Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2011
Capstone Advisor
Herbert Ruffin
Honors Reader
Marcelle Haddix
Capstone Major
African American Studies
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Humanities
Subject Categories
African Languages and Societies
Abstract
Educational inequality is a salient issue plaguing the youth of America and is also jeopardizing the future of this nation. Before the Bell Rings is a two-part examination of the impact of discriminatory housing practices against blacks and subsequently the impact of negative neighborhood characteristics on educational achievement within Ohio public schools.
As blacks migrated from the South to northern cities they were met with discrimination in the form of restrictive covenants, redlining and other societal practices that clustered them together in inner-city locations. The historical analysis component of this study examines the effects of these discriminatory housing practices for blacks within Cleveland, Ohio and how the adverse effects of inner-city ghettos are seen today within the educational system.
The adverse effects are seen in negative neighborhood characteristics and this study examines the effects of poverty, rate of renter ship, and the rate of unemployment on math and reading scores for tenth grade students in Ohio Public Schools. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, the U.S. Census’ School District Tabulation and test results from the Ohio Department of Education, this study finds that poverty is the only significant indicator of educational achievement and has a greater effect on math than reading scores. Educational inequality is a multifaceted issue and mediating negative neighborhood characteristics is only one of the many steps that must be taken toward a solution.
Recommended Citation
Webb-Prather, Na’Tasha, "Before the Bell Rings: The Effects of Negative Neighborhood Characteristics on Educational Achievement in Ohio Public Schools" (2011). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 237.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/237
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
