Community High School

Shrinking the Gap

The achievement gap has pretty much always been there. I began to notice that in second grade that my black peers were not performing at the same level,” said Calvin Harris, an African American senior at CHS, who has dealt with the gap throughout his educational career. The achievement gap between black and white students is a problem that is occurring throughout the nation. However, simply because it is a nation wide issue does not mean it cannot be felt on a local scale.  Calvin is taking advanced classes, and the lack of African American students in those classes is noticable. “In my advanced classes, there are little to no blacks. Physics? No. Advanced Chem.? No. Calculus? Again, no.”

Furthermore, he commented on the sense of alienation from other black students due to his participation in the advanced courses. “It has alienated me in a weird way. I’m not outcasted, but I don’t actually see black kids as much now. It’s kind of alienation through academics.”

At Community High School, the gap is unquestionably smaller than the rest of Ann Arbor high schools. However, the numbers may be skewed due to the lack of minority students attending. Ken McGraw, a teacher at CHS, believes that Community’s environment, specifically programs such forum, is a factor in the numbers. “Forum makes kids and parents understand that the teachers are involved.”

Tim Smedley, an 11th grader at CHS, thinks that there is more work to do. “We shouldn’t be content. The gap is still there, and we can’t afford to be self-congratulatory because we are doing slightly better.”

In the effort to reduce the achievement gap, a major fact is spotting the cause. Naturally, historical factors come into play, but the consensus is that there is no sole cause of the achievement gap. Joe Flynn, CHS’ diversity counselor, explains. “Too often, we want to find the magic bullet. There are many legitimate arguments to why it exists, but no one thing causes the achievement gap.”

Walter Brown, a teacher at Slauson Middle School, sees the issue as a difference in cultural backgrounds. “We have a lack of a shared value system. The white, middle class value system values different things than what those [black] students want. We often don’t offer black students anything with any intrinsic value to them.”

With that said, Brown believes that the gap is simply a way for students to avoid historical stereotypes. “The gap is a great way to avoid finding out whether a white kid is better than you.”

One major point of contention on the achievement gap is whether it is founded in socio-economic circumstance, or in a racial divide. Ken McGraw believes it is founded more in the former. “It seems almost racist to attribute the problem to a strictly black/white nature. In terms of economic levels, less advantaged kids may not perform as well, and that may correlate with the achievement gap.”

Judith Dewoskin also sees the achievement gap as an issue that is larger than just race. “When I think of it, I think of it in much broader terms. I don’t think it’s always about a racial divide. The gap is palpable. But I don‘t think that is due only to a racial line.”

There are a large number that believe the issue lies at least partly in the context of race. Joe Flynn explains, “People think that talking about race is an attack on them. It’s not. It’s about addressing the needs of different kids who aren’t doing as well, for whatever reason.”

Some believe that the issue is racial; schools are not prepared to deal with diverse needs. “In my experience, teachers don’t address the gap. They pretend that it’s not there. Or that black kids are supposed to do badly,” Calvin Harris clarifies.

Joe Flynn also commented on this, “Schools aren’t always equipped to deal with changes. Black kids in mostly white schools have different needs. Things like race and gender have an impact on the learning experience.”

There has been debate on the exact age at which the gap widens. However, this is a non-issue for Tim Smedley, because the school does not act on it regardless. “I haven’t heard much discussion about the gap until now, high school. Naturally the numbers are going to be shocking if we pretend it doesn’t exist until it’s too late.”

No one knows exactly when the gap comes into effect across the country, but most agree that it should be addressed earlier. In Ann Arbor, the issue can be seen as early as middle school. Slauson Middle School in Ann Arbor is an example of this. Throughout grade 6, 7, and 8, it only gets worse. Therefore, some minority kids are already at a disadvantage when they get into high school.

The method that the state uses to measure its schools on the middle school level is the MEAP. Children are usually tested in subjects of English, Reading, Writing, and Math, among others.

In English, 81.5% of African Americans “meet/exceed” the standards in the sixth grade, versus 96.6% of their Caucasian counterparts. In the seventh grade, 60% of African Americans “meet/exceed” the standards, versus 93% of their white counterparts, and 60% of the group called the “Economically Disadvantaged”. In the eighth grade, 60% of African Americans “meet /exceed” the standards, while 88% of whites do.

_Obviously, the situation begs one question — what is being done to address the achievement gap?_

In Math, the results are not broken up racially in the sixth grade. In the seventh grade, 47.2% of African Americans “meet/exceed” the standards, versus 57.5% of the “economically disadvantaged”, 46.9% of those receiving special education, and 90% of their white counterparts. In eighth grade, 45.5% of African Americans “meet/exceed” the standards, versus 61% of the “Economically Disadvantaged”, and 88% of whites.

There were over thirty children in each individual interest group mentioned above. While Slauson Middle School is but one of the schools in the Ann Arbor district, the trend is not unique. The trend is also not regulated to only our area. A study by the University of California indicates that black children within the highest income grouping (over $60,00) scored well below white children within the lowest income grouping (under $20,00) on the SAT in California.

Obviously, the situation begs one question — what is being done to address the achievement gap?

In Ann Arbor, there has been an increase of awareness about the achievement gap, due to an increase of activity addressing it. Both the district, as well as independent groups are trying to shrink the gap through various measures.

The district is attempting to shrink the gap by employing policies that encourage conversation about the achievement gap, as well as the broader theme of race. Therefore, an equity team has now become a mandatory part of all Ann Arbor schools. The focus of the equity team is to work towards ending the achievement gap by facilitating discussion among the staff.

AAPS has also contracted Pacific Educational Group to help the district tend to the achievement gap. Led by Glenn Singleton, PEG is a group of consultants that attempts to heighten the awareness of the educators in any given school district by engaging them in leadership training, as well as coaching. After having teachers participate in “courageous conversation”, the program is designed to help schools form plans on how to close the achievement gap. AAPS is now in the third year of a program called the Anti-Racism and Equity Initiative.

The PEG’s curriculum relies on the participation of multiple parties within the community, including parents, administrators, and teachers. Moreover, it requires all parties in the community to be willing to work with one another when discussing the achievement gap. “We believe that it is critical to engage the entire school community and at all levels – school board, superintendent, central office administrators, principals, teachers, staff, students, parents and community – to bring about the systemic change needed to ensure equity and excellence for all students.” explaines Carolyn Ash, Director of Student Leadership Development, as well as Research and Development at Pacific Educational Group.

The PEG has done a considerable amount of work, however students like Tim Smedley are concerned about how they are engaged in the discussion. “There really hasn’t been much talk about the achievement gap — with students that is. There is only so much everyone else can do, besides the students themselves.”

The Youth Empowerment Project has attempted to address that qualm by introducing a group called Leap the Gap.  A student led group, Leap the Gap has attempted to address the achievement gap by facilitating focus groups to discuss the issue. They had 30 focus group sessions, which are completely student run, from the participants to the facilitators.

Leap the Gap has also set up an online survey about the achievement gap that over 1000 teens have participated in.

The goal of obtaining all this information was to prepare for the next step: the creation of a think tank called the Youth-Adult Partnership Forum, which occured over MLK weekend. They will make their recommendations on solving the achievement gap in May.

The ones who will be executing those recommendation are student led Action Teams, who will promote awarness and try to close the gap on a student level. Students interested may join an action team starting from June.

Action is logically the next step, and naturally a vital one in the process of closing the achievement gap. However, action will be fruitless, unless core, cultural issues are resolved within the education system, according to Brown. “When people attempting to shrink the gap account for the other 17 hours in a day, something will happen.”