Hammond argues that a lack of culturally responsive teaching has led to achievement disparities that hinder academic progress for students of color. These students are most statistically susceptible to poverty due to systemic structures. Culturally responsive pedagogical practices, Hammond argues, are necessary to address historical achievement gaps.

Hammond shares personal experiences from her own childhood. These experiences illustrate the achievement gaps that exist in public education across the United States. She writes: “After many decades of attention, the achievement gaps I witnessed as an elementary school student are still with us” (2). Despite a seemingly endless succession of programs and initiatives, funded by millions upon millions of dollars, the achievement gap remains in schools, contextualized by systemic inequities far more powerful than classroom practices.

Hammond draws attention to the intrinsic limitations of “teaching to the test,” a method of teaching that instructs students how to pass a test rather than to cultivate independent thinking. This method burgeoned as part of the No Child Left Behind Act. The act revised the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In 2002, it was signed into law by former president George W. Bush. According to the act: