| Abstract: | In the developing debate about the aims and nature of multiracial education in the UK, the substantive issue about the educational performance of ethnic minority pupils figures prominently. This article challenges many of the conventional wisdoms about the differential performance of White, Asian and Afro‐Caribbean pupils; firstly by looking at the way in which the notion of ‘underachievement’ has been conceptualised in both research studies and reviews of literature. Secondly, by examining critically the ways in which the ‘evidence’ for black underachievement has been generated and presented. It is concluded that a neglect of certain methodological and conceptual issues in this area has not only led to impoverished analyses but also to the perpetuation of stereotyped images of the intellectual potential of black and Asian pupils. |
