Abstract: This study critiques the generally accepted notion that there is a link between student achievement and poverty. It argues against the claim that poverty determines student achievement. i.e. student from poverty background are destined to under perform despite other factors that mitigate this. The central thesis of this article is that student achievement is multivariate. No single variable can determine student achievement. However, I find that quality teaching is probably the main contributor. I interrogated the notion of disadvantaged student and located it within multicultural theories of class struggle. I concluded that as a result of the entrenched prejudices, African students in particular are perceived to be endowed with tendencies of underperformance, while in reality they perform like any other student and have learning deficiencies like any student.