American Samizdat

Monday, May 16, 2005. *
A new study suggests that black students with exotic names don't do as well in school as black students with more common names. The University of Florida study found that students with names such as Da'Quan or Damarcus are more likely to score lower on reading and math tests. Researchers said that black students with unusual names are also less likely to meet teacher expectations and be referred to gifted programs than black students with more common names, such as Dwayne. [...] [University of Florida economist David] Figlio said boys and girls with exotic names suffer in terms of the quality of attention and instruction they get in the classroom because teachers expect less from children with names that sound like they were given by parents with lower education levels. He said the lower expectations often become a self-fulfilling prophecy. [...] Figlio found that poorly educated black women overwhelmingly gave their children names that begin with certain prefixes, such as "lo," "ta" and "qua," and certain suffixes, such as "isha" and "ious." Comparing pairs of siblings, Figlio found that teachers treated the children differently - depending on the name. A boy named Damarcus, for example, was 2 percent less likely than his brother Dwayne to be referred to a gifted program, even with identical test scores, Figlio said. [...] Figlio found opposite results for children with Asian names. Students with Asian-sounding names were more likely to be recommended for gifted programs than siblings with common American names and similar test scores, he said.
posted by Trevor Blake at 9:38 PM
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