No BS (Bad Stats): Black People Need People Who Believe in Black People Enough Not to Believe Every Bad Thing They Hear about Black People

by Ivory A Toldson

What if everything you thought you knew about Black people generally, and educating Black children specifically, was based on BS (bad stats)? We often hear things like, “Black boys are a dying breed,” “There are more Black men in prison than college,” “Black children fail because single mothers raise them,” and “Black students don’t read.” In No BS , Ivory A. Toldson uses data analysis, anecdotes, and powerful commentary to dispel common myths and challenge conventional beliefs about educating Black children. With provocative, engaging, and at times humorous prose, Toldson teaches educators, parents, advocates, and students how to avoid BS, raise expectations, and create an educational agenda for Black children that is based on good data, thoughtful analysis, and compassion. No BS helps people understand why Black people need people who believe in Black people enough not to believe every bad thing they hear about Black people.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, Race

194 pages, Paperback

Published January 30, 2019

Reviews

[Emily Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! This book broke down myths and misinformation spread through bad stats about black people and gave insight into how to differentiate good stats from bad stats. It is a responsibility of utmost importance to be skeptical of statistics that paint black people negatively because it often is done by white researchers, published in white-operated journals, sound-bite/ click-bait focused rather than focus on holistic research, and has detrimental effects to strengthening negative stereotypes for black people. This could result in white people holding low expectations and negative bias towards black people and black people experiencing stereotype threat and losing motivation to resist the societal BS. As he states in the book, “People simply should not use the statistic if they do not understand how any given statistic is derived”. I would also add to that-only use it if it has taken a holistic approach and you have drive to use specific information from that data to take action to improve systems for black people.

That being said, there was just one chapter that I had concerns/ further questions about. The chapter about black children with disabilities was confusing because it didn’t specify whether they meant students with medical disabilities when referencing students with disabilities in research (versus a school-identified disability). Also, a few risk factors were written as though they were mutually exclusive (receiving special education services and having an IEP) when they go together for every student identified with a disability at school and is identified as needing special education. This may have skewed data to have more risk factors for students with disabilities since those identified would have those 2 non-mutually exclusive “risk factors” at a minimum. I appreciate and agree with the primary points he makes in this chapter, but have further questions about that data.

Overall, necessary read!

[Lawrence Grandpre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book. Compliation of essays which counters various myths about Blacks folks circulated as fact in our society today. The "more Black men in prison than college" chapter stands out as a particularly important chapter.

[Degenerate Chemist · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so, so very important.

Statistics are such a tricky thing to get a handle on. If you have ever worked with them you know how they can be manipulated to say just about anything. Our data is only as good as the methods we use to collect it and our biases. And that is what is at the heart of this books argument. The general public uses statistics as an unbiased metric for making decisions regarding the Black community and it is a huge problem because the collection of that data and the methods we use to collect that data is biased by the people doing the research.

Toldson examines how our education system has morphed into a hostile place for Black children because of the wide acceptance of bad data. The Bad Stats are used to justify the actions taken by policy makers, teachers, and administrators that are harmful to their students. Toldson thoroughly reviews many cases of BS and explains what bad assumptions were made at the beginning of the research that skewed the data. He deconstructs a number of myths about Black children and the Black community with keen insight and data driven research. He offers workable solutions to the problems he discusses. He continually emphasizes the need for data driven research to be married with compassion- because at the end of the day those numbers are people.

The one area where I felt this work fell a little short is that it is laser focused on the issues of Black men and boys navigating the school system. There are some very specific issues Black women and girls deal with in our schools that I would have liked to see explored. There are also some very minor typos- It didn't bother me at all, but it may distract some readers. As the title says this book is about bad statisitics, so be prepared to read through a lot of numbers. Once again, this wasn't a deal breaker for me, but some people might be turned off by the amount of data in such a short book.

[Lindsay Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that all educators should read!!!!!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for educators. Definitely makes one think about the constant negative statistics that are talked about in media, in passing conversations, in debates etc.

[Erica Anderson Woolridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Toldson hit every nail on the head with this book. I love that he took the data of others and showed how it was used incorrectly. Powerful! I have recommended it to others.

[Mike Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome read and broke down so many bad stats and false assumptions. Every educator should read this and anyone involved with community service and work.

[Renee Ryberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book challenges many of the notions that we as the general public and those invested in education have had engrained in us. It is riddled with typos and grammatical errors, though, which were very distracting from the message. I also had problems, at times, with Dr. Toldson’s use of data and examples being only somewhat related to the points he was arguing. I want this book to be better written so that the important message shines through.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book offers a lot to think about, it's VERY dry. Full of statistics and facts (which normally I love). I confess, I was skimming towards the end. On the positive side, it does make you think - which is what the author wants.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

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