What the Achievement Gap Conversation is Missing

Dr. Angel Harris succinctly provides evidence of the achievement gap that persists in American society between students of color and their white counterparts. I fully concur with Dr. Harris that the achievement gap should be considered a national crisis and is one of the biggest social problems facing American society. However, I wish to provide food for thought regarding this phenomenon from the standpoint of a Developmental psychologist. I believe there are two factors that require consideration when thinking of ways to address the achievement gap between African American students and their European American counterparts, and they are subjective perceptions of racial discrimination, racial identity and the relationship between the two constructs.

Racial discrimination consists of dominant group members' actions, which are systematic and result in differential and negative effects on subordinate racial/ethnic groups (Williams et al. 2003). Several theoretical frameworks discuss the role of racial discrimination in the lives of children and adolescents of color, namely the Integrative Model (Garcia Coll et al. 1996) and the Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) model (Spencer et al. 2003). These frameworks propose that developmental pathways for children of color are expected to be negatively influenced by racial discrimination, placing them at higher risk for pessimistic outcomes and a reduced likelihood of positive outcomes (Garcia Coll et al. 1996; Spencer 2006). Regarding achievement outcomes, perceptions of racial discrimination have been negatively linked to achievement motivation, grade point average, school engagement and math skills (Powell and Arriola 2003; Fisher et al. 2000; Burchinal et al. 2008; Smalls et al. 2007). Additionally, daily perceptions of racial discrimination from peers and teachers predicted declining grade point averages and academic self-concepts over time among African American adolescents (Eccles et al. 2006; Chavous et al. 2008). Thus, perceptions of racial discrimination have been negatively linked to academic achievement among African American adolescents. Furthermore, the perpetrator matters in that peer and teacher perceptions of discrimination have a negative impact on academic achievement.

Racial identity is defined as the significance and meaning that individuals ascribe to being a member of their racial group (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley & Chavous, 1998). Previous research has suggested a mixed relationship between racial identity and academic achievement. Some studies have found that when students hold strong identities as African Americans, their academic achievement suffers and their academic identification decreases (Fordham and Ogbu 1986). Other research has suggested that racial identity promotes academic success with little evidence of the “acting White” phenomenon, or the idea that Black youth view doing well in school as a characteristic of Whites and incompatible with their Black identity (Chavous et al. 2003; Okeke et al. 2009; Eccles et al. 2006). Consequently, current empirical research suggests that Black youth with positive racial identities are academically engaged and achieve academic success.

The role of racial identity becomes especially important in the context of racial discrimination (Spencer 2006), and racial identity has been examined as a protective factor for academic achievement among minority youth. Specifically, African American adolescents who perceived high levels of racial discrimination but had a strong connection to their racial group were performing as well as youth who perceived little to no racial discrimination (Eccles et al. 2006). Similarly, perceptions of peer discrimination in eighth grade were linked to school importance in 11th grade for African American boys and girls who did not consider race to be an important aspect of their self-concept (Chavous et al. 2008). Yet, the relationship between perceptions of classroom discrimination in eighth grade and grade point average in 11th grade was attenuated for girls and boys who considered race important to their self-concept (Chavous et al. 2008). Racial identity has also been shown to buffer stereotype threat such that African American students with more solidified identities performed more strongly on a verbal task under low stereotype threat conditions (Davis et al. 2006).

When considered simultaneously, academic achievement is a complex phenomenon that involves perceptions of racial discrimination and racial identity in a manner that has yet to be completely understood. The challenge for future research is to identify subgroups of Black youth that are at risk for diminished educational outcomes given that prior research suggests that some racial identity profiles had subsequent diminished educational outcomes (Chavous et al. 2003). Future research should also identify specific coping strategies that students may be using in the context of racial discrimination to increase academic success. Lastly, future research should consider specificity models or models that account for stressors, mediators and moderators simultaneously to address the question: For whom is racial discrimination a risk factor and how does it influence academic achievement? While these suggestions do not excuse the macro problems that plague our educational institutions (i.e., funding inequality), I believe an understanding of micro level processes that affect African American youth are necessary to fully address the achievement gap problem.