Publication date:

08 October 2015

Length of book:

378 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

235x162mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781498506861

College and career readiness is essential to promoting the success of all students. Educational and economic changes in today’s society demands well thought out strategies for preparing students to survive academically, socially, and financially in the future. African American students are at a disadvantage in this strategic planning process due to a long history of racism, injustice, and marginalization.
African American Students’ Career and College Readiness: The Journey Unraveled explores the historical, legal, and socio-political issues of education affecting African American students and their career and college readiness. Each chapter has been written based on the authors’ experience and passion for the success of students in the African American population. Some of the chapters will appear to be written in a more conversational and idiomatic tone, whereas others are presented in a more erudite format. Each chapter, however, presents a contextual portrayal of the contemporary, and often dysfunctional, pattern of society’s approach to supporting this population. Contributors also present progressive paradigms for future achievements.
Through the pages of this book, readers will understand and hopefully appreciate what can be done to promote positive college bound self-efficacy, procurement of resources in the high school to college transition, exposure and access to college possibilities, and implications for practice in school counseling, education leadership, and higher education.
The contributors (editors included) of the 16 essays in this collection are in the field of counseling or preparing to enter it. They write about problems that can make it difficult for African American students to make the transition from high school to college—problems related to cultural development, course choice, financial literacy, and wellness support. In the lead essay, Curry notes that pervasive disadvantages for African American high school students include poor support for counselling to direct them to colleges and inadequately rigorous courses in programs leading to college entrance. An interesting comparison arises from two essays that describe the experiences of African American students at, respectively, historically black colleges/universities and predominately white institutions. . . .Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, professionals.