Exploring the Reasons for Differences in Educational Achievement Between Different Ethnic Groups

Moreover, educators are implicated within this negative sphere, were potential racist behaviour manifests itself through their pedagogy, associated with their attitudes, comments and learning expectations and thus, impacting upon Indigenous students educational outcomes, as well as self wellbeing. Racist attitudes are cast by the stereotyping of students as poor academic achievers, handicapping them from the beginning, were the only avenue out of this cycle is it abandon it and to continue on a path of self destruction. A disproportionate access to resources, in terms of social emotional positive responses from the teachers has the adverse impacts on students self esteem and their ambitions. It has been shown that social exclusion leads to trauma and to states of deprivation of people which in turn generates psychological distress.

African American students account for the larger majority of minorities in public schools in the United States. Most areas in the northern part of the United states and coastal areas are ethnically diverse. However, down south this is not the case. Students of color will experience a harder time in the education system. African American students meet the obstacle of educators who will not want them to succeed based on a preconceived thought. In fact, Caucasian teachers make up for 85% of all

Students who attend schools can be affected by their culture, race and background, much like how Puerto Ricans were oppressed in East Harlem in the 1980’s. This article explains how race can affect how people of certain races grow up, and how they are treated, and how when this treatment is unfair, the students usually drop out of school. “Study examines how race, culture influence school discipline, dropout rates”.

How should society handle the perceived differences between races when it comes to education? The goal of both researchers is to narrow the academic gap between white and black students. Both authors attribute the gap between the academic scores of black and white students from opposite sides of racial identity. As Dr. Beverly Daniels Tatum, President of Spelman College and clinical psychologist has written an article entitled “Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Her approach is from the perspective of the student and how they perceive their role and upper limits while maintaining their place in their peer group's expectations of their race. Dr. Diane Ravitch, a research professor of education at New York University, has written an article entitled "The Facts about the Achievement Gap.” Her approach is from the perspective of how schools and society implicitly or explicitly cast students into achievement tracks based on their race. Both approach the same idea about racial identity, but they have different solutions, such as peer groups, the school board, and who is right about the solution.

Cultural tendencies have a huge impact on the way children tend to participate in educational activities. The ethnicity of a child may change the way that teacher view a child. Suppose you had an Asian child in previous years who was quiet and reserved. You get a new child, you expect this one to be the same way, but he is not. We as teachers have to learn that each child is their own individual self, and they do not act the same way, no matter what race, gender, or social status they are.

A substantial amount of educational and psychological research has consistently demonstrated that African American students underperform academically relative to White students. For example, they tend to receive lower grades in school (e.g., Demo & Parker, 1987; Simmons, Brown, Bush, & Blyth, 1978), score lower on standardized tests of intellectual ability (e.g., Bachman, 1970; Herring, 1989; Reyes & Stanic, 1988; Simmons et al., 1978), drop out at higher rates (e.g., American Council on Education, 1990; Steele, 1992), and graduate from college with substantially lower grades than White students (e.g., Nettles, 1988). Such performance gaps can be attributed to

Strand also investigates ethnicity and achievement in education, he compared the progress of Indian, African-Caribbean and white British pupils in their secondary education. Strand found that Indian children made more positive progress than the white British students but African-Caribbean pupils fell even further behind. Strand found the Indian’s success was due to both material and cultural factors such as high aspirations and dedication to homework, low levels of truancy and exclusion and good resources at home such as computers and private tutoring.

In modern Western society, education success and attainment is the clearest indicator of competence and success. This belief assumes a kind of homogeneity despite the empirical evidence of considerable racial and cultural diversity in North America. As a result, the egregious casualties of the American educational and social system remain disproportionately and overwhelmingly African American. Furthermore, the many casualties among African American youth in North America confirm the failure of the social sciences and the educational system in their attempt to address the needs of the African American child. The following study epitomizes the enduring racial and cultural generalizations of those individuals whose entire history as a “science” has been the repeated distribution of unfavorable characteristics to the African race.

Children segregated from other children because of their skin color not only causes them to be more insecure, but it also causes a large knowledge gap between the segregated parties. Children who are separated from others because of their skin color grow to develop their own insecurities and diffidence. “After reviewing psychological studies showing black girls in segregated schools had low racial self-esteem, the Court concluded that separating children on the basis of race creates dangerous inferiority complexes that may adversely affect black children 's ability to learn” (PBS). Races being divided by these social barriers create a disparity between them. It is unequal for children of different races to be separated. Equal education is required in order to give all children an equal chance at success and making differences. “ Public education in the 20th century, said the Court, had become an essential component of a citizen 's public life, forming the basis of democratic

The underachievement of white working boys in the education sector remains a social problem here in the UK, Why? The reason being, as Sir Michael Wilshaw (Chief Inspector of Ofsted) outlined that these group of individuals make up two thirds of the British pupils which in affect makes them are the largest group therefore the attention should be directed at remedying the issue. PISA outlined that countries such as Finland, Hong Kong, Iceland…. Are all working better to support their disadvantaged pupils in comparison to students here in England receive.

Demie, F. (2005). Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils: good practice in Lambeth schools. British Educational Research Journal 31(4), 481-508.

The foundation of educational racism is initially first built during the start of prekindergarten. Innocent children, ranging from the ages of only three to four, are ultimately being unfairly subjected to injustice within their schools. According to the article, "Black Female

Racism in the education system has generated a difficulty in inner cities, with white parents preferring to send their children to school with other white

This enforces what Alvy had discovered, that parents are the primary source of influence over their children and because they are the primary source of influence when the parent makes a racist mark or does a racist action, the child then proceeds to do the same. However, the racism that is brought into schools is not 100 percent of the time learned from parents. Adults shape children's understanding of which categories matter to people, but children often end up forming their own presumptions about the differences among those categories. Over time, though, societal messages about race can reinforce biases children may be forming, according to professor Erin N. Winkler.

Wright (1992 p. 27 cited in Foster, Gomm and Hammersley, 1996) provides a clear example of teachers not pushing pupil to achieve well due to the child’s ethnic background.