The African American Achievement Gap:
The African American Achievement Gap: Why is it There and What Can be Done
Are Black Americans Dumber than White Americans? Can it unequivocally be stated that European Americans hold more intelligence then African Americans? Are African Americans genetically wired to have a lesser mental capacity then European Americans? For a long time this was the explanation to a burning problem. African Americans score lower than White Americans on vocabulary, reading, and mathematics tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence. “This gap appears before children enter kindergarten and it persists into adulthood. The typical American black still scores below 75 percent of American whites on most standardized tests. On some tests the typical American black scores below more than 85 percent of whites.” (CHRISTOPHER, JENCKS) This test score gap is not an inevitable fact of nature. It is true that the gap shrinks only a little when black and white children attend the same schools. It is also true that the gap shrinks only a little when black and white families have the same amount of schooling, the same income, and the same wealth. However, after extensive research, no one has found any evidence saying that blacks have less intellectual ability than whites. So what causes this gap in test scores? Some attribute it to the culture of African Americans. They say that African Americans are uninterested in learning and don’t seek to pursue academic excellence. Some attribute the gap to testing conditions. Some attribute it to concepts such as “White Guilt” and “Stereotype Threat.”(Will be explained later) I however cannot attribute it to any one thing. This whole issue cannot be explained by one concept. Rather then trying to describe the achievement gap with one concept, I attribute it to a combination of many. The reason for the perceived gap in test scores is an intricate combination of things such as Stereotype threat, White
Are Black Americans Dumber than White Americans? Can it unequivocally be stated that European Americans hold more intelligence then African Americans? Are African Americans genetically wired to have a lesser mental capacity then European Americans? For a long time this was the explanation to a burning problem. African Americans score lower than White Americans on vocabulary, reading, and mathematics tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence. “This gap appears before children enter kindergarten and it persists into adulthood. The typical American black still scores below 75 percent of American whites on most standardized tests. On some tests the typical American black scores below more than 85 percent of whites.” (CHRISTOPHER, JENCKS) This test score gap is not an inevitable fact of nature. It is true that the gap shrinks only a little when black and white children attend the same schools. It is also true that the gap shrinks only a little when black and white families have the same amount of schooling, the same income, and the same wealth. However, after extensive research, no one has found any evidence saying that blacks have less intellectual ability than whites. So what causes this gap in test scores? Some attribute it to the culture of African Americans. They say that African Americans are uninterested in learning and don’t seek to pursue academic excellence. Some attribute the gap to testing conditions. Some attribute it to concepts such as “White Guilt” and “Stereotype Threat.”(Will be explained later) I however cannot attribute it to any one thing. This whole issue cannot be explained by one concept. Rather then trying to describe the achievement gap with one concept, I attribute it to a combination of many. The reason for the perceived gap in test scores is an intricate combination of things such as Stereotype threat, White
Cited: CHRISTOPHER, JENCKS. "The Black-White Test Score Gap." The New York Times. 1998. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . Hughes, Langston. ""The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" (1926)." Welcome to English « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois. 1926. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . Sowell, Thomas. "Thomas Sowell -- Crippled by Their Culture." OrthodoxyToday.org | Home. 26 Apr. 2005. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . Steele, Shelby. "The Age of White Guilt: and the Disappearance of the Black Individual." CIR Home. Nov. 2002. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . Steele, Claude M. "Thin Ice: "Stereotype Threat" and Black College Students - 99.08." The Atlantic — News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Food – TheAtlantic.com. 1999. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. .