Racial Gap in Teachers' Perceptions of the Term Paper

Racial Gap in Teachers' Perceptions of the Achievement Gap," Jeffrey Uhlenberg and Kathleen M. Brown examine possible reasons for the disparity between Black and White student academic performance. In addition to examining prior research, the authors surveyed teachers to assess their perceptions and opinions about the achievement gap. The four main categories under investigation are the child; the parent(s) and home environment; the teachers; and the school system. The authors surveyed both Black and White teachers to determine whether there was any significant difference in their perceptions. While most of the results confirmed the authors' hypothesis that Black teachers would focus more on the teachers and school system than on the student or the home environment and that the reverse would be true for White teachers. However, the results of the survey show that all teachers, regardless of race, point to several factors that impact the disparity between minority and white students.

The authors demonstrate race-neutral factors…