Persuasive Essay Resources: Educating Black Boys

This post was updated on 7/21/14

*** Citing your sources ***

There are two ways you need to cite (or give credit to) your sources: 1) in the text and 2) at the end of your paper under a "References" heading.

In-Text Citations: These typically have the author's name and the year, separated by a comma, and placed in parentheses. Remember, the period goes OUTSIDE the last parenthesis. (See first bullet below)

References: Press CNTRL + Enter to create a new page at the end of your document. Title it "References" and copy and paste the citation information below in alphabetical order. See an example here. Note how the sources are tabbed.

Found your own sources? 
Great!
Use this website to learn how to cite them properly: Purdue APA Owl


Use the following resources as supports for your essay.

Make sure you
1) Write down which article the information you used came from (FOR EACH PIECE OF INFO)
2) Either quote or paraphrase the information, remembering to still give credit through citation.

a)     “Harlem’s boys need better schools. So I decided to build a private one”

This is the article we annotated/text coded in class.

Citation:

• (Blay, 2014).
• Blay, C. (2014). Harlem's boys need better schools. So I decided to build a private one. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/02/im-obsessed-with-education-reform-and-im-not-wasting-my-time-with-public-schools/

b)    “Fact Sheet: Outcomes for Young Black Men” 

This article simply contains a few, related statistics. 

Citation:

• (Thompson, 2011).
• Thompson, T. (2011). Fact Sheet: Outcomes for Young, Black Men. Travis Smiley Reports. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/tsr/too-important-to-fail/fact-sheet-outcomes-for-young-black-men/

c)     “Can White Educators Successfully Teach Black Boys?”

We never read this in class, but the title says it all. Perhaps a good resource for your counter-argument.

Citation:

• (Pica, 2014).
• Pica, R. (2014). Can White Teachers Successfully Teach Black Boys? The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rae-pica/can-white-educators-succe_b_4687855.html?page_version=legacy&view=print&comm_ref=false

d)    “Dropping Out, Imprisoned or Killed.” 

We didn't read this one either, but again, the title is pretty self-explanatory. 

Citation:

• (Davis, 2011).
• Davis, L. M. (2011). Dropping Out, Imprisoned or Killed: Disparities in Outcomes Faced by Young African American Men. Tavis Smiley Reports. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/tsr/too-important-to-fail/dropping-out-imprisoned-or-killed-disparities-in-outcomes-faced-by-young-african-american-men/

e)    Schott Foundation: “Public Education and Black Male Students” 

This is the report we reviewed in class. It contained reports of black, male achievement by state. 

Citation:

• (Holzman, 2004).
• Holzman, M. (2004). Public education and black male students: A state report card. Schott Foundation for Public Education.

f) "Educating African American Boys"
Interesting perspective from a struggling student. He mentions connection between schools and prison. 

Citation:

• (Caire, 2009).
• Caire, K. (2009). Educating Black Boys. Education Next, 9(4). Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/educating-african-american-boys/

Counter-Argument Resources:

g) "A Descriptive Look at College Enrollment and Degree Completion of Baltimore City Graduates"

This is the report from the first Sakai assignment. 

Citation: 

• (Durham & Westlund, 2011). 
• Durham, R. E., & Westlund, E. (2011). A Descriptive Look at College Enrollment and Degree Completion of Baltimore City Graduates. Baltimore Education Research Consortium.

h) "Stop Excusing Our Young Men"

This is the video where the principal tells news anchor Tavis Smiley that black boys are being "pampered."

Citation

• (Smiley, 2011)
• Smiley, T. (Writer & Director). 2011. Too Important to Fail [Television Series Episode]. In J. Atlas (Producer), Education Under Arrest, Los Angeles, CA: PBS.

i) Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards (Literacy)
These are the standards we discussed in class. 

Citation:

• (CCSSI, 2014).
• Common Core State Standards Initiative (2014). English Language Arts Standards >> Introduction >> Students Who are College and Career Ready in Reading, Writing, Speaking Listening & Language. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/introduction/students-who-are-college-and-career-ready-in-reading-writing-speaking-listening-language/

j) African American Male Students' Perceptions of Factors That Contribute to Their Academic Success


Jacquan's find about how other things (mainly the individual) impact a black male student's success.

Citation:

• (Rolland, 2011).
• Rolland, G. (2011). African American Male Students' Perceptions of Factors That Contribute to Their Academic Success. Retrieved from Digital Commons@Georgia Southern (1386).

*** Transition Words ***
Click here to view a pretty thorough list of transition words. 

I selected this page because I like how it's organized. It organizes it by the transitions you may be looking for

- Additive: When you're adding information 

- Adversative: When you want to signal conflict or contradiction

- Causal: For cause and effect

- Sequential: For signalling how things are ordered.

I encourage you to scroll down the entire list so you can get a feel for the different options you have for transitions.