The Influence of Cultural Discontinuity on Academic Bias against Racially and Ethnically Diverse Students

• In Event: Roundtable Session 116
  In Roundtable Session: Leadership, Identity, and Culture

Abstract

This quantitative study examined the influence of cultural discontinuity on the academic outcomes of racially and ethnically diverse secondary students. Data were collected from an urban high school in Texas. Findings revealed that minority students experienced higher levels of cultural discontinuity between home and school than did White students. Furthermore, cultural discontinuity was a significant predictor of GPA but not of standardized test scores, suggesting the subjectivity of teacher-given grades as opposed to supposedly more objective standardized test scores. As members of the dominant culture, teachers in the study likely reinforced Eurocentric values as the correct way to learn, thereby de-valuing the cultural values and styles of learning of their minority students, which may be reflected in their teacher-given grades.

Author

• Amanda Taggart, Mississippi State University