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Schools May Play Role in Achievement Gap

People often blame poverty, students, and parents’ lack of interest for the achievement gap that exists between white and non-white students. Yet speakers at the third annual Achievement Gap Initiative Conference, “Structures, Cultures, and Achievement Gaps: New Research with Implications for Public Engagement,” argued that educators and school systems play a large role in the achievement gap issue as well.

“We are in an era when many people say they are committed to racial equality but don’t see their own participation in racial inequality,” said HGSE Associate Professor Mica Pollock.

During the two-day conference on June 18 and 19, funders, activists, practitioners, public school officials, and policymakers focused on research findings that provide further insight into raising achievement levels while working to close the achievement gap. Speakers on the first day of the conference present findings about how the structural and cultural features of a society appear to affect achievement levels and disparities, and examined achievement-related messages in hip-hop music and other aspects of youth culture. Day two focused on the ways in which structural and cultural forces in schools and school systems affect capacity for instructional improvement.

One of day two’s sessions, “Forces Beyond their Control,” examined how schools particularly play a role in the achievement gap. University of Illinois Associate Professor Amanda Lewis and HGSE Assistant Professor John Diamond presented research on a suburban school in the Midwest, studying why African American students and Latinos lagged behind white students, even though there was no presence of peer pressure for the minority student to perform worse or be accused of “acting white.”

Upon a closer look, Lewis said they discovered an “institutional discrimination” happening in the school among educators. In particular, Lewis cited highly racialized stereotypes and racial performance expectations as just some of the ways schools perpetuate discrimination.

During Lewis’ study, teachers and school personnel demonstrated how school policies and culture often lead to discrimination. For example, an African American teacher admitted to worrying more about her white students doing poorly, since their parents called and responded more than the minority students, she said. In addition, a school safety worker revealed a difference in the school’s reaction to a minority student issue than a white student, citing the school’s uncertainty about minority parental involvement. “It’s a matter of school policy,” Lewis said. “You have to recognize that race shapes things in different ways.”

The discrimination continued in the school’s tracking systems as well. “Education tracks are defined by race in the minds of students,” Diamond said, noting how this creates a hierarchy within the school. The majority of advance placement course seats are filled by white students whereas minority students often were held in “regular” classes and discouraged from choosing higher level courses or questioned on their placement. In addition, the better quality teaching staff often was allocated to the higher level courses.

In Diamond’s latest research, he debunks the myth that lower achievers are not deeply invested in how they do in school and that uncaring parents aren’t to blame. “All parents are deeply committed,” he said. “But the structure of society affects their capabilities.”

Some African American parents highlighted the major disparities in resources among races and noted that schools commonly responded based on those resources.

For instance, in 1999, the median income of an African American household was $46,580 compared to $101,371 for a white household. Similar disparities also existed regarding the percentage of African Americans (23.5 percent) over age 25 who received a bachelor’s degree, compared to 74.4 percent of whites. As a result, some minority parents may be working jobs that result in longer days making it difficult for them to respond similarly to white families.

The fact that many educators react defensively and skeptically to the idea that they can contribute to issues of race and opportunity further compounds the problem, said Pollock. “How do we get educators analyzing issues of race and opportunity,” Pollock posed, noting that many educators fear being blamed and being called racist.

Pollock’s research examines what prevents teachers from taking responsibility for the racial achievement gap. She said the teachers often say they try to be colorblind and treat students as individuals, but she cautioned that this can also result in educators’ inability to see a student being treated racially.

As a goal, educators need to become “every day race conscious,” she said, but the field has yet to exhibit a clear explanation of how to do this or what it would even look like in a school.

The Achievement Gap Initiative (AGI) is a university-wide, multidisciplinary effort to focus academic research, public education, and innovative outreach activities toward eliminating achievement gaps in education. Funding for the AGI is provided in part by Time Warner Inc.

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