Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in America's Classrooms / Edition 2

by Tyrone C. Howard, James A. Banks

Overview

Issues tied to race and culture continue to be a part of the landscape of America’s schools and classrooms. Given the rapid demographic transformation in the nation’s states, cities, counties, and schools, it is essential that all school personnel acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to talk, teach, and think across racial and cultural differences. The second edition of Howard’s bestseller has been updated to take a deeper look at how schools must be prepared to respond to disparate outcomes among students of color. Tyrone Howard draws on theoretical constructs tied to race and racism, culture, and opportunity gaps to address pressing issues stemming from the chronic inequalities that remain prevalent in many schools across the country. This time-honored text will help educators at all levels respond with greater conviction and clarity on how to create more equitable, inclusive, and democratic schools as sites for teaching and learning.

The New Edition:

• Addresses changing ethnic and racial demographics in U.S. schools and communities.
• Identifies core gaps in academic outcomes across racial and ethnic lines.
• Addresses potential root causes of academic disparities.
• Offers recommendations for addressing disparities in outcomes.
• Provides in-depth analysis on the salience of race and racism in U.S. schools.
• Includes strategies to help school leaders create more equitable schools.
• Identifies innovative programs with evidence-based results on eliminating disparities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807763094
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	01/03/2020
Series:	Multicultural Education Series
Edition description:	2
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	1,041,225
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Tyrone C. Howard is a professor of education at the School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA and director of the UCLA Black Male Institute and the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families. His books include Black Male(d): Peril and Promise in the Education of African American Males and Expanding College Access for Urban Youth: What Schools and Colleges Can Do. He received the 2022 AERA Social Justice in Education Award.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword James A. Banks ix

Foreword Geneva Gay xv

Acknowledgments xxi

Introduction 1

Socioeconomic Status and School Performance 3

Outline of the Book 5

Moving Away from the Black-White Dichotomy 6

1 Examining the Achievement Gap: Contextualizing the Problem 9

Documenting the Achievement Gap 12

Documenting the Discrepancies 13

Retention, Suspensions, and Expulsions 18

School Drop-Out and Graduation Rates 21

Access to Gifted and AP Courses 23

SAT Scores 24

Explaining the Gaps 24

Future Considerations 31

2 Changing Demographics 33

A Changing Nation 34

Demographic Shifts by Geographic Region and Age 36

U.S. Schools and Changing Demographics 38

Are Teachers Being Prepared to Teach in Diverse Settings? 42

Multicultural Education for School Reform 44

The Role of Social Class 46

3 Culture 51

Culture, Race, and Ethnicity 52

The Complexity of Culture 53

Sociocultural Theory 56

Cultural Modeling 56

Cultural Repertoires of Practice 58

Normalizing Culture in Everyday Practice 62

4 Culturally Responsive Pedagogy 65

Seeking Clarity in Culture and Pedagogy 67

Empirical and Conceptual Work on Culturally Responsive Pedagogy 69

The Importance of Pedagogy 73

Programs with Culturally Responsive Teaching 75

5 The Role of Race in Learning 88

Interrogating Race 89

Race and Education in the United States 91

Critical Race Theory: A Framework for Examining Race and Achievement 98

Empirical Works Examining Race 100

Granting Voice to Those Who Rarely Are Heard 102

Internalized Racism: Educators of Color and Acts of Exclusion 105

Racial Frames of Reference 106

6 Developing Cultural Competence and Racial Awareness in Classroom Teachers 110

Cultural Competence 111

Critical Self-Reflection on Race and Culture 112

Race, Culture, and the Adaptive Unconsciousness 115

Racial Awareness 119

A Case Study of Critical Reflecting: Teaching Teachers to Reflect on Race 120

Final Considerations 125

7 Examples of School Success for Culturally Diverse Students 126

Stories of School Success 128

Visionary Leadership 130

Effective Instructional Practices 132

Intensive Academic Intervention 135

Explicit Acknowledgment of Race 138

Parental and Community Engagement 140

Final Thoughts 141

References 145

Index 171

About the Author 183

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“If you thought the first edition of Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools was impactful, this second edition is even more of a force to be reckoned with in the fight for social justice. Drawing from his robust research insights and deep structural analyses, Howard has produced a book that will truly transform curriculum, pedagogical, relational, and assessment practices of educators committed to improving the learning and development trajectories of young people. By pushing the boundaries of the ordinary and the normative, this book teaches as it transforms. Every educator, pre-service and inservice, working with racially, linguistically, and culturally diverse young people should read this book.”
—H. Richard Milner IV, Cornelius Vanderbilt Distinguished Professor of Education, Vanderbilt University

“In 2010, Tyrone Howard gifted the field of education with Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools. On the 10th anniversary of this groundbreaking book, he not only reminds me of the salient role that race and culture play in education, but also moves beyond a Black-White binary that reflect the nuances and contours of diversity. This book should be in the hands of all teachers and teacher educators.”
—Maisha T. Winn, Chancellor’s Leadership Professor, School of Education, University of California, Davis

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION!

"The reader is left with a feeling of urgent, personal, moral responsibility to participate in the cause. Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools gives educators at all levels an excellent primer of the achievement gap, its causes, and remedies."
—International Journal of Multicultural Education

"A solid resource for those interested in thinking about the importance of race and culture in schools in more sophisticated ways…It squarely addresses the under-theorization of race as a factor in the analysis of students' school performance, moving the field forward appreciably."
—Language Arts

"Howard has produced a book that sheds light into abating the achievement gap in education by incrorporating important prior literature and silent theories that can be implemented to further enhance educational outcomes of all students."
—The Journal of Negro Education

“This book is at times disheartening and at other times inspiring; sometimes anguishing but always enlightening.”
—From the Foreword by Geneva Gay, University of Washington–Seattle

“Tyrone Howard provides a multi-dimensional and textured look at why students of color continue to struggle in the nation's schools. However, he does not stop there. This book points toward the solutions we have been seeking—partnerships, principles, and persistence.”
—Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Editorial Reviews

Howard’s text helps readers, particularly those relatively new to the study of race and education, make sense of the genesis and doggedness of these racial disparities as well as the necessity of understanding these trends. He also offers solutions in the form of steps educators can take toward becoming racially aware and culturally competent. While Howard envisions teachers as his audience, we suggest that Why Race holds value for readers beyond the classroom and even beyond education. A general audience may find the text helpful in identifying how other seemingly race-neutral events inequitably affect people of color, how a presumably colorblind global pandemic, for instance, can nonetheless affect communities of color in decidedly unequal ways.”

—Teachers College Record

From the Publisher