Editor’s Note: Our Books, Articles, and Items of Academic Interest feature is at present being written by guest authors. The perspectives and opinions presented are those of the authors and will of necessity vary from issue to issue.
Civil Rights Issue?
Racial gaps in academic achievement constitute “the greatest civil rights issue of our time,” according to the subtitle of The Black-White Achievement Gap, co-authored by Rod Paige (with Elaine Witty), former secretary of education, ed school dean, and Houston schools superintendant (American Management Association, 2010). Perhaps that is an exaggeration—or perhaps it’s true, and it demonstrates how much American race relations have improved in the last 150 years. But these gaps certainly exist, and they certainly matter.
One thing the book does exceedingly well is to explain the racial gaps of which it speaks. The authors devote chapter 2
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