| Achievement Gap (5/08) | | Print | |
| Written by Camille Smyth | |
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A district deputy superintendent is devising a new plan to close the achievement gap between district schools.
Resolution No. 82-26A1, Closing the Achievement Gap in the District, was adopted by the Board of Education in April. The district has the largest racial achievement gap compared to seven other equally sized districts in the state, according to deputy superintendent Tony Smith. “The achievement gap is one way of saying that all students are not reaching the same level of learning in school,” Board of Education commissioner Eric Mar said. “Usually, the gap is largest among low-income African American, Latino and English as second language-learners when compared with middle-class white and Chinese students.” The current plan for the resolution to close the achievement gap consists of three goals: making social justice a reality, engaging high-achieving and joyful learners and ensuring accountability. “Our Closing the Achievement Gap resolution requires the school district to report and show progress toward closing this gap and improving student learning for the lowest income students,” Mar said. “It requires the superintendent and staff to present regular reports to the community, parents and the school board on our district's work to close the gap.” Although San Francisco has a respectable number of high-achieving students, it also has a large number of low-achieving students. Between the years of 2001 and 2007 Latinos saw only a three percent increase in their English Language Arts scores and a two percent increase in math as measured by the California Standardized Tests. African Americans increased six percent in English and Math. In order to make social justice a reality, the district wants to diminish the historic power of demographics by “dramatically accelerating the achievement of targeted groups of students,” according to Smith’s proposal. The district wants to centralize professional learning on equity and create an environment for students to flourish by tightening security and improving students’ safety, according to the resolution. In addition, the district wants to engage high-achieving and joyful learners. This consists of several steps. First, the district wants to have “authentic learning for every student where students will meet or exceed district grade level standards in all core curriculum areas such as language arts, mathematics, science, world languages and visual and performing arts,” according to the resolution. Second, the district wants to ensure that all graduating students have vocational skills required for the 21st Century such as technological fluency and environmental, civic and social responsibility, according to the proposal by Smith. The district hopes that this plan will ensure that by 2012, a minimum of 60 percent of all students in all racial groups will be at proficiency levels in English and Math. However, some teachers feel that simply providing updated reports is not enough to close the achievement gap. “Updated reports run the same line as (the) No Child Left Behind (Act),” social studies teacher Thais Da Rosa said. “We don’t need any more statistical findings or any more testing. Despite community groups resentment to this idea, perhaps racial quotas are the only way to really close the achievement gap,” she said. Students such as senior Laurel Stephens agree and think that the achievement gap needs to be approached in a different way. “I don’t believe that reports are a strong enough way to change the achievement gap,” Stephens said. “Although they will be helpful they are not the most effective way to tackle this problem.” According to Mar, the resolution came from parents organizing for a more accountable school district. “It sets high goals of closing the achievement gap within four to five years,” he said. Mar believes that parents can also play a role in closing the gap. “I think another step is for the parents to work more closely with teachers to build in more professional development support for them so that they can help close the gap too,” he said. |
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to listen.
