Thoughts on Closing the Gap...

Disclaimer: what follows is an as yet unpolished rant

"'No one, on a large scale, has figured out how to solve the achievement gap,' Pensis said. 'Everybody's looking for that answer.'"

-Foch "Tut" Pensis, Superintendent
Coachella Valley Unified School District
from "School Districts to Face NCLB Sanctions"
Teacher Magazine, The Associated Press

Perhaps the reason we haven't found the answer to the problem, and perhaps it makes me a bleeding heart liberal or even a socialist to even suggest this, is that we are relying too heavily on our public school system to make up for inequalities that are rooted deep within our society.

Sure, education is supposed to be the great leveller in a democracy where, in theory, you can move up the socioeconomic ladder if you just work hard....and having taught in the classroom for 12 years, I am a big believer in the power of a good education.

However, any teacher who has worked with students who live in poverty will tell you that the solution to the achievement gap lies beyond the scope of a school's powers. Remember that saying, "It takes a village..."? (Note: it doesn't say "It takes a school...") So where is the rest of the village???

The villagers who can afford it have fled for the hills, put their children in private schools that cost (at least in the DC area) upwards of $15,000 a year (and that was ten years ago when I was teaching at a private school in Potomac, MD). The leaders of the village, led by the articulate George W. himself, are pointing fingers, blaming inadequate teachers for setting standards that are too low and thus failing our children, particularly those of the African-American or Latino variety. Their solution was to make a law (NCLB) saying that every student would be able to read by grade level by the year 2014 just because they said so; and if it doesn't happen, heads will roll (but not theirs, of course).

There is much research to suggest that the achievement gap begins even before children reach the hallowed halls of our public institutions of learning. Children who grow up in literate-rich environments start with an advantage over their peers from literate-poor environments. The gap exists before teachers even get into the picture. And yet, somehow, teachers are held responsible for making miracles happen -- like closing that gap by teaching literate-poor children to read proficiently in classes of thirty or more -- in the 6 hours a day (or fewer in middle and high school) that they work with them.

So what to do? If we are serious about closing the achievement gap, we may first have to tackle some of the social inequalities that have been woven into the American fabric over the last several centuries. Or we can just keep pointing fingers at our hard-working teachers, who struggle to contribute enough to make up for the rest of the village.