Special Education

Gifted Black Pupils Found Pressured to Underperform

By Lesli A. Maxwell — March 17, 2008 | Corrected: February 22, 2019 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Corrected: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect name for the research journal Urban Education.

Gifted black students who underperform in school may do so because of peer pressure to “act black,” according to new research published this month in the journal Urban Education.

In “Another Look at the Achievement Gap: Learning From the Experiences of Gifted Black Students,” authors Donna Y. Ford, Tarek C. Grantham, and Gilman W. Whiting found that peer pressure to “act black” was significant among a group of gifted African-American students in two Ohio districts.

The study analyzed survey results from 166 students—some in a low-performing urban district; others in a suburban, higher-performing district—who were in grades 6-12. The survey asked them questions about their behavior and attitudes toward academic achievement, as well as their perceptions of social and peer pressures.

Blog: On Special Education

Education Week‘s Christina A. Samuels tracks news and trends of interest to the special education community, including administrators, teachers, and parents.

To that end, the researchers asked students to describe what the phrases “acting white” and “acting black” meant.

Most of them described “acting white” as speaking standard English, doing well in school, taking advanced courses, being stuck up, and not acting your race. In describing what it meant to “act black,” they used phrases such as being laid-back, being dumb or uneducated, and pretending not to be smart.

“I was really surprised at how many times the students equated ‘acting black’ with something negative,” said Ms. Ford, a professor of special education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. “It’s tragic.”

Mr. Whiting said there are troubling ramifications for the students who associated “acting black” with negative behaviors.

“These are young, black people talking about themselves,” said Mr. Whiting, a professor of African-American and diaspora studies at Vanderbilt. “What do you have to deal with when you have young students who feel this way about themselves?”

The co-authors conclude their study with recommendations to address underachievement, including counseling on how to handle peer pressure, mentorships with successful African-American adults, and multicultural curricula.

A version of this article appeared in the March 19, 2008 edition of Education Week

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
How District Leaders Align Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction for Student Success
Join K-12 leaders as they share strategies for aligning curriculum, assessment, and instruction to support all learners.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Achieve Early Literacy Success at Scale
Researchers have uncovered an intervention helping schools achieve early literacy success at scale. Learn how to bring it to your district.
Content provided by Ignite Reading

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Special Education Schools Lag in IDing Kids Who Need Special Education. Are They Catching Up?
Schools in one state are making progress addressing a pandemic-fueled backlog of special education identifications.
5 min read
Illustration of a young girl with hands on her head, having difficulty reading with scrambled letters on the pages of an open book.
iStock/Getty
Special Education 3 Things Every Teacher Should Know About Learning Differences
A researcher, a teacher, and a student all weigh in: What do you wish all teachers knew about students with learning differences?
3 min read
Photograph showing a red bead standing out from blue beads on an abacus.
iStock/Getty
Special Education How Special Education Might Change Under Trump: 5 Takeaways
Less funding and more administrative chaos could be on the horizon—but basic building blocks like IDEA appear likely to remain.
7 min read
Photo of teacher working with hearing-impaired student.
E+
Special Education How Trump's Policies Could Affect Special Education
The new administration's stance on special education isn't yet clear—but efforts to revamp federal policy could have ripple effects.
13 min read
A teenage girl from the back looks through the bars, the fenced barrier, at the White House in Washington, D.C.
iStock/Getty Images