This question is also for the teachers out there?

Hell, no.

There’s no racial link to intelligence.

I believe that some kids have a better work ethic than others. The students who have a good work ethic do well, so it might seem like that they have a, “better natural learning ability.”

I do think that work ethic is largely influenced by parents, family, culture. In general, educated parents expect their children to also be well-educated. But these parents are also privileged by knowing specifically what it takes to become well-educated. They have walked this path, and they have the resources to provide it for their children.

I think that there is a strong trend between race and socio-economic class in our country. There are some clear color lines between the “haves” and the “have nots.” And poverty and a lack of resources to education go together. They feed off of each other. If a population has a high prevalence of poverty and lack of resources, it is easy to see all “these” people doing “this” way in school, and the pattern continues.

I am aware that these inequalities exist. Our country was founded on White privilege, after all.

What can I do? As a teacher, I think it’s my job to provide as many of those tools that all students need to be successful. So that means, besides teaching my content area, I show kids how to walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk. What habits, behaviors, and skills lead to success in education, work, life. I’ve been blessed to be on the side of education, and I’m privileged to bring these secret tools to chip away at a bit of the glass ceiling.

Hmm, being Asian, (Chinese-American) I think you’ll need to speak to my teachers. I guess they didn’t get the memo when giving me my grades.

Racial differences in learning are based on historical opportunities and cultural styles. Remember, despite all the changes over the years, the American education system is based on a Caucasian, suburban, compete family model. And if a publisher tries to introduce anything different, groups will protest at school board meetings.

Asian students, traditionally come from backgrounds where education is seen as the doorway to move up and move into the cultural mainstream. In Chinese culture, you respect the minister first, the government official second, and the teacher third. There is also a family shaming if a child does not succeed in school or in work. There are too many other diverse Asian cultural groups to lump under the “Asian” umbrella. Korean is not Hmong. Japanese is not Vietnamese. Each has a different history and social structure, lending itself to school success.

I would not assume to speak for African-American, Caucasian, or Hispanic students. Therefore, I will leave more qualified responses to others with more personal insight.

I think that people overrate asians a lot. There was a presentation that compares the sheer numbers of people in China and India to the US and the fact of it is that China has more honors students than America has students. So while I see why it would appear that Asians are always smarter I’d take that with a grain of salt.

I don’t buy race being related to intelligence, but I do buy culture being a huge factor in education. I think that people with lower education tend to not emphasize education as much to their children and it has a negative impact. And I do think that certain differences impact some races more than others. So the results of education come out with a lot of races left behind.

While I don’t think that Asians have more ability, I do feel that they put a higher value on education than most cultures so they try harder at school. Many Hispanics are living in non English speaking homes so there is no one to help them with their homework, making it harder for them to excel. Some African-American students are from single parent homes, where parents work more than one job to make ends meet, making it less likely for them to get help at home. I don’t feel that any one culture has more natural ability but that their home life makes it harder for them to do well in school.

Intelligience is not determined by race. And intelligience alone does not determine learning nor success. There are many reasons why one child will learn better than another. I know that socio-economic traits determine learning in many ways because of disadvantages that the lower socio-economic student have. That doesn’t mean that they are of lower intelligence.