There is perhaps no issue in American education more intractable or more painful than the persistent gaps in educational outcomes between Black and Brown students and their white peers. In our ongoing coverage of education, The Hechinger Report explores how white students are given advantages every step of the way, how racism is woven into the system — from the way schools are funded to the material students are taught — and what’s being done to make change.
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A college where the graduation rate for black students has been zero percent — for years
Alexis Turner listened carefully as the administrators at the freshman orientation for Kent State University at Ashtabula ticked through the student groups she could join on campus that fall: English Society, Psychology Club, Student Veterans Association. She left the auditorium apprehensive. There was no Black Student Union, Latino Student Union or Multicultural Society.
Must read voices
COLUMN: Black and Brown boys don’t need to learn ‘grit,’ they need schools to stop being racist
Everyone seems to think that a lack of “soft skills” is the reason why students of color aren’t ready for college and careers. More schools and after-school programs are teaching students how to have “grit,” compassion and a “growth mindset.” Under the new federal education law, states are encouraged to use “nonacademic” factors to hold…
Latest Race and Equity stories and voices
OPINION: Teachers are being deprived of chances to learn Black history and bring lessons back to the classroom
As an English teacher in 2016, I spent a summer in the archives of the Brooklyn Historical Society learning about abolition and women’s suffrage efforts. I held original bills of sale of young Black girls from the 1840s in my hands, and I left inspired to teach high school juniors about the legacy of enslavement.…
Parents trust report cards more than test scores — with consequences for kids
Most parents want to help their children succeed. We check report cards, ask about homework and try to help our kids study. When that fails, we sometimes hire tutors. But in an era of rising grades, it’s easy to be misled. A new study finds parents often assume everything is fine when their child’s report card…
Inside the fight to save Texas’ Native American studies course
Savion Horn watched as “before” and “after” images appeared on a screen at the front of his classroom: black-and-white photos of boys and girls, much younger than him and his classmates, first with faces framed by long hair and traditional clothing, then with their locks cut, wearing high-necked dresses and stiff button-ups. For Horn, then…
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