In preparing for meeting with the school board, an interesting study came across your desk. A study of multi-racial group of high school students, by Grace Kao in 2000, revealed that different students groups describe success in different ways:
White and Asian students define success in school as earning high grades.
African-American students define success as doing as well as other black students and not failing.
Hispanic students define success as attaining a white-collar job in an office after graduation.
Discuss the extent to which you believe these self-perceptions are created by the ways in which American society defines race and ethnicity. Discuss ways that you think educators can change these perceptions.