Keeping Black Boys Out of Special Education

I purchased Dr. Kunjufu book "Keeping Black Boys Out of Special Education" when my son African Amercican entered kindergarten. My research began after I received several complaints from my son's teacher of his behavior. This book is a must have if you are raising a African American boy. Dr. K provides information on the statistics of a large percentage young black boys attending special education programs and being prescribed medication; such as Retalin to help them focus in school. According to the statistics there exist a larger % of AA boys in Special Ed courses than white children and female children. Subsequently, to reading this book my son's teacher suggested that I have my son evaluated and when I refused she politely insinuated that my son needed to be evaluated so that he could be prescribed medication in order for him to be calm during school hours. Dr. K explains how such medication can ultimately lead our son's into a behavior of drug use in their later years, leading to a life of crime and drug addiction. We must be aware of the psychological traps that are being set for our son, please do not listen to the schools. In many cases this behavior can be corrected simply by placing your child into sports programs, establishing homework skills, reading with your child, limiting and screening television programs. I have read many of Dr. K books; such as Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys, Developing Positive Self- Images & Discipline in Black Children and Motivating & Preparing Black Youth for Success. I am so grateful to Dr. J; my son is now eight years old and he has calm down so much without the special education programs or medication. Also, I should mention there was never an academic issue, just behavior. I saturated my son's after school hours with sports, reading, church activity and eliminated all TV time during the week (took SpongeBob out totally). Please do not misunderstand what I am saying some boys need special need programs; but Dr. K will help you make that determination and find other alternatives and not rely strictly on the advice of the teachers and the school staff. Such information provided by Dr. K helps AA parents to educate themselves on such processes, so that you provide the best possible education for your children. I am a single AA mom raising a my son in a difficult environment and I need all the help I can get...thank you Dr. K (I'm also purchasing "Raising Black Boys")

This book provided as much insight as I needed to adress the topic I had been researching. Very useful

I have been a student of Jawanza Kunjufu's writings since college, his books and presentations have been a critical part of my development as an educator, entrepreneur and mentor to students. Keeping Black Boys Out of Special Education not only presents the facts about the low expections and unfair treatment of African-American boys in public schools, but it also provides solutions. The solution that is most important is that African American parents must become involved in the education of our youth. Schedule several conferences and visits to your child's school and hold the teachers, administrators, the child and yourself accountable to the education of your student. I recommend this book and all the books written by Jawanza Kunjufu to anyone who is interested in the education of youth and more specifically, African American youth. Linsey Mills Author of Simply Outrageous simpyoutrageous.org

The teachers who do not reside within the same urban areas of the public schools should read this book. This book confirmed my suspicions about the Teaching styles of Teachers who do not understand how to teach the African-American male students. When I first visited my son's classroom, I made a mental note to view the boards for educational material. However, after reading "Keeping Black Boys Out of Special Education", I witnessed how the educational boards only reflected Caucasian references. There were no references attributed to African-Americans or Latinos, which made up 90% of the classroom. I agree with the author that there should be more Afro-centric educational systems within the urban area, but it is these African-American school administrators who would feel more threatened about adopting such educational centers or programs. I used this book as a resource for the meetings with my son's Teachers. After reading this book, I have decided to take my son out of the public school system and enroll him in a private educational institution. Although private school is not the answer to all, but least there is some sort of accountability and I can have a more active role in the school's decision process for educating the children. The public school system needs a major renovation in order to secure the future of the African American students. I am not suggesting for the removal of these ineffective Teachers, but at least have the Teachers (all ethnic groups, including the African-American or Latino Teachers) go through a de-sensitizing program so they become aware of the culture of the African-American students within an urban area.

While Jawanza Kunjufu, an author of nearly two dozen books, writes primarily for an African-American audience, this book is full of good observations about boys in special education in general. There is a growing concern about the number of boys in special education as compared to girls. Kunjufu joins more established authors such as Christina Hoff Sommers ('The War Against Boys')and Michal Guiran ('Boys and Girls Learn Differently') in pointing out that there is something wrong out there in the world of education as far as boys are concerned. Kunjufu gives wonderful advice about the questions parents should ask if they are brought in to the school to discuss placing their student into special education. His suggestions include signing nothing until you completely understand it, insisting on seeing what modifications have been done up to this point (unfortunately, some teachers have the reputation of referring every student who does not learn quickly from that teacher's ONE teaching style for special education services) and asking for a different assessment test (it is your right) - scores can vary widely from one test to the next. His best advice comes in the area of the IEP, or Individualized Education Plan. All special education students must have one and most are vague. He insists on specificity and the book is worth the purchase price just for this chapter alone - both for the prospective special education parent and the special education teacher. Kunjufu's target audience is African-American, as I've already said. I am not, so some passages were not really aimed at me. I was not comfortable with Kunjufu's seemingly equating inner-city poverty with African-American culture in general. As he points out in the beginning of the book, that this is a stereotype. However, he reinforces that stereotype over and over again. It could be that he is really targeting that segment of the African-American population... Like I said, I don't know. Regardless of my comfort level with certain passages, this is a must read if your student is being referred for special edcuation services. It is a quick and practical read with a clear table of contents to get you quickly to the IEP and Parent Empowerment sections and room for notes in the back. I give this book a grade of A