When are Racial Disparities in Education the Result of Racial Discrimination? A Social Science Perspective

Abstract

In this article I seek to answer the question, “When are racial disparities in education the result of racial discrimination?” To answer it I synthesize the social science research on racially correlated disparities in education. My review draws from the sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, history, and education literatures. I organize explanations into six categories: biological determinism, social structure, school organization and opportunities to learn, family background, culture, and the state. I arrive at three answers. The first is a definition: Racial discrimination in education arises from actions of institutions or individual state actors, their attitudes and ideologies, or processes that systematically treat students from different racial/ethnic groups disparately or inequitably. The second answer is that while distinguishing racial discrimination from disparities may be an interesting intellectual, legal, and statistical challenge, the conclusion probably is less meaningful than social scientists and policy makers might hope. The third answer follows from the first two. I propose the following reformulation of the original question: “When are racial disparities in education not due to discrimination?” I argue that the reformulated question is more likely to bring solutions to the race gap than the original one. Even if we conclude that discrimination does not cause racial disparities in education, we should not conclude that schools have no role in addressing them. If public schools do not address educational disparities, then who or what institution will?

Curriculum Placement, Race, Class and Gender Differences in Wage Growth Amongst Non-College Workers: Evidence from the NELS 1988–2000 Data

“…These assertions are based on findings that lower status tracked classes offer substandard instruction, narrower curricula options, and conducted at a lower level of intellectual complexity: facts are memorized and regurgitated, and coursework is devoid of any emphasis on analysis or interpretation (Blau 2003;Lareau and Horvat 1999). By comparison, White and affluent students attend academic tracks where teachers spend more time devoted to college preparatory courses and/or "higher level cognitive processes" such as critical thinking and the ability to quickly master new subject areas and resolve complex problems through reflexive enquiry (Mickelson 1999;Oakes 2005;Useem 1992;Braddock and Dawkins 1993;Mickelson 2003). Because schools tend to place Blacks, females, and lower class students into vocational tracks, they significantly lower whatever chances they may have to broaden their educational base with a more comprehensive academic coursework (Rosenbaum 1980;Gamoran 1998;Lewis et al 1993;Braddock 1990).…”

“…These concerns exist, in part, because of skepticism over whether simply diversifying vocational curricula is enough to address the failures of high schools to prepare race, class and gender subgroups for labor market success (Blau 2003;Kozol 1991; Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce 1990). Some sociologists argue that curriculum reform that overlooks the complex interplay between ascription and tracking in determining stratification outcomes for young workers is shortsighted (Ainsworth and Roscigno 2005;Mickelson 2003). Granted that the enormity of the labor market problems facing young workers are complex, the gap in knowledge regarding the role ascribed status plays in the school-to-work process is most troubling (Royster 2003;Stern et al 1988).…”

Writing Differences in Teacher Performance Assessments: An Investigation of African American Language and Edited American English

“…African Americans do less well, in general, on all assessment types, including constructed-response; this issue must be addressed by test makers and users of test scores (Ladson-Billings 1998;Mickelson 2003). This study investigated potential writing differences between African American and European American candidates in a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) portfolio entry from the Middle Childhood/Generalist Certificate (MC/Generalist).…”

Race and Schooling: Theories and Ethnographies

“…The theory further posits that differences in school performance between immigrant and nonimmigrant minorities are partly due to differences in their community forces (Ogbu, 1999, p. 156 that, in response to the discrimination they faced in American institutions (including schools), involuntary minorities developed ''self-affirming norms and values that maintain boundaries between themselves and the majority group-norms and values that undermine academics'' (Foster, 2004, p. 372). With this strand of research, Ogbu's work supported a culture of poverty argument that blamed blacks for the discrimination they faced (Foley, 2004;Gould, 1999;Mickelson, 2003).…”