Who’s at Risk in School and What’s Race Got to Do With It?

Abstract

is at risk in school, and what does race have to do with it? In responding to the first part of this question, researchers have relied extensively on quantitative analyses. Historically, such studies have either calculated the likelihood of poor educational outcomes (e.g., dropping out of high school and/or course failure) for different demographic categories or documented the underperformance of one demographic category compared to another on a host of academic measures, including grade point average (GPA), high school completion, and, most often, performance on standardized achievement tests. In empirical analyses of this kind, race has often been reduced to a variable, and study after study has demonstrated its reliable and robust correlation with indices of educational achievement and attainment (e.g., Baker, 2001; Fryer & Levitt, 2006; Hedges & Nowell, 1999; Jones, 1988-1989; J. Lee, 2002; Patterson, Kupersmidt, & Vaden, 1990; for a detailed discussion regarding the use of race as a variable, also see O'Connor, Lewis, & Mueller, 2007). Within the discourse of risk, findings from these analyses have been interpreted as evidence that particular racial groups are more susceptible to negative or maladaptive educational outcomes than others. Conclusions drawn from these findings also suggest that we can predict the chances for academic failure or underachievement based on one's racial group membership (see Natriello, McDill, & Pallas, 1990). Studies of the extent to which race correlates with educational outcomes and elucidates achievement gaps predate the discourse on risk (which was founded in epidemiological studies). However, the publication of A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) shepherded the notion of risk and