NEA: NEA Today: October 2005 Up Front: "
What's not in a name
Expect More from Ebony
Do you think Ebony is as smart as Emily? Unfortunately, the answer might be no.
A University of Florida (UF) professor, who examined academic data on more than 50,000 students with identifiably African-American and Caucasian names, found that Demetrius and Deja paid a price for those handles. When teachers and administrators selected students for gifted programs, a 'Jake' was more likely to get the nod than a 'Jamal'?even if they had identical test scores.
It's about low expectations, says UF's David Figlio?and eventually it translates into lower test scores for the kids. When checking into sibling pairs, one with a 'regular' name and the other with a 'racial' name, he found the kids who had names associated with low socioeconomic status scored lower in reading and math. Meanwhile, siblings with Asian-sounding names did better than their Anglo-sounding sisters and brothers!
