Since the late 1800s, there has been a constant struggle to maintain equality and equity for African Americans students in the public education system. Even after the success of Brown vs. Board of Education, which granted African Americans and other minority groups the right to receive an equal education in public schools, there has been a major increase in the achievement gap between African Americans, other minority group(s) and the dominant Caucasian race. This gap has been understood to be the direct result of the lack of diversity within the curriculum of our current public education system. Research has found that the implementation of culturally relevant instruction has shown potential to increase the academic achievement of African
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This divide continues to show the distinction of standardized test scores, graduation rates, and academic success between Caucasian students and minority students. Thousands of research studies has taken place to seek out answers for the cause of the wide achievement gap among the two races. Within those studies, one answer remains unswerving and apparent: racial and socioeconomic inequality. Hanushek & Rivkin (2009) inserted that “more than 60 percent of Black and Hispanics attend high poverty schools, which is defined as more than 50 percent poor” (Orfield & Lee, 2005). They also found that [many] “Black students attend schools with a less experienced teaching staff than do White students and that this factor has a significant impact on widening Black-White performance differentials between elementary and middle schools” (p.288). This factor continues to make itself more prevalent in public schools as the academic achievement rate for African Americans continue to …show more content…
Ford et al. (2014) expounded in detail by stating that “culturally responsive teaching offers ways to best support diverse learners in an inclusive classroom as it approaches education by looking at the whole child where students are empowered intellectually, socially, emotionally and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes” (Ladson-Billings, 2009) Similarly, Gay (2002) explains it as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively (p.44). This theory has also been aligned with the theory of critical pedagogy (Freire, 2006; Bell, 1987), which ultimately created a segue for the introduction of CRP. Critical pedagogy explains how position and power are widely influenced by the concept of race and class. Brown-Jeffy & Cooper (2011) expressed that "[c]ritical race theory brings attention directly to the effects of racism and challenges the hegemonic practices of White supremacy as masked by a carefully (re)produced system of meritocracy"(p.70). Rozansky (2010) also stated that “critical pedagogy has the potential to provide educators with the theoretical knowledge they can translate into practices
This divide continues to show the distinction of standardized test scores, graduation rates, and academic success between Caucasian students and minority students. Thousands of research studies has taken place to seek out answers for the cause of the wide achievement gap among the two races. Within those studies, one answer remains unswerving and apparent: racial and socioeconomic inequality. Hanushek & Rivkin (2009) inserted that “more than 60 percent of Black and Hispanics attend high poverty schools, which is defined as more than 50 percent poor” (Orfield & Lee, 2005). They also found that [many] “Black students attend schools with a less experienced teaching staff than do White students and that this factor has a significant impact on widening Black-White performance differentials between elementary and middle schools” (p.288). This factor continues to make itself more prevalent in public schools as the academic achievement rate for African Americans continue to …show more content…
Ford et al. (2014) expounded in detail by stating that “culturally responsive teaching offers ways to best support diverse learners in an inclusive classroom as it approaches education by looking at the whole child where students are empowered intellectually, socially, emotionally and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes” (Ladson-Billings, 2009) Similarly, Gay (2002) explains it as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively (p.44). This theory has also been aligned with the theory of critical pedagogy (Freire, 2006; Bell, 1987), which ultimately created a segue for the introduction of CRP. Critical pedagogy explains how position and power are widely influenced by the concept of race and class. Brown-Jeffy & Cooper (2011) expressed that "[c]ritical race theory brings attention directly to the effects of racism and challenges the hegemonic practices of White supremacy as masked by a carefully (re)produced system of meritocracy"(p.70). Rozansky (2010) also stated that “critical pedagogy has the potential to provide educators with the theoretical knowledge they can translate into practices