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Smart List: 60 People Shaping the Future of K-12 Education
About the Times article on wealth disparity in educational attainment: Like this is a surprise? I wonder what the modern reformers are going to say about that. Choice. Charters. Vouchers. Competition. Right. That’ll make it all better.
Can we finally put this nonsense to bed?
Of course income inequality affects classroom achievement, and of course, income inequality is among many factors that affect how children in the United States learn. Those in education involved in the day-to-day design of instruction for low-income students take these challenges seriously and adjust.
Recognizing that an achievement gap exists between poor and rich students hardly absolves my responsibility for doing something to address it, and charter schools are one platform among many for school leaders to consider when decided what can be done to support all students. I work in a variety of contexts in education (classroom teacher, researcher, prospective charter leader, Eduwonk reader, etc.), and I don’t believe that charters, vouchers, or competition is sensible when parents already have great school options for their children.
But given that I cannot cure income inequality on my own, or even address the issue as part of a movement with any hope of doing anything of consequence in the short to medium term, I’m left with what I can do now. And what I can do now is to face the facts outlined in the research referenced in the Times article and see if there are any logical inferences to be gleaned in terms of education policy at the local level.
One seems to be that school can make a more concerted effort to build relationships with parents and to have the courage to have challenging conversations about what behaviors will help their children succeed and what will not. Of course, teaching and learning is more complex than any one course of action, but building relationships with all of our parents and meeting them (literally) where they are regardless of income might be one part of the solution.
Obviously, if poverty is about more than income, than our strategies for addressing income inequality has to be more than just waiting for the economy to recover. We’ll need a menu of instructional strategies, community partnerships, and school options (charters, private, and traditional public schools included) to meet all of our students’ needs adequately.
She only went to US schools for a few years.
In any event, though, it says nothing about it. Once you get past the age of 8 or so, your ability to absorb a new language has little to do with your education and a lot to do with aptitude.