"The observed disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, ability and socioeconomic status."
In 2010, the documentary Waiting for Superman vividly and candidly depicted how this achievement gap continues to widen across many communities in the US, and how it has a devastating effect on our ability to educate students on a path towards being productive members of our society.
President Obama and his administration have outlaid the need to reframe the issue through a lens of creating opportunities for learning versus merely closing gaps in achievement through standardized testing.
“Let’s talk about the education of our children differently,” said Erin Jones, Director of Equity and Achievement for the Federal Way School District. “Let’s talk about the opportunity gap and not the achievement gap. I don’t have control over how a student takes a test on a particular day, but I absolutely have control over what opportunities I give him to learn the material so that he tests well that day." Jones and other "Champions of Change" were honored earlier this year by the White House and Secretary Duncan for all that they do to help students in our community to effectively navigate the educational system.
Since his inauguration in 2008, many cynics and critics have cited that President Obama is not doing enough to directly address the issues that plague the African-American community, particularly our failing education system and the prison (incarceration) system. In July 2012, President Obama answered the call and launched the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans. The goal of the initiative is to "work across Federal agencies and with partners and communities nationwide to produce a more effective continuum of education programs for African-American students." [Source: WhiteHouse.gov]
The initiative has the following goals and benchmarks:
- "Increasing the percentage of African-American children who enter kindergarten ready for success by improving access to high-quality early learning and development programs;
- Ensuring that all African-American students have access to high-level, rigorous course work and support services that will prepare them for a college, a career, and civic participation;
- Providing African-American students with equitable access to effective teachers and principals in pursuit of high-quality education, and supporting efforts to improve recruitment, preparation, development, and retention of successful African-American teachers and principals;
- Promoting a positive school climate that does not rely on methods that result in disparate use of disciplinary tools, and decreasing the disproportionate number of referrals to special education by addressing root causes of the referrals;
- Reducing the dropout rate of African-American students and increasing the proportion of African-American students who graduate from high school prepared for college and career;
- Increasing college access, college persistence, and college attainment for African-American students;
- Strengthening the capacity of institutions of high education that serve large numbers of African-American students, including community colleges, HBCUs, Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs), and other institutions; and
- Improving the quality of, and expanding access to, adult education, literacy, and career and technical education.
But is it enough? Everyone admittedly knows that education begins at home. It is commonly known amongst many circles in our community that many factors contribute to the lack of parental support necessary for our children to succeed at educational achievement. Can President Obama's WHIOEEAA fix the problem alone? President Obama was even quoted in 2010 about what parents can do -- "set high expectations [for our kids], glamorize educational achievement as we do entertainers and athletes, prioritize their education (turn off the TV and read to them), and help [our] kids understand the power and independence that knowledge will bring them." Weigh in on what you think is the missing factor that can solve the problem holistically...
