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Ohanian Comment: It's hard to believe Yecke really said she hopes that the testing requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. . . will help better diagnose and cure the reasons black students are falling so far behind.
Oh well, maybe it's not so hard to believe.
When it comes to education, this isn't a list Minnesota wants to top.
The state has the largest gap between the passing rates of white students and black students among states that require high school exit exams, according to a report released Wednesday by the Center on Education Policy.
Just 33 percent of Minnesota black students passed the math Basic Skills Test on their first try -- a whopping 45 points behind the passing rate for white students. And black students' passing rate lagged 38 points behind white students on the reading test, one of the most substantial gaps among states reporting exit exam results.
While officials at the Washington D.C.-based center found that high school exit exams have led to improvements in teaching and curriculum, they also have contributed to disproportionately low pass rates for minority, poor, and disabled students and for English language learners across the country.
State Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke said educators remain perplexed -- and troubled -- by Minnesota's wide achievement gap. She said she hopes that the testing requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and new efforts by Minnesota schools will help better diagnose and cure the reasons black students are falling so far behind.
"What the root cause is, we don't know," Yecke said. "But we do know that it is a challenge that we have to meet."
To the Rev. Albert Gallmon, head of the Minneapolis branch of the NAACP and a former member of the Minneapolis school board, the report is more bad news -- and more proof that the achievement gap is a pervasive and persistent problem.
"Some people will say you're blaming the victims," he said. "But based on where I sit, being on the school board, being a pastor, we have gotten away from the African-American community having a culture, an environment that says education is important.
"The sound way, the best way, to get up and out is to have a good education. That piece is no longer the bedrock for the African American community," Gallmon said.
Achievement gaps exist in all of the 19 states now using high school exit examinations, officials said. Of the 12 states reporting 2003 data, most showed passing rates of minority students and students living in poverty 20 points or more lower than those of white students.
Those gaps -- and the fact that states are withholding diplomas from students who fail -- have led to public opposition to exit exams. Some states have tried to address the backlash by giving waivers or alternative tests to some students, lowering the "passing" requirements, or even voiding test results, according the center report. However, many of these changes affect small numbers of students, and states are generally forging ahead with their exit exams.
Five more states are scheduled to phase in new exit exams over the next five years. Exit tests will likely affect 7 in 10 public school students by 2008, according to the report.
Looking for successes
Yecke said Minnesota is planning to highlight those schools that are showing the most promise in closing the achievement gap. The state education department expects to issue a report soon that shows some of the most successful approaches to raising the achievement of minority and limited English-speaking students.
"We need to share those lessons with other schools," Yecke said. "This is a challenge. There are schools that are facing this challenge and there are schools that are meeting the challenge."
She mentioned one school that is giving students an extra period each day to work on areas where they need help. Others provide baby-sitting and meals to encourage parents to come to parent-teacher conferences.
But Yecke acknowledged that much of the problem may be outside the schools' control and schools must forge better partnerships with parents to address some of the underlying issues -- such as poor attendance or homework troubles.
Trouble runs deep
The fact is, Gallmon said, closing the achievement gap will not happen by school strategies alone. A lawsuit settlement between the NAACP and the state in 2000 created a program to give poor families in the city access to more schools in the suburbs and, ostensibly, more opportunities for a better education.
But Gallmon said the roots of poor achievement run deeper. They reach down into a declining emphasis placed by parents and communities on the value of education, he said.
"It is the same issue over and over again," he said. "If you are an African-American parent, if you are an African-American who cares about our community, year after year of hearing the same news disheartens the soul. We must attack this on a number of fronts."
While that kind of re-examination could take generations, Gallmon said, the NAACP is supporting efforts to reach out to parents now. New parent centers, one on the north side of Minneapolis and one on the south side, are scheduled to open to families tomorrow, he said. Funded by federal grants through the No Child Left Behind Act, the centers will reach out to parents, provide data on schools and promote educational options designed to help students stay in -- and succeed -- in school, Gallmon said.
"This is a different front in that in that it's an attempt to make sure parents are informed and educated about how to make the best educational choice for their child," he said.
Such work is just the tip of the commitment needed to close the achievement gap, Gallmon said. The question is: Will that commitment come?
"Those are huge questions," he said. "And if we don't begin to talk about them within our community, we can't begin to chart a course for getting out of this vicious circle."
— James Walsh
Minnesota's achievement gap among biggest in nation
Star Tribune
2003-08-13
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1592/4040339.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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