Despite a series of provocative Teach For America fliers that upset several Boston University students two weeks ago, a panel of education experts, including a TFA representative, faced a low turnout at a discussion of the disparity in the country’s achievement gap.

Speaking to approximately six BU students about the root causes behind the achievement gap, the panel of education experts, including School of Education Dean ad interim Charles Glenn, Upward Bound Director Mike Dennehy, rural education researcher Barbara Lawrence and TFA alumna Sarah McLaughlin explained the academic fissure among minority and disadvantaged students and their white counterparts.

Sponsored by Teach For America, the “Unequal Paths to Higher Education” panel identified the factors contributing to the gap and how to close it.

“We get into a social fatalism when we talk about the achievement gap,” Glenn said. “People often think it’s about money — that poor kids aren’t going to make it. That is not true. There are deep-rooted issues and causes of the gap.”

According to the panelists, students who have academic trouble in school are often unaware of their capabilities and think they cannot succeed, forcing them to internalize their assumed inefficiencies.

“Teachers perceive the abilities of students and misjudge what these students can really do, and students then see themselves as incapable,” Lawrence said.

Teachers reinforce students’ self-perception, Dennehy said, by underestimating students’ potential.

“Students who come to school with academic deficiencies often internalize them, and then these deficiencies are reinforced by the school and teachers,” he said. “Oftentimes in high school, these students are left behind, and they need extra support.”

TFA Recruitment Director Patrick O’Donnell, who explained the organization’s role and its reasoning behind posting provocative fliers at a BU Black Student Union meeting Nov. 16, introduced the panel. He said TFA aims to work with prospective teachers who seek to eliminate education inequality.

“We want to recruit the nation’s most outstanding recent graduates and train them as teachers to work in lower-income area schools,” he said after the event.

O’Donnell said he wants to raise awareness at BU and other schools about the achievement gap. In a recent TFA survey conducted at BU through Facebook.com, O’Donnell said 38 percent of students were unaware what the achievement gap was.

“I was shocked about how little students know about it,” he said.

Glenn said a lack of self-confidence among young students in lower-income areas has the potential to set them up for failure.

“It’s the self-defeating attitude, particularly among young African-American boys, that they can’t succeed,” he said. “It’s an uphill battle for these young men to believe in themselves.”

The panel said schools with large populations are often unable to create a community among students, teachers and parents.

“So many of our schools have turned into factories because they are too big,” Lawrence said. “It’s important for teachers to really get to know their students and make the school the center of the community.”

According to Lawrence, smaller schools often host retreats and assemblies that create bonds to lessen the achievement gap.

“Students can feel identified with their school and their peers,” he said. “A school can become an alternate family for those students who are not close with their parents, and this is so important in their success.”

Students who attended the discussion said they are interested in careers in education and becoming part of TFA.

“I’ve been really interested in the achievement gap and how it affects students,” College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Sarah Tosch said. “I want to become part of Teach For America when I graduate, and coming to this panel was helpful in understanding more of what I would do.”

According to Glenn, SED is proposing a variety of two-credit courses this spring intended to help students who wish to pursue careers in education or TFA.

“These courses are a great way for students to learn and get great experience in the field of teaching,” he said.