Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Gap
Between the two articles I gave you and the one I wrote you've seen gobs of possible reasons why an achievement gap exists. Of course the problem is complicated, and there isn't any one reason for it. Probably nearly all the theories provided do have some merit. But if you had to try to pinpoint the most significant theories you've read, which combination would you choose? Which seem to be the ones at play at your school? Pull together ideas from the three articles to create your personal theory of the gap. Then come back later and comment on someone else's theory.
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Personally, I believe the achievement gap exists due to low teacher expectation of minority or poor students and lack of quality instruction in the classroom. The two factors contribute to each other and lead to many negative consequences for students.
ReplyDeleteIf a teacher doesn't believe a student is capable of learning the material presented in a class, the teacher's attitude towards the student becomes compromised. The student never tries to do the work because he/she is not expected to be able to do it correctly. If the teacher does not expressly encourage or support the student, then why should he/she bother to do the work anyway? Teachers tend to believe that the apathy towards assignments is due to issues outside of the classroom (ex. homelife, extracurricular activities, or a myriad of other reasons), but the truth is, if a student doesn't think he/she can do the work and no one bothers to tell him/her otherwise, then the assignment isn't worth taking the time to do. Especially, when there are much more appealing things to do with one's time, such as socializing or figuring out what to do on the weekend.
I think the lack of quality instruction in the classroom leads to teacher apathy toward students' work and general student failure. If teachers are not creating structured classroom environments and appealing lessons, students are not going to be willing to listen to anything that is being said in a classroom. No one can teach anyone anything if you haven't first established your authority on the subject and/or shown you know what you're doing. The days of passively listening to a teacher and behaving "just because you should" are over, especially at the high school level. I don't respect people that don't respect me, so why should I expect anything different from my students? To create successful students, we have to be fair and open with them about what we are doing and where we are going with our lessons. If our students understand why we are asking them to do ABC, then they are much more willing to do those tasks because they see the relevance for them. Anyone can stand up in a classroom and lecture on and on from a textbook, but teachers who are interested in the success of their students create a transparent environment that begins with trust, where students are, eventually, willing to take risks to learn.
I agree completely with what Christine has said about achievement gap in our schools. If the teacher doesn't believe their students can accomplish much than it will turn into a self fulfilling prophecy. Students need goals, high expectations, and most of all encouragement.
ReplyDeleteThis morning I had the pleasure of taking part of Baldwin High Schools Parent University meeting. We put on skits for the parents to show them different scenarios that could possibly take place at school. The situations ranged from a student who is failing a class and might not graduate on time to a student who is failing and his parents just found out about it because contact between the teacher and the parent had not been successful. While we were rehearsing for the skits earlier in the week I had thought nothing about the subjects that were being discussed since we would do two versions of each, one "good" and one "bad." However, after we were done with the skits a parent raised his hand to comment. He understood why it was important to share information about what could happen with those scenarios, but he did not understand why it always had to do with a child passing or failing. He wanted to know why the expectations weren't higher. Why shouldn't the expectation be for every student to try for a B or higher? While doing the skit it had not occurred to me that they could possibly be saying we just expect these kids to pass with a D so we can send them on their way. Even though it was something as small as that, it obviously made a big impact on at least one of the parents who holds their children to a higher expectation.
Although the Parents-are-at-fault theory seems to be a case of blaming the victim, I believe that parents can be the difference between a child succeeding or failing (in school and in life). We have already discussed in the lesson about different classes what upper class and middle class parents do that lower ones do not. A lot of the problem is that, as one article put it, the parents don't know any better and are involved in the children's life in other ways, but the bottom line is that if you took an lower class child (of any race) and put them under the care of an upper class parent, their chances for success would increase exponentially.
ReplyDeleteAre all lower class parents to blame? Of course not -just as not all upper class children become successful, but having gone to a private school, I am positive that it is not due solely to the phenomenal teaching skills of the instructors that middle and upper class students perform better. Many private school teachers are under-qualified, and almost all are underpaid (compared to their public school counterparts). As I have mentioned before, on average private schools spend about 1/4th per student as public schools. Why is it that their students are more likely to go on to college and higher paying jobs? The parents.
We all know the cliche of the helicopter private school parent, but active involvement in the scholastic and extracurricular endeavors of a child is usually beneficial. I knew that if I came home with anything less than a B (or C if it was a really tough subject) there would be intense questioning from my mom and dad. They also made sure to ask how my homework was coming, knew the names of all my teachers, and went to all my games and performances. If we could instruct parents how to ask the right questions (as the Harlem Baby College has done) then I truly believe many of the problems would diminish. Stop expecting the State to raise our kids and do everything for us.
Often, and even before anyone realizes it, life has stepped in the way of parents' being good parents. The divorce rate being what it is, and the birth rate (especially the birth rate of the impoverished) being what it is, we have kids who have blindly walked into a world where they fend for themselves and hope for the best. Parents who work 2+ jobs and expect the oldest child to take care of everything until they get home, of course, have little time or inclinations to ask the proper questions of their children where school is concerned. The efforts that Lee points out of those in Harlem notwithstanding, the single parents working two jobs have little time to ask questions to anyone. Thus, expectations are key when one considers the amount of help and pushing that our kids are receiving at home. The push from us, however, is largely expected; I give the kids enough credit to realize that we as teachers are supposed to keep their noses to the grindstone.
ReplyDeleteOne of my junior boys works nightly after school at a restaurant without a fatherly influence and a mother who is frequently out of town on her own accord. Kids like him have stumbled into a world where they cannot stay awake long enough to listen to the instructions for a differentiated, layered lesson, and that is indeed a terrible injustice.
(Waterboy above is Daniel, by the way. I'm on a rather old account, from my days at the Woodbury water plant. A thousand apologies, all.)
ReplyDeleteLife, however, does not exempt parents from what society expects of them. The Iron Law of Wages having been effectively done away with due to the advent of the various forms of governmental welfare programs, we will continue to see a healthy number of children from households like this from years to come. Thus, kids get away with sloughing off their schoolwork at home and accept the zeroes or ISS or detention as consequences because the idea that their futures will suffer holds no water when they know what will come when they arrive home in the evening. Thus, we may well see teachers that design and implement the most wonderful of lessons, but more built-in reasons to care must come from somewhere other than the teacher. Parents must reach a healthy balance of "helicopterism" and passive guidance.
I would hope that, if one day I actually have children, my helicopter instincts will take over only when necessary, when the little one needs some pushing along or pulling back in line.
There is not any good reason that there is such a thing as an achievement gap and some of the theories as to its existence are horribly ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI think what has caused this problem is a combination of factors that work together to create accumulative disadvantage that begins a series of events that not only tends to cycle but continues to be even more disadvantage to the next generations as it compounds. These disadvantages include low teacher expectation, lack of or non-productive parent involvement, poor quality or ineffective teacher instruction. Teachers sometimes expect less of minority and low class students. It is easy to feel sorry for these students who you see having little financial flexibility. We can not have a different sentiment for different students. We have to see each of them as people and expect their personal greatness in all that they do and create. Sometimes parents just don't know the best way to be involved in their child's educational career. I thought the BHS parent university was a great idea to help parents learn more effective ways to support their kids. Another thing we can do as teachers to help parents know better ways to support is to always contact them when necessary. I think it is important when contacting the parent that you tell the student before hand this is what is going to happen and this is what I am going to tell your parent/guardian. It is never ok, I think, to contact the parent behind the student's back or with out their knowing. This will just perpetuate mistrust. Just by speaking with the parent they will have a better idea of how things are going and we can even offer suggestions such as encouragement and other types of support. And, most importantly I think we as teacher must be serious about using effective methods for the class and students you are working with. We have to know and be proficient in using many different methods of instruction. Each class will demand different things from us and we have to be ready to alter and reflect on methodologies and practices. To me this is the most serious part of the gap. I think just this could considerably close the gap. Although there are several other factors encouraging the gap I think if every teacher was using the most effective method for that class that the gap would almost be filled.
Both Lee and Waterboy (haha Daniel :) )make valid points on to why there is such a large achievement gap between our students. Family life does play a huge role on whether or not our students become successful, and, as Lee has noted, all the studies point to children of middle and upper class parents have a higher percentage of doing well in school and going on to receive higher forms of education. However, as Daniel mentioned, sadly a lot of these children of lower class status have parents that aren't involved in their lives for whatever reason (ie: having to work to make sure they can provide for their family). It's easier said than done, but I think as future teachers when we have a student(s) who doesn't have a lot of support it becomes part of our job to make sure they get that encouragement. The meaning of being fair in the classroom is to give each student what they need, and in some cases it might just be that extra push or sign that shows you really do care about your students.
ReplyDelete*I should have noted that that was my definition of being fair in the classroom...
ReplyDeleteI believe all three of the articles had valid points, but I believe the main reason for the educational gap is because of parents and the child's surrounding social environment when growing up. Notice I'm not talking about a lower or middle class, but the social environment of a child. I believe that if parents practice praising their child and really believing that their child is capable of anything, then the child would realize their potential even before they entered the classroom. They would know that they have the strength to fight against all the factors that seem to be working against them.
ReplyDeleteI believe that most parents don't practice this because they weren't educated or they use the excuse that it's not how the were raised. Regardless, if a child's role models believed in them...the earlier the age the better....then a child would learn how to dream and would work for those dreams.
I agree with what Erin has said. If teachers are fair to all students in the classroom, a lot of our kids would at least have the opportunity to succeed. An important thing to remember is that fairness does not always mean equality. I do not require glass to have good vision, but others do. It is more fair for us to not be equal. If we were simply equal then they couldn't see and I could! Some kids need more help than others -this is fair despite not being equal.
ReplyDeleteI am not suggesting that we should abandon the students who show intelligence, but that we should get them to help out others and spread their knowledge. This will help them practice, and help the ones who need more help in order to be on the same playing field as the higher achieving students.
Wow, I have never been good at picking just one theory. The way I see it is that a theory works to explain a particular situation but not every situation. With that being said, I'm not sure which 2 or 3 to pick. Yes I think there is something to be said about black kids feeling negative pressure from their friends when it comes to acting white and that schools do not operate the same as most black culture thusly inhibiting the learning styles of black students. However, I do feel that the largest impact comes from the socioeconomic side of things, yet I do not believe that you can seperate the socioeconmic model from the sociopathological model as suggested in the article "The canary in the mine." Research has shown that parenting styles, work ethic, and values placed on things such as education is influenced just as greatly by both SES and culture/ethnicity. In my class at Gray Station, there is a correlation between lower achieving black students and their SES just as there is the same correlation between my white students. These 2 lay the foundation and then other theories such as teacher expectations, tracking, etc. build upon and interact with each other creating a tangled web in which any combination of theories is plausible.
ReplyDeletePersonally the biggest contributions to the achievement gap that I have seen in the elementary school setting is low expectations of students and the difference between students who have birthdays early on the year and those whose fall at the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest issue between the two I believe is the achievement and development gap between the students whose birthdays fall in the beginning of the school in August and September. When looking at the work of these students and by just speaking to them you can tell that they are much further ahead than those students whose birthdays come later in year and in the summer. The students who have late birthdays are usually very much behind everyone else and require some extra help in the classroom. Another factor in this gap I have seen greatly depends on whether or not the student attended a preschool. When student's do not attend any type of schooling prior to beginning Kindergarten they are very much behind socially and academically. So if a student's birthday falls late in the year they definitely need to attend some sort of preschooling.
The other factor that I have seen is the lack off encouragement by Teachers. I personally try to encourage all of my students, but I have seen and come in contact with many teachers who pre judge students based on ethnicity, social status, backgrounds, etc. When teachers do this they are not expecting much out of the student and the student can see that, therefore they do not even try to do adequate work and then they fail.
I think being fair has a lot to do with the point I was making about teachers having to consider critically the methods by which we teach in our classes. Fairness is necessary and from what I have seen and after hearing about the class Christy visited in WaCo, is often demanded by our students all be it in a way that is often not understood by some of us. And like everything else we have examined these past semesters I think there is so much in education that should be reconsidered. This is just one more of them. We have got to do better!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jenn. The whole experience and opportunities factor plays a big part in a child's success story in the classroom. I find it very true that the more opportunities a child has in something, the more experience and the bigger the success rate. This comes with time. I believe that classes should be divided among birthdays so that everyone in the class is closer to age and experience levels...it evens out the playing field for the students.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the articles, I think the achievement gap is the result of a combination of all these reasons on some level. The two that stand out in my mind are low teacher expectations and underprepared teachers. Low teacher expectations can mean the difference between a students success and failure. It is difficult to see past what other teachers, parents, etc have not been able to when it comes to teaching certain students. If a student has been given lower expectations their entire life, it is hard for them to expect more from themselves. We have to be able to look beyond what others have not, and bring EVERY student up to our expectations not just a majority.
ReplyDeleteThe underprepared teacher theory plays off of that as well. When teachers are not prepared to deal with students of all learning abilities, then those students at the bottom are overlooked and left behind. We have to know that those students will be in every class that we teach and be ready for them as soon as they walk in the door. If we set the bar high for every student early and often, then they will have to raise their own expectations.
Jenn, I think your experience with kids and their birthdays is very interesting. Since we talked about it in class, I've been curious about it. I think I'm going to take a look at my TWS students by their birthdays and see if there are any patterns. I agree that kids have to go to pre-school to keep up in Kindergarten. So much more is expected of kids today; you have to be able to somewhat read when you leave kindergarten now. Imagine a child who hasn't been to pre-school and has grown up in a home, where the main language isn't English. That child has some serious catching up to do.
ReplyDeleteI actually had a few students who did not attend preschool. These students where significantly behind in the classroom. They could not even write their name while the rest of the students in the classroom could write. They were significantly delayed academically and socially.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Jennifer, Praise, Praise, Praise is what a student needs to succeed in the classroom. And that is something we in the MAT program are constantly taught. I think that is you were to compare a classroom that received nothing but praise to that of a class of students who did not receive any type of praise that there would be a very large achievement gap.
Pretaining to what Lee said, I agree and one of the things that I will never forget is what I learned in Marjos class:"fair is not everyone gets equal, it's everyone gets what they need". I had a student question why I gave a student in my class extra time to finish an assignment, and I tried to explain this principle to him. He did not seem to think that any student should recieve "special treatment", but we have to understand that every student is unique and if we dont support them, then perhaps nobody will.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that the most significant theory is that teachers do not hold high expectations for their students, whether it is the expectations for all of their students or specific students because of cultural stereotypes. Bottom line, if a teacher doesn’t expect much from their students, why would they put any extra effort into being successful in their work. It is sad that some teachers just want their students to pass and nothing more. The other day, some students in my class were refusing to do their work. They claimed they had a passing grade, so why do more. I was amazed at how comfortable they were with having just a passing grade, and wondered why they did not have higher expectations for themselves. I wonder if it is because none of their other teachers expect much more from them.
ReplyDeleteI also think that it has a lot to do with cultural capital. For example, we were doing some research in the computer lab on an artist and their artwork. For many of the students, this was an easy task and they did not need much guidance. But for others, the task was very difficult. Many students did not even know where to start looking for information, and they didn’t know what kind of information they needed to be looking for. Simply being able to search something on google and knowing which sites would be good to click on is very necessary cultural capital to posses. Not only will it help them in school, but in thousands of other ways. I take for granted that I can breeze through things on the internet, but many children in my classes don’t know how to do that. In our internet and technology based society, this is going to be something necessary for these kids to know how to do if they want to be successful.
I am curious about more information about the Fourth Grade Failure syndrome. It seems odd to me that you could pinpoint a very specific grade, and trace many evidences of failure. It isn't as if it is fifth grade in which most schools might "graduate" from elementary school, and the same curiosity is that it doesn't occur at 8th grade, which is often the final grade before high school.
ReplyDeleteEvery other Thursday, I attend a meeting about differentiation and other methods facilitated by Dr. Dan Bower (Baur?) and Dr. Devietis. Since the beginning, Dan has always receommended the book "Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity," and in fact it was recently ordered for a set of books for teachers to read because it is supposed to provide some serious insight. Ferguson, the author of the book, is alluded to in this gap theory, so I am curious to go more in depth and see what he has to say. Again, Ferguson is tied to the "Acting White" theory. This issue always reminds me of the controversy about The Cosby Show. Some people in the black community frown upon the show because they feel that the Huxtables are "acting white" and aren't representing black culture, which tends to suggest that blacks might have low expectations of themselves or lose part of their identity is they are successful.
I agree wholeheartedly with Katey Jean! Since I teach a regular 12th grade class and two AP 11th grade classes, there are a few occasions when I am conflicted with what expectations to give. I always give the higher expectation. It can be tough walking into a new school or classroom and not knowing the expectations and standards set before them, especially if they've been doing it through 11 or 12 years of schooling. When it comes down to it, perhaps it is better not knowing, by setting your own standards and expectations, and keeping them there without question.
ReplyDeleteI was glad to read Jenn Vick's example of children that had not attended preschool. It sounds as if such a situation creates not only an achievement gap, but starts an accumulative disadvantage for the rest of their lives. It reminds me how valuable the development of children are, even at such a young age.
I think that Claire made some very good points with her theory on the achievement gap. I especially like what she brings up about teacher parent contact. Teachers need to make sure and let parents know better ways to be involved with their child's education. Think of specific ways that you can get parents involved in your specific subject area. In art for example, you could find out about free art exhibits and encourage parents to take their students to these events. Or create your own art exhibits and have ways for the parents to help out with set-up or in other ways.
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