What Success Looks Like : Increasing High School Graduation Rates among Males of Color

Black males have the lowest graduation rates of any population in the country, graduating from high school at the rate of just 59%. They are suspended and referred to special education classes at rates three times higher than any other population. They make up just 6% of the US population yet account for nearly a third of the American prison population. The graduation gap between White and Black males is currently 21% and growing. Research has shown that costly federal, state, and local programs have failed to solve this crisis. This book details the 10-step method I developed and deployed in the Buffalo (New York) high school of which I was principal, which has raised the four-year graduation rate for Black males to 84% and the five-year rate to 90%. My program has been deployed throughout New York State and I am now advising schools nationally, helping them to deploy proven strategies that will guarantee the academic success of Black males.

This is a one-of-a-kind book with powerful strategies secondary and middle school principals can use to transform their entire school. The strategies in this book are what every successful principal needs to run a high performing school. This book answers the age-old question: “Can principals truly make a difference and turn their school around?” The answer is yes, they can! This book will show them how.