What We Need is Education: Differentiating the Mechanisms Contributing to Persistent Racial Inequality of Education

• Published in: Phylon 2019-07, Vol.56 (1), p.58-80
• Main Authors: Howell, Junia, Caisey, Alannah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0031-8906; 2325-7199

Both W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King, Jr. repeatedly emphasized the critical importance of education in the fight for racial equity. Sadly, despite their and others' efforts to increase educational equality, U.S. public schools remain segregated and unequal. Although multiple scholars have noted that contemporary inequity is the product of residential segregation, charter and choice movements, academic tracking, and racialized discipline and teaching practices, none have examined how these mechanisms work together to perpetuate educational inequity. Using a Du Boisian methodological approach, the present study begins to fill this gap by decomposing descriptive parameters to illuminate how each mechanism shapes racial inequality in Advanced Placement test scores. Results suggest that inequality between Black students and other students of color is primarily due to district and school level differences. However, inequality between White and Black students is primarily due to intra-school dynamics, including racialized discipline practices and teacher interactions. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings on future research and policy.