Roni M Ellington (EDT), Rona M. Frederick (EDT) Capitalizing on Culture

Annotation

Many current conversations in education regarding the "achievement gap" specific to Black and White children fail to consider the historical, economic, sociopolitical and moral backdrop that created the dire educational circumstances experienced by many African Americans. These conversations around the "achievement gap" do not take into consideration the systemic inequities that have accumulated over centuries, resulting in African Americans' cumulative denial to quality learning opportunities (Ladson-Billings, 2006). As a result, many African American students are not afforded access to adequate resources to achieve at the levels comparable to their white counterparts. Despite the legacy of the systematic inequity, many African American parents, historically and presently, continue to successfully pursue quality formal learning opportunities for their children. This book highlights examples of African American parents' use of social and cultural capital to create high academic student achievers. This book is especially instructive because it provides space for currently academically successful African American mathematics students matriculating through higher education to discuss their parents' role in fostering their success.