Barriers To Blacks' Educational Achievement in Higher Education

Abstract

In recent years various national reports have indicated substantive progress in the national achievement test scores for Black secondary students across the country. With these indicators one would expect that the results would transfer to postsecondary levels. Specifically, the achievement levels, enrollments, and successful graduation numbers and rates of Blacks from postsecondary institutions, both the undergraduate and graduate/professional schools, should have increased proportionally. This has not been the case, however. The objective of this article is to examine the recent trends in the educational achievement of Blacks at the secondary and postsecondary levels. Specifically, the aim is to provide a descriptive analysis of these trends, to review some conceptual realities relevant to their causes, and to examine some barriers to Blacks' educational achievement and issues for further research and debate on intervention strategies for improving the success of Blacks in higher education.