The Fields School
An African American School Without Failures Located in Rural Alabama 1933-1949
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The Fields School - An African American School Without Failures
In a timne when schools are failing our children, especially African Americans, could it be that taking a careful look at schools, including schools attended solely by African Americans, that were effective in the past, provide insight into why schools are failing today and empower the educational system to operate schools without failures?
One such school, worthy of examination, is the Fields School - a school located in Rural Alabama without failures - which served African American children from 1933-1949. Over three-quarters of the samples of subjects attending this school had completed a bachelor's degree. Of these, over half, had completed some graduate work, one-third had master's degrees, one a doctoral degree and one with a law degree served as a judge.
Can what worked in this one-teacher school - the school this author attended the first eight years of his schooling - provide insight into why schools are failing and what can be done to have schools that will effectively educate African Americans and other failing students - schools without failures?
The Fields School has been meticulously researched. A personal interview was had with eighty percent of the students and fifty percent of the teachers who taught at the school during the period it existed in the 1930s and 1940s.
This book is a roadmap and inspiring guide that can empower teachers, students and parents to transform schools into being institutions of learning that produce achievers.
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About the Book
History / Sociology / African American Studies
THE FIELDS SCHOOL - An African American School Without Failures
A Case Study of a School in Rural Alabama which
served a Community of African American Children
from 1933-1949
Today, when many schools are failing young people and when the drop-out and failure rates of African Americans are twice that of Caucasians, reading this book will give insight into the reasons for this and what can be done to eliminate this inequity and have schools without failures.
Over three-quarters of the students who attended the Fields School, some of them for eight years, completed a bachelor's degree. Of these, over half had completed some graduate work, including nearly a third had master's degrees, one a law degree and one an earned doctorate.
The researcher's concluding statement:
"The overwhelming success of the Fields School, despite the
limitations of the physical setting, furnishings, and available materials and books represents a triumph of this unusual family over difficult circumstances. The story of the school while interesting and informative is really the story of the Fields family since the school was an extension of the family's commitment to its children. The story of the family is yet to be written."
About the Author
URIAH J. FIELDS, Ph.D., born in Sunflower, Alabama, is a clergyman and author of several nonfiction books including, "Inside the Montgomery Bus Boycott - My Personal Story" and the "Saint Troubadour - Speaking and Singing Truth and Love" and a novel "Grandpa Benjamin." He was the original secretary of the Montgomery Improvement Association that directed the Montgomery Bus Boycott. For thirty years he was director of a human development center in California. He served as a Chaplain's Assistant during the Korean War. He lives in Virginia.