McCaskey East High School Divides Students By Race, Gender For 'Better Mentoring'

UPDATE: After the segregated mentoring program sparked national outrage, McCaskey East High School has ended the policy, CNN reports.

Pennsylvania's McCaskey East High School has come up with a controversial plan to help the school's black students: to segregate them.

The policy applies only to homeroom, which meets each day for six minutes and once a week for 20 minutes, and was intended to help close the school's racial achievement gap.

According to LancasterOnline.com,

The idea originated with Angela Tilghman, a McCaskey East instructional coach who was alarmed at the poor academic performance of the school's black students.

Only about a third of McCaskey's African-Americans scored proficient or advanced in reading on last year's Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), compared with 60 percent of white students and 42 percent of all students.

Tilghman suggested that the school separate black students and pair them with black homeroom teachers of the same gender. She offered to work with a group of black female students.

WGAL News reports the school started the practice in December, dividing its junior class into their homerooms by race and gender.

The plan was proposed to help black students, and bring their test scores up to those of their white peers, but it's sparked a debate about the pros and cons of separating students.

Responding to cries of racism, school employees have defended the policy using research which shows that having mentors of the same race and gender can help inspire young people to have better self-esteem and perform better in school.

Homeroom mentors will be keeping close tabs on their students' grades and test scores to track how the program affects them.

NYU Professor Pedro Noguera told CNN:

The stereotypes that send a message to kids that because of their race or their gender that they are less capable and less smart are very pervasive in our society. This could be the message that some kids get. So I would question why they need to segregate kids on the basis of race. If there are white kids that also need support, they should be in that program as well.

WATCH:

Comments

[GreenKate]

04:09 AM on 02/26/2011

How are you going to mentor someone when you have a classroom full and have them for only six minutes per day?

[Maceo Brown]

11:24 AM on 02/10/2011

Reassuring to know we have nothing to learn from people who don't look like us... "School mentoring divided by race"

[Maceo Brown]

11:19 AM on 02/10/2011

It's reassuring to know that we have nothing to learn from people who don't look like us...

[drwtsn]

09:25 PM on 02/09/2011

Maybe Ms. Tilghman had good intentions, but as Sarah Palin would say: "WTF."

[Anthony Rojas]

01:31 PM on 02/03/2011

as a formal McCaskey student, class of 09, all 4 years i have observed many students, everyday be treated unfairly due to the color of their skin. I also believe this whole thing about "helping" is bogus, I have always been lied to by that school, and have witness lies everywhere, from my own experience, i wouldn't reccomend any parents take consideration to this school for their kids, they WON'T be educated

[poeticjustice4all]

09:05 PM on 02/03/2011

Hang in there Anthony! Hold your head up high. You graduated despite the lies and nonsense. The whole nation is proud of you for sticking with it.

[shthar]

02:22 PM on 02/09/2011

Just keep in mind, nobody will care where you went to high school.

[drwtsn]

09:30 PM on 02/09/2011

But they will care how you express yourself when writing: using "formal" instead of "former" and not capitalizing

[drwtsn]

09:37 PM on 02/09/2011

Sorry, Anthony, I hit the wrong button. I was trying to say that you could use more help in your writing skills, and this will be very important if you want to advance in life. Please try to get help that McCaskey didn't give you. Knowing what you don't know already puts you ahead of many others. Good luck!

[GetALife2011]

05:26 AM on 02/03/2011

Leave it to the media to misrepresent the facts and intentions of a good pilot program. Not many in Lancaster thought twice about this program to help disadvantaged kids succeed. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. The kids were really enjoying and benefiting from the program. Now it has been taken away from them because of sue-happy people.

How can this be racism when the teacher who initiated the program is black? The kids were also divided into groups by gender. Why don't the headlines instead scream, "gender inequality?" Oh, I know - that wouldn't be as sensationalistic.

This program was no more or less segregated than other venues or programs that adults readily accept as normal. For instance, there is a Congressional Black Caucus, Black Entertainment TV, NAACP, Miss Black America, and a host of other black only activities. But a black mentor program to better help children academically achieve by identifying with those who share common struggles? Oh no, we can't have that. Let them fail and be miserable instead. Ridiculous!

And for those who question the time spent on the program, it amounted to 30 minutes a week plus 40 additional minutes a month. It was better than nothing and at least the teachers cared enough to try something, which is more than most districts care to do.

[drwtsn]

09:44 PM on 02/09/2011

I was not aware that, being white, I am not allowed to watch BET. Thanks for the heads-up, I'll have to reprogram my TIVO.

[GlennWatson]

02:17 PM on 02/10/2011

Really? Quick, what show on BET do you TIVO?

[Agleska RencountreSihu]

12:33 PM on 02/01/2011

key words used where standardized testing, black female teacher, and "bad old days". The power to change the issue of racism's effects are in re-organizing the institution. So that point is being directed by hyper focusing on some mythical emotional support (matching mentor and mentee's by skin color, boy howdy! Get me a Native female with my same skin tone and I will get good grades in time for that standardized test!) that will make everything better? It's too close to blaming the victim. Lets remember that the "bad old days" were in real time, with real people who in large part consented to that reality. I would not consent to having my child participate in a Native teacher segregating them out when the national average for Native students success is low. Instead, I would ask that all of the non-Native faculty/staff and administrators get paired up with some Native educators so that they can raise the standards of awareness and sensitivity so that my child could have a shot at what white students have available to them all of the time in the sense that they are well represented at home, at school, in the media, government and in public health. It's not the child's inability to connect with the teacher, it's the culture of education that is not investigating how they continue to use models from pre-segregation times. A second segregation will most likely produce social upheaval for an already fragile school environment.

[Agleska RencountreSihu]

03:15 PM on 02/01/2011

yeah, representation is important. But to place the heavy burden of turning the historical and present day impacts of racism and classism in education on mentoring programs is either naive or purposefully resistant to change. I had a Latino... Math tutor that grouped all of the brown kids together after school for an extra half hour each day in a military dominant base middle school (diverse in some ways and not in others, largely a white school for white families). It was awkward and full of expectations, and I felt that awkwardness every time this teacher reached out to me. The pressure to succeed once they match you with someone that looks like you (from their point of view) is just that. pressure. If they spent that effort on diversity training for themselves, then they might have learned a little about how it is considered rude in my culture to point out one another's deficits in public. I was publicly shamed each time I met with this mentor/tutor and there was no consideration of that point of view. Yet when administrators are faced with their own diversity awareness deficits it is considered taboo and aggressive. I have yet to have had a teacher say to me, if I offend you, please speak with me about it, I am willing to cross that bridge because you have to whether I do or not.

[Agleska RencountreSihu]

03:16 PM on 02/01/2011

continued:
That math tutor was pretty nice, but it did not make up for all of the other micro aggression's that I faced during my time in k-11 public schools. I was closest to staff that valued my efforts and did not judge me based on my grades. The detention guy, who was black, and the security guard who was black were two of my favorite people at school. They never gave me a hard time, instead they approached me with empathy and concern. And my ROTC teachers, two white men, were the second closest. They too, seemed to care more about me as a developing person than as an indicator of their success as teachers. In a 45% native populated school, I did not have one out Native teacher. So, I would not know what it is like to have that representation. But I bet, if I had, that they would be the token savior for all of the Native kids. And, if they failed, then the repercussions would not trickle back up to the administrators that put that person in an impossible position in the first place.

[ninetailedfox]

11:04 AM on 02/01/2011

Segregation............Creationism in schools. My god, this country is turning into a Rick Warren and Fred Phelps playground. Christians claim their taking the country back from secularists, lets take power away from igorant people that cant count beyond chapter and verse.

[hawhite2000]

02:23 AM on 02/01/2011

The program seems well intentioned. I do think that in terms of having a mentor, it is best to have someone with whom you can relate; so I do not have an issue with pairing people based on gender and race. I understand they are actively trying to deal with the educational gap, but I do wonder if the method used fosters potential issues, because you have some students getting what some would see as special treatment. It should not be seen that way since it is really no different that sending children with speech issues to speech pathology sessions.

[ninetailedfox]

11:08 AM on 02/01/2011

A wise atheist told me the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I dont think segregation will work. It didnt work in the 1950s and It wont work now.

[hawhite2000]

02:38 AM on 02/02/2011

I would never advocate pure segregation but I do believe that in order to solve a problem you have to address it. When solving a complex equation, you segregate the parts and reintegrate those parts to reach the solution.

The goal of desegregation was not just to mix the races it was to provide equal opportunity and equal resources. The question is do you truly have equal opportunity if things seem to be skewed where it favors one group over the other.

[Jasel]

01:26 PM on 02/01/2011

That's the problem with people in this country. They think because something is "Well intentioned" that it's acceptable.

[hawhite2000]

02:43 AM on 02/02/2011

Not all things that are well intentioned are acceptable, but maybe you should consider why there are generally no mixed male/female football teams.

[poeticjustice4all]

09:02 PM on 01/31/2011

The issue isn't Black or White -- it's cultural competence.

[1jadednewyorker]

01:58 PM on 02/01/2011

hello!

[MelissaM12]

08:37 PM on 02/03/2011

Thank you

[BruntLIVE]

07:38 AM on 01/31/2011

Stop this smart Asian people stuff, it's called repetition. Doing (studying) the same over and over and over denying material pleasures like American kids have, American kids deny and become repetitive they are smart too but it has nothing to do with DNA it's priorities. Hard in a free society like america not so hard in communist societies.

[poeticjustice4all]

01:40 PM on 01/31/2011

It's called the "Model Minority" myth. There is no lack of information on it if a person cares to do even a tiny bit of research.

[ninetailedfox]

11:10 AM on 02/01/2011

LOL America being a free society. If America is a free society, why were people arrested for vagrancy? Hobos and bums live whereever they want, or that is the myth.

[madeleinelalala]

06:37 PM on 01/30/2011

I attend McCaskey High School, and it's sad and amusing to see people's passionate, frank, and at times harsh comments towards a school that I actually go to. Although our administrators do not always seem to make perfect decisions, they all seem to have good intentions, and truly want the best for our students.

As a white female junior, it is interesting, and really, really sad to see the number of truly ignorant, unwilling, and unmotivated students in our school. And to be completely honest, minority and black students are a large part of that group (although I know plenty of white students who fit that bill as well; and not to say that I don't know straight-A black/minority students). I think our teachers really have the best in mind, and are experimenting with this mentoring program (yes, it is a mentoring program. Not random segregation.) to see if it will motivate students. It is also optional. If a student wants to be in their regular homeroom, they can be. I, at the moment, am in my 'PSSA homeroom' to 'help us get ready' for PSSA testing (another good-intentioned program that maybe doesn't really work..) and my homeroom has black and white and hispanic and asian students.

I love my school, and, when I put myself in an teacher's/administrator's shoes, I can't imagine how difficult their job is. Give them some credit.

[Lauren Nicole Vega]

09:49 PM on 01/30/2011

By commenting that you are a white female it seems that you are trying to distance yourself from those "truly ignorant, unwilling and unmotivated" minority students at your school. Your attempt to look at the situation objectively from the shoes of the well-intentioned teachers and administrators is misguided. Perhaps you should put yourself in the shoes of the non-white students at your school. The fact that the program is optional does not overshadow the impact of the message that the segregation (and yes it is segregation) is sending. Giving the option of students to be separated on the basis of race or gender is sending the message that they are inept at learning in an integrated classroom setting. Even if the program, and the administrators, who are experimenting on minority students with the program are well intentioned and even if the minority students are receptive, the "optional" segregation will have a negative impact on the social aspect of your high school. If your high school isn't already divided along color lines, the homeroom segregation will certainly create a larger gap between white and non-white students since most people tend to befriend their classmates.

[poeticjustice4all]

01:30 PM on 01/31/2011

We learn from experience.

Don't fault this child for saying it's "really sad to see the number of truly ignorant, unwilling, and unmotivate­d students in our school. And to be completely honest, minority and black students are a large part of that group."

Don't blame her. This is what the nearly all-White (90%) members of our teacher workforce are teaching children. This poor child is simply expressing what she has learned from her experiences in school.

I pity her. Imagine how really sad she is going to be in a few years when she realizes how very ignorant she is.

[madeleinelalala]

04:34 PM on 01/31/2011

I understand where you are coming from, and I can see how my post created that impression.

The students that I have talked to that are involved in the program all enjoy it, and say that they like having a mentor and teacher that is similar to them.

It's kind of funny to think of the irony of the situation: that there have been no students that are actually involved in the program that have complained.

[Patricia Paola Reyes]

06:43 PM on 01/31/2011

Well, I also attend to McCaskey East High School, I am a hispanic girl who came from D.R. and did not speak any english. This would be my first year at JPM as a junior, and I love it. With all your respect I TRUELY disagreed with this program for three reasons only.
1. Blacks are not the only students that need help in the school
2. It would cause stereotype among students
3. The whole "is a choice thing" is a lie. (My friend had to bring her mother in because she was not allow to switched her HR)
Now we all have to be realistic here. How is it that a black teacher is more capable to teach a black student better, What about those white teachers or hispanics or other race teachers who went through the same process as the black teacher, How come I can understand my white teacher better than my hispanic? Everyone is different, they should have give us a choice, picked our own mentor/s. Not everybody get along with their own race.

[RVU]

01:45 AM on 01/30/2011

Why is this news. We separate students based on their scholastic abilities in accelerated classes. There are clear behavior and achievement differences amount certain students.

[BevfromNYC]

06:25 PM on 01/29/2011

I'm just curious as to why the black students are not doing as well even though they are in the same classes with the same teachers and the same access to resources as the white students. I thought desegration was supposed to have solved that problem.

[Knothare1230]

09:02 PM on 01/29/2011

Well apparently whatever school you came from flunked in history. I find it odd that you have the same resources of anybody on the internet and still don't know any better.

[BevfromNYC]

09:30 PM on 01/29/2011

"Know any better" how. I'm sorry, Was I supposed to gleen some answer from your response?

[Lauren Nicole Vega]

09:52 PM on 01/30/2011

I'm just curious as to why you cannot make the connection. Clearly being enslaved, "given" rights, then enduring subsequent discrimination, disenfranchisement and exclusion from the "American Dream" could not possibly have any impact on generations to come! My goodness!

[BevfromNYC]

10:38 PM on 01/30/2011

So why is it that Asian students, also a traditiona­lly oppressed disenfranchised and excluded minority, do not have the same education problems. Have you heard of Asian children needing special counsellin­g from Asian teachers to encourage them in the value of education? Or have you every heard an Asian parent complain that their children didn't do well on a test because of "cultural bias"?

[Heather Victoria Swanson]

04:25 PM on 01/29/2011

We've had a few schools here (in Toronto) that have adopted this policy for the last couple of years already. It really disturbed me when I heard about it initially, because I know I learned a LOT as a kid in a very multicultural and multiracial school, getting to have a widely varied group of friends and celebrating all sorts of cultural holidays, etc., and I feel like that was a great way to promote tolerance and understanding. Re-segregating? After so many have fought so long to achieve the opposite? It still sits heavy with me, despite all reports that the schools in question are apparently doing well & the kids whose parents opted to send them there are adjusting well (and yes, it's completely voluntary at the schools I mention; it's not a district thing, or a "let's funnel the trouble-making non-White kids into one substandard place" thing, but rather a couple of institutions that Black Canadian families can choose to enroll their children, and Black teachers can specifically choose to work there).

I don't know how to feel about it. It's wishful thinking to expect everyone to have had the same good experience I had in school at that age 20 years ago. I guess only time will tell, once the kids have graduated and moved into more diverse colleges, universities and careers, if it's made a significant impact on how they view and interact with the world.

[Ariel Bonzai]

03:58 PM on 01/30/2011

I am HS teacher in stressed urban area. I have seen students evolve in profound relationships forged between teens because we celebrate diversity. I see more discriminate in adult circles especially authority. Don't buy that research. The teachers mean well but this scary

[ninetailedfox]

11:16 AM on 02/01/2011

here I thought Canada was liberal. I guess they cant resist imitating "One of the greatest countriest in the world" (dripping with sarcasm)

[Heather Victoria Swanson]

08:25 AM on 02/03/2011

I think, in the views of those who set up these schools and this system, it IS a "liberal" move (I disagree, but the spokespeople have made it sound like they're opening up all sorts of doors - whereas I'm afraid they're slamming them shut - and making a daring choice, etc.). Which depresses me to no end. But since I'm not in the demographic whose kid would ever qualify to go to one of these segregated schools, I guess I can't say with any authority how good an idea it is to encourage children to avoid other racial and cultural groups as much as these places seem to be doing.

Yeah. Ten years from now we'll see if this was a "liberal" step forward or a giant mistake hearkening back to things that we fought to leave behind. Sigh.