Introduction
The debate of achievement by race among Americans is still a divisive issue of concern, just as it was in the 1960s. Some people think that low personal achievement among some American communities is essentially a product of long standing historical injustices. On the other hand, some people have disowned that school of thought and upheld that the low achievement by the group is a product of certain social factors that have led to a vicious cycle of minimal achievement both socially and economically (Rossi, Lipsey & Freeman, 2004). At the center of the discourse has been the plight of the black American community and specifically black American youth, who in large numbers seem to be set on the path of out of school and straight to prison. The motivation of this study is to critically analyze this social issue through a multifaceted approach to unravel the social, economic and political aspects that have contributed to this social menace.
Social Protection Framework Design
According to Gregory, Skiba and Noguera (2010), social protection policies became popular in the 1960s. They resulted from the major programs that the government of the United States was going to utilize in order to address the issues of vulnerable communities, which had been marginalized through deliberate government policies. Therefore, social exclusion is used in theory to conceptualize human deprivation and seeks to establish the sustaining factor of the state of affairs (Rossi et al., 2004).
According to Gee and colleagues (2006), a common feature of social protection frameworks is a social protection intervention measure with specific parameters to make rights. In our context, the American authorities have had to put in place scholarships and cheaper public schools. However, the salient question remains; are these interventions efficient enough to give the desired results? It is the assertion of this study that social protection framework design ought to lead to social inclusion of the target group and other groups in a society. The inclusion is important in making all people in a community feel appreciated and live in harmony.
Social Achievements: A Background
Since the abolition of slavery and the subsequent expansion of freedoms enjoyed by all people of the United States, there has been a debate as to whether the subsequent governments of the United States have adopted an outright policy that imbalances particular aspects of social interest, such as education, poverty and disease. Questions remain as to why some communities continue to sink into abject poverty while the reverse is happening to others. In addition, people have been asking why education levels are sinking low among some communities while others prosper. Brophy and Good (2004) explored the issue of poverty and ethnicity. They sought to establish whether there is any correlation between poverty among some ethnic groups and wellbeing among others. Their study revealed socially ingrained factors that continually decimated the capabilities of certain groups in the African American community.
Even though a review of policies led to the internationalization of some social problems such as education, human rights and forced governments to offer free basic education, the large number of students from poor communities that thronged public schools soon dropped out of schools. For the few who made through schools, the existing social system was not helpful in any way. Being a black American in a white dominated job market with already fixed social prejudices meant securing a job was no mean task. Indeed, according to Green, Pahl and Way (2006), the likelihood of a white graduate getting a job was almost twice that of a black graduate with the same academic qualifications. These social limitations continue to undermine all initiatives that are executed for social protection purposes of some communities.
The case for Analytical Framework Design Criteria
Enrollment
Cases of young black Americans joining school or not raise two major issues of concern. The first issue is practical-based while the second is analytical-based. The practical issue here remains the availability of funds mainly because most financiers, including the government may not wish to substantially invest in social programs that are of minimal or no financial gain. Indeed, this has been a common debate issue during presidential elections as to how much the government should invest in social programs. The analytical aspect is to whether those who initiate social projects should cede them to the locals since the foregoing argument has been those successful interventions are those that local communities self govern (Mandara, 2006). There has been no clear link between this assertion and success of the programs.
Even at the beginning of the 21st century, school enrollment for the whites, leave alone blacks, was marginal. Any black person who went to school was highly discriminated against because of color. Indeed, the case of Brown vs. the board of education that ended segregation in American schools clearly demonstrates how the education system was unequal in the US.
Transition to High School
Research has shown that the longer an individual has spent in school, the more ‘successful’ he or she would be in life. The observation is contrary to those who leave school before completing their studies (Taylor & Graham, 2007). Thus, the observation makes part of a set of arguments that make an analytical framework design, which is an essential ingredient to understanding the gist of this social issue. A linear exploration of this group reveals that in the long term there will be even a wider gap in the black community. It is prudent to observe that the path to college education and beyond is one that is characterized by a myriad of disparities. A study conducted in 1992 showed that over 80% of the students enrolled in college came from families whose parents were college educated. The statistics are a clear contrast of similar information gathered from the lot of parents who completed high school (54%) and those with education lower than high school (36%). This situation calls for serious pro-active policy analysis framework as opposed to a passive approach to the problem (Lee and Bowen, 2006).
Employment
Employment is the ultimate dream of every hardworking student. However, for many black American students, getting a job after many years of study is not always easy. In fact, their dreams are shattered in the job market. Currently, the black community and the Latinos are the worst hit groups in terms of unemployment rates. While the national unemployment rate stands at 9.1%, unemployment among black community stands at11. 3%. Though activists have called for policy actions that can arrest the current imbalance through social protection in the public sector, the practice has already cut off the black community from the rest of American communities and made it a target to some political figures.
Basic Analytics and Conclusion
In conclusion, having identified the relevant factors that are said to underpin lower achievement levels among black American community, it is critical to observe that the situation calls for multiple social values as may be preferred by the designers of several interventions. For instance, a civil education act focused on behaviorial change may require income source for the target groups, training and survival skills to succeed. However, since the resources in the process of intervention may be limited, a joint action through all stakeholders such as governments, community based organizations and intergovernmental organizations may require to be adopted for the strategic purpose of the project. It would be essential for all the parties executing the interventions to have their own objectives that need to be reconciled. Thus, a comprehensive analytical approach would have key components to address multiple contributing factors, objectives of all intervening parties.
References
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Gee, G. C., Ryan, A., Laflamme, D. J., & Holt, J. (2006). Self-reported discrimination and mental health status among African descendants, Mexican Americans, and other Latinos in the New Hampshire REACH 2010 Initiative: the added dimension of immigration. Journal Information, 96(10), 1821-1828.
Greene, M. L., Way, N., & Pahl, K. (2006). Trajectories of perceived adult and peer discrimination among Black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents: patterns and psychological correlates. Developmental psychology, 42(2), 218.
Gregory, A., Skiba, R. J., & Noguera, P. A. (2010). The Achievement Gap and the Discipline Gap Two Sides of the Same Coin?. Educational Researcher, 39(1), 59-68.
Lee, J. S., & Bowen, N. K. (2006). Parent involvement, cultural capital, and the achievement gap among elementary school children. American Educational Research Journal, 43(2), 193- 218.
Mandara, J. (2006). The impact of family functioning on African American males’ academic achievement: A review and clarification of the empirical literature. The Teachers College Record, 108(2), 206-223.
Rossi, P. H., Lipsey, M. W., & Freeman, H. E. (2004). Evaluation: A systematic Approach (87th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Taylor, A. Z., & Graham, S. (2007). An examination of the relationship between achievement values and perceptions of barriers among low-SES African American and Latino students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(1), 52.