Kids don't want to fail : oppositional culture and the Black-White achievement gap

Kids Don't Want to Fail uses empirical evidence to refute the widely accepted hypothesis that the black-white achievement gap in secondary schools is due to a cultural resistance to schooling in the black community. The author finds that inadequate elementary school preparation--not negative attitude--accounts for black students' underperformance.

• Preface p. ix
• 1 Introduction to Oppositional Culture p. 1
• 2 Discrimination and Barriers: Basis for Black Cynicism toward Schooling p. 30
• 3 Origins of Youth Perceptions of Opportunity and Academic Investment p. 53
• 4 Effects of Youth Perceptions of Opportunity on Academic Achievement p. 74
• 5 Racial Differences in Academic Orientation of Youth p. 98
• 6 Should Blacks Become Raceless to Improve Achievement? p. 128
• 7 Shifting the Focus Away from Culture and toward Prior Skills p. 144
• 8 Does Marginalization Equal Resistance to Schooling? A Class-Based Analysis p. 163
• 9 Refocusing Understanding of Racial Differences in Academic Outcomes p. 180
• Appendix A Note of Caution about Testing p. 199
• Appendix B Sources of Data p. 203
• Appendix C Methodological Appendix p. 211
• Appendix D Description of Measures p. 235
• Notes p. 273
• Bibliography p. 283
• Acknowledgments p. 303
• Index p. 307