Abstract:
If African American Males hope to become viable and productive members of the global marketplace of the 21st century, they must find avenues to consistently improve their likelihood of achieving success within academia. For the past twenty years, reports from the United States Department of Education and research from scholars such as McCabe, Hampton, and Steele all reflect the widening achievement gap in education between ethnic and racial minorities and the White majority. When different ethnic and racial sub-groups were examined, African American Males were found to be the lowest achievers; furthermore, African American Males made up the largest percentage of students in developmental mathematics. The purpose of the study was to determine whether African American Males' perceptions of their own abilities, upon enrollment in an urban community college's developmental mathematics course (Pre-Algebra), were related to their academic success. One hundred and seventeen first-time students enrolled in Pre-Algebra at an urban community college were surveyed to determine their perceptions of preparedness, self-efficacy, and level of math anxiety. The results of the students' surveys and their final course completion grades were analyzed using discriminant analysis to determine whether there were any significant relationships to academic success and course completion. The results of the analysis revealed that the African American Males in the survey sample perceived math anxiety as being the most significant factor to success in Pre-Algebra. The significance of math anxiety was also found in relation to course completion, passing or failing, and final grade awarded. Furthermore, the study used inferential and descriptive statistics to determine whether there were any relationships among the variables (preparedness, self-efficacy, and level of math anxiety), as well as any hierarchical order of importance of the variables. The implications and recommendations from this study may have direct bearing or influence on how African American Males receive educational instruction at both the secondary and post-secondary levels of education.
