Study finds that culturally centered program for Black, male high school students boosts persistence
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Access to Oakland Unified School District’s African American Male Achievement (AAMA) program significantly increased student persistence rates over the past 10 years, according to a study co-authored by UCI School of Education Assistant Professor Emily Penner.
The study, available here, found that, on average, access to the AAMA program increased the persistence of Black males over the next year by 3.6 percentage points, thereby reducing their dropout rate by 43 percent. Penner and her co-author Thomas S. Dee, professor, Stanford Graduate School of Education, followed nine comprehensive high schools in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) that serve students in grades 9-12 for 10 years. They linked district data on program roll-out to data from the California Department of Education on student outcomes to draw their conclusions. The AAMA is centered on courses during the regular school day that are exclusively for Black, male students from a variety of skill levels, and are taught by Black, male teachers. The classes emphasize social-emotional development, African American history, and culturally relevant pedagogy. The program also features academic and social supports and enrichment activities. |
UCI School of Education Assistant Professor Emily Penner
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The study also found evidence of statistically significant increases in the persistence rates of Black females.
“I was certainly surprised to see the spillover effects for Black, female students,” Penner said. “These students were not enrolled in the course, but something about the way their peers changed, or how the school culture changed, helped to improve their persistence as well.”
The AAMA is a centerpiece of Oakland’s My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Initiative. The MBK Initiative was developed by President Barack Obama to address persistent opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color and ensure that all young people reach their full potential.
Nearly 250 communities from all 50 states have committed to the MBK Initiative, now run by the Obama Foundation. Penner believes that the AAMA is at the forefront of this initiative, and that additional studies should be conducted on similar programs.
“The AAMA already had strong qualitative evidence showing how the program shaped educator and student interactions in the district; our quantitative findings provide the first causal evidence of the effects of this program on a key indicator of black student success," Penner said. "It really underscores how a program that connects with students’ experiences, gives them tools to understand their identities and the social factors that might impact them, and really fosters a caring community has the potential to be transformative.
“As a former Oakland teacher, it’s really exciting for me to see a program designed and cultivated by Oakland educators provide such an effective model that others can learn from.”
The findings were published in a working paper on Oct. 21 by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Support for the research was provided by the Raikes Foundation and the Mindset Scholars Network.
“I was certainly surprised to see the spillover effects for Black, female students,” Penner said. “These students were not enrolled in the course, but something about the way their peers changed, or how the school culture changed, helped to improve their persistence as well.”
The AAMA is a centerpiece of Oakland’s My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Initiative. The MBK Initiative was developed by President Barack Obama to address persistent opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color and ensure that all young people reach their full potential.
Nearly 250 communities from all 50 states have committed to the MBK Initiative, now run by the Obama Foundation. Penner believes that the AAMA is at the forefront of this initiative, and that additional studies should be conducted on similar programs.
“The AAMA already had strong qualitative evidence showing how the program shaped educator and student interactions in the district; our quantitative findings provide the first causal evidence of the effects of this program on a key indicator of black student success," Penner said. "It really underscores how a program that connects with students’ experiences, gives them tools to understand their identities and the social factors that might impact them, and really fosters a caring community has the potential to be transformative.
“As a former Oakland teacher, it’s really exciting for me to see a program designed and cultivated by Oakland educators provide such an effective model that others can learn from.”
The findings were published in a working paper on Oct. 21 by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Support for the research was provided by the Raikes Foundation and the Mindset Scholars Network.
