Words That Come Before All Else

In the Onondaga Nation the school week begins with a recitation of the traditional Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) “Words That Come Before All Else”, an address that is older than the English language and which shows respect and gratitude to all elements of the natural world (Kimmerer, 2020). One part is particularly salient to instructors: “We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring Teachers.” Indeed, these words should come before all else for instructors as one of our primary roles is to make sure everyone in the classroom lives in harmony and feels respected and appreciated.

Three Groups Share Three Key Problems

AHNs, FG students, and transfer students face a multitude of challenges before entering college and during their college career. For AHNs, structural racism, low GWI, and social-psychological factors are the root causes of the academic achievement gap. Collectively bias, racism, isolation, stereotypes and the unlevel playing field experienced by AHN, FG, and transfer students culminate in the three proximal causes of the achievement gap: 1) lack of belonging, 2) increased stress and anxiety, and 3) poor engagement and performance. Structural racism can lead to stereotype threat, microaggressions, and implicit bias, which can reduce students’ performance and feelings of belongingness while simultaneously increasing their levels of stress and anxiety. The low GWI experienced by many AHNs can lead to fewer resources and less academic preparation. Like AHNs, FG students and transfer students can feel isolated and overwhelmed. They often have increased family and work responsibilities and have trouble fitting in and adapting to college due to cultural mismatch and transfer shock. Collectively bias, racism, isolation, stereotypes and the unlevel playing field experienced by AHN, FG, and transfer students culminate in the three proximal causes of the achievement gap: 1) lack of belonging, 2) increased stress and anxiety, and 3) poor engagement and performance.

None of the above challenges are the fault of the students. Instead, these challenges result from racism, inadequate support, exclusive instructional practices, and inequitable policies. Peer-reviewed journal articles detailing these challenges and barriers are individually comprehensive and compelling, and collectively they present a strong argument that something must be done if our goal is for all students to be successful. Practically speaking, underprivileged, underrepresented, and underprepared groups are a big asset for the US and improving their STEM education experiences is paramount for maintaining the pace of scientific progress. More importantly, instructors have a moral and ethical obligation to help all their students succeed so that they can reach their educational goals and career aspirations; improving educational experiences and outcomes for these groups is simply the right thing to do.

Teacher Perceptions of the Academic Achievement Gap

Do teachers believe that the academic achievement gaps exist and are serious? Who or what do they think is responsible for these gaps? How do they view their role in addressing these problems? These very questions were the subject of Ratcliff’s 2016 article entitled “Causes of and Solutions to the Achievement Gap: Teachers’ Perceptions” (Ratcliff et al., 2016). This article surveyed 874 educators, most of whom were secondary school teachers. Teachers should not view themselves as a cause of the achievement gap, or a passive bystander; instead they should see themselves as a catalyst for change. The results indicated that teachers feel that the academic achievement gap is the most important issue facing educators. Most teachers believed the academic achievement gap is largely due to non-academic factors such as parenting techniques, disruptive/inappropriate student behavior, lack of student motivation/work-ethic, and low family income. When asked to propose solutions for the achievement gap, teachers suggested reducing class size, making students more accountable, having additional tutoring opportunities, and using alternative assessments to identify high-risk students. Taken together these results show that teachers (at least secondary school teachers) feel that the primary causes-of and solutions-to the achievement gap are largely outside of their control. It is human nature to avoid blame and extra work, but this review article as well as its companion article mentioned below strongly argue that there are in fact many ways that instructors can acknowledge and address the achievement gap within their classrooms. Teachers should not view themselves as a cause of the achievement gap, or a passive bystander; instead they should see themselves as a catalyst for change. According to Ratcliff et al., “for schools to have a positive impact on closing the achievement gap, teachers must believe that they are part of the solution.”

Instructors and Administrators Can Help in Numerous Ways

While instructors cannot single-handedly reverse decades of inequality and racism, college professors are ideally positioned to be an important part of the solution. Instructors can help students by altering their own behaviors and instructional practices, and by implementing psychosocial interventions or other activities designed to address the three primary drivers of the achievement gap. These strategies, interventions, and activities work by recognizing, reducing, and eliminating barriers and by implementing evidence-based practices and strategies to help students succeed; furthermore, these strategies are free and easily adapted to fit the needs of each instructor’s classroom. For a detailed review, please see Part II of this book. Instructors do not need to implement all these techniques at once and are instead advised to start with simple changes such as adding inclusive language in their syllabus, improving student-instructor rapport, creating a welcoming classroom environment, and showing concern for student well-being.

Each institution should focus its efforts on challenges/barriers that are most prevalent in their student population in order to maximize the effectiveness of the interventions they choose to undertake. For example, an institution that has high amounts of transfer students may want to consider implementing programs designed to reduce transfer shock. An analysis of student demographics as well as college- or instructor-administered surveys can help determine which problems are most pressing and which students have the greatest need for support. Administrators are well positioned to increase the incentives for instructors to make meaningful changes in their classrooms. These incentives could potentially include pay raises, extra TAs, and sabbatical time, as well as having successful classroom interventions count towards promotion and tenure.

Conclusion

In conclusion, AHN, FG, and transfer students frequently experience bias, racism, and isolation, and they begin college on an unlevel playing field. These challenges decrease feelings of belongingness, increase stress and anxiety, and decrease engagement and performance, which ultimately leads to the formation of academic achievement gaps between these students and their peers. Change begins with individual instructors and administrators who acknowledge both the existence and severity of the academic achievement gaps, and are willing to work towards solutions. The up-hill battle these students are facing will only improve with change, and that change begins with individual instructors and administrators who acknowledge both the existence and severity of the academic achievement gaps, and are willing to work towards solutions using both novel and well-established strategies. By undertaking appropriate measures and interventions in their classrooms instructors can help lay the foundation for a more just, inclusive, and equitable future.