African Americans

This entry provides a summary of issues related to African Americans. It begins with a brief overview of [Page 16]the history and geographical distribution of African Americans in the United States. This is followed by brief descriptions of attitudes affecting African Americans, including their attitudes toward the majority culture, religion and politics, racial identity, and African Americans in society. Next is a summary of the schooling experiences of, and educational outcomes for, African Americans and an overview of some of the major explanations for the achievement patterns of African American students. Despite decades of educational research, African Americans continue to have achievement levels that are substantially below their White and East Asian counterparts, on average, and this achievement gap has been the subject of considerable ...