The Next Generation of Intellectual Leaders

March 3, 2011 - By helping a cohort of promising undergraduates get ready for gradudate study, Penn GSE’s Grad Prep Academy is addressing the issue of Black male attainment.

In 2008, Black men earned only 2.1 percent of the doctoral degrees awarded by American universities. That figure reflects the much larger educational challenges facing African American boys and men – particularly a struggling urban school system that all too frequently leaves them underprepared for advanced study.

In the 2008-09 academic year, Penn GSE launched the Grad Prep Academy to help prepare promising Black male scholars for admission to – and success in – Ph.D. programs in the field of education.

The response was overwhelming, speaking to the critical need the Academy addresses. Penn GSE Professor Shaun Harper, who co-directs the program, received more than 3,000 inquiries and the final applicant pool topped 300. Harper observes, “That response speaks to a real demand for this kind of program.”

A select cohort of ten prospective doctoral students participated in the first Grad Prep Academy in 2008-2009. In February, the second cohort of eight young scholars arrived at Penn GSE to learn about applying to and succeeding in doctoral programs in education.

The Grad Prep Academy gives participants a taste of graduate school life. The scholars sit in on Penn classes, meet with Penn faculty, and participate in workshops that address issues both philosophical and pragmatic. Among this year’s featured workshops were one session examining the impact education research can have on real-world policy and practice and another offering advice on making a competitive application to top-flight education graduate programs.

The Academy provides ongoing support as well, in the form of a Graduate Mentor. Each Grad Prep Academy Scholar is connected with a Black male PhD student in education – “phenomenal guys from the University of Michigan, Teachers College, Indiana University, UCLA,” says Harper – and underwriting for the cost of a four-week Kaplan GRE prep course.

“Finally,” says Harper, “we’re bringing back three guys from last year to share their experiences.” Of the ten Grad Prep Academy Scholars that made up the first cohort, eight are entering graduate school in education fields this fall. Three of those – Chauncey Smith, Demetri Morgan, and Anthony Johnson – returned to this year’s Academy. “They’ll talk about what they learned from their experience at the Academy,” Harper explains, “and how it helped them become competitive applicants.” Each of the three has received multiple acceptances at top programs.

The three are exemplary: in the fall, Demetri Morgan has been accepted into Penn GSE’s master’s program, and Chauncey Smith will be a Ph.D. student in Education Psychology at the University of Michigan. Anthony Johnson is still debating where he’ll be next year -- either Penn GSE or the University of Michigan. Like the others, Johnson is a stand-out student. The first in his family to attend college, he is a McNair Scholar and a Dean’s Scholar at the University of Kansas. But he credits his participation in the Grad Prep Academy with confirming his resolve to pursue doctoral work.

Harper is gratified by the strong response to the program and thrilled at the success stories of people like Anthony Johnson. But what he would really like to see is the proliferation of similar programs. “With this program, Penn GSE is investing in the next generation of education scholars. I’d love to see the Grad Prep Academy serve as a model to other institutions for preparing Black male students for doctoral work and intellectual leadership in the field.”