69传媒

Opinion
Student Achievement Opinion

The Dangerous Narrative That Lurks Under the 鈥楢chievement Gap鈥

And the counternarrative about Black student potential
By Eric Higgins 鈥 December 05, 2019 4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

When we hear the words 鈥渁chievement gap,鈥 many of us think about Black students underperforming academically compared with their White peers. Federal, state, and local governmental agencies have been called on to study the gap. Presidents, governors, mayors, and school personnel all speak about the need to close it. If you heard the words 鈥渁chievement gap鈥 and directly associated it with failing Black students, teachers, and schools, you have been directly influenced by a dangerous narrative.

This narrative, which has taken root in our news and politics, insinuates that Black students are academically inferior to their White counterparts. It tells the story of a miserable Black existence filled with poverty, dysfunctional families, and absentee fathers. According to this narrative, Black students are not only ill-equipped to handle the rigors of academia, but also innately prone to violence, drug use, and hypersexuality.

About This Project

In this special Opinion project, Education Week convened researchers and educators to explore how even subtle language choices can reflect and inform how we think about student potential.

This special project is supported by a grant from The Wallace Foundation. Education Week retained sole editorial control over the content of this package; the opinions expressed are the authors鈥 own.

Read more from the package.

For many people, a good school is synonymous with a White school. Indeed, one 2016 study by researchers found that for every 1 percentage point increase in the Black enrollment at a hypothetical school, parents were 1.7 percent less likely to enroll their children in that school.

And this anti-Black narrative not only affects parents鈥 perceptions of school quality, but also teachers鈥 perceptions of their students and their abilities.

This narrative is false.

The concept of the Black/White achievement gap as it is widely understood is a tool of oppression鈥攁nd a total fabrication. Indeed, this 鈥済ap鈥 is no more a true reflection of the potential of Black students than the achievement gap between Asian-American and White students reflects the academic potential of White students. It is true that many Black students and schools are not performing well on a variety of measures of academic success, but these outcomes go beyond school achievement; they are directly linked to systemic racism, unequal treatment, and the denial of opportunities for Black families subjugated to second-class citizenship.

For many people, a good school is synonymous with a White school."

I contend that there is a counternarrative that tells a much different story of achievement and oppression. The counternarrative speaks of systemic racism, segregated and unequal schools, red-lining, undervalued property in Black neighborhoods, blight, White privilege, and White wealth built on the back of Black oppression.

White supremacy鈥攁 system of dominance in which White people overwhelmingly control political, economic, and cultural power鈥攎akes people believe that majority-White schools are successful because White students are smarter and more disciplined. To believe this, you must turn a blind eye to how centuries of racism have denied opportunities to Black people and government policies that have ravished Black neighborhoods.

Take for instance the G.I. Bill, which helped propel White families out of poverty and accumulate wealth through homeownership. This great opportunity was denied to Black veterans for whom the dream of homeownership often became an illusion. The major racial disparities in this bill can directly be tied to White wealth accumulation and educational opportunity disparities for Blacks. However, when Black student achievement is discussed we too often forget the economic and political conditions that contribute to the plight of these students. The history of ruthlessness is dismissed and forgotten.

Nearly 25 years ago, scholars Gloria Ladson-Billings and William F. Tate IV made the case for this counternarrative in their influential 鈥淭oward a Critical Race Theory of Education.鈥 They rooted their analysis of school equity on three central propositions: 鈥淩ace is a significant factor in determining inequity in the United States,鈥 鈥淯nited States society is based on property rights,鈥 and 鈥渢he intersection of race and property creates an analytic tool through which we understand social (and, consequently, school) inequity.鈥

It is only because of disenfranchisement and systemic racism that we still ignore this counternarrative and blame Black students for their own lack of educational opportunities.

When I hear words like 鈥渢he achievement gap,鈥 I understand that certain schools are designated 鈥渇ailing鈥 because it fits the narrative of White supremacy. If we truly cared about the education of Black students, we would dismantle the institutions of White supremacy that help keep Black families in a cycle of poverty鈥攖he judicial system that forces many Blacks to live in a police state through unfair sentencing, the health-care system that fails to equitably treat Black patients with preventative services and care, the private job sector that discriminates against Black job seekers.

We need more White voices bringing attention to the racist institutions and more people actively working to dismantle them. Imagine how quickly conditions would change if we shuttered the doors of White neighborhood schools or underfunded predominately White schools to the extent we routinely do to majority-Black schools. Black students deserve educators who are willing to challenge the conditions that help create school failure, not punish students and schools who are underperforming.

Coverage of leadership, summer learning, social and emotional learning, arts learning, and afterschool is supported in part by a grant from The Wallace Foundation, at www.wallacefoundation.org. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.
A version of this article appeared in the December 11, 2019 edition of Education Week as A Counternarrative to The 鈥楢chievement Gap鈥

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69传媒
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Student Achievement How Motivated Are 69传媒 to Drive Their Own Learning?
An international test of students in more than 80 countries and economies finds that many struggle with motivation.
4 min read
Unhappy young African American hipster guy in eyeglasses looking in distance, feeling bored preparing for examination or doing high school research project on computer, sitting at table in library.
iStock/Getty Images
Student Achievement Spotlight Spotlight on MTSS
This Spotlight explores key aspects of MTSS implementation, including its relationship to special education and effectiveness in improving student outcomes.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Achievement Whitepaper
Progress Monitoring: Resources to Support Student Growth
Use the resources in this toolkit to increase your team's confidence in analyzing progress monitoring data and determining if an interven...
Content provided by Renaissance
Student Achievement This District Provided Tutoring to Thousands of 69传媒. The Results Were Mixed
A new study suggests that tutoring at scale could have a smaller impact than advocates had hoped.
6 min read
Waist-up view of early 30s teacher sitting with 11 year old Hispanic student at library round table and holding book as she pronounces the words.
E+