The Fields School

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."