EDUCATION AND URBAN SOCIETY / August 2002Uhlenberg, Brown / GAP IN TEACHERS ’ PERCEPTIONS RACIAL GAP IN TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP

Why does the achievement gap exist, and what should we do about it? Ogbu and Simons sug-gested that urbanminority parents “hold teachers and schools, rather than their children, respon-sible for poor academic performance. ” Other adults focus on the children and families, com-menting on such things as poverty and lack of parental concern. And then there are the students who talk about being underestimated, dismissed, or just bored. The purpose of this study is to ex-amine Black and White teachers ’ perceptions of possible causes and potential solutions to the achievement gap. Similarities and differences in their perceptions are highlighted. Our study suggests that beforewe can take a discussion of solutions to the next level, teachersmust first ex-amine and move past their personal assumptions and strive to understand the whole reality. The achievement gap, along with its possible causes and its potential solu-tions, has become one of the central issues in public education in general and urban education in particular. Newspapers and magazines decry the gap in headline articles, educators and academics discuss it frequently at confer-ences, and school board officials write strategic plans to address student need. The existence of an achievement gap between Black and White stu