Strategies to accelerate the closure of opportunity gaps for Black youth

ABSTRACT

The opportunity gap, frequently labeled the achievement gap, is among the most long-standing issues impacting the field of education. The outcomes of this gap have lasting consequences for the educational, social, emotional, and behavioral development of Black students. In this manuscript, the opportunity gap and outcomes of the opportunity gap are defined by the authors. Additionally, articles within this special issue are contextualized within themes to eliminate the opportunity gap and build pathways for positive outcomes for Black students.

Themes within this special issue

This issue of Theory Into Practice is devoted to the closure of opportunity gaps for Black youth. Why is it important to close opportunity gaps for Black youth? First, the opportunity gap was previously called the achievement gap. This change in terminology was needed to reflect more accurately that disparities in student outcomes are more accurately described by the inequitable opportunities to achieve rather than deficit-thinking that placed the blame on the Black youth. Therefore, in this special issue, we describe the opportunity gap as the manifestation of the way external factors can contribute to lower rates of success in educational achievement, career prospects, and other life aspirations (McNamara et al., 2020). This gap is sustained and exacerbated by inequitable distribution of resources such as under-resourced schools (Kitchens, 2021), lack of Black professionals in child-serving professions (e.g., Farinde-Wu et al., 2020), lack of quality teachers as more Black students enroll in a school (Jackson, 2009), the intersection of health disparities and education (Fiscella & Kitzman, 2009), and lastly recent publications have related to Black children are lacking access to appropriate social-emotional learning experiences that humanize them and prepare them for a world of anti-Black racism (e.g. Miller et al, 2022; Rogers et al., 2022). Therefore, this gap cannot be attributed solely to academic instruction nor can it be measured solely through academic achievement. Outcomes of this gap include lower graduation rates, a lack of Black students enrolled in gifted and talented programs, and an overrepresentation of Black children in special education. For example of the punishment gap (Morris & Perry, 2016), the disproportionate number of Black children in restrictive special education placement (U.S. Department of Education, 2021), and the percentage of Black students in the juvenile justice system (Padgaonkar et al., 2021) collectively provide oppressive conditions that lead to the exclusion of Black children from mainstream educational placements and society. These cataclysmic contributors remove Black children from learning and support a hegemonic relationship that is efficacious to all life-sustaining outcomes. In this issue, we provide 9 contributions to eradicate the opportunity gaps for Black children. Iruka et al. (2023) provide whole-school guidance for developing African Centered Education (ACE) within early care and education settings. The authors review research on ACE and argue for the need to improve opportunities for youth to enroll and receive ACE pedagogical instructions in schools. A logic model is provided to demonstrate a conceptual framework for ACE in preschool settings.

Recognizing change agents in the school community

The next 2 articles provide guidance to maximize the potential of child service professionals to make systemic changes toward the racial opportunity gap. First, Woods et al. (2023) review research on the benefits of Black athletic coaches in improving community-school relationships, academic success, and students’ psychological and physical well-being. Black coaches have been a severely understudied cultural asset in the Black community. This is the first article to place Black coaches in a framework for the purpose of accelerating the opportunity gap for Black youth. Additionally, the authors provide recommendations to further support Black coaches within the school and community. Second, Legette et al. (2023) justify the need for transformative social-emotional competency training to be ingrained in all aspects of their work. At the core of their manuscript, they suggest that self-awareness and social awareness as essential components for teachers to develop in order to close the opportunity gap.

Intersectional approaches to promoting psychological well-being

The previous two articles focused on supporting and transforming the roles of educators, such as teachers and Black athletic coaches. The next two articles focus on supporting students. Specifically, the authors of these articles use an intersectional frame to offer a review of research and suggest strategies for closing the opportunity gap for both Black boys and Black girls. Jones et al. (2023) describe social emotional and behavioral strategies to promote optimal outcomes of Black males. Black boys have the most disparate outcomes in terms of suspension and expulsion in schools. Readers of this article will be provided with resources to understand this problem and solutions that work for Black male success. Ruffin and Blake (2023) provide a review of research for the purpose of understanding the unique gendered and racial oppression of Black girls. The reader can expect to gain an understanding of how these experiences affect Black girls’ psychological functioning and the effects of this experience on the psychosocial functioning of Black girls and to identify programs designed to promote wellness. These two articles are examples for practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers who are interested in synthesizing and applying research to support other minoritized students (e.g. Black Transgender/Non-binary students, Afro-Latinx students, etc.).

Strategies to address academic opportunities

This section of the issue is focused on multiple approaches to accelerate the closer of the opportunity gap for specific academic skills. Jensen and Edwards (2023) provide a unique manuscript to argue that teaching reading to Black students is a moral concern that requires actionable steps to close the opportunity gap. This manuscript is unique as it opens up with a personal story from one of the authors to provide a foundation for the philosophical roots of the moral responsibility to teach reading to Black students. Although disparities in reading outcomes are primarily mentioned as a contributor to the opportunity gap, Black students’ outcomes in mathematics are also critically important. Jett and Terry (2023) provide guidance that is specific for improving the mathematics achievement of Black boys. Black Critical Race Theory is utilized by the authors to address challenges in recognizing the mathematical contributions and potential of Black boys and to provide recommendations from federal to individual interventions to support closing the opportunity gap for Black boys in mathematics. Hypolite and Rodgers (2023) provide the last article in the academic skill section of this issue. In their article, the various STEM challenges of improving STEM education for Black students are articulated through a review of research, and suggestions are provided to transform pedagogies, curricula, and civic engagement.

Higher education’s responsibility

This special issue concludes with Girio-Herrera et al.’s (2023) evaluation and the manifestation of psychological professors’ role in higher education. The authors list personal steps and outline that they have attempted to address the opportunity gap and further their professional development. This article should be considered as an exemplar to all professors in higher education to examine their position in academia and leverage their position to accelerate the opportunity gap and promote an anti-racist learning environment in all of their embedded institutions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).