Black Students. Middle Class Teachers.
Kunjufu, an educational consultant and author of several  nonfiction books on African American affairs, offers another in  the wide array of recently published books on why the  educational system is failing minority children. Kunjufu's book  examines why black children, more than 50 percent of whom live  below the poverty line, are still lagging behind in educational  achievement. He cites a variety of factors, including negative  peer pressure, lack of parental involvement, school funding  discrepancies, and even genetics. But much of the problem, he  believes, stems from the fact that 83 percent of the  elementary-school teacher population is made up of white,  middle-class females. Low teacher expectations, mismatched  teaching and learning styles, lack of time, tracking, and an  irrelevant Eurocentric curriculum are, he claims, at the root of  the problem. In the last chapter, Kunjufu provides examples of  successful programs aimed at closing the achievement gap between  blacks and the rest of the school-age population. While there  are many books on educational improvement, this one provides a  fresh view from a different perspective and is recommended for  academic and public libraries.Mark Bay, Cumberland Coll. Lib.,  Williamsburg, KYCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.