During the last 60 years, national standardized testing has confirmed a gap in reading and math scores between White and Black students, often called the achievement, opportunity, equity, or race-based gap (Coleman et al., 1966; NCES, 2021). Researchers have attempted to identify factors that influence these student outcomes (Jayavant, 2016).…

In this pioneering interdisciplinary reader, Hilton Kelly and Heather Moore Roberson have curated essential readings for thinking about black education from slavery to the present day. The reading selections are timeless, with both historical and contemporary readings from educational anthropology, history, legal studies, literary studies, and…

A decade of research on school discipline has made society keenly aware of the "elephant in the room." Overwhelmingly, Black students are "wounded" permanently when they are suspended over and over for offenses that are overlooked when their white counterparts commit the same infraction. Since Black students are suspended…

This is at once a playful text with a serious purpose: to provide the reader with the theoretical lenses to analyze the dynamics of social class. It will appeal to students, and indeed anyone interested in how class mediates relationships in higher education, both because of its engaging tone, and because it uses the college campus as a microcosm…

Why has the large income gap between blacks and whites persisted for decades after the passage of civil rights legislation? More specifically, why do African Americans remain substantially underrepresented in the highest-paying professions, such as science, engineering, information technology, and finance? A sophisticated study of racial…

As the diversity of the students on campus increases, the importance for everyone in authority to understand students' distinct cultures and how they perceive institutions, and equally, to understand their own privilege, and often unconscious cultural assumptions, has never been greater. This book presents a comprehensive set of resources to guide…

One explanation for the widening achievement gap in America and throughout Europe between ethnic minorities/immigrants, and Whites is the influence of cultural stereotypes on attributions made by both educators and students. This paper explores some factors that increase the likelihood that educators will consciously or unconsciously rely on…

It is not the kind of atmosphere most adults would find helpful if they needed to study and learn-high dropout rates, kids promoted without learning, schools short on money, profanity and disrespect, fighting, drug and alcohol abuse. Yet these are "very serious" problems in schools, according to surprisingly large numbers of the nation's black and…

Alabama's primary competitor in recruiting is in-state rival Auburn University which lures away roughly one in eight of UA's admitted students. Two factors stand above all others in attracting students to UA--academic reputation and social activities reputation. Factors following distantly are a visit to the UA campus, financial assistance and the…

Although considerable research examines the impact of grade retention on student academic achievement, various shortcomings exhibited across these studies make it difficult to derive any concrete generalizations about the effectiveness of requiring students to repeat a grade. By utilizing data based on a cohort of all low-achieving elementary…