Bridging the Achievement Gap

I am not sure how many folks have read Macolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, but it has a very interesting take on the gap in success between poor kids (often, but not alway minority) and middle class ones.

Because I live in Chapel Hill and work in Hillsborough, I have the opportunity to interact with school officials and parents from both county systems - Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Orange. One thing that is clear is that there are excellent students, teachers and administrators in each system. As a parent with a Middle Schooler, I am curious about the way we make decisions regarding teaching our kids.  As one of the original members of the Parent-Advisory CMTE for the Dual Language Program, I remember discussions about how to implement the program and reach out to an ethnic and economically-diverse population.  What struck me was the pre-conceived notions regarding poor people and minorities. 

Now these folks were not racist or culturally uninformed. In fact, they were well-informed, well-meaning and well-versed in the issues regarding race, poverty and instruction. The issue has always been defined as the schools failing to help with instruction; poor parents don't have the time to be involved, may not have cars, etc. Again, no one came out and said that poor children were less intelligent or anything untoward. However, there was an implication that if the schools did more, the gap could be closed. The Dual Language program was supposed to be a part of that. 

While the Dual Language program has done some very good things and the first group is in now in Middle School. However, the achievement gap remains largely unchanged. I don't think this means the program, or the school system has failed. But what does it mean?

Gladwell's book, Outliers, pokes a lot of wholes in our myths of success. In Chapter 9, he talks about the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) in New York. The program has been an unqualified success, but not because of hand-picked students, teaching to the test or anything like that. It seems to have succeeded by simply keeping kids in school longer than normal schools. The premise is that schools are doing a good job, they aren't given enough time to do it.

I decided to apply that to my own situation: my mother was decidely middle class and my father grew up in the type of poverty that most people in Government only see on TV. My mother made sure that I read regularly and had access to books and anything else I needed, she introduced me to heads of companies and taught me how to act and dress. She was in awe of no one. That gave me a significant advantage when it came time to go to College, work and in school. My father simply let her handle it. I used to think that was just his personality, but I now believe it had to do with his experience as a throw-away to the school system.

In the chapter regarding achievement  in Outliers, Gladwell points to a study of Baltimore City Schools and how the well-off students outperformed poorer students year over year. The data indicate that the real advantages of wealth are the ability to continue education (through camps, travel, etc.) over the summer. Poor children actually outperformed wealthy children during the school year in tests showing comprehension and academic growth. However, they lacked the resources for extra instruction over summer.

While this is a little too long for a blog post, I encourage folks here to read Outliers. It was eye-opening to me that perhaps our problem is that a long time ago, educational reformers applied an agricultural schedule to human learning. It wasn't their fault, it was all they knew. However, we now have a system that fails to provide the education necessary due to its 180 day limitation. 

To put this in perspective, think about how effective we would be in our jobs if we only went to them for 6 hours a day 180 days a year. How is it that the same country who now has children playing sports year around cannot see the importance of year round education?

What's amazing is not that kids are failing. It's amazing how many children succeed in spite of the limited access to learning opportunities. That is a testament to Summer School, community programs and just how good our teachers our at creating excitement about learning. 

My proposal is that we examine going to 270 days of school; let the educators have the time to do their work; and create an educational system that is allowed to work for everyone.