The Color of Achievement: by Tanishia Williams

The promise of multiracial inclusivity in the United States has remained at the forefront of national policy despite a history of disparate outcomes among marginalized populations. This project elevates the curriculum narrative of the origins of America as it manifests in public school arena US History courses. This research interrogates racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequality in three critical aspects of public education: the instructional framework, the curriculum content, and the standardized assessments used to gauge student mastery of skills. By making visible the experience of students across this country as they navigate public education, this project investigates the longstanding question, “How is the origin story of this country taught in US History, and whose narratives are prioritized.” By mapping the curriculum topics and content focus areas, this research interrogates education as a fundamental and civil right. The research makes visible salient themes, including enacted and espoused values, common law, history, racialized hierarchies, and social capitalism in New York City. This research scrutinizes traditional analytical methods in prior literature because of their lack of racialized analyses. Then it provides critical analyses to give new insight and meaning into existing structurally racist systems.