Educational Inequities

Educational Inequities & Reading Achievement Gap

• Since the early years of NAEP assessments, African American fourth-grade students have typically scored lower in reading compared to their White counterparts. The achievement gap has been a persistent issue.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

U.S. African-American public school students that cannot read at a 4th grade level

2005-88%

2007-84%

2009-86%

2011-84%

2013-83%

2015-82%

   2017-81%

2019-82%

2022-84%

• According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of the fourth grade will end up in jail or on welfare.

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The reading achievement gap between African American students and their white peers has been influenced by a long history of discriminatory policies and systemic racism. 

Here are some key factors:

Slave Codes:

1. • Enslaved Africans were governed by a set of laws known as slave codes. These codes varied by state but commonly included provisions that made it illegal to teach enslaved people to read or write. The rationale was that literacy could empower enslaved people to communicate, organize rebellions, and escape.

Specific Laws and Punishments:

1. • South Carolina (1740): One of the earliest and most stringent laws, it prohibited anyone from teaching enslaved people to write and imposed fines on violators.

   • Virginia (1819): This law forbade both enslaved and free African Americans from assembling for educational purposes and imposed severe penalties, including fines and imprisonment, on those who attempted to educate them.

   • Alabama (1832): Made it illegal to teach any African American, enslaved or free, to read or write. Violators faced fines and imprisonment.

   • Georgia (1829): Similar to Alabama's law, it prohibited the education of enslaved people and imposed heavy fines and corporal punishment for violators.

Fear of Rebellion:

1. • Educated enslaved individuals were perceived as a threat to the institution of slavery. Literacy could facilitate communication about rebellion plans and enable enslaved people to forge passes or documents to aid in escape attempts.

Resistance and Secret Education:

1. • Despite these oppressive laws, many enslaved people pursued literacy in secret. Enslaved individuals often risked severe punishment to learn to read and write, seeing education as a pathway to freedom and empowerment.

   • Abolitionists and sympathetic individuals sometimes conducted clandestine schools or provided secret instruction to enslaved people.

Segregated and Unequal Schooling:

• Jim Crow Laws: These laws enforced racial segregation in schools, resulting in African American students attending underfunded and overcrowded schools with inferior resources and facilities compared to those attended by white students.

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954): This landmark Supreme Court decision declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional, but many schools remained segregated in practice for years due to resistance and slow implementation.

Disparities in School Funding:

• Property Tax-Based Funding: Schools in predominantly African American neighborhoods often receive less funding because they are funded through local property taxes, which are lower in economically disadvantaged areas.

• Title I Funding: While Title I aims to provide additional resources to schools with high percentages of low-income students, it has not fully compensated for the vast disparities in funding between affluent and impoverished districts.

Curriculum and Instruction:

• Biased Curricula: Historically, school curricula have often marginalized African American history and culture, which can affect African American students’ engagement and interest in learning.

• Tracking and Ability Grouping: African American students are disproportionately placed in lower academic tracks or remedial classes, limiting their exposure to rigorous coursework and higher-level reading skills development.

Discriminatory Practices and Low Expectations:

• Teacher Bias: Implicit biases among teachers can result in lower expectations for African American students, affecting their academic performance and opportunities for advancement.

• Disciplinary Policies: African American students are more likely to face harsh disciplinary actions, such as suspensions and expulsions, which disrupt their education and negatively impact reading achievement.

Access to Early Childhood Education:

• Preschool Enrollment: African American children have historically had less access to high-quality early childhood education, which is crucial for developing foundational reading skills.

• Head Start Program: While programs like Head Start aim to bridge this gap, they have not fully addressed the disparities in early educational opportunities.

Socioeconomic Factors:

• Poverty: African American children are more likely to live in poverty, which can affect their access to books, educational materials, and extracurricular learning opportunities.

• Parental Education Levels: Lower educational attainment among parents, influenced by historical and systemic barriers, can impact the support children receive at home for reading and literacy.

Educational Disparities Impact on African American Culture and Literacy:

• The prohibition of education for African Americans during slavery had long-lasting effects, contributing to significant educational disparities that persisted well into the post-emancipation era.

• After the Civil War, newly freed African Americans placed a high value on education and made significant efforts to establish schools and educational institutions, despite continued opposition and underfunding.

• Systemic inequities in education funding, resources, and opportunities result in lower graduation rates and limited access to higher education for many African Americans.

• 85% of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally low literate.