Achievement Gap Discourse has a Downside

“Achievement gap discourse (AGD)” has driven conversations about race in education for the past several decades and has drawn criticism for its central metaphor. While a desire to understand and address educational inequality spawned conversations of the so-called achievement gap, scholars like pedagogical theorist and teacher educator Gloria Ladson-Billings point out that AGD “constructs students as defective and lacking” and “admonishes them to catch up.” Thus, even before seeking solutions to address racial bias in schools, many are left wondering how to discuss the issue in the first place.

In this article for Harvard CEPR’s Strategic Data Project, Danielle explores USC researcher David Quinn’s experimental evidence that news stories about the “achievement gap” contribute to stereotypes regarding academics and race.