Patrick Welsh -- To Explain the Achievement Gap, Examine the Parenting Gap - washingtonpost.com:
"'Why don't you guys study like the kids from Africa?'
In a moment of exasperation last spring, I asked that question to a virtually all-black class of 12th-graders who had done horribly on a test I had just given. A kid who seldom came to class -- and was constantly distracting other students when he did -- shot back: 'It's because they have fathers who kick their butts and make them study.'
Another student angrily challenged me: 'You ask the class, just ask how many of us have our fathers living with us.' When I did, not one hand went up."
"'Why don't you guys study like the kids from Africa?'
In a moment of exasperation last spring, I asked that question to a virtually all-black class of 12th-graders who had done horribly on a test I had just given. A kid who seldom came to class -- and was constantly distracting other students when he did -- shot back: 'It's because they have fathers who kick their butts and make them study.'
Another student angrily challenged me: 'You ask the class, just ask how many of us have our fathers living with us.' When I did, not one hand went up."