Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Education: Psychology's Role in Understanding and Reducing Disparities

We review the scope and sources of ethnic and racial disparities in education with a focus on the the implications of psychological theory and research for understanding and redressing these disparities. We identify 3 sources of ethnic and racial disparities including (a) social class differences, (b) differential treatment based on ethnic and racial status, and (c) differential responses to educational practices from students across ethnic and racial status. For social class differences, we challenge the notion that ethnic and racial disparities only reflect social class differences and point out that social class disadvantage maintains ethnic and racial disparities. Next we describe the other 2 sources of educational disparities—differential treatment and responses—and provide examples of educational practices with these two sources that contribute to educational disparities. Finally, we identify some strategies, interventions, and practices based in psychological principles and theory that can be used to address educational disparities.