Whose Worldview Is Privileged? Dismantling the Black-White Achievement Gap Paradigm by Focusing on Systemic Change

• In Event: Early Childhood Curriculum for the 21st Century: Rethinking Developmentally Appropriate Practices

Abstract

Why do these Black-White academic achievement gaps persist, despite efforts to eliminate them? There are five problems with the achievement gap paradigm. Problem #1: Paradigm Sets White Children as the Ideal. White children’s achievement are set as both the ideal and norm. The constant comparison of Black children to White children focuses on the deficits of Black children relative to White children. Problem #2: Paradigm Elevates Eurocentric Standards. The achievement gap paradigm is based Eurocentric standards of achievement, which are manifested through the curricula children are taught, the standardized tests used as assessments of students’ skills, and the ideologies that guide educational policies, decision-making, and practices. In doing so, the achievement gap paradigm marginalizes Black students while holding them to standards rooted in cultural and racial hegemony (Bailey, 2015). Problem #3: Paradigm Ignores Black Children’s Competencies. The achievement gap paradigm discounts the competencies that Black children bring to academic endeavors in the midst of navigating racialized social position and stratification. These culturally unique conditions are unfamiliar to White Americans.
Problem #4: Paradigm Relies on Flawed Assessments. The achievement gap paradigm is based on the assumption that standardized test scores and other “objective” assessments of academic performance are valid and unbiased indicators of human ability. Today, standardized testing is criticized for its cultural bias and reinforcement of stereotype threat (Ford & Helms, 2012; Wasserberg, 2014). Rather than measure performance or ability, these tests assess children’s exposure to different academic constructs. Problem #5: Paradigm Numbs Us to Black Children’s Educational Underperformance. The use of the term “achievement gap” has inured educators and others to pervasive underperformance by Black children. Cumulative exposure to discourse on achievement gaps could lead teachers to focus on cultural or biological explanations of disparities, rather than systemic factors like discrimination or school quality (Quinn, Desruisseaux, & Nkansah-Amankra, 2019).
Structural Racism as the Root Cause of Black Children’s Educational Outcomes
Previous strategies aimed at addressing educational disparities have in large part failed because these efforts have ignored the systemic nature of Black children’s educational underperformance as driven by structural racism (Merolla & Jackson, 2019). Structural racism impacts children’s access, experiences, and outcomes. Structural racism leads to overlooking Black children’s competencies such as in their oral language and socio-emotional development. Evidence shows Black children’s oral language predicted their emergent literacy skills in kindergarten, but the same was not found of children from other racial/ethnic groups (Author 4B & 4A, xxxx). These early storytelling skills have enduring associations with reading achievement in later elementary school (Authors 4B, xxxx). Black children are also faring well in developing social and emotional skills (Authors 4C & 4A, xxxx). For example, Black children, especially Boys were rated as having high psychosocial competence levels, specifically self-regulation of emotions and attention and engaging in positive coping strategies, in their classrooms (Author 4A, xxxx; Author 4c & colleagues, xxxx).
Given that the major source of Black children’s educational underperformance is rooted in systemic disadvantages, creating systemic change is necessary for improving Black children’s educational experiences and outcomes.

Authors

• Iheoma U. Iruka, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Nicole Gardner-Neblett

• Marisha Humphries, University of Illinois at Chicago