I've long argued that poverty is not the sole issue as far as poor and minority children's achievement. I've also argued that fixating on poverty as a reason is another form of racism, insted of biological determination our country is all too comfortable with affixing CULTURAL determination to the under achievement of poor and minority children.
Well a new study out goes to the heart of genes, culture etc.
Link
More below the fold...
An achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented — a social divide extremely vexing to policy makers and the target of one blast of school reform after another.
Yes, we know and it appears it is getting worse not better over time.
Only 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys are proficient in reading, compared with 38 percent of white boys, and only 12 percent of black eighth-grade boys are proficient in math, compared with 44 percent of white boys.
Poverty alone does not seem to explain the differences: poor white boys do just as well as African-American boys who do not live in poverty, measured by whether they qualify for subsidized school lunches.
This is America! And the next step is to be fodder in the Prison Industrial Complex to provide jobs for poorly educated rural folk all while providing slave wage labor for corporations and bodies for census counts to help divert resources to rural areas. But does anyone even give a shyt?
"What this clearly shows is that black males who are not eligible for free and reduced-price lunch are doing no better than white males who are poor," said Michael Casserly, executive director of the council.
So poor white kids do better than non-poor black boys? Poverty my ass.
The search for explanations has recently looked at causes besides poverty, and this report may further spur those efforts.
Yep, yeah they're searching....oh let's see, systemic issues, nope! Funding, nope! Teacher quality, oh hell naw! Let's see...yes we got it PARENTS!!! Such a frikkin racist and lazy excuse! Read on!
"There’s accumulating evidence that there are racial differences in what kids experience before the first day of kindergarten," said Ronald Ferguson, director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard. "They have to do with a lot of sociological and historical forces. In order to address those, we have to be able to have conversations that people are unwilling to have."
Those include "conversations about early childhood parenting practices," Dr. Ferguson said. "The activities that parents conduct with their 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds. How much we talk to them, the ways we talk to them, the ways we enforce discipline, the ways we encourage them to think and develop a sense of autonomy."
So of course, true to form, they fall back is once again cultural racism. No! You mean to tell me that white poor parents are doing something different than black poor parents? Does anyone really want to make that argument? Well it appears that is the common wisdom which I reject. Is it possible that the expectations set for white kids poor or otherwise by society as a whole are making a difference so that these kids are doing better than non-poor black kids? Is it that racially segregated housing patterns allow for more poor white kids to land seats into decent if not good public schools? Could it be that poor white kids receive higher subsidies for their education due to racial gerrymandering and funding, parents less likely to be snared in the "War on Drugs" and less likely to be criminalized and marginalized themselves? I think all of these issues play just as big of a factor as any issue but trying to get society to look under the hood and investigate these issues...not likely, so we fall for the blame black parents cause it is the path of least resistance. Yeah, Dr. Ferguson, a conversation no one wants to have, indeed! Well not on my watch and as long as I have a voice I will push back on this cultural racism forcefully, angrily and vehemently.
I see what black parents are doing, not someone in an Ivory Tower. I know the sacrifices that are being made. You tell me how a mother right now that is choosing between food and if her son can breath is NOT concerned for his well-being.
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And this is why the tried and true isn't working. You walk into a situation and think that these students are culturally inferior and think you are going to do a damn wit to raise their achievement. Yeah, that will work, totally!
So I'm done for now. If this is what the best and the brightest have to offer, I will keep pushing back because they clearly do not have African American boys' best interest at heart. Clearly!