Education Next – Brian Kisida and Anna Egalite
“When Barack Obama was elected president, observers at the time noted that he could serve as an inspiration for millions of black students. In a contested study that followed, a group of researchers claimed the so-called “Obama effect” had raised the achievement of African-American students so much that it erased the gap between black and white test takers. Whether or not the “Obama effect” has significantly moved student test scores, there is little doubt that seeing a black man elected to the highest political office in the nation has encouraged black students to set their sights higher. We know that when a child is attempting to navigate the world, their aspirations are conditional on the set of options they encounter and what they believe is attainable. In many ways, the adult role models that students are exposed to shape the people they will become. This is partially why decades of social programs meant to break the cycle of poverty have fallen short. They have not effectively changed the cultural environments that reinforce class stratification. As Robert Putnam chronicles in his latest book, wealth increasingly produces more wealth, and poverty produces more poverty. And poverty, access to quality education, and race remain uncomfortably correlated.”(more)