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Columnist: Skewing
myths about diverse schools
Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews discusses how author
and parent Eileen Gale Kugler debunks seven myths that scare smart
parents away from diverse schools. In researching her new book celebrating
diversity in education, Kugler found that negative tales about heterogeneous
schools were almost always perpetuated by parents whose children
were either long out of school or who attended predominantly white
schools.
DECIDING TO TEACH THEM ALL
Asking the right questions has an enormous impact on how we pursue
equity and excellence in our classrooms, according to Carol Ann
Tomlinson. The United States has always balanced precariously on
the twin values of equity and excellence. As a people, we believe
that birth in a log cabin should not be a barrier to the boardroom
or the Oval Office and that all citizens should have access to the
opportunities that will help them realize their potential. Similarly,
we cling to a vision of the United States as representing the best.
We stand for the fastest cars, the tallest buildings, the finest
medical care, and the most innovative technology. We are committed
to excellence. To lose either equity or excellence as a guiding
value would be to lose our identity. To maintain both, however,
is a balancing act of the highest order. And the challenge is perhaps
greatest in the schools that shape young people to be good stewards
of these values. Although we don't often think about the impact
of education decisions on the balance between equity and excellence,
many decisions push the fulcrum in one direction or the other --
for individual learners, groups, or schools as a whole. If we reframe
the questions that
we ask, a tectonic shift might occur in how we make decisions on
behalf of academically diverse learners. Not, What labels? But,
What interests and needs? Not, What deficits? But, What strengths?
Not, How do we remediate? (or even, How do we enrich the standard
curriculum?) But, How do we maximize access to the richest possible
curriculum and instruction? Not, How do we motivate? But, What would
it take to tap the motivation already within this learner? Not,
Which kind of setting? But, What circumstances maximize the student's
full possibilities? Read Professor Tomlinson’s principles for
fostering equity and excellence at:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_lead/200310/tomlinson.html
STUDENT LEARNING IS STRONGEST WHEN RACES &
CULTURES MIX
Schools with diverse populations offer opportunities for academic
and social learning not available in all-white schools according
to Ellen Kugler, a nationally known advocate for diverse schools.
"Learning comes alive when wisdom is shared not only by competent
teachers and textbooks, but also by fellow students with life experiences
and cultures that illuminate whole new worlds," says Kugler.
According her findings, classroom discussions in diverse schools
are rich and challenging, fostering critical thinking skills. Students
learn there is a range of perspectives on issues, motivating them
to study and thoughtfully define their own views. Kugler finds overwhelming
enthusiasm for what diverse schools have to offer and overwhelming
frustration at the misinformation that abounds. In this essay, Kugler
battles the myth that diverse schools are less desirable.
http://www.embracediverseschools.com/debunk.htm
"Exploring race through white teens' eyes,"
Christian Science Monitor The author writes about her experience
in two CA high schools ... one very diverse; another mainly white.
She identifies some striking differences, as well as making observations
about racial identity.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0813/p16s01-lecl.html
Education Week: Black Boys
http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=09smith.h22
Teachers' cultural ignorance imperils student
success, by Gail L. Thompson, USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020529/4147845s.htm
MIXING STUDENTS BY WEALTH UNDER FIRE
Spreading out poor children for whom learning can be more challenging
and placing them with more affluent peers is justified by Wake County's
results, school officials say. More than eight in 10 students perform
at grade level or higher, as measured by state tests -- and those
numbers are up in almost every grade and subject up over the last
three years. It's a level of achievement and rate of improvement
that few urban school systems can match. But as a recent protest
outside the Wake County school headquarters shows, the political
realities of making this type of integration work are daunting.
The voices of parents in Raleigh's booming
suburbs are growing louder, calling for their schools to take a
different approach. Suburban parents argue that the policy trumps
their ability to decide where their children should attend school.
They want their children in schools closer to home, and they've
only begun to fight.
http://www.edweek.com/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=37wake.h21
MALIGN NEGLECT
Advocates for children in the New York City public schools were
cheering sixteen months ago when lawyers won a landmark ruling from
a State Supreme Court justice who determined that New York had failed
to meet its obligation to provide a sound and basic education to
all children and who ordered that the state's unequal system of
school finance be dramatically transformed. But even the most cynical
observers could not easily have looked ahead one year and have prefigured
a scenario by which conditions in the district that had won this
legal victory would actually get worse. With recession or without
recession, according to Jonathan Kozol, in lean years or in fat,
with victories in court or without victories in court, children
of color in New York remain the losers in a game whose rules are
set almost entirely by white people.
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020610&s=kozol
Study Reveals Grim Prospects For Racial Achievement
Gap
http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=29grissmer.h21
The National Black Caucus of State Legislators
(NBCSL) recently posted the document, "Closing the Achievement
Gap", on their website. Go to http://www.nbcsl.com/
to download the entire report.
Both black and white children score higher on
mathematics and reading tests when their teachers are the same race
as they are, a study of 6,000 Tennessee schoolchildren suggests.
http://www.edweek.com/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=03race.h21
Democracy and Global Citizenship: Creating Value
by Educating for Social Reform, by
Larry A. Hickman, Center for Dewey Studies
http://www.brc21.org/hickman.html
"What Does Gay Mean?" is a new anti-bullying
program designed to improve understanding and respect for youth
who are gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender (GLBT). Centered on an
educational booklet, called "What Does Gay Mean?" How
to Talk with Kids About Sexual Orientation and Prejudice, the program
encourages parents and others to communicate and share values of
respect with their children. The website contains a booklet for
parents, how to talk with various age groups, and tip sheets about
bullying.
http://www.nmha.org/whatdoesgaymean
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