The following is from the introduction to the issue book Too Many Children Left Behind: How Can We Close the Achievement Gap?
In a nation that prides itself on providing equal opportunity for all, too many low-income and minority children are falling behind their peers in school. In an increasingly competitive global arena, the United States cannot afford to ignore this widening achievement gap. What can be done to close it?
This issue book presents three possible approaches for dealing with this problem:
Approach #1: Raise Expectations and Demand Accountability
African Americans, Hispanic, and Native American students in many schools have become victims of what President George W. Bush calls "the soft bigotry of low expectations." If we are to close the achievement gap, we must push for increased academic performance of all students, and make educators accountable for the results.
Approach #2: Close the Spending Gap
Schools in low-income, high-minority districts often lack science labs, computers, up-to-date textbooks, and well-qualified teachers who most often choose to work in better-paying, better-equipped suburban school districts. We cannot realistically expect more of poor, minority students until these resource and funding inequities are addressed.
Approach #3: Address the Root Causes
Problems that show up as poor academic performance begin long before low-income minority children come to school. And they cannot be remedied unless we address underlying causes, such as unresolved health problems, poor nutrition, stressful living conditions, and lack of parental support, which are the source of these deficits.
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The most current research by
The most current research by the best minds in this country have done much to unveil the underlying problems with literacy in public schools. You can blame problems on anything that you want: lack of vouchers, high divorce rates, the decline of morals, decay of modern society, the internet, the media, and on and on, but there is absolute evidence to show that poverty in this country is the true culprit leading to depreciating student abilities and performance.
When the politicians fix poverty, the educators will fix literacy. It will never happen otherwise or in reverse order. And the research proves it.
I agree wit kmitch on this
I agree wit kmitch on this one. And we should also add that parenting, the divorce rate and illegitimacy are contributing big time to the problem.
In fact, we keep spending more and more money every year and the problem doesn't seem to get any better.
How can it be a money problem then?
I'd say that illegitimacy rates as high as 70% in some communities must have something to do with it. Single parents have the odds stacked against them if they plan to work, prepare food, clean, pay bills--when do they actually plan to tutor and assist with homework?
Common sense if you ask me.
"More beans Mr. Taggart?"
"More beans Mr. Taggart?"
Too many children being left
Too many children being left behind has nothing to do with public-school spending. In fact, between 1971 and 2001, per-pupil spending in our nation's public schools (adjusted for inflation) doubled -- rising from $4,470 to $8,996.
Yet student achievement rates in reading and math, as well as graudation rates stayed relatively constant during the same period.
Please, stop the mantra that our public schools are underfunded. They've got too much money. The real problem is that schools are run by the government rather than the private sector. There is very little that the government does as well as private enterprise. Government schools are no exception.
Money is wasted through layers of administration, bad policies and overly powerful teachers' unions.
Meanwhile, private schools achieve better achievement while spending much less per pupil.
Want to ensure that no child is left behind? Give parents vouchers and the choice to send their children to any school they want -- public or private. Competition will weed out bad schools. This isn't a radical idea. Most countries in Europe have this kind of system.