Bridging the Achievement Gap
Assistant professor Na’im Madyun explores the impact of social networks on educational disparities
Na’im Madyun, assistant professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, was raised by his mother in a low-income household in the South. In his mostly black hometown of Helena, Arkansas, Madyun says it was “a big deal for children of color to graduate from high school.” Few if any black adults had a postsecondary education, so there was a scarcity of role models and no expectations of or precedents for striving beyond a diploma and a salaried job in town.
Despite his circumstances, Madyun had the drive and the courage to excel. Today, as a middle-class, married father of seven and an accomplished academic far removed from his small-town southern upbringing, Madyun is exploring how social networks and relationships with friends, neighbors, and parents impact educational disparities and the achievement gap for African American students like himself.
“I have discovered that the people you are connected to, and knowing how to use those connections, are great tools,” he says.
Madyun’s research suggests that disadvantaged students can sometimes close the achievement gap by leveraging their social and cultural capital. His current project is a study of the habits of successful male, African American college students.
“I want to know what circumstance brought these young men to college. What interventions occurred, and when? What skills did they use to leverage their social and cultural capital, their connections? And most importantly, can these skills be taught at the middle school or high school level?” he explains.
Madyun’s research ties into his involvement with UROC, the Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center, and his membership in a new faculty of color cohort within CEHD. He says the latter group of six faculty members is working on answering two overarching questions: What is the role or responsibility of a university in engaging with an urban community? How can we, in the College of Education and Human Development, best accomplish this?
“For me, the opportunity to learn about what lay beyond my small-town, southern reality; my mother’s hopes for me; and my reputation as a good student were my social capital,” he says. “Maybe if we can learn how and why some kids are able to leverage whatever advantages they have, and bring those narratives into the classroom, we can show the coming generations that their diverse, poor, single-parent household need not be the defining factor for their future.”
Story by Brigitt Martin | September 2011
