Teresa Hill - Böcker

Despite 30 years of school reform, the achievement gap between African American students, Latino students, students in poverty and white middle class students persists. Too often, well-meaning teachers, leaders and policymakers inadvertently contribute to the perpetuation of the achievement gap through daily practices. Teresa D. Hill, a practitioner with experience as a teacher and leader in diverse schools, examines the structures, messages, attitudes and beliefs in schools that perpetuate the idea that failure is a default for African American, Latino, and low-income students. She then discusses the practical actions that educators and leaders can take to end failure as a default in their schools.Combatting the Achievement Gap empowers educators and leaders to make meaningful change in the educational outcomes of African American, Latino, and low-income children by addressing structures, messages, attitudes and beliefs that are within educators’ sphere of influence. It will be of interest to school and district leaders, teachers, and policymakers seeking to address the achievement gap as well as teacher educators and researchers with an interest in education and social justice.

Despite 30 years of school reform, the achievement gap between African American students, Latino students, students in poverty and white middle class students persists. Too often, well-meaning teachers, leaders and policymakers inadvertently contribute to the perpetuation of the achievement gap through daily practices. Teresa D. Hill, a practitioner with experience as a teacher and leader in diverse schools, examines the structures, messages, attitudes and beliefs in schools that perpetuate the idea that failure is a default for African American, Latino, and low-income students. She then discusses the practical actions that educators and leaders can take to end failure as a default in their schools.Combatting the Achievement Gap empowers educators and leaders to make meaningful change in the educational outcomes of African American, Latino, and low-income children by addressing structures, messages, attitudes and beliefs that are within educators’ sphere of influence. It will be of interest to school and district leaders, teachers, and policymakers seeking to address the achievement gap as well as teacher educators and researchers with an interest in education and social justice.

Every Closed Eye Ain't Sleep: African American Perspectives on the Achievement Gap examines the origins and perpetuation of the achievement gap from the perspective of the African American community. Instead of accepting the achievement gap as an inevitable matter of fact, Every Closed Eye Ain't Sleep questions the fundamental beliefs that perpetuate the gap. Drawing on dialogue with African American community members, Teresa Hill advances a framework for understanding a predominant African American view of the educational process. She then juxtaposes this framework with the norms perpetrated by the educational establishment to demonstrate how disagreements about the roles and responsibilities of parents, teachers and students affect community members' experiences in schools. Every Closed Eye Ain't Sleep opens a dialogue about the achievement gap on different terms, analyzes the gap as an issue of social justice, and provides educational leaders and policymakers with ways to engage in the productive dialogue necessary to improve education for African American children.