http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/31423256

A study of factors involved in the identification and encouragement of unusual academic talent among underprivileged populations

Members of the negro population of the united states who had demonstrated "unusual academic talent" by receiving an academic doctoral degree were studied to determine factors that would serve to identify academic promise among underprivileged groups. Factors studied included the importance of (1) the family, (2) the education and occupation of parents, (3) the school, and (4) the psychological and motivational climate of the community. Findings showed that (1) there are approximately 1,600 to 1,800 living negro holders of academic doctoral degrees, (2) the percentage of these degree holders who were family related far exceeded normal expectation, (3) segregated high schools varied in degree of doctorates produced from one in seven graduates to one in 200 to 300 graduates, (4) state doctorate productivity varied widely, and (5) about two-thirds of all negro doctorates were graduated from predominantly negro colleges. Recommendations for improving educational opportunities among the underprivileged were of a broad nature. The author believed that (1) desegregation of school enrollments, and of teaching and administrative staffs, should be undertaken as soon as possible, (2) public school systems should include specialists in the arts of character building and the psychology of motivation, (3) such experimental devices as special short-term coaching should be incorporated into the regular practice of schools, and (4) a spirit and program of "universal reformism" is needed today. (Al).

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