Young, Gifted, and Black : Promoting High Achievement Among African-American Students

**“An important and powerful book” that radically reframes the debates swirling around the academic achievement of African-American students (__Boston Review__)** In three separate but allied essays, African-American scholars Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, and Asa Hilliard examine the alleged ‘achievement gap’ between Black and white students. Each author addresses how the unique social and cultural position Black students occupy—in a society which often devalues and stereotypes African-American identity—fundamentally shapes students' experience of school and sets up unique obstacles. __Young, Gifted and Black__provides an understanding of how these forces work, opening the door to practical, powerful methods for promoting high achievement at all levels. In the first piece, Theresa Perry argues that the dilemmas African-American students face are rooted in the experience of race and ethnicity in America, making the task of achievement distinctive and difficult. She uncovers a rich, powerful African-American philosophy of education by reading African-American narratives from Frederick Douglass to Maya Angelou and carefully critiques the most popular theoretical explanations for group differences in achievement. She goes on to lay out how today’s educators can draw from these sources to reorganize the school experience of African-American students. Claude Steele follows up with stunningly clear empirical psychological evidence that when Black students believe they are being judged as members of a stereotyped group—rather than as individuals—they do worse on tests. He analyzes the subtle psychology of this ‘stereotype threat’ and reflects on the broad implications of his research for education, suggesting scientifically proven techniques that teachers, mentors, and schools can use to counter the powerful effect of stereotype threat. Finally, Asa Hilliard's essay argues against a variety of false theories and misguided views of African-American achievement. She also shares examples of real schools, programs, and teachers around the country that allow African-American students to achieve at high levels, describing what they are like and what makes them work. Now more than ever, __Young, Gifted and Black__ is an eye-opening work that has the power to not only change how we talk and think about African-American student achievement but how we view the African-American experience as a whole.

Three African-American intellectuals on a crucial educational issue of our time

A huge portion of the school reform debate in America—explicitly and implicitly—is framed around the success and failure of African-American children in school. The test-score "achievement gap” between white and black students, especially, is a driving and divisive issue.

Yet the voices of prominent African-American intellectuals have been conspicuously left out of the debate about black children.

Young, Gifted, and Black sets out to reframe the terms of that debate. The authors argue that understanding how children experience the struggle of being black in America is essential to improving how schools serve them.
Taking on liberals and conservatives alike, Theresa Perry argues that all kinds of contemporary school settings systematically undermine motivation and achievement for black students. She draws on history, narrative, and research to outline an African-American tradition of education for liberation and to suggest what kinds of settings black children need most. Claude Steele reports stunningly clear empirical psychological evidence that when black students believe they are being judged as members of a stereotyped group rather than as individuals, they do worse on tests. He calls the mechanism at work "stereotype threat,” and reflects on its broad implications for schools. Asa Hilliard ends the book with an essay on actual schools around the country where African-American students achieve at high levels.

Theresa Perry is professor of education at Wheelock College in Boston and coeditor of The Real Ebonics Debate (Beacon / 3145-3 / $14.00 pb). Claude Steele is professor of psychology at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Asa Hilliard is professor of education at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

"These three very different essays go a long way toward raising the level of the national discussion about 'achievement gaps.' They point us toward a gap in teacher quality, toward a gap in the social structures that support a positive achievement identity in youngsters, a gap in public knowledge of excellence, past and present, in African American education, a gap in appropriate racial socialization. The authors insist on higher goals than just better test scores and they never lose sight of the rootedness of today's problems in historic and contemporary discourses about Black intellectual inferiority. These timely essays do more than restate the problem; they each offer concrete suggestions for resolving it. Collectively, they reform the discussion of 'reform.' "

--Charles Payne, Sally Dalton Robinson Professor of History, African American Studies and Sociology, Duke University, and author of I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Movement

"I am awed by the lucidity and careful crafting of these essays. The authors -- all scholars of impeccable credentials in their respective fields -- capture with unprecedented cogency the real issues surrounding the so-called 'achievement gap.' No one who reads this book can ever suggest that we don't know what to do to promote high achievement for African American students. The question is, do we really want to do so." --Lisa Delpit, author of Other People's Children, and Executive Director and Eminent Scholar of the Center for Urban Education & Innovation, Florida International University

Young, Gifted, and Black is a unique joint effort by three leading African-American scholars to radically reframe the debates swirling around the achievement of African-American students in school.

In three separate but allied essays, Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, and Asa Hilliard place students' social identity as African-Americans at the very center of the discussion. They all argue that the unique social and cultural position Black students occupy, in a society which often devalues and stereotypes African American identity, fundamentally shapes students' experience of school and sets up unique obstacles. And they all argue that a proper understanding of the forces at work can lead to practical, powerful methods for promoting high achievement at all levels.

Theresa Perry argues that African-American students face dilemmas, founded in the experience of race and ethnicity in America, that make the task of achievement distinctive and difficult. (For instance: "How do I commit myself to achieve, to work hard over time in school, if I cannot predict when or under what circumstances this hard work will be acknowledged and recognized?") She uncovers a rich and powerful African- American philosophy of education, historically forged against such obstacles and capable of addressing them, by reading African-American narratives from Frederick Douglass to Maya Angelou. She carefully critiques the most popular theoretical explanations for group differences in achievement. And she lays out how educators today-in a postcivil rights era-can draw on theory and on the historical power of the African-American philosophy and tradition of education to reorganize the school experience of African-American students.

Claude Steele reports stunningly clear empirical psychological evidence that when Black students believe they are being judged as members of a stereotyped group rather than as individuals, they do worse on tests. He finds the mechanism, which he calls "stereotype threat," to be a quite general one, affecting women's performance in mathematics, for instance, where stereotypes about gender operate. He analyzes the subtle psychology of stereotype threat and reflects on the broad implications of his research for education, suggesting techniques-based again on evidence from controlled psychological experiments-that teachers and mentors and schools can use to counter stereotype threat's powerful effect.

Asa Hilliard's ends essay, against a variety of false theories and misguided views of African American achievement, and focuses on actual schools and programs and teachers around the country that allow African-American students achieve at high levels, describing what they are like and what makes them work.

Young, Gifted, and Black will change the way we think and talk about African American student achievement and will be necessary reading on this topic for years to come.

“An important and powerful book” that radically reframes the debates swirling around the academic achievement of African-American students ( Boston Review ) In three separate but allied essays, African-American scholars Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, and Asa Hilliard examine the alleged ‘achievement gap’ between Black and white students. Each author addresses how the unique social and cultural position Black students occupy—in a society which often devalues and stereotypes African-American identity—fundamentally shapes students' experience of school and sets up unique obstacles. Young, Gifted and Black provides an understanding of how these forces work, opening the door to practical, powerful methods for promoting high achievement at all levels. In the first piece, Theresa Perry argues that the dilemmas African-American students face are rooted in the experience of race and ethnicity in America, making the task of achievement distinctive and difficult. She uncovers a rich, powerful African-American philosophy of education by reading African-American narratives from Frederick Douglass to Maya Angelou and carefully critiques the most popular theoretical explanations for group differences in achievement. She goes on to lay out how today’s educators can draw from these sources to reorganize the school experience of African-American students. Claude Steele follows up with stunningly clear empirical psychological evidence that when Black students believe they are being judged as members of a stereotyped group—rather than as individuals—they do worse on tests. He analyzes the subtle psychology of this ‘stereotype threat’ and reflects on the broad implications of his research for education, suggesting scientifically proven techniques that teachers, mentors, and schools can use to counter the powerful effect of stereotype threat. Finally, Asa Hilliard's essay argues against a variety of false theories and misguided views of African-American achievement. She also shares examples of real schools, programs, and teachers around the country that allow African-American students to achieve at high levels, describing what they are like and what makes them work. Now more than ever, Young, Gifted and Black is an eye-opening work that has the power to not only change how we talk and think about African-American student achievement but how we view the African-American experience as a whole. “An important and powerful book” that radically reframes the debates swirling around the academic achievement of African-American students ( Boston Review ) “The solutions offered by each essay are creative, inspirational, and good old common sense." — Los Angeles Times In 3 separate but allied essays, African-American scholars Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, and Asa Hilliard examine the alleged ‘achievement gap’ between Black and white students. Each author addresses how the unique social and cultural position Black students occupy—in a society which often devalues and stereotypes African-American identity—fundamentally shapes students’ experience of school and sets up unique obstacles. Young, Gifted and Black provides an understanding of how these forces work, opening the door to practical, powerful methods for promoting high achievement at all levels. In the first piece, Theresa Perry argues that the dilemmas African-American students face are rooted in the experience of race and ethnicity in America, making the task of achievement distinctive and difficult. Claude Steele follows up with stunningly clear empirical psychological evidence that when Black students believe they are being judged as members of a stereotyped group—rather than as individuals—they do worse on tests. Finally, Asa Hilliard argues against a variety of false theories and misguided views of African-American achievement, sharing examples of real schools, programs, and teachers around the country that allow African-American students to achieve at high levels. Now more than ever, Young, Gifted and Black is an eye-opening work that has the power to not only change how we talk and think about African-American student achievement but how we view the African-American experience as a whole. In three linked but separate essays, this book explores how African-American students experience school in a society that has historically devalued their intellectual abilities. It calls for a new understanding of the unique obstacles black students face in American schools and points to a variety of educational practices that can mitigate those challenges and promote academic excellence. In the first essay, Theresa Perry argues that African-American students face dilemmas, founded in the experience of race and ethnicity in America, that makes the task of achievement distinctive and difficult. The essay discusses an African-American philosophy forged against such obstacles and capable of addressing them by reading African-American narratives. In the second essay, Claude Steele reports empirical psychological evidence that when black students believe they are being judged as members of a stereotyped group they do worse on tests. The subtle psychology of "stereotype threat" is analyzed and the implications of research for education are discussed. The final essay, by Asa Hilliard, argues against a variety of false theories and misguided views of African-American achievement and focuses on actual schools, programs, and teachers around the country that allow African-American students to achieve at high levels. (References are provided for each essay.) (CR)