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Education 240
(Fall 2007)
Professor: Hilton Kelly, Ph.D. This course offers a critical examination of competing explanations and impassioned debates over the racial achievement gap in the United States, with a focus on the education of African-Americans from slavery to the 21st century. We will address several critical questions over time: How does race and racism shape schooling experiences and outcomes for African-Americans in the United States? How does access to various forms of capital and privilege produce fundamentally different opportunities within the African-American community and between African-Americans and other racial/ethnic groups? Among African-American students and teachers, what are the forms of resistance against white hegemonic domination in schooling and society? This course will also explore how gender and class complicate race-specific solutions to the racial achievement gap. We will conclude with a consideration of the possibilities and the limitations of closing the racial achievement gap? Required Texts Carter, Prudence. 2005. Keepin’ it real: School success beyond black and white. New York: Oxford University Press. Lewis, Amanda E. 2005. Race in the schoolyard: Negotiating the color line in classrooms and communities. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Noguera, Pedro and Wing, Jean Yonemura. 2006. Unfinished business: Closing the racial achievement gap in our schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Royster, Deirdre A. 2003. Race and the invisible hand: How white networks exclude black men from blue collar jobs. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Singham, Mano. 2005. The achievement gap in U.S. education: Canaries in the mine. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Williams, Heather Andrea. 2005. Self taught: African-American education in slavery and freedom. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Part One Canaries in the MineAug. 27 Introduction and Course Expectations Aug. 29 An Intellectual Puzzle § The Black-White Test Score Gap, Introduction & Chapter 1 (Jencks & Phillips) § Introduction, Chapter 2 (Singham) Aug. 31 Myths and Mayhem § Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb, Introduction, Chapters 1 & 2 (Ogbu) § Chapter 3 (Singham) Sept. 3 (Im)Probable Causes § Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb, Chapter 3 (Ogbu) § Chapters 4, 5, & 6 (Singham) Sept. 5 Bringing Teachers Back In § Chapters 8 & 9 (Singham) § “The Problem of Underqualified Teachers” (Ingersoll) Sept. 7 Education as a Social Function § “Education as a Social Function” (Dewey) § “Education and Schooling" (Shujaa) § Chapter 10 (Singham) Sept. 10 Does the Negro Still Need Separate Schools? § “Does the Negro Need Separate Schools?” (Du Bois) § “The Effects of Segregation on African American High School Seniors’ Academic Achievement” (Mickelson & Heath) § “BAD BOYS: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity” (Ferguson) Sept. 12 Review/Exam Question Sept. 14 Exam Question 1 DUE Part Two The Education of Black Folk: From Slavery to FreedomSept. 17 Self-Taught § Introduction, Chapters 1 & 2 (Williams) § Annotated bibliography topic due Sept. 19 Self-Taught § Chapters 3 & 4 (Williams) Sept. 21 Self-Taught § Chapters 5 & 6 (Williams) Sept. 24 Self-Taught § Chapters 9, Epilogue, & Appendix (Williams) Sept. 26 Booker T. or W.E.B. § “Booker T. Washington” and “W.E.B. Du Bois” (Mullane) § “Education and Work” (Du Bois) Sept. 28 Living Jim Crow § “The Black Public High School and the Reproduction of Caste in the Urban South, 1880-1935 (Anderson) § “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch” (Wright) Online: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA01/White/anthology/wright.html Oct. 1 Forgotten Readers § “Introduction: In Search of Black Readers” (McHenry) § “Reading, Writing, and Reform in the Woman’s Era” (McHenry) Oct . 3 Can a Black Woman Speak? § “Bible, Bath, and Broom”: Nannie Helen Burroughs’s National Training School and African-American Racial Uplift.” (Wolcott) § Excerpt from Anna Julia Cooper’s A Voice in the South (Mullane) § “’A little more than ordinary interest in the underprivileged’: Cooper’s Lifelong Commitment to Liberation.” (May) Oct. 5 Brown I and II § The Making of Brown I and Brown II (Martin) § “The Effects of Segregation and the Consequences of Desegregation: A Social Science Statement” (Martin) Oct. 8 Freedom: Dreams, Protests, & Prophesy § “I Have a Dream” (Mullane) § “The Black Panther Party Platform” (Mullane) § Interviews with Everett Dawson, Bernadine B. Morris, & Etta Joan Marks (Foster) Oct. 10 Review/Exam Question Oct. 12 Exam Question 2 DUE Oct. 13-16 Fall Break Part Three The Continuing Significance of Race and RacismOct. 17 White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era § “The Continuing Significance of Race: Anti-Black Discrimination in Public Places (Feagin) § Racism Without Racists, Chapters 1, 2, & 3 (Bonilla-Silva) Oct. 19 The Burden of ‘Acting White’ § “Black Students’ School Success: Coping with the Burden of ‘Acting White.’” (Fordham & Ogbu) § The Attitude-Achievement Paradox among Black Adolescents (Mickelson) Oct. 22 Keepin’ it Real § Appendix, Introduction, & Chapter 1 (Carter) Oct. 24 No Class (American Educational Studies Association Conference) Oct. 26 No Class (American Educational Studies Association Conference) Oct. 29 Keepin’ it Real Chapters 2, 3, & 5 (Carter) Oct. 31 Keepin’ it Real § Chapters 6 (Carter) § “Collective Identity and the Burden of “Acting White” in Black History, Community, and Education” (Ogbu) Nov. 2 Reassessing the “Burden of Acting White” § “Reassessing the ‘Burden of Acting White:’ The Importance of Peer Groups in Managing Academic Success.” (Horvat & Lewis) § “Reexamining Resistance as Oppositional Behavior: The Nation of Islam and the Creation of a Black Achievement Ideology.” (Akom) § “It’s Not a ‘Black Thing’: Understanding the Burden of Acting White and Other Dilemmas of High Achievement.” (Tyson, Darity, & Castellino) Nov. 5 Race in the School Yard § Appendix, Chapters 1 & 2 (Lewis) Nov. 7 Race in the School Yard § Chapters 3 & 4 (Lewis) Nov. 9 Race in the School Yard § Chapters 6 & 7 (Lewis) Nov. 12 Race and the Invisible Hand § Introduction, Chapter 1 (Royster) Nov. 14 Race and the Invisible Hand § Chapters 2 & 3 (Royster) Nov. 16 Race and the Invisible Hand § Chapters 4 & 5 (Royster) Nov. 19 Race and the Invisible Hand § Chapters 6 (Royster) § Annotated bibliography due Nov. 21 Thanksgiving Break Nov. 23 Thanksgiving Break Nov. 26 Race and the Invisible Hand § Chapters 7 & 8 (Royster) Nov. 28 Review/Exam Question Nov. 30 Exam Question 3 Due Part Four Closing the Racial Achievement Gap Dec. 3 Unfinished Business § Preface, Introduction, and Chapter 1 (Noguera & Wing) Dec. 5 Unfinished Business § Chapters 2 & 3 (Noguera & Wing) Dec. 7 Unfinished Business § Chapters 4 & 5 (Noguera & Wing) Dec. 10 Unfinished Business § Chapters 6 & Conclusion (Noguera & Wing) Dec. 12 Review/Exam Question and Course Evaluation Dec. 14 Exam Question 4 at 5:00 GRADING
COMMENTARIES The purpose of commentaries is to encourage critical and reflective thinking about the readings through written expression. Commentaries will be used to spark dialogue in seminar and to focus the seminar on student-generated questions and issues. Students will: 1) Explain the major themes and critical perspectives covered in and across readings, 2) State a position and make counter-arguments when appropriate, 3) Generate four thought-provoking questions that will encourage further discussion about the readings. Commentaries should be double-spaced, word processed, and consistent with the American Psychological Association (APA) reference format. There is no maximum length, but the minimum is three complete pages. Please note that commentaries are due on the dates that appear in a box in the reading schedule. Under no circumstances will students be allowed to e-mail commentaries. Please do not summarize the readings! Be prepared to use your questions in the seminar! ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY An annotated bibliography is a collection of significant and current information on a particular topic or area of study in which each source is summarized, analyzed, and evaluated for educative purposes. By the end of the semester, you will complete an extensive annotated bibliography. The annotated bibliography is significant groundwork for a major academic study, but it also demonstrates your research skills and knowledge of the most recent arguments and debates around some topic. While I admit that this course will not teach you everything that you want to know, this assignment has the potential to fill in some of the gaps and to encourage you to continue learning after the course. By September 17th, you will sign up for a topic to research under the umbrella of “the racial achievement gap.” The annotated bibliography is due by November 19th. The requirements are: A. 15 sources divided into sections B. At least 4 of the following: books and articles C. At least 1 of the following: websites, films, and historical narratives C. A 150 word minimum for each annotation D. American Psychological Association (APA) citation format E. Relevant, current, and significant sources READINGSThe readings are an essential component of this course. They provide additional information and perspectives, aid in broadening your understanding, and prepare you for writing assignments. You will be able to print articles and book chapters from Blackboard. You will be expected to complete readings before class. Reading quizzes will be random and calculated as a concomitant assignment. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY The students and faculty of Davidson College are committed to the Honor Code and will not tolerate any violation of this principle. Academic honesty, the cornerstone of teaching and learning, lays the foundation for lifelong integrity. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, providing or receiving assistance in a manner not authorized by the instructor in the creation of work to be submitted for evaluation. This standard applies to all work ranging from daily homework assignments to major exams. Students must clearly cite any sources consulted---not only for quoted phrases but also for ideas and information that are not common knowledge. Neither ignorance nor carelessness is an acceptable defense in cases of plagiarism. It is the student's responsibility to follow the appropriate format for citations. As is indicated in Davidson College’s Student Handbook, instructors must refer every act of academic dishonesty and violations may result in failure in the course, suspension, or expulsion. DOCUMENTED DISABILITIESThe Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. The ADA requires that students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation. Any student who feels he or she may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately as soon as possible to discuss his or her specific needs. I rely on the Office of the Dean of Students to verify the need for reasonable accommodations based on documentation in that office. ATTENDANCEAttendance to all classes is critical. If you are unable to attend class for any reason, you should provide a written explanation for your absence. Two points will be deducted from class participation for each “unexcused” absence. No points will be deducted from class participation for “excused” absences. I reserve the right to decide whether an absence is unexcused or excused. (ATTENTION: Job interviews, doctor appointments, taking a test for another class, leaving early, or coming back late from vacation are not acceptable reasons for missing class.) Whether unexcused or excused, three absences or more may result in failure. LATE PAPERS No writing assignments will be accepted late UNLESS you have a written note from the Dean of Students explaining why you were not able to complete the assignment on time. After the writing assignment has been graded and returned to students, late papers with a note from the Dean of Students will not be accepted.Davidson Home Page | Search Davidson | Email the Department of Education © Copyright 2007 Department of Education, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035-7124 |
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