Preparing African American Males for College: A Group Counseling Approach

ABSTRACT

In this article, the authors discuss how to prepare African American males for college through group counseling. The authors created, Achieving Excellence: A College Readiness Curriculum for African Males, a five-session, 50 minute group curriculum for sophomores to facilitate the process of college planning. The Eight Components of College and Career Readiness was used as a framework to guide the curriculum. Implications for school counselors are included in this article.

KEYWORDS:

• African American males
• college and career readiness
• group counseling

Additional information

Funding

This material is based upon the work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. [1828306 and 1828347].

Notes on contributors

Erik M. Hines

Erik M. Hines is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems at the Florida State University as well as the coordinator of the Counselor Education Program and School Counseling Track.

Mia R. Hines

Mia R. Hines is an academic advisor in the School of Teacher Education at Florida State University.

James L. Moore

James L. Moore III is the vice provost for Diversity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer at The Ohio State University, while serving as the first executive director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male.

Sam Steen

Sam Steen is an Associate Professor and licensed Professional School Counselor who specializes in school counseling, group work and students at risk of academic failure.

Paul Singleton

Paul Singleton II is a third-year PhD student in Counselor Education and Crandall-Cordero Fellow at the University of Connecticut.

Dakota Cintron

Dakota Cintron is a PhD candidate in Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment at the University of Connecticut.

Monique N. Golden

Monique N. Golden is a doctoral candidate in the Leadership & Education Policy program at the University of Connecticut.

Kimberly Traverso

Kimberly Traverso is a PhD student in Counselor Education at the University of Connecticut.

Bobbi-Jo Wathen

Bobbi-Jo Wathen has been a school counselor for the last eight years and currently serves Middletown High School in Middletown, CT as College and Career Readiness Counselor.

Jerrod Henderson

Jerrod Henderson is currently an Instructional Assistant Professor in the Cullen College of Engineering where he is a part of the first-year engineering experience team. He was recently appointed by the Dean of the College as the Director of the Program for Mastery in Engineering Studies (PROMES).