Effects of economic inequality on academic achievement: The black boy dilemma

Abstract

This study examined the effects of economic inequality on the academic achievement of the African-American males. African-American males are disproportionately poor, many living below the poverty line. The neighborhoods African-American males live in have few resources for learning which fosters low academic achievement. Predictions were made that African-American males in poor families will have lower academic achievement than white males and that African-American males who live in impoverished neighborhood environments attend blighted schools which affect their academic achievement. Regression analyses yielded results showing poverty as statistically significant; however poverty alone was not the only predictor on the outcome of academic achievement. The research findings of this study evoke the need for further research into the decline of academic achievement among African-American males. Policy recommendations for the alleviation of the problem circumscribe the problem of school finance at the local, state, and federal level.