The African American Struggle

From the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB; 2002-20015) to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; 2015-present day), government efforts have assured us citizens that recognition of the educational impediments have not been overlooked. Laws similar to these have been passed to address the achievement gaps found within groups of students in poverty, students receiving special education sources, minorities, and students who speak or understand limited or no English. Despite these valiant efforts to right the intellectual imbalance reflected, African American students still seem to be at a disadvantage. According to the Nation’s Report Card, only 3% of fourth grade African American students from New York scored Advanced on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and 19% scored Proficient. Meanwhile, 13% of white students scored Advanced and 47% scored Proficient. This achievement gap is significantly narrower than the gap in 1998 by 37 points, but is still concerning enough for families, teachers, and students to fight against the pertinent struggle of where we place African Americans in our lives today.

Economist and social theorist Dr. Thomas Sowell of Stanford University compared the results of students from various schools within the state of New York and pointed out that of the 39% that scored a Proficient in math, 100% of the students from Crown Heights Success Academy -a school consisting of a 90% Black and Hispanic student population- scored Proficient. From this analysis, the Media Research Center collected that liberals believed integration was necessary for the academic success of African American students. In support of that, the National Education Association states, “There is a need to increase diversity and cultural competence in the teaching workforce. Recruiting and retaining teachers of color is important, as some children of color will go through their entire educational career without having a teacher who looks like them or who can identify with the uniqueness of their cultural heritage.”

Highlighting the influential presence of diversity, it is undeniable that African American students are more than capable of performing just as proficiently as any other race. The issue with the education of our black students lies with the environment we cultivate them in. Lack of representation in the educational community is only one of many factors that result in a poorly performing group of unempowered people. With the rise of awareness, people are actively fighting to make changes to our education system in order to close the achievement gap and help our nation collectively progress together for the academic success of all Americans.