Categories

EQUITY, access, outcomes

Areas

PRACTITIONER:group practice and professional learning

Authors

Mica Pollock

Published

2009

Publisher

Equity Alliance at ASU

Abstract

A fundamental debate erupts whenever U.S. educators discuss “achievement gaps.” Do educators’ everyday actions really contribute that much to racial disparities? Or are such disparities caused by parents, by peers, by “society,” by “poverty,” by children themselves? We need to get much better at discussing this issue in education. As I have shown in my research, simplistic debate over who is “to blame” for “achievement gaps” often keeps us from adequately serving children of color in particular. For example, when people argue that disparities are caused solely by particular players (e.g., “parents”), they miss out on potential collaborations that would support student success. When people relentlessly blame actors other than themselves for student outcomes, they fail to figure out which of their own actions might assist children better.

Files

• http://ea.niusileadscape.org/docs/FINAL_PRODUCTS/LearningCarousel/EmphasizingEducatorsblog.pdf