QOD: The Truth is that the Achievement Gap Isn't Only About Black and Latino Students

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QOD: The Truth is that the Achievement Gap Isn’t Only About Black and Latino Students

By Laura Waters at September 2, 2015

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Kayla Patrick explains how we err in placing the goalpost for poor minority students at the current academic achievement level of white, middle-class students:

Is there a reason we give little attention to comparisons that regard white students as the ones trailing behind the learning curve?

The simple answer is that white, middle-class students are in control of the education narrative. The deficit theory, which is often used to try to explain why African-American and Latino students do not perform at the level of their middle-class white peers, ignores the issues plaguing all of our nation’s schools.

Limiting discussions about student performance to African-American and Latino students gives the ruling class, white middle-class families, a false sense of security.
The reality is our education system is failing to prepare all of our students to succeed in the classroom…

There are ways to address disparities in education and hold everyone accountable without putting one cultural group on a pedestal and devaluing the cultural knowledge of other groups. But it takes honesty and courage to acknowledge that our schools, middle class or not, are failing to educate and prepare all students to compete nationally and globally.