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Urban Education & Black Male Achievement

 

Overview

The Urban Education and Black Male Achievement Think Tank (UEBMA) falls under the umbrella of the Scholar Identity Institute/Achievement Gap Consortium; the think tank conducts research on the multi-dimensions of K-20 students of color achievement, with a primary focus on Black student achievement. National and local research data from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Educational Testing Services (ETS), The Schott Foundation, and numerous other data collecting and testing sources report that Black students and specifically Black males from all social and economic strata and geographical locations are falling woefully short academically; at all levels of education, Black male’s academic achievement lags behind that of their contemporaries. The reasons for the educational achievement gaps are numerous. -The UEBMA Think Tank explores all correlated achievement gap factors. The UEBMA Think Tank works collaboratively with local schools and organizations, nationally with others invested in the plight of Black student achievement, and with international networks, as it researches lower educational attainment as it correlates with low expectations, negative stereotyping, lack of opportunities, stress, and social isolation, health care systems, the prison industrial complex, families who are struggling, etc.

Current Scholar Identity Institute/UEBMA Think Tank Activities, Sponsorships, Collaborations, and Initiatives

  • Why We Can't Wait, youth empowerment organization. Independent Study opportunity 2021-22.
  • National Association for Gifted and Talented Children, November 2021, Denver. CO
  • Men of Color National Summit. Closing the Achievement Gap for African-American and Hispanic Males. Clemson University, TD Center Greenville, South Carolina, April 27-28, 2017 
  • International Colloquium on Black Males in Education Hamilton, Bermuda, October 4-7, 2016
  • Beyond Plight: Defining Pathways to Optimal Development for Black Male and Boys Across the Life Course
  • Annual Summer Scholar Identity Institute at Vanderbilt University (for middle & high school students) Scholar Identity Institute
  • Annual Summer Achievement Gap Institute (for K-12 teachers, administrators, university and community researchers and scholars) Bridging the Achievement Gap


For more information on the Scholar Identity Institute/Achievement Gap Consortium as well as the think tank and its activities, please contact the Director: Professor Gilman W. Whiting