Report Publish Date: January 1, 2021

This article explores how to improve educational outcomes for Black children by focusing on making necessary systemic changes. 

Primary Takeaways

The authors argue that focusing on the achievement gap between Black and White students, as many people have done, does not help improve outcomes for Black students. Instead, they say, this frame sets White children as the ideal, elevates Eurocentric standards, ignores Black children’s competencies, relies on biases and unreliable assessments of children’s learning and abilities, and does not accurately reflect the disparities underlying the gap.

The authors say better strategies are to understand structural racism as the root cause of inequities in education, focus on Black children's strengths and competencies, and use culturally relevant teaching methods to promote academic achievement of Black children. 

Overview and Objectives

Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers have focused on eliminating the achievement gap between Black and White children for more than half a century.  Even so, Black children’s academic achievement overall has not improved. The authors say it’s time to move away from a model that sets White children as the standard and ignores Black children’s strengths and instead focus on the underlying systemic issues that cause disparities in Black children’s experiences and outcomes. 

Hypothesis or Approach 

The authors reviewed and now point to existing research to make their points.

How This Influences Change

“Through a culturally relevant strengths-based research, practice, and policy approach, we have identified structures and processes that need to be reimagined and transformed to create systemic change and ensure Black children’s equitable access to experiences and opportunities that lead to school success,” the authors write. “After more than six decades of failed attempts, the time has come for new thinking and action.”