Hi list, Why do low-income kids, especially children of African and American Indian descent, fail to thrive in the Minneapolis Public Schools? Do we need to fix the schools, or do we need to fix the kids, their parents, and communities of color?
I am not saying that all of the Minneapolis Public School parents are doing a good job of parenting. Some are not doing a good job. However, a strategy based on fixing the kids, their parents, and communities of color is bound to fail. Are the schools doing a good job serving a "diverse" student population? I say "no." Can we eliminate most of the academic achievement gap between black and white kids, without lowering standards for kids who are now getting a good education? I say "yes." To do this, one must identify the biggest obstacles to closing the gap, which are: incoherent curricula, ability-grouping practices, and a high concentration of inexperienced teachers and large class sizes in schools that serve poor, predominantly black neighborhoods. The importance of institutional, school-based causes of poor student performance is indicated by a study about "teacher efficacy" done by the Minneapolis Public Schools less than two years ago. According to the district's director of research, Dave Heistad, about 40% of the variability in academic achievement test scores can be attributed to teacher efficacy. The measure of "teacher efficacy" that is used in these type of studies is years of teaching experience plus relevant training and certification. Teaching experience is the biggest factor. What about poverty, parental involvement, school attendance, student mobility, and so forth? There is certainly a correlation, that is, a statistical association between these factors and student achievement. But any student of statistics should know the difference between correlation and a cause-and-effect relationship. Poverty, parental involvement and other extra-school factors do play a role, but they are greatly exaggerated by school officials. There is a difference between rationalization and explanation. The Minneapolis Board of Education prefers to rationalize. There is one candidate for school board this year who is offering explanations: Evelyn Eubanks. I am biased (I am not a Star-Tribune reporter). I am also treasurer of the Eubanks for School Board Committee. I support Evelyn's candidacy because she can explain why the schools are failing our kids. Evelyn has been involved with the schools as a parent and parent-student advocate since 1983. For more information about Evelyn and the perspective of fixing the schools that we share, go to my web site at <http://educationright.tripod.com> -Doug Mann Kingfield _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
