Equity and Excellence in Black Education

 Parker Coleman

Dr. Harris

ENGL2016-45498

12/01/2025

Equity and Excellence in Black Education

In the United States today, there are persistent disparities in academic achievement remaining a challenge for Black students in comparison to their peers. National data further shows that the standardized test scores, graduation rates and college completion levels continue to lag their fellow peers. This “lag” is often referred to as the “student achievement gap”. However, this gap does not solely represent a matter of an individual's level of effort, but reflects systemic inequities in access to funding, opportunity, and more resources. It is these same statistics that leave room for questions as to what kind of system best prepares a marginalized community for elevation? Many say it is practical skills and vocational training, such as Booker T. Washington. On the other hand, some would argue that higher education and intellectual leadership elevates a community, such as Du Bois. This question that had been sparked by Du Bois in “Of The Training of Black Men,” paved the way and framed two roads toward racial liberation; and even after a century has passed, it remains pressing today as local school administrators, federal and state policy makers, and community stakeholders collaborate and confront the persistent achievement gap between black students and their peers. Du Bois’s vision highlights the importance of higher education for racial liberation. However, modern day scholarships on the present-day student achievement gap show that systemic inequities demand a broader framework. 

To fully understand how Du Bois’s argument has evolved, it is necessary to first return to where he insisted that education was a necessity for racial elevation, the Talented Tenth in particular. In “Of the Training of Black Men,” Du Bois critiques the idea that black elevation should be limited to manual labor and vocational training, that the means for elevation was through the idea of a higher education. Not only that, but he then emphasized on the idea of bringing up a select group of African American men to lead and be able to “lift his duller brethren slowly and painfully to his vantage-ground"(Du Bois). In this way, they would be able to lead the community, advocate for their rights, and produce leaders in the community, such as policy makers, ministers, teachers, etc. However, this idea of having only a tenth of African American males to be able to lead and influence the broader African American community doesn't hold a strong enough foundation after looking into our modern-day systemic barriers.

When viewing contemporaneous research on the issues of the student achievement gap, there are disparities constantly arising that complicate the vision instilled by Du Bois. Micheal Solem and Phillip Vaughan argue that some of the systemic inequalities that impact the opportunity to learn (OTL) in U.S. schools are, a “shortage of geographically trained teachers, outdated computer technology and instructional materials, and perennially low levels of funding” (Solem and Vaughan). These studies show that these systemic barriers put limitations not only on the African American community, but to this idea that there can be consistent and applicable higher-level education leadership to influence the African American community nationwide. Which in return, counteracts Du Bois’s argument of being able to have a talented tenth. To go further into that, an article published by L’Monique King titled, “The Relevance and Redefining of Du Bois's Talented Tenth,” they would quote Morehouse, which said “An ordinary education may answer for the nine men of mediocrity; but if this is all we offer the talented tenth man, we make a prodigious mistake”(King 1). This statement highlights the tension that the education system has between educating all students adequately, while still producing this higher education for the students of excellence, and cherishing them for leadership. If gifted black students only receive this average education, everyone else receives, then their potential to then lead, elevate, and influence others in the community is wasted. Today educators face the challenges of balancing equity and excellence, Education Next talked about this struggle, stating that for the last decade or so, the sole purpose in the realm of education was to erase these achievement gaps. By doing so, it raised the question as to whether in doing so, if we, the nation, had also overlooked the higher achievers and gifted students we possessed. They cite, “Has a focus on reading and math proficiency, and on boosting graduation rates, meant less attention and support for the “talented tenth”"(Education Next). By concentrating so much on raising the floor for all students, the nation has lost focus on the ceiling. This issue has been seen time and time again; the same actions occurred during the Harlem Renaissance. Alain Locke would point out the same problem that the African American community was facing in his piece, “New Negro,” he said “We have not been watching in the right direction; set North and South on a sectional axis, we have not noticed the East till the sun has us blinking” (Locke). While both contexts may be different, it resonates well with the idea that focusing entirely on one realm of the problem. We, the nation, neglect the other half, the “talented tenth.” Now, this quote is not to say that we must choose one or the other; the issue is not that we must choose to focus on one or the other. The modern-day issue is that there is a perception that children who are not highly achieving must be focused on and focus on the gifted programs must be detracted from. However, that is not the case, in fact, Du Bois’s argument on leadership is still vital; leadership today must be cultivated for the entire spectrum of students, not just an elite minority.

For Du Bois argument on the talented tenth to work in modern times, black education must blend a call for higher education for all groups of students while addressing the systemic inequities that are seen through this student achievement gap. Cultivating leaders needs to be a vital point, however, we also need quality access to all students, so all students receive quality education, and not average or below average education. however, implements like this are actively occurring, in fact Teach for America’s (TFA) teachers have been implemented and seen the positive impact of targeted teacher training when it comes to student development. The key aspect TFA found was that teachers impacted the achievement of students in science. With a statistically significant average effect size of 0.16, The source highlights that, “[t]he probability that a random TFA intervention effect has a positive impact on science achievement is 99.98%” (Citkowicz 3). The evidence that TFA positively impacts students' science achievement, strongly suggests that the contribution of specialized teacher training can prove beneficial to young students' success around the entire nation, specifically, students from low-income threshold- poverty areas-. Another example of an implemented change that can be seen is in Michigan. Michigan was one of the leading states that had a major fall due to the pandemic. As a response, ten evidence-based recovery practices were implemented to invest in their students. One recommendation when it came to funding was to “strengthen early childhood students” by focusing on; quality of funding, the ability to access and afford, structured funding, improved workforce recruitment, reflective retention tactics, and refined compensation (Education Trust-Midwest). The governor recommended expansion of the “Great Start Readiness Program,” which would provide, “$159.8 million for FY25... funding per full-day students increase by 7.6%, to $10,342 and income eligibility is removed” (Education Trust-Midwest 2). In addition, a one-hundred fifty-five million toward their curriculum and training improvements was said to, “allow districts to adopt the most effective literacy tools and practices” (Education Trust-Midwest 2). Michigan’s approach demonstrates how strategic, evidence-based funding can yield perceptible improvements. If measures like these were applied across the country, then we can create a baseline for adequate education, which then allows higher achievers to also get the tools needed to take on leadership positions without their talent being wasted.  By synthesizing these approaches into multiple roads leading to elevation, the limitations the African American community has been subject to within the early 20th-century can be counteracted. These strategies that would be implemented would show that excellence and equity are not both mutually exclusive, but complementary characteristics needed for racial elevation.

In conclusion, Du Bois’s argument made during “Of the Training of Black Men” remains as a powerful piece in shaping our education system. In her journal Wendling would say, “W.E.B. Du Bois understood higher education to be one of the most effective tools of emancipation for the Black community—a way to alleviate the dreadful economic, political, and social conditions” (1), yet it was the talented tenth doesn’t hold up to modern day problems due to the student achievement gap. With the persisting gap between students and their peers, leadership cannot alone overcome the systemic inequities marginalized groups face today. By revisiting the arguments Du Bois made through the lens provided by modern day scholarship, we see it is attention focused on racing the floor, without neglecting the ceiling that leads to racial uplift. Du Bois argument continues to elevate conversations within the African American education as we examine the integration of higher education and looking into the talented tenth which will advance and influence the community. However, elevation cannot simply come from an elite minority itself; it is the integration of an applicable framework for all students which can confront the systemic barriers which prevent racial liberation. 

Works Cited

Citkowicz, Martyna, et al. A Meta-Analysis of Teach For America Teacher Impacts, Advancing Evidence Improving Lives, Sept. 2024, https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/2024-11/TFA-meta-analysis_memo.pdf. 

“Educational Recovery and Acceleration through Equitable Funding: How Michigan’s Budget Can Improve Outcomes for All Students. Brief on the Fiscal Year 2025 Executive School Aid Budget Recommendation.” Education Trust-Midwest, 1 Feb. 2024. https://midwest.edtrust.org/resource/educational-recovery-and-acceleration-through-equitable-funding-how-michigans-budget-can-improve-outcomes-for-all-students/. 

Epstein, Richard A., et al. “Are We Lifting All Boats or Only Some? Equity versus Excellence and the Talented Tenth.” Education Next, vol. 11, no. 3, Jan. 2011, pp. 46–53. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=cded5a6c-2a02-3b72-9f3d-b04410943c78.

“Higher Education as a Means of Communal Uplift: The Educational Philosophy of W.E.B. Du Bois.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 87, no. 3, Jan. 2018, pp. 285–93. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.87.3.0285.

King, L’Monique. “The Relevance and Redefining of Du Bois’s Talented Tenth: Two Centuries Later.” University of North Georgia, 18 July 2022, ir.ung.edu/work/sc/7cb3aaac-5638-462a-9d5c-afae5da3aa31. 

Locke, Alain. “New Negro.” The American Yawp Reader, www.americanyawp.com/reader/22-the-new-era/alain-locke-on-the-new-negro-1925/. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025.

Solem, Michael, and Phillip W. Vaughan. “Factors That Affect Student Outcomes in U.S. Geography Education.” Annals of the American Association of Geographers, vol. 113, no. 6, July 2023, pp. 1383–401. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2023.2187341.