Articles of Interest
Discovering Unconscious Bias (PDF – 2015)
by Cheryl Robinson
Cheryl Robinson, former supervisor of minority achievement in Arlington Public Schools, writes about how acknowledging and addressing behaviors that result from unconscious biases has the potential to improve teacher-family relationships.
I Don’t Want To Live Without Them: Twenty-Five Web Sites for Educational Equity (PDF – 2005)
by Paul Gorski
Dr. Gorski writes, “…There are some sites, often buried in the muck of the Web, full of excellent content that can inform everything from curriculum reform within an individual classroom to policy reform on a national scale. I have identified 25 of them that, although I could live without them, I am happy I do not need to do so.” (p. 24)
Creating Schools Where Race Does Not Matter: The Role and Significance of Race in the Racial Achievement Gap (PDF – 2008)
by Pedro Noguera in Motion Magazine, September 2008
Pedro Noguera reviews historical and theoretical factors influencing the role of race in educational performance. Because race is social and not biological in nature, educators can change beliefs and practices in schools in ways that fundamentally alter the relationship between race and achievement. The author examines two school districts that have worked to address achievement disparities, concluding that when leaders and adults in the system blame students and parents for low minority student achievement, little progress is made. “In contrast, schools and communities where students of color are embraced and challenged, and where educational leaders willingly accept responsibility for making sure that all students receive a good education, possibilities for change in student outcomes benefit from broader openness to change.”
Book Suggestions
Gaining on the Gap: Changing Hearts, Minds, and Practice
By Robert Smith, Alvin Crawley, Cheryl Robinson, Timothy Cotman Jr., Marty Swaim, and Palma Strand
This book describes the journey of one school system as it strives to create an environment where race is no longer a predictor of academic success. Chapters are written by six individuals who work to create systemic change. Each identifies challenges, victories and lessons learned.
Research Studies
Challenge the Status Quo: Academic Success among School-Age African-American Males (PDF)
by Ivory Toldson, Ph.D., and Chance Lewis, Ph.D.
This report analyzes the responses of more than 4,000 students. The young men provide their lived experiences and perspectives on strategies teachers, schools and districts must use to elevate their success and to reduce disparities in educational access and achievement. After self-awareness, the most important step in creating a culturally responsive environment is to know the students. This document provides a beginning for doing just that. The young men who were included in the research have a lot to share.
Reducing the Racial Achievement Gap: A Social-Psychological Intervention (PDF – 2006)
by G. Cohen, J. Garcia, N. Apfel and A. Master
Two randomized field experiments tested a social-psychological intervention designed to reduce stereotype threats and improve minority student performance and increase our understanding of how psychological threat mediates performance in chronically evaluative real-world environments. The authors expected that the risk of confirming a negative stereotype aimed at one’s group could undermine academic performance in minority students by elevating their level of psychological threat. They tested whether such psychological threat could be lessened by having students reaffirm their sense of personal adequacy or ‘‘self-integrity.’’ The intervention, a brief in-class writing assignment, significantly improved the grades of middle school African American students and reduced the racial achievement gap by 40%. These results suggest that the racial achievement gap, a major social concern in the United States, could be ameliorated by the use of timely and targeted social-psychological interventions.
Identity, Belonging, and Achievement: A Model, Interventions, Implications (PDF – 2008)
by G. Cohen and J. Garcia
The article discusses how social group identities affect achievement. It also presents a model of identity engagement that describes how a salient social identity can trigger psychological threat and belonging concerns and how these can produce persistent performance decrements, which through feedback loops can increase over time. The character of such processes may be revealed only over time because they are recursive in nature and interact with other factors in chronically evaluative social environments. Finally, the authors address how this model helped in the development of successful interventions.
Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life (PDF – 2007)
by Derald Wing Sue, Christina M. Capodilupo, Gina C. Torino, Jennifer M. Bucceri, Aisha M. B. Holder, Kevin L. Nadal, and Marta Esquilin
This research-based article defines the types of microaggressions and explains their impact on clients of color. Microaggressions are explored through the context of white therapist and client of color interactions. It is a most helpful illustration for the white teacher/student or parent of color relationships. The article explains racism and unpacks how everyday, little acts of racism affect people of color and impair white/people of color relations. It is easily translatable for educators.
Other Resources
This section includes links to websites, podcasts, etc. that provide additional information related to Courageous Conversations About Race & Achievement.
The Danger of a Single Story
– TedED
Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice—and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
Being Black Is Not a Risk Factor: A Strengths-Based Look at the State of the Black Child
– National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI)
This report is designed to challenge the prevailing discourse about Black children – one which overemphasizes limitations and deficits and does not draw upon the considerable strengths, assets and resilience demonstrated by our children, families and communities. It addresses the needs of policymakers, advocates, principals, teachers, parents and others, weaves together three critical elements:
- Essays from experts that focus on using our children’s, families’ and communities’ strengths to improve outcomes for Black children.
- “Points of Proof” from organizations that serve not as exceptions, but as examples of places where Black children and families are succeeding.
- Data points that indicate how our children and families are doing across a range of measures.