Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Schools

by Miriam Klein Stahl (Illustrator), Pedro A. Noguera (Editor), Jean Yonemura Wing (Editor)

In this groundbreaking book, co-editors Pedro Noguera and Jean Yonemura Wing, and their collaborators investigated the dynamics of race and achievement at Berkeley High School–a large public high school that the New York Times called "the most integrated high school in America." Berkeley's diverse student population clearly illustrates the "achievement gap" phenomenon in our schools. Unfinished Business brings to light the hidden inequities of schools–where cultural attitudes, academic tracking, curricular access, and after-school activities serve as sorting mechanisms that set students on paths of success or failure.

Genres: Education

318 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2006

Reviews

[Mark]

Because I've worked in Title I schools in New York City for the 13 years, there was little in this book that I haven't seen, and therefore little to surprise me. That our public schools replicate--and therefore perpetuate--social relations in our broader society ought to be axiomatic at this point. As an aside (and as a teacher of struggling and at-risk students), I've always found it odd that taxpayers in this city and state put up with this. It is an outrage, a fact this book acknowledges in its otherwise measured and dispassionate analysis, amply supported by evidence gathered while the editors and authors researched education opportunity and equity at Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California.

The last fifty pages or so, in which Berkeley High School students add their voices to this story, are the most interesting of the book. We teachers need to encourage and listen to more discourses from students themselves about the shortcomings of our schools. As one student asks, rhetorically, "How could a discussion of student achievement and equity happen without the voice of students? In any type of real change within a system, the voice of the people who are directly affected must be part of the solution." Enough said!

[Aryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book while I was teaching at Berkeley High School for a very short time this past year. The book closely explores the dynamics of race and achievement at Berkeley High and unearths the the hidden inequities in the large, diverse public high school. If you are an educator in the Bay Area I think it is a great read--it provides a deep exploration of the status quo sorting mechanisms that set students on paths of social reproduction before the first day they set foot on the high school campus.

Pedro Noguera (the editor) is speaking at the Teachers for Social Justice Conference in San Francisco on Saturday, October 10th, 2009 - 9am-5pm,

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book after living in the Bay Area and visiting Berkeley High School on behalf of my college for the past eight years, but was disappointed that it did not contain the broader conversation about "closing the racial achievement gap in our schools" that the subtitle promises. This is essentially a case study of Berkeley High from '96-'02, with many worthwhile issues and problems highlighted, but ultimately a pessimistic message about the possibility of providing an equitable education for all races in our public school system. Worth a read if you're in education.

[Bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this book 3.5 stars. Parts are really good (especially the first about structurally ingrained disparities at one of the nation's most celebrated public high schools), other parts drag. If you are interested in the topic it's definitely worth your time, and is a quick read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this and got a reminder to re-read this book!