The Belief Gap

" Imagine being told that your kind won't amount to anything"? “#Poverty isn’t destiny”, daily in schools around the world, students are winning against the odds because somebody believed in them (Saleem, 2018; Kunjufu, 2012; Lerum, 2015; Lerum, 2016).   

Jabari Walters, a graduate of Edna Karr High School in New Orleans, is currently studying construction management at the University of Louisiana State. “They told me I wouldn’t succeed, and I listened. Thankfully, someone disagreed” (Lerum, 2015, p. 1, ?1).  "When I was seven, we moved to a different neighborhood in Gretna and I attended McDonogh (my 26th elementary school) where I had to deal with bullying from both peers in class and my third-grade teacher. My #teacher was always telling me that I needed medication, I was stupid and that I did not have the ability to graduate from high school.  In the sixth grade, I attended Martin Behrman Charter School, an arts school where I learned to play the drums. At Behrman, I was still having problems with my classes. But when I met my eight-grade math teacher, Ms. Hampton, everything began to change. Some days all I got were doors slammed in my face. I kept going and my perseverance eventually paid off”. Jabari Walters reports, “when I think back on how I gained the strength to overcome the hard times, I can’t single out one person or thing that inspired me. But I do think back to my teachers and know that I would not be where I am today without them” (Lerum, 2015, p. 1, ?10).

There are two things that can contribute to this "Belief Gap": Being gifted and talented can contribute to the belief gap and implicit bias contributes to this belief gap.

Low-income and minority students are far less likely to enroll in gifted and talented programs, even when they have the aptitude to succeed in these courses. In a lot of places around the US, low-income and minority children are considerably underrepresented in gifted and talented programs. This seems to be true whether the process for identifying gifted children relies on teacher referrals for screening, or on evaluations approved and paid for by parents. A study of the Broward County Public Schools system in Florida, Nisen (2015), reported that in the early 2000's, the gifted population in the district studied by the researchers was far less diverse than the student body in general. While Blacks and Hispanics represented 60% of the student population, only 28% of third graders who had been recognized as gifted were Black or Hispanic. 

Finally, implicit bias contributes to this belief gap (Saleem, 2018). Students in the US are getting more diverse — but teachers aren't. White teachers are much less likely than Black teachers to see Black student as college material, even when speaking about the same students (Nelson, 2015). Nelson (2015), documents about the study completed on the long-run impacts of same-race teachers (Gershenson, Holt, & Papageorge, 2016).  The study published how low-income Black students who have a Black teacher for at least one year in elementary school are less likely to drop out of high school later and more likely to consider going to college.  Black students randomly assigned to a Black teacher in grades K-3 are 7% more likely to graduate from high school and 13% more likely to enroll in college than their peers in the same #school who are not assigned a Black teacher. As early as preschool, teachers count on harmful stereotypes of Black children. In addition another study completed at the Yale University Child Study Center, depicts how deeply rooted our racial biases are (Brown, 2016). In America, Black preschoolers are more than three times as likely to be suspended than their white equals. Teachers are more likely to expect young Black children — especially young Black boys — to behave badly. This study requested more than 130 preschool teachers to watch video clips of children in classrooms. The teachers were informed to look for signs of “challenging behavior”. In the videos, the children were actors, and the videos did not depict any challenging behaviors. However, the teachers didn’t know this, and the teachers were expecting trouble. According to equipment that tracked gazing, teachers used up more time looking at Black children than White children. 

According to Gilliam (2015), the lead researcher, the above demonstrates that teachers expect problems from Black children, and especially Black boys. This shows how deeply rooted racial biases are, and how badly teachers need training to confront and undo the knee-jerk perceptions of their students — perceptions they often don’t even recognize they possess. This type of stereotyping is called implicit bias and comes from the sub-conscious mind. Although these biases may be unintentional, the expectations teachers placed on students can drastically affect student outcomes and success. “Implicit biases do not begin with Black men and police. They begin with Black preschoolers and their teachers, if not earlier,” and “implicit bias is like the wind: You can’t see it, but you can sure see its effects” (Gilliam, 2015). These differences have led to extensive concern about a possible "school-to-prison pipeline," in which detentions, suspensions, and expulsions eventually lead to the over representation of people of color being incarcerated in the nations's prisons (Lindsay & Hart, 2017).

As educators, we must never forget that, “poverty is not destiny”. On December 13, 2019, I was blessed to defend my Doctoral research on, "Teacher’s Perception of Why Elementary Students of Color Have Difficulty with Literacy". My research is conclusive (twenty-five pages of resources) and when it comes to literacy, culture is the driving force! I concur with Hillard (1992), a teacher lacking cultural awareness negatively impacts students learning because they fail to address "behavioral, culture and learning styles". Learning style is not dictated by race, income, or marital status; culture is the driving force! No significant learning takes place without a significant relationship. My prayer for this coming new year, is that we reassess our own beliefs and remove any gaps that prevent us from giving all students our very best. Like the student above (Jabari Walters), let our students be able to say, “When I think back on how I gained the strength to overcome the hard times, I can’t single out one person or thing that inspired me. But I do think back to my teachers and know that I would not be where I am today without them" (Lerum, 2015).

Let our students be able to say that they beat the odds because someone believed in them!

Be Blessed!

Dr. Pamela S. Jackson