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Racial gaps in education must
close, official says
Ventura County Star
February 7, 2007
By Timm Herdt, therdt@VenturaCountyStar.com
letters can be sent to:
letters@VenturaCountyStar.com
O'Connell hopes to pinpoint root of disparities
SACRAMENTO — Superintendent of Public
Instruction Jack O'Connell on Tuesday called upon educators
across the state to redouble efforts to close the achievement
gap among different ethnic and racial groups in California —
even if it means developing ethnic- and race-specific teaching
strategies.
O'Connell said he will ask his statewide advisory group to
examine data on low-performing groups, including Latinos and
blacks, to look at the root causes and set specific goals
for narrowing the achievement gap. He will then convene a
statewide summit in November to bring together thousands of
educators to help develop specific classroom strategies for
underperforming groups.
"We need to honestly use the data we now have and also
have an honest conversation — a courageous conversation,
some would say — about our individual subgroups and
their individual struggles," O'Connell said. "Are there
teaching practices that are uniquely beneficial to a
specific subgroup?"
O'Connell announced the plans in his annual State of
Education address to school officials and education
experts.
Plan for change gets support
He noted that results from statewide
assessment tests show about two out of three
white students score "proficient" or better
in language arts, while only about one out
of three Latino and black students achieve
such scores. In math, slightly more than
half of white students score proficient or
better, compared to less than a third of
Latinos and less than a quarter of blacks.
"There is simply no harder job in
education than closing this pernicious
achievement gap," he said. "There is
also nothing simply more important.
Let's approach the job ahead as if our
own child were attending a
low-performing school."
Most in attendance praised the
superintendent's decision to target
the issue.
"I think it's absolutely the
right focus," said acting
Secretary of Education Scott
Himelstein, top education
adviser to Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger. "The governor's
perspective is the same: We have
to take a real honest look at
why that's happening."
Paul Chatman, an Ocean View
school board member from
Oxnard and president-elect
of the California School
Boards Association, said
closing the achievement gap
is "the No. 1 issue" facing
California schools.
Chatman, who is black,
acknowledged there is
some concern in minority
communities that
ratcheting up demands
and expectations on
students in
low-performing schools
will inevitably cause
some to fail.
"There's nothing
wrong with failing,"
Chatman said. "We
shouldn't run from
failure, because
sometimes people
learn through
failing. We've had
this thing called
social promotion,
and it hasn't gotten
us any place."
Reasons for gap
not clear
O'Connell
noted that
while scores
on statewide
educational
assessment
tests have
steadily
improved
across the
board, in
every
subgroup,
the gap has
not narrowed
between the
highest-achieving
subgroups,
Asians and
whites, and
the
lowest-achieving
groups,
Latinos and
blacks.
Income
levels
and
other
sociological
factors
don't
entirely
explain
the gap,
he said,
citing
state
data
that
show 39
percent
of white
students
living
in
poverty
are
proficient
in
school,
while
only 24
percent
of
Latinos
and 23
percent
of
blacks
living
in
poverty
are
proficient.
"What are the other factors?" O'Connell asked. "We need to consider whether institutionally low expectations or other factors are holding specific groups of students back."
Aides to O'Connell said the superintendent will propose specific strategies next year, after 12 months of examining the data and soliciting ideas. They noted that other states have come up with race-specific strategies, citing a Maryland effort to offer all-boy schools in black neighborhoods after data showed that boys who are black tend to learn better in same-sex classrooms.
Old-fashioned values'
On other subjects, O'Connell said he will make a strong effort in the year ahead to encourage and support "character education," which seeks to impart in students "old-fashioned values" such as respect, integrity, community service, commitment and tolerance.
He said he will use the visibility of his office to call public attention to schools with positive programs that promote character.
"When strong character is a schoolwide focus along with strong academics — when tolerance and kindness are rewarded and hostility, cliques or irresponsible behavior simply not accepted — schools are safe havens for all of our students to be able to learn," he said.
O'Connell also praised school officials around the state for the progress they have made over the past several years, as test scores have climbed in every subject area in every grade level. He urged lawmakers to stay the course, even as everyone recognizes much more progress needs to be made.
"We want a silver bullet — if not a magic pill, a magic bill — to turn things around now," he said. "I understand the need for a sense of urgency. Let's not, however, underestimate the magnitude of what we're asking our schools to do, or how far they've come. Our schools have indeed made progress worth celebrating."
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