Having a support system matters.
I am glad to see the diversification of the teachers, because seeing someone who looked like me (and who I also knew came from my school) was a key in believing that I would/could make it.
My son really doesn’t fit anywhere right now (besides with 60+ year olds) so I personally have some concerns, but I am not completely sure what has lead him down the path of considering mostly HBCU choices (along with Georgia Tech and Tulane) besides him seeing how happy our family (especially his big sister) has been with our own choices for schools. But I have explained to him over and over that he has to make the best choice for him. I think he would be successful anywhere because he is prepared and focused, but I am hoping that he can find a place where he can thrive. @itsgettingreal17 your story is an inspiration for me because my own hangups as a young man would have made it almost impossible for me to overcome the cultural differences.
For anyone interested in this topic, the book “The Privileged Poor” is an interesting read. It does a good job of explaining that while there are issues that affect all lower income students, there are a myriad of other factors that impact their experience and their success - from race to whether they went to a prep (BS) school. Yet many of the policies that schools put in place assume that each group is more homogeneous than it is.
But it also can help any student (or parent) by giving them a different framework and language for discussing these issues with others (and maybe reducing that feeling of isolation that @itsgettingreal17 refers to (and that is very relatable).