From Deficiency to Strength: Shifting the Mindset about Education Inequality

Abstract

The "achievement gap" as a symptom of persistent social inequity has plagued American education and society for decades. The vast chasm in academic achievement has long existed along racial and poverty lines. Children of color and from low-income families have, on average, performed worse on virtually all indicators of academic success: standardized test scores, high school graduation rates, and college matriculation rates. This gap perpetuates the existing inequalities in society. Efforts to close the achievement gap have had little effect. The gap remains and has actually widened. This article argues the gap is symptomatic of the deficit-driven education paradigm. Fixing the traditional paradigm is unlikely to close the gap because the paradigm reinforce and reproduces educational and social inequity by design. To work toward more educational and social equity, we need to adopt a different paradigm of education. The new paradigm should work on cultivating strengths of individual students instead of fixing their deficits.

The Effectiveness of School Choice: A Value Analytical Approach

“…outperforms another group and the difference in the two groups is statistically significant (Pitre, 2014). The term "achievement gap" and accompanying data has become synonymous with educational inequality, in recognition of the unequal educational and social structures in the U.S. that consistently deny historically underserved and marginalized students equal opportunities to receive quality education, which they are entitled to (Zhao, 2016). Low-income, minority families have sought education as a pathway for economic mobility, empowerment, social transformation, and to influence policy (Howard & Navarro, 2016).…”

“…Despite decades of efforts and investments of educators, policymakers, and politicians to understand and dismantle the systems and structures in schools that consistently deny low-income, minority students access to quality education, minimal progress has been made towards educational equity across racial and ethnic lines, and disparities continue to grow between low and highincome students. If the academic achievement gap is closed, education equity will be achieved, which in turn will bring more upward mobility for the poor and break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and inequality (Zhao, 2016).…”

“…One of the most pressing issues in American public education is the academic achievement gap. For many years, persistent disparities have existed between low-income, minority students and their more privileged White peers in all indicators of academic success including standardized test scores, grade point averages, high school graduation rates, enrollment in advanced courses, and college admission data (Zhao, 2016). Closing this achievement gap has been a long-standing concern of parents, educators, and policymakers, and was set as a national priority by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001.…”

Introduction: Reframing the Inequality Debate toward Opportunity and Mobility

“…Here, contributors explore solutions that can significantly help students move ahead. Zhao (), for one, believes it requires changing the current “deficit‐driven,” accountability paradigm aimed to equip students with a particular set of skills and knowledge through rigorous standards and testing. He argues that this kind of system effectively undermines student agency, including their strengths, interests, curiosity, and self‐esteem—one that centers on a deficit mindset.…”

Commentary

“…Two papers take changing the paradigm as their central themes. One is the paper by Zhao () who argues for shifting the education mind‐set from deficiency to strength. As one strategy for moving in that direction, he urges policy makers to engage students directly in the process of school transformation.…”