For nearly 100 years, 路易斯安那州e世博esball大学(Xavier University of Louisiana)的教职员工坚持学校的使命，即通过培养下一代变革者和寻求改革的人，促进建立一个更加公正和人道的社会. 在种族主义做法阻止黑人和其他有色人种进入这种优秀机构的时代，所有人都应该接受优质教育, e世博esball仍然是历史上被边缘化和服务不足的社区和群体的避风港. As Xavier prepares to celebrate its first century of service, 它继续巩固了一项强大的遗产，即发现学生在大学前教育中的差距，并通过指导来填补这些差距, 严谨的学者, 优质课程. Cirecie Olatunji, Ph.D., director of Xavier’s Center for Equity, 正义, and the Human Spirit, 反映出在年轻一代成为e世博esball大学学生或其他院校的一年级学生之前，有必要接触到他们.

 

关于黑人青年[在学术上]表现不佳的挑战，有大量的研究。. A host of scholars from numerous disciplines have investigated this issue, labeling it as the “achievement gap,” with White students and, 最近, Asian American students as the reference groups. While I don’t want to focus on the lack of success, 我确实想回顾一下他们在国家教育进步评估(NAEP)考试中的表现. 这些都是重要的指标，因为它们是在全国范围内使用的，而不是由各个州创建的评估工具, such as the LEAP (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program) tests. 然而, 当我们观察不同州学生的表现时，很难将苹果和橘子进行比较. The NAEP scores give us a sense of what’s happening nationally for children in general, but let’s look at what’s going on for Black children.

The NAEP is administered at the fourth, 第八, and 12th grade levels. Let’s start with fourth grade. From 2011 through 2022, 亚裔和白人四年级学生的NAEP(全国教育进步评估)平均阅读成绩高于其他种族/族裔的同龄人. 除了, 随着时间的推移，亚洲学生和其他群体学生之间的成绩差距普遍越来越大. In 2022, 2022年，黑人学生四年级的平均数学成绩最低，为217分. 在一般情况下, 2019年至2022年期间，白人/亚洲学生和黑人/拉丁裔学生之间的成绩差距扩大了.

从最近的考试成绩来看，部分成绩较低可能是由于大流行. Black and Brown children, who are disproportionately represented in low-income families, lost a lot of academic gains during the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic. That could be one of the reasons why we see that gap widening, and that’s true for fourth, 第八, 和12年级学生.

Similar to grades 4 and 8, 与其他族裔/种族群体相比，黑人学生在2019年12年级的NAEP平均科学成绩是最低的. In 2019, 然而, the gap in NAEP science scores between White students and students of color has decreased.

 

National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). 科学的性能. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved [date], from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cne.

I do want to just make one caveat when we talk about the achievement gap. Let’s put that term in quotes because students in the U.S. are 不 doing that well globally compared to other highly developed countries. Thus, I’m 不 sure if we should regularly compare them to the nation’s norm.

What causes this persistent underachievement? When we look at the extant literature, there is a plethora of research on parent involvement and Black academic achievement. 这项研究经常表明，如果黑人父母更多地参与孩子的学校教育和学业表现, the students would likely perform better academically, and then educators could do their job. 我们有很多研究指责父母是黑人孩子成绩不佳的首要原因.

Despite the prevalence of parenting programs at under-resourced schools, where Black children are disproportionately represented, 关于父母参与的研究很少承认养育是一个文化上的概念. In other words, does parenting mean the same thing across various cultures? Do we have the same goals of how a well-developed child should look and behave? The indicators are culturally bound.

因此, when we look at parent involvement research, 它真正关注的是一套特定的价值观，可能不包括许多黑人家庭的价值观. We need to incorporate the cultural worldviews and values of Black families. 出于这个原因, I developed an instrument, the Parent Proficiencies Questionnaire (PPQ), for 父母 of Black children to assess parenting within the context of culture.

The second area of interest is 自尊 and Black academic achievement. 这些研究通常表明，黑人孩子没有成就的原因是因为他们缺乏自尊. For that, I ask, “What might cause low 自尊 for a 整个 population of students?” One causal element that is historical in nature is structural racism. 我指的不是人际种族主义，即某个老师在与黑人学生互动时可能会有意识(或无意中)表现出种族主义. 目前的教育研究表明，教育系统的结构对黑人青年具有文化上的攻击性. Culturally assaultive classrooms, 课程, 评估, instructional practices, and expectations have been shown to place Black youth at risk.

关注黑人学生成绩的第三个研究领域是同伴支持项目, 这表明黑人孩子彼此之间好斗和冲突，没有足够的参与技能来管理自己的情绪. 这些研究表明，黑人青年没有积极的同伴关系，黑人青年不成比例地参与药物滥用问题, 酒精问题, 暴力, 等等....... 但这是 整个 故事?

When I taught graduate-level research courses, I emphasized the need for my students to think critically when reviewing research studies. We need to think critically about what is offered whenever we seek solutions. We need to consider what is 在说 and what is 不 在说. 更深入地看，我们可以发现关于同伴支持项目的研究提供了一个相反的叙述. These studies have findings that assert that Black children do work well with each other, 提供支持, demonstrate moral conscience, and can make decisions about their peer group.

最后，目前数百万美元被投入到教育工作者的创伤知情护理培训中. 不幸的是, 如果不关注文化，创伤知情护理培训就无法触及问题的核心. Because when we go back to looking at those scores, the parent engagement, 自尊, 同伴支持, and trauma-informed care interventions have 不 significantly changed those scores. 如果这些项目不起作用，我们就需要寻求有效的循证干预措施.

有一些例子表明，教师、校长和整个学区都取得了成功. 然而, 这些成功并没有在全国范围内应用，以改变黑人学生的发展轨迹. To see this constant lack of change, 我常常在想，教育者(和家长)是否认为成绩不佳是黑人与生俱来的. 这或许可以解释为什么黑人学生缺乏解决长期和历史上成绩不佳问题的紧迫感.

在促进解决黑人青年学业成绩不佳的干预措施中，缺少的是对需要全系统对策的结构性问题和可以通过人际关系解决的微观系统问题的理解. We need to understand the environmental contextual issues, such as the policies. 我们需要与教师合作，在很长一段时间内采用综合方法.

随着时间的推移，学者需要发展与学校人员和社区成员的关系. 研究人员需要将自己融入学校，去殖民化他们的培训，然后寻求削弱反映在教育实践中的缺陷思维.

最后, everyone needs to engage in the research to seek solutions, whether we are community service personnel, 父母, 学校教育工作者, or mental health providers. We need to engage in inquiry. We need to be actively involved in developing solutions. 现在是时候了!

 

Cirecie Olatunji, Ph.D.

Director, Center for Equity, 正义, and the Human Spirit