The literacy faculty at a regional, comprehensive university in the southeastern U.S. explored the perceptions of students in their undergraduate and graduate literacy programs--as well as students in contiguous, supported programs--regarding the achievement gaps between Latinx and bi/multilingual students and their White, English-dominant peers. They asked participating pre-service and in-service educators (N = 60) to write a brief narrative explaining why, in their opinion, the reading scores of Latinx students and bi/multilingual learners were significantly lower than their English-dominant peers on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading for Georgia in 2015 and 2017. The researchers analyzed the participants' responses to determine the prevalence of asset- and deficit-oriented perspectives among pre-service and in-service educators in their literacy education programs and courses. Qualitative analysis of responses revealed that both asset- and deficit-based discourse was evidenced, though deficit-oriented perspectives were more prevalent. While attempting to advocate for Latinx and bi/multilingual students, most respondents, especially pre-service and early career educators, likely inadvertently, explained the achievement gaps using a deficit orientation. The researchers suggest considerations for systemic change and improvement in their literacy education courses and programs based on these findings.