JMQ Flash
May 2 - 6, 2016
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
"Achievement Gaps and Racial Segregation: Research Finds an Insidious Cycle" by Sarah D. Sparkes
I read this article in Education Week. (I do not subscribe, but one has limited access to the free version.) Basically, as you will see from the video below, Stanford researchers are trying to locate schools that are successfully closing the achievement gap, and the findings are very interesting. Detroit leads in that area, but not in a good way. There is no achievement gap in Detroit schools. Their scores are low across all ethnicities. The article pointed out that schools in Berkeley, CA and Chapel Hill, NC, both university towns, are examples of affluent school systems that are not putting a dent in the achievement gap. The article alludes that school-reform does not appear to be making a difference for children in poverty.
I will leave the big questions to the researchers and those in educational and sociological think tanks. We may not be able to change society, but we can do our part, one kid at a time. As educators, we must focus on how we can improve our own pedagogical skills and knowledge, develop strong learning/supportive communities within our walls with students and with one another, and continue to strive to build equally strong relationships with students' families and our surrounding community. What we say and do and how we say and do it matters...every single day!
Sean Reardon Asks: How Do We Improve Educational Equity?