Abstract
The main purpose of this chapter is to address the opportunity gap in math education experiences of Black students in the United States. While some Americans may have thought that racism and inequity were issues of the past, a recent racial reckoning throughout the nation has opened many people's eyes to educational deficits in the Black community. By unpacking the definition and concepts surrounding the “opportunity gap,” this chapter identifies three main overlapping branches that exemplify Black students' struggles: inadequate educational resources, inequitable economics, and underperforming quality of instruction. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these disparities more publicly clear and has exacerbated the pain these tenets of the opportunity gap cause. Black students' math achievement has lagged due to the opportunity gap, but math can play an important role in helping to end these disparities.
TopBackground
From Brown v. Board of Education yielding legislative change to deem that racial segregation of school is unconstitutional, to the “Little Rock Nine” and Ruby Bridges facing violence and hatred as they crossed racial lines to attend White schools, it is hard to think of the fight for racial equity without considering education. Throughout history, schools have been a microcosm reflecting the racial inequities that the nation more broadly faces within other domains of life. Educational equity in the US has gained renewed attention in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the most recent period of racial reckoning with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. While these sentiments are palpable today in 2022 US, a history of racial oppression has made the most recent call-to-action inevitable. Even though over time the US has made remarkable gains regarding racial equity, math achievement disparities are still a stark example of how far the nation must go.
This chapter is divided into six main sections with the first being this introduction. This introduction will explore the climate and inequities felt by the US amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The subsequent section defines the opportunity gap and explores the three main components as mentioned earlier. The phrase “opportunity gap” is explained as a more appropriate depiction of the lived experiences of Black students rather than “achievement gap” (Pitre, 2014). The third section delves into how the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the inequities described and the fourth section discusses how these three main areas of the opportunity gap should be urgently addressed and the role math can play in that. This chapter ends with a section that includes a succinct list of recommendations for authentic change to close the math opportunity gap for Black students in the US, another section addressing areas of future research, and a conclusion.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Equity: When someone receives what they need, that is not necessarily the same as others, due to the differences in needs. This term is used purposefully in this chapter instead of “equality.”
Socio-Economic Status: Someone’s standing in society based on their financial health, which is influenced by income, education, and other environmental factors.
BIPOC: An acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous, People of Color. Such an abbreviation is intended to be more inclusive when describing non-White people.
Opportunity Gap: A phrase used to replace the “achievement gap” when describing the disparity of educational opportunities allotted to students of color.
Anti-Racism: To practice introspective reflection to address biases and take action when biases or prejudices take place.
Racial Segregation: The separation of people based on the color of their skin.
Cultural Responsiveness: To consider others’ backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and experiences when interacting with them.