Who Should Learn About Race in School? Lay Theories About the Relevance of Lessons About Race to Students of Color and White Students

Abstract

Both students of color and White students benefit from learning about race in school, but do Americans recognize the relevance of lessons about race to both groups? We investigated (1) whether Americans see lessons about race as more relevant to students of color than to White students and (2) how to help Americans see the relevance to White students. In Study 1, we analyzed school districts’ (N = 14,247) educational goals and found that districts with a higher proportion of students of color were more likely to have goals related to race. In Study 2, Americans (N = 272) mentioned students of color more than White students when asked to describe reasons that a school should adopt a new curriculum that centered diverse perspectives. Finally, in Study 3 (N = 440), highlighting that a curriculum that incorporates diverse perspectives can reduce students’ biases increased Americans’ perceptions that this curriculum was relevant to White students.

Keywords

race diversity education White Americans Americans of color

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