Class and Schools : Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap

Prefaces Lawrence Mishel, Economic Policy Institute ix Arthur E. Levine, Teachers College x Introduction 1(12) Social class, student achievement, and the black-white achievement gap 13(48) The legacy of the Coleman report 13(1) Some common misunderstandings about the gap 14(3) Genetic influences 17(2) Social class differences in childrearing 19(14) Cultural influences on achievement, and black underachievement 33(4) Health differences and school performance 37(9) Housing and student mobility 46(1) Social class differences between blacks and whites with similar incomes 47(4) Does culture or social class explain the black-white achievement gap? 51(5) Summer and after-school learning 56(5) Schools that `beat the demographic odds' 61(24) The success of some poor children doesn't mean that poverty doesn't matter 61(2) Dr. William Sanders and the Tennessee value-added assessment system 63(8) The Heritage Foundation's `no excuses' schools 71(4) The Education Trust's `high-flying' schools 75(1) `90/90/90' schools, and Boston's Mather School 76(2) Pentagon schools 78(1) Rafe Esquith, KIPP, and affirmative action programs like AVID 79(6) Standardized testing and cognitive skills 85(10) Standardized tests' imperfect description of the gap 85(1) Defining proficiency 86(4) Alignment of tests, standards, and instruction 90(3) The inaccuracy of tests that hold schools accountable for closing the gap 93(2) The social class gap in non-cognitive skills 95(34) The goals of education, including non-cognitive goals 95(4) The anti-social score gap 99(4) Affirmative action's evidence of leadership: Bowen-Bok and the `four percenters' 103(4) Persistence in school, self-confidence, and adult earnings 107(6) Complementing school curricula with civil rights enforcement 113(2) Testing integrity, personality, and employability 115(2) Civic and democratic participation 117(6) Perry Preschool, Head Start, and Project STAR 123(4) Comparing school and social reform to improve cognitive and non-cognitive skills 127(2) Reforms that could help narrow the gap 129(20) School integration, and Sen. Moynihan's call for making choices 129(4) Income inequality 133(2) Stable housing 135(3) School-community clinics 138(1) Early childhood education 139(3) After-school programs 142(1) Summer programs 143(1) The dangers of false expectations, and adequacy suits 144(2) Teacher morale 146(3) Conclusion 149(2) Appendix. What employers say about graduates 151(2) Endnotes 153(24) Bibliography 177(24) Acknowledgments 201(3) About EPI 204(1) About Teachers College 205(2) EPI publications 207