Heather MacDonald makes a lot of sense here:
The United States is being torn apart by an idea: that racism defines America...
Feeling undermined by peers, passed over for inferior candidates, and unappreciated in job interviews once was considered the ordinary lot of office workers. These petty indignities become proof of racism, however, when suffered by blacks. It is taboo to suggest that noncompetitive qualifications ever play a role in any lack of black advancement...
But the expectation of proportional representation in every profession is groundless, thanks to the academic skills gap. The unequal distribution of skills, not bias, explains the lack of racial proportionality in employment.
The median black eighth-grader does not possess even basic math skills. “Basic” skills, as defined by the National Assessment of Education Progress exam, means partial mastery of grade-related knowledge. Fifty-three percent of black eighth-graders scored “below basic” on math in 2017. Only 11 percent of black eighth-graders were proficient in math, and 2 percent were advanced. By contrast, 20 percent of white eighth-graders were below basic in 2017, 31 percent were proficient, and 13 percent were advanced. Only 12 percent of Asian eighth-graders were below basic, 32 percent were proficient, and 32 percent were advanced.
The picture was not much better in reading...
Black students never catch up to their white and Asian peers. There aren’t many white-collar professions where possessing partial mastery of basic reading and math will qualify one for employment...
In 2005, the Journal of Blacks in Education estimated that there were only 244 black students in the U.S. with a math SAT above 750. Brookings used an estimation procedure that maximized the number of high-scoring black students and came up with, at most, 1,000 blacks nationwide with scores of 750 and above. Whether the number is 250 or 1,000, it means that the STEM fields, medical research, and the ever-more mathematical world of finance cannot all have a 13 percent black participation rate, at least if meritocratic standards remain in place.
The SAT gap is replicated in graduate-level standardized tests...
The Law School Admission Test is similarly skewed. The gap between white and black scores on the LSAT in 2013 was a 1.06 standard deviation. In 2004, only 29 blacks, representing 0.3 percent of all black LSAT takers, scored 170 or above on the LSAT, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. The average entrance score was 170 for the top-ranked law schools. There were 1,900 whites who scored at least a 170, representing 3.1 percent of all white test takers. Of black test takers, 1 percent—or 108 blacks nationwide—scored at least 165 in 2004, 165 being the average for the top ten law schools. Over 10 percent of white test takers—or 6,689 whites nationwide—scored at least 165. That gap has only grown, and it affects law school outcomes...
The myth of bias, whether in medicine, technology, or finance, can be maintained only by ignoring the skills gap. There simply are not enough competitively qualified black candidates to go around. Moreover, one-third of all black males have a felony conviction. Such convictions do not happen by chance; they signal involvement with the street culture of guns, drugs, and impulsivity, none of which is a selling point to employers...
One could argue that the academic skills gap itself reflects structural racism in the distribution of school funding and private capital. (Such a claim ignores the trillions of public and private dollars that the U.S., with the best of intentions, has allocated to close the gap.) But to maintain that colorblind tests are meaningless in demonstrating cognitive mastery is to deny the very possibility of assessing accomplishment. Knowledge and skill exist, and they are measurable, if not always perfectly. Standardized tests are under attack only because blacks and Hispanics, on average, score poorly on them. If there were no group differences in outcome, no one would think about eliminating the very measures that were introduced to overcome group favoritism.
That's just an excerpt, read the whole thing.
I don't accept that the vast majority of the country's teachers are racist against black Americans--not even all those teachers union members! (hehe) So what causes native-born black American students to do so poorly in school? Rather than try to tar their teachers as racists, what would help native-born black American students do better in school and beyond?
Anyone who can answer that question correctly wins the big prize.
Is it because of increased pressures over the last 30 years to absent-mindedly pass non-asian minority elementary students due to changing or assumed societal norms rather than to actually invest time, resources and dedicated staff to work through academic struggles with both students and families from struggling communities? My personal favorite "Assumed societal norm" being "I passed a failing student out of fear of being viewed as racist if he/she failed" rather than actually carving out time to meet with said student or their parents on a schedule that accommodates them or assisting said family with additional resources or instruction on learning strategies. It's not a matter of race- it's a matter of effort. I won't say all teachers are racist (I'm sure we could hunt down a few) but I will say an alarming amount of educators lack the ambition to pursue real results and the determination to seek change in their students and their communities. No one gets into teaching for the money or the fame- you get into teaching to be a leader and to guide the next generations of young minds. Mindlessly passing students in dire need of support is not leadership nor guidance- it's failure. At the rate we are currently seeing, it's systemic failure. The unions need to pull their sh!+ together and actually support professional development that supports teachers being educational interventionists, starting at an elementary level, rather than continuing to push the "pass all the little people" narrative. It is not supporting those kids, it's outdated, and in an age of COVID, it's going to hold these kids back for the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with much of what you said, but this isn't a union issue--at least, it shouldn't be. Unions should focus on employee pay, benefits, and working conditions, AND NOTHING ELSE.
ReplyDeleteI see this mostly as a political failure, not a failure of individual teachers.
I agree somewhat with "Anonymous", that being said, two things can be true at the same time...Teachers need to be educational interventionists and do what they can to help underprivileged students, and underprivileged students need to realize that it will take extra effort on their part to overcome any "gaps" they face.
ReplyDeleteAlso, after teaching in a private school for a decade, I got into public education "for the money". I will also be retiring early "for the money". There is no shame in working for a paycheck. In fact, it should be a source of pride.
Also, I once was accused of being a racist, so I put 42 questions on my Algebra 1 final to honor Jackie Robinson.
What comes first to my mind is to throw out the idea of pandering to the lowest common denominator in educational practices. It is currently in vogue, for example, to insist that knowing and using correct grammar in writing is colonialist, racist, etc., so that certain selected victims can express themselves best using their own "native" versions of English.
ReplyDeleteIt is way past time to dump that stupidity.
-- here in NY it is a Union issue. The number of preps per teacher per day is spelled out in the contract. preK-5 is whole class instruction - what actually happens depends on the politics. In my diverse area, the parents start private tutoring/afterschooling in K if they aren't in a district that offers whole class on grade level or higher instruction in math. That includes parents who are in trades - they know what is needed, and they are being shouted down as racists or elitists if they ask for grade level instruction in the classroom. The Union here has negotiated for every classroom in elementary to be on the same page, with a grade level 'leader' paid extra to ensure that the 'team' complies. The instruction is not differentiated enough to include grade level material beyond what's needed for a low 3 ('the pass'). The instruction in my district is two grade levels behind actual in order to accomodate ENL, special ed and socially promoted transfers from NYC Public-- folks often send their children upstate to live with relatives in order to access the 'better' schools.
ReplyDeleteOn your last question: what would help native-born black students do better in school?
ReplyDeleteBiggest thing is getting rid of the attitude that a person is a fool if he does more than he has to. The district and state DofEd are complicit -- often only funding at the level to teach the bare minimum 'for the pass' and politically discouraging the offering of grade level or higher academics. The students in certain subgroups know they only have to rank #1 in their subgroup and take the 'highest level courses the school offers' and they'll have a free ride to a college. The Court, the BoEs and the state Dept of Ed are complicit -- no requirement that students have access to anything more than the minimum academics required for the lowest level of Regents Diploma (the level needed for admission to Community College)..those students that want to be prepared to take a full load, attend a University, or be admitted to a harder major have no access to that academic preparation unless they qualify for an afterschool opportunity. Adults need to lead by example.
Secondly, its time to return to actual teaching in the zpd of the learner. In elementary here, there is no remediation done by a classroom teacher. Every bit is done by a specialist. A student that is not eligble for 'help' understanding a topic (not ENL, not underpriviliged, not special needs, not assigned a 1:1 aide, not far enough 'behind' ) is up the creek - parent is told to hire a tutor ...often another classroom teacher working out of the public library after school. Its common here for middle and high school parents to have a tutor available the whole time for math and science - the famous Kahn is only an exception because he saved his lessons and went into business. In some smaller cities, you'll see major industry employers supplying all the evening math and science tutors thru employee volunteers. The kids are able - they just can't do it in a full inclusion classroom where they need time in their zpd rather than sitting thru inaccessible instruction. Those double period sections for unclassified, socially promoted students aren't effective - just can't make up all of K-6 and finish Alg 1 in four years of high school -- too many concepts.
Much comes down to what is being taught in ed schools.
ReplyDeleteTeachers are not only not taught how to teach, too many are being told that effective teaching strategies and pedagogy are racist and damaging to kids. Look around university websites today, and you'll see class after class focusing on "social justice", and few in between dealing with what makes an effective teacher.
Simply put, a teacher can't teach if they've never been taught how to.
In a lot of ed schools, you can get your degree taking almost all social justice classes, without any classes on pedagogy or curriculum development.
Here, from Berkeley, are some of the courses being offered in the spring term for an education minor:
EDUC 190AC Critical Studies in Education (4)
This course examines how learning environments can empower and disempower individuals and explores the role of education in the social construction of hierarchy, inequality, difference, identity, and power. It embodies a democratic philosophy and practice, creating a learning community that encourages students to take responsibility for their own education and learn through theory, experience, and dialogue. Satisfies the American Cultures requirement.
EDUC W142 Education in a Global World (4)
What is globalization? What are the implications of living in a "global world" for education? How can education be used as a tool to promote global social justice and prosperity? In this course, we will address these and other related questions through collective reading assignments, class discussions, and online collaboration.
EDUC 188F Language, Race, and Power in Education (3)
This course is designed to critically examine the intersection of language, race, and power in education. Through dialogue, readings, research, and critical analysis the course aims to foster awareness of the ways in which seemingly neutral education processes are inherently embedded in power dynamics around language use. Participants will discuss the purposes of education, the ways schooling and education are related to other societal structures, and the potential of education to productively address inequalities, especially as they impact students of historically racialized groups (e.g.Latino/a, African-American, Native-American, and Asian).
The largest and most clearly identifiable gains in closing the achievement gap occurred between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, following the publication of the Coleman Report. By the late 80s early 90s the gap had begun to widen again. What's the common denominator in the rise and fall?
ReplyDeleteThe implementation of desegregation and busing -- and the ending of it.
One clear factor is socio-economic and socio-cultural factors related to community and environment, in and out of school. I've found stratification to be an important and overlooked factor. When I was growing up in the 1970s in southern Illinois, my immediate neighborhood had doctors, lawyers, engineers, large business execs, small business owners, educators, journalists, utility workers, police officers, and salespeople all living in the same subdivision with virtually the same size houses. There was a strong sense of community across occupation, education, and income.
That simply doesn't exist anymore, and communities are becoming more insular and stratified. Now, I don't have an answer to the downsides of these basic market forces.
But they matter. A lot.