I-search Paper Blog #6

Greetings fellow educators and welcome to Blog #6!

I hope that you've had a wonderful week.  It is almost that time, our pupils will be sent home until september.  whew...lolol (laughing out loud) what a long year.  I finally get a chance to relax my mind for a change.  But anyway! Tonight, I want to discuss an important topic to me, which is, "Low reading comprehension skills among African American children."
        Throughout my teaching career, I have noticed in most schools that I've taught, that the majority of African American students suffered from reading comprehension skills.  I noticed that some of them were unable to pronounce words, or able to break apart syllables, draw context clues, and simply being motivated to read.  This problem made me feel very sad and disappointed.  I began to think about what could've happened to cause them to not understand.  I wondered if parental support may have been an issue or not, or was it just the child being, defiant, or simply just didn't care about their education.  I absolutely didn't know what to think.
        I believe that this situation needs to be addressed and a solution is greatly needed.  Each child desires an adult to lead, guide, advise, instruct, and love them.  In my opinion, I strongly believe that most African American children suffer from not having a stable home, meaning a (mom and dad), workforce moms not having the extra time to cultivate children in enforcing what is being taught in school, or reading to them at night to demonstrate the importance of reading.  Children have to see demonstrations of what is being taught to them in order for them to understand or even desire to do it.  To most children, their parents are their strongest influence, whether they are right or wrong.
        During my research, I was able to come cross 2 articles that really captured my attention dealing with this topic.  They are, "Durable Effects of Concentrated Disadvantage on Verbal Ability among African Americans," and, "The Language of Poor Black children and Reading Performance."  These 2 articles deal with problems that hinder African American children from achieving success in reading comprehension, giving details on why such problems exist.  My only goal is to find a solution that benefits all children in reading comprehension.
       In conclusion, what would be some deficiencies African American children face that would prevent them from achieving a high reading comprehension level?  Name a few then give (1) solution to the problem.



I-search Proposal

Topic:  Low Reading Comprehension amongst African American children.

Questions:  What causes African American students to fall short in reading comprehension?  What is necessary for teachers and parents to do to eliminate this issue?  Can the school form a program dedicated to strengthen, encourage, and provide multiple avenues of success in reading comprehension for African American children?

General Resources:  JSTOR articles and WorldCat articles.

People to Interview: Principal and Assistant Principal at Douglass Park Elementary and Parkview Elementary.  (DPES) Mrs. Renee' Hailes and (PVES) Mrs. Wilson

Title of articles planned to use: JSTOR "Durable Effects of Concentrated Disadvantage on Verbal Ability among African Americans."  WorldCat "The Language of Poor Black children and Reading Performance."

Notes:  My purpose is to find out personally what the issues are and ultimately find a method that I could use to help African American students in elementary school to improve their reading comprehension skills.  I want to find a common ground with them that will not only motivate and inspire them to read, but give them hope and desire to continue in being academically successful.