For as long as we have had struggling schools in America's cities, there have been efforts to turn them around. Those of us committed to equal opportunity have always believed that education gives students a foothold on the ladder to success. Yet recent studies show the role of education as a force for equality is threatened.
Research at Stanford University found that the gap in test scores between affluent and poor students increased by 40 percent in the past 50 years, while a University of Michigan study found that the disparity in college completion rates increased by 50 percent since the 1980s.
These trends do not bode well for the more than 20 percent of children who live below the official poverty line, including a third of African American children. While there's room for improvement in almost every school, we clearly need to focus on those schools with high concentrations of poor students who have not been getting the education they need and deserve.
Instead of playing the blame game, local teachers unions are stepping up to the challenge of raising academic performance in these schools. I know this because I have seen it in schools across the country, including those that are part of the National Education Association's Priority Schools Campaign.
Last year I visited Romulus Middle School just outside Detroit, an NEA Priority School that had struggled for many years. Its student population -- 62 percent African American, 75 percent eligible for free and reduced lunch -- resembles that found in many urban centers.
Romulus was named one of the lowest achieving schools in the state by Michigan's Department of Education. The unflattering label followed the students' consistently low scores on state tests, yet failure was not "The Romulus Way" -- school officials' values were steeped in responsibility and resourcefulness.
In the summer of 2010, Romulus was one of 28 Michigan schools to receive a federal School Improvement Grant (SIG), funds targeted to low-performing schools under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The infusion of cash was important -- for new technology, revamping instruction and teacher training. But what really put the transformation effort over the hump was the collaborative efforts of teachers, administrators and the community.
When I toured Romulus Middle School in September here's what I found:
After countless grand policy initiatives, and decades of education reforms and gusts of innovation, here is the lesson I think we can draw: the only way to turn around struggling schools is to work together -- by demanding concrete changes that make low student achievement totally unacceptable for any group of students.
Done right, this approach can not only help students in so-called "failing" schools, but is a scalable strategy for fixing America's troubled urban school systems. It's hard work, and the transformation won't happen overnight, but that's all the more reason to get started as soon as possible.
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Try to talk straight for once. You have been appeasing and cheerleading for Obama too long to avoid having to do what unions have to do to protect both teachers and children. This has nothing to do with education or teachers; it is about the money period. Public schools have $500000 billion for corporate plunder. The Ed Show tonight showed the discrimatory takeover of minority schools in Chicago for the charter industry under Rahm. So stop it. Tell the public what is really going on before we lose free and public education for all children.
The best solution would be to break up the ghettos, by limiting the number of families who can collect welfare by zip code, and providing resources for families to move to areas where poverty is less concentrated. New Jersey requires every town to have a certain percentage of low income housing. Every town -- no exceptions.
1. Reform the way schools are funded. The centuries old property tax system isn't working and schools getting the left overs in the general budget does a disservice to students. If you're going to reform you need to start at the bottom, the base, the foundation. And that is where the money comes from. Funding is the key to any reform. Until you've fixed that, everything else is superficial, transitory and inconsistent.
2. Standardized testing. Enough already. Testing might get politicians elected but it doesn't do much else. It neither proves students are learning or that teachers are teaching. So save some money and get rid of all but ONE. And don't have a hissy over the one. I'd get rid of all testing and all grading if I were in charge. Make everything portfolio based. Teachers know when students are learning. So do parents. Report cards do more damage than good, especially to elementary students. Testing even worse. No one wants to be in a classroom with students crying and stressing out from overtesting. Plus we could really use the money saved.
We all share the responsibility of educating our nation's youth. And I couldn't agree more with this statement: "The only way to turn around struggling schools is to work together -- by demanding concrete changes that make low student achievement totally unacceptable for any group of students."