Challenging Issues for Academia
Disparities in achievement and educating for a diverse culture are the focus of new books by leading scholars in education.
By Angela P. Dodson
Closing the African-American Achievement Gap in Higher Education, edited by Alfred P. Rovai, Louis B. Gallien, Helen R. Stiff-Williams, $49, Teachers College Press (July 30, 2007) ISBN-10: 0807747785, ISBN-13: 978-0807747780, 212 pp.
In a compact but comprehensive package, the editors pull together research and ideas about one of “the most urgent contemporary problems in education and society” — the gap in the academic achievement of Black and other minority students. Various scholars lay out the data, facts and theories in clear, balanced language, accompanied by numerous tables and charts. Each chapter concludes with provocative discussion topics and reference citations.
Of particular value are the strategies, sample lessons and resources for assessing progress.
The editors, all professors at Regent University, suggest the book be used as the main or supplemental text for university courses on education, or as a reference for faculty and administrators.
Unleashing Suppressed Voices on College Campuses: Diversity Issues in Higher Education, edited by O. Gilbert Brown, Kandace G. Hinton, Mary Howard-Hamilton, $34.95, Peter Lang Publishing (April 2007), ISBN-10: 0820481335, ISBN-13: 978-0820481333, 367 pp.
