Blue Dog

Sun, Nov 14, 2010 : 8:27 p.m.

The AAPS site is wrong. It lists Glenn Singleton as part of the Professional Education Group, which is very different than Singleton's Pacific Educational group. Things that make you go hmmmm.... March 9- http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/boe.home/meeting_schedule

magnumpi

Sun, Nov 14, 2010 : 7:03 p.m.

i believe the schools are trying to get the parents more involved through each schools Black Parent Student Support Group. Which is fine if it works but I am wondering why, since the achievement gap is not solely African American children, are there not other Parent Student Support Groups based on ethnicity or race? I have yet to hear of the Low Income Parent Student Support Group or Hispanic or non-English speaking as noted in the first sentence of this article.

jondhall

Sun, Nov 14, 2010 : 2:56 p.m.

What are we doing about the teacher achievement gap? Myabe we should give them more union protection? How about they get tenure sooner? How about the pay gap? We could move them all up to the same level. I think our new govenor will adress some of these issues.

pseudo

Sat, Nov 13, 2010 : 1:44 p.m.

insanity is defined as...doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.

ViSHa

Sat, Nov 13, 2010 : 9:40 a.m.

I completely agree with you, AMOC. and @BlueDog, he is on the agenda to speak at a study session on the BOE calendar for march, 2011. maybe we will get some reportage then? AAPS is slowly alienating the very people who they need help from by their unfair practices, i.e. parent groups based on race, focusing only on race as an achievement gap component, etc...

Silly Sally

Sat, Nov 13, 2010 : 8:38 a.m.

The article states; "increasing outreach programs to parents of low-income, black, Hispanic and non-English speaking students" Is AAPS going to bring back the racist "Lunch Bunch" again? How about the Academy for African Americans? It is about time that the schools treat students of all races the same, but helping those who fall behind. The programs for the "achievement Gap" should be aimed at all students who need help, not just those of certain demographics. Likewise, smart students should be challenged so that they do even better. It is this group that do most scientific achievements and improve society. The first posting, "Should it more accurately be labeled a parent involvement gap?" is spot-on. Poor, undeducated boat people parents from Asia stress education for their children and they rise to the top. Other parents, identified by the AAPS, are not engaged in their children's education, with tragic results. Schools cannot and should not try to take the place of parents. Some cultures need to change or its members will always be behind. "9th or 10th grade that can't read and would rather deal drugs or start fights than go to classes?" Send them to jail and get them out of the schools, they drag down the rest.

Blue Dog

Sat, Nov 13, 2010 : 8:12 a.m.

Is this whole Glenn SIngleton thing true? Or is it an urban legend? Can we have some reportage about this?

KeepingItReal

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 9:47 p.m.

@JayThomas: I agree with your comments regarding throwing more money at the problem of the achievement gap. It seems that the only people who actually benefit from these initiatives are the consultants who sell the plan to the district and the admnistrators who have the reponsibility to monitor them. They are well compensated. I think your point about valuing education is key. Children must see themselves as part of a larger entity in our society so they make the connection between their educational experience and their place in the society. Sadly, too many of these youth do not have any perspective of their place in the world. Each child is born into a family and community and it is up to that family and community to help that child to gain this sense of persepective. This in not happening and so the effort to address the achievement gap will continue until we redirect our efforts and employ some common sense to the problem. @Schoolmuse. Thank you so much for providing a historical perspective on this subject. You would think that our educators and administrators would by now have develop an understanding on how to address this problem. It seems that each gneration of educators and adminstrators repeat the same mistake over and over again. I would highly suggest they read your historical narrative.

Jay Thomas

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 9:30 p.m.

"The Head Start program previously focused more on everyday skills that weren't based in academia, such as how to brush teeth and other health behaviors, she said." People have children but don't know to teach them to brush their teeth? Is this for real or what... Between the teeth brushing and Michelle Pogliano referring to it as "programming" I can see why it's called 'head start'. :(

AMOC

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 8:59 p.m.

The article (and the linked Plan) cite "inconsistent expectations, grading practices and culturally relevant teaching strategies" as reasons for the achievement gap. These are the ONLY reasons cited for the gap. None of the other criteria addressed by the commenters here were addressed, though if you read the Plan document itself, AAPS has committed to spend even more money on community outreach efforts directed at minority groups, hoping to enlist greater parent and community involvement by approaching black families and community leaders on their own turf. What I want to know is why AAPS continues to address only one of the "achievement gaps" that exist; the one between whites and blacks. Because of the U of M, we have a steady stream of students arriving in the district who are English Language Learners, but whose parents very strongly value education and are as involved in their childrens' education as their cultural background and sometimes-limited English allows them to be. There's an achievement gap there too. What is AAPS doing about it? Nothing new, and less of what they used to do with bilingual education and intensive English immersion, according to their plan. The achievement gap between Special Education students and students without a disability is even larger than that between black students and white. Worse still, if you dig into the disaggregated data, the achievement gap between Special Ed students and white students is greater still. So what is AAPS doing to address this? More extensive mainstreaming of students with disabilities into general education classrooms. "Response to Intervention" in which the classroom teachers try whatever they can think of to see if it helps the students who weren't learning before. And they are enrolling almost all students with reading difficulties in the same computerized reading system, even though that system completely fails to address the reading comprehension difficulties of most students with autism, when students with autistic spectrum disorders are a large and growing proportion of the special education population. Have the majority of regular classroom teachers been trained to implement any of these actions? Nope. There's no time or budget available for training that many teachers. The school staffs have to make do with one or two leaders who will share their knowledge with their colleagues, if any staff meeting or planning time is left over after the Black-White Achievement Gap has been addressed. Why is the district still pursuing race-specific "equity" programs? After the controversy that developed when School Improvement Teams (it was more than just the principal at Dicken) followed the (illegal) recommendations of the Pacific Education Group, why are PEG consultants still "re-educating" AAPS teachers about "cultural competency" and "equity" during the very few professional development days written into the contract? Individualized, high quality education for every student was the goal in the most recent Strategic Plan. Why has AAPS backed away from providing individualized and "culturally relevant" instruction for all AAPS students? Where's the "equity" in that?

HaeJee

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 4:18 p.m.

I dont think that people understand the point of this article. The plan to reduce the gap is by focusing more on early childhood development of children who qualify for programs like Headstart. Headstart and other early childhood programs are designated to high risk student population. This is the group of kids identified statistically to fail out of school. I agree with Top Cats, but it is not that simple. The children that qualify to be in these early childhood programs did not graduate high school themselves, have very low income, cant speak English or could be homeless. So, many times the parents do not know how to help their child in school. It is easy to point at parent involvement and normally I would completely agree with you. After studying education and doing an graduate internship with this program a few years ago, I learned that there are many parents who are not comfortable with being involved with the school due to their current personal life situation or had horrible school experiences themselves. This early childhood program teaches these parents the importance of involvement and teaches them how to work with the school versus sinking. Parents of these high risk kids do not have the same luxuries as many of you have. I am very disappointed to read some of these comments. It shows how out of touch some people are in regards to lower socio economic issues. I met many parents who were scared and felt very intimidated being at the school. Most likely due to being judged by other parents, afraid of being belittled by the educators, etc. I agree with AAPS that investing in early childhood program with children may help this gap. Learning about AAPS early childhood program and the impact they made was one of the best educational learning experiences of my life. The people who run this program and work with these children are truly gifted and special educators. I learned after this internship, never to judge those people that I havent walk in the shoes of. Those that think it is a waste; I suggest them to go to the school and watch these educators work with these young kids for a week. People are being a penny smart and a dollar stupid not wanting to invest in these kids when they are young. Otherwise you will be paying for their incarceration and welfare for much longer 15 years later.

Jay Thomas

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 1:22 p.m.

I have little faith in the idea of devoting more resources (especially with a decreasing AAPS budget) to this area. The Detroit Public school system spends $10,000 per pupil (more than A2) and after having gone there for K-12 the students end up knowing next to nothing because learning is simply not their priority. If you replaced those students with students that came from a background that valued education your "bad school" would magically transform itself into a "good school" overnight. This is what people don't get when they keep throwing money at this achievement gap. Anyone who thinks spending more money will solve this problem is sadly mistaken and needs to look at what happened in Kansas City. A judge ordered the state there to spend two billion dollars on that relatively small school district for the purpose of bringing its black students up to a national standard of performance. They did the following with the money: Built all new schools with the best of everything including "an Olympic-sized swimming pool with an underwater viewing room, television and animation studios, a robotics lab, a 25-acre wildlife sanctuary, a zoo, and a model United Nations with simultaneous translation capability." They sent the kids on "field trips" to Mexico and Senegal (to get them more connected with their "roots" I guess...). They increased teacher salary and more importantly they lowered classroom size to only 12 or 13 students for every teacher (the lowest in the country). So what happened? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. All of the same test results and achievement gaps remain to this day. Wake up! Ann Arbor is doing nothing wrong in this area. We have young people from every country on the globe go through our schools (thanks to U of M) and they come out well prepared to go to college. This is a national problem in the African American community... and while they would be happy if we devoted ourselves to their children the responsibility is really theirs. All of the opportunities are there if you are willing to take them. Stop with the excuse factory already.

Beth

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 12:38 p.m.

Interesting that there's no mention here of another proposed initiative to close the achievement gap, the K-8 pairing/ lab school/ year-round "balanced calendar" schedule at Mitchell and Scarlett. I encourage all of you with questions about that to attend the meeting at Mitchell on Thursday the 18th. I attended the meeting at Scarlett this past Wednesday and still have many unanswered questions, primarily: 1.) Where on earth will the money come from to pay for this and 2.) Where is the option to opt-out and attend a different school for families in the Mitchell and Scarlett attendance areas that DON'T want year-round school, especially those who attend a different feeder elementary and would therefore have their children on 2 different vacation schedules? We were told at the meeting that the Board of Education wants to hear what parents think of this plan. This proposal will be presented to the BOE on 12/8. I encourage any of you with questions or concerns to e-mail the BOE before then - boe@aaps.k12.mi.us - and to attend the board meeting and speak there, or at least show by your presence that you have concerns.

ViSHa

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 11:01 a.m.

i agree with krc, i think the teacher's assistants are of great help for those who are falling behind, every room should have one! that is where they should spend their money (and after school homework clubs), not on the touchy-feely "there are no losers" kind of stuff. after the fiasco of last spring, i think dickenson-kelly would be the last person we need as superintendent--her solution was to let teachers and families transfer and keep it business as usual.

skigrl50

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 10:55 a.m.

So this is great, we start working with kids in preschool, but what do we do with the kids that "move" into the district in 9th or 10th grade that can't read and would rather deal drugs or start fights than go to classes??

Tony Livingston

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 10:07 a.m.

AAPS talks out of both sides of their mouth. At Pioneer, the accelerated and advanced classes are super hard and the traditional "colege prep" classes are super easy. They actually have a class of 16 students from the middle schools that are privately bused to Pioneer for their very own advanced math class. Meanwhile, the "college prep" math classes have 35 students. The money and focus always has and always will go to Ann Arbor's elite. Dumbing down classes doesn't do a thing to help students. It just makes people think they are doing well.

Stephen Landes

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 10:04 a.m.

From the Wall Street Journal of 11 Nov 2010 in an article about a new chancellor for the NYC schools: "Education is the one industry where innovation has been missing," Mr. Klein said in an interview. "In any other profession, if you fell asleep 50 years ago and woke up, you wouldn't know what was going on. In education, we've missed the technological revolution," he said. Joel Klein is leaving the post of chancellor an returning to private business while his replacement is coming from private business to the post. What we most need is a great administrator; someone who knows how to run a business. We do not need this person to be an educational messiah: We have administrators whose job is to keep us in the forefront of education. What Mr. Klein says about the education profession is true -- in most ways nothing has changed in 50 years. How do we expect to keep up with students' needs and expectations when we are so far behind in the way we try to teach them?

Dr. I. Emsayin

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 8:30 a.m.

I applaud Governor Snyder's plan to dock the teachers if this idea doesn't work and to reward them with merit pay if it does. Always a good idea to punish the educators who are trying to help rather than holding the student back who doesn't perform to standards. People outside of the field of education complain that schools are not educating properly or fully, but has anyone really come up with a viable solution who is outside of the educational system that they so roundly criticize? Let's see how this new plan works and hope that Ms. Dickenson-Kelley, who should be the next superintendent, does as it gets implemented.

krc

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 8:23 a.m.

AAPS wrote most teacher's assistants out of the contract back early in this decade and at the same time raised class sizes. When I was a TA, I was assigned to read with the kids that were struggling and I think I had some success. I also designed a way to make learning the times tables easier for the kids and the result were students with confidence in his/her ability, instead of thinking they were never going to learn. Since TAs are generally no longer available for this I suggest that those of you who can, volunteer to help these at risk kids.

Jeffersonian

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 7:24 a.m.

Subsidize success and you'll get more success; subsidize failure and you'll be disappointed by the results. Strange that it is a fraction of a percent of entreprenuers and high acheivers that blaze the advances in society- but we jealously scorn these acheivers in favor of a "fair" and equal society- so much so that we are willing to invest disproportionate funding to socially engineer something with which idealists can swaddle themselves. Sadly, no amount of money is going to change anything but raise the sense of entitlement for the recipients.

Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 7:19 a.m.

Schools need a spine. Students need to pay the consequences of failure. If a grade 1-3 student does not meet those basic reading and basic math requirements, then they should go to summer school for 2 months and teachers should teach over the summer - (they are paid over the summer, perhaps they could work those days as well.) Some kids need extra help - If it takes a few months so be it. - no child should leave 3rd grade reading below a 3rd grade level. Back in the day - if you failed a class - you flunked - you did that grade over again. Does that even happen any more? Teachers should be allowed more classroom discipline as well - sending each child to the principals office on each 'event' does little to build 'school room integrity' which is required for all students. Lastly, face it - some kids fail. 100 is the average IQ, not he bottom IQ. Some kids just don't have the genes to sit, wait, and learn - they need another path altogether. Lastly, one thing is for sure - after 40 years of "educational reforms" that is one road that is 100% full of failures.

sh1

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 6:54 a.m.

@Don, I appreciate that you have several sources agreeing with you, and I don't know much about middle school. But, as an active person in the schools myself, I see what's going on in the classrooms, and I participate on curriculum committees, so I see teacher training materials. Please name the AAPS administrator you quoted. Finally, for my proof, I would refer you to the district's MEAP scores and assessment data. If teachers were always aiming at the lowest students, the others must be picking up a lot by osmosis.

racerx

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 4:16 a.m.

Here we go again AAPS. How long has this been going on? I guess, if they keep working at it they'll eventually find a solution. Maybe paying the new super $265K will help. Maybe this person can bring in "fresh" idea's, seemingly since the current crop of "leaders" have failed so many times over the decades. As an Ann Arborite, product of the AAPS and a African-American male of age 50, I've been all too aware of this issue with the public schools. Parent involvement does certainly help and is very important, however, if teachers, counselors, administrators don't show an interest and just assume that based on a person's skin color they will either fail or succeed then this issue will continue to exist. I'm reminded of the elementary school principal who was chasten for attempting to foster an environment of achievement to African American students earlier this year. Though wrong in his attempts, it's this type of thinking that needs to be looked at. Dr. Edmundson while at Scarlett Middle School, introduced new approaches and enforced a stricter school environment too. Essentially, there are other approaches that current staff are attempting, if only they had the full support of the school board. Maybe it's time for new leadership in that aspect.

DonBee

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 11:35 p.m.

@sh1 - Go to a middle school teachers conference and ask why your kids are bored and they are complaining about the pace of the class and see what answers you get from the teachers. I did. I have talked to other parents who have the same problem. The answer I was given by an administrator. "(AAPS) needs to keep all the children together, so we pace the classes so everyone can keep up." I asked a senior curriculum person from a neighboring district, a professor in an education department and teachers in Tennessee, Texas and Florida about the materials and pace of the classes. I was not very pleased with their evaluation of the program based on the review of the material and the pace of the classes. While I don't have statistical proof, I trust that 5 independent sources from 5 different backgrounds who provide very similar answers is enough to make that statement when combined with the comments from the district. If you proof to the opposite, please provide your sources, I am very interested.

sh1

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 9:56 p.m.

@Don re "Class pace and materials are geared to the slower students." Where is the data backing this up?

MjC

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 9:21 p.m.

Edward... "So the problem remains: what to do about students whose parents are disengaged from their children's education?" You spend the money on creating a state of the art, all day school program, operated by highly motivated teachers and support staff (paid according to a merit system) where kids in need can get the best education and social support in the entire world. Let's think BIG and stop throwing money away. AAPS has been dealing with this issue for 40 years. We all know it's the kids that have no educational support or social guidance from the home front. This is a town that cares about education. Let's prove it.

tim

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 8:46 p.m.

I'm all for helping kids that are struggling but at the same time we need to push the talented kids for the good of our country.

joe average

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 8:07 p.m.

@ DonBee: Right you are about textbooks being geared to the Lowest Common Denominator. Not only that.... Look at a high school math or chemistry book, and you'll see that the text is primarily designed to hold the puppy-like attention span of its target audience. The term 'audience' is used quite intentionally; the teaching of actual subject matter takes a back seat to the 'entertainment value' of the book. There are boxes featuring photos of students saying why the particular topic is useful to them; suggestions to find power points and videos online; twenty-seven eight-by-ten full-color glossy photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back, etc.... Sadly, in these days of constant, rapid-fire stimulation, teachers who aren't part P.T. Barnum don't have a fighting chance. (I blame it all on MTV.)

schoolsmuse

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 7:58 p.m.

We can learn a lot about what we have tried before (and what has and hasn't worked) by looking back at the 1985 schools reorganization, which attempted to reduce the achievement gap. I wrote about it here: http://a2schoolsmuse.blogspot.com/2010/03/little-history.html

DonBee

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 5:47 p.m.

@antikvetch - They already do. Class pace and materials are geared to the slower students. This leads to bored kids that tune out of classes. When I was a grade schooler we tracked kids by subject, faster students in one group for reading slower and slowest in others. Grade level did not matter. Teachers were assigned smaller groups as achievement was lower, the fastest groups were hardly supervised at all. Children might be in a fast reading group, and a slow math group. Everyone could move up or down at the end of each 6 week marking period. The net result for the school was some of the highest scores in the state on the Iowa Standardized Tests we used back then. The school routinely put 2 or 3 students in Ivy League Colleges and several in the UofM. This from a small backward, rural school system with a 20 percent non-english speaking population. I wonder if going backwards 40 years to this kind of thinking would help close the gap here?

antikvetch

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 4:59 p.m.

Why not penalize the smarter students? Gap problems solved -

ribs1

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 4:24 p.m.

Why is it important to close the gap. How about focusing on improving performance of all students.

Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 4:04 p.m.

Ignoring a problem won't make it go away. In Ann Arbor, as in the rest of the United States, our schools fail to educate students of color and low-income students as well as they educate high-income students. The data show this clearly. The racial achievement gap remains even when income is accounted for (see the McKinsey report for details). I applaud the school district for dealing directly with the problem and working hard to educate ALL students.

ViSHa

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 3:06 p.m.

i'm not sure why my comment didn't post so i will try again. AAPS hired a consultant, Glenn Singleton, for achievement gap issues. there is no mention of this and whether he is producing results. it had been reported that his fee was ~$300,000---would this money be better spent on preschool programs? Singleton's initiatives are never mentioned yet they are being used.

Stephen Landes

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 2:38 p.m.

"The document pointed to inconsistent expectations, grading practices and culturally relevant teaching strategies as reasons for the achievement gap." I would like to know very specifically what the above sentence means: what are the inconsistent expectations and grading practices; what does "culturally relevant" strategies mean? Is it alleged in the "plan" that teachers have lower expectations for some students? that they pass students just to get them to move along whether they master their grade or not? that they are teaching "white" methods when "black" methods are required and, if so, just what does that mean? I have little confidence in any plan being developed by the staff because I don't think they really understand why the gap exists. How can they plan to close something when they don't seem to understand why it exists? I have absolutely no research to back this up. All I have is years of watching this passing scene and hearing the same excuses year after year. We are doing the same things over and over while expecting a different outcome. My impression of general society today is that people are far more interested in the unreal than the real. What is unreal? Take your pick: Dancing with the Stars, the lifestyle of sports, rap, and other contemporary stars, and the idea that "someone else owes me a living". What is real is education for education's sake, learning about the world, finding something you are good at doing and that you like, being personally responsible, and taking care of yourself. Am I being too harsh? Well, listen to some of the street interviews during news programs or even late night television, listen to the conversations going on around you in your daily walk though our community. Check out the number of people playing the lottery or gambling in our casinos. The desire to achieve without working is alive and well. It is no wonder that children are getting the idea that they, too, should get something without having to meet the expectations of our teachers. These are not bad people. They are not incapable of learning and doing and working and succeeding. These are people who have been led down the garden path by promises and by the constant exaltation of "stuff". They are seduced by the idea that throwing a football, making a basket, singing a hit, or hitting a baseball is more important that getting a degree. No coach would tell them that, but the image that is presented in the media seems to be more powerful than the words of a coach. What we need to do is change the idea of what is acceptable, what success in life means, what it takes to "get there". If that is what the staff report means by correcting inconsistent expectations then I am all for it. If correcting inconsistent grading means that you have to demonstrate success in your grade or subject in order to pass then I am in complete support. If culturally relevant teaching means changing our culture so kids know they need to be well educated to survive and that no one is going to take care of them if they don't work hard then I am "all in". And two final words: none of the above requires a $245,000 superintendent of schools; we might have to ask teachers how they would change the way they teach and change the rules that protect outmoded teaching styles and those teachers not willing to change.

cibachrome

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 2:37 p.m.

I do not believe its an Ann Arbor problem, a State problem or a National problem. It's clearly a Global problem. And, pitifully small segments of States (Ann Arbor for example) are trying to address it. You've been working on excuses for this gap for over 40 years by my count of A2 News headlines. Its time to change course. Everything tried has made the 'Gap' worse. What's needed is motivation from within the affected community. You can't buy success. Culture is as culture does.

Macabre Sunset

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 1:41 p.m.

So they're going to replace underperforming parents? Radical.

local

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 1:22 p.m.

Mick52 I am guessing that teachers aren't responding because people like to be on these blogs complaining about how they are overpaid and do nothing to help students. So with that being said, teachers are staying away from commenting. I am guessing that teachers have a lot of ideas, but don't want to be bashed for their comments. Like I said in an earlier post, kids follow the lead of their parents. If parents push education at home, kids will be successful. If parents are non-existent when it comes to education, most (not all) will struggle. This can't all fall on teachers, parents must step up as well.

a2roots

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 1:13 p.m.

@basic bob...where did race ever come into play in my comments. Those are your words not mine. I was responding to the ghost and something he wrote. I do not believe race was mentioned by him either. What makes you think this gap is only in Ann Arbor. Look around...Dexter has it and there certainly isn't much diversity there. The gap is everywhere.

Mick52

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 1:13 p.m.

Hmm. This article uses information and statements from, the interim deputy superintendent, the assistant director and assistant principal of the district's preschool program, the School board President, and the administrator for middle and high school education. All of these people are administrators who are bottom line responsible for AAPS. I wonder though, where are comments from the teachers? Wouldn't the teachers be the best source to tell us what the problem is? Looks like teachers are taking the blame from these administrators. Top Cat and those who agree, myself included, are absolutely correct. The problem may be the home environment and not the schools. But political correctness does not permit that if it may appear to be related to ethnicity, or social status. My children are black and did very well in the AAPS system. I know it is not the school system, which was great. These charges border on subtle indications of racism and I refuse to believe the AAPS system is racist. Must point out one more thing: "The document pointed to inconsistent expectations, grading practices and culturally relevant teaching strategies as reasons for the achievement gap." I think "inconsistent expectations" and "grading practices" and "culturally relevant teaching strategies" should have been questioned and explained in this story. Are expectations too high, too low? What the heck does inconsistent grading practices mean? After decades of teaching, don't the teachers know how to grade? Same for culturally relevant teaching, what on earth does that mean? Use classroom A for Spanish. Use classroom B for English???? When people in charge float statements like this, they should be questioned as to what they mean and how it affects the problem. Hey Ghost, you forgot your tag line!

MjC

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 1:07 p.m.

"The document pointed to inconsistent expectations, grading practices and culturally relevant teaching strategies as reasons for the achievement gap. Those three reasons were cited for the math, language arts, social studies and science subject areas." As if we haven't heard this one before. Such a statement underestimates the intelligence and capabilities of all students. It's nearly impossible to develop academically (and socially) if you have no parental support or encouragement from home. Top Cat is right on the mark.

zack66

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 1:03 p.m.

Boo hoo! Why do we constantly have to pander to the lowest common denominator? Working on the achievement gap should be the last priority for any school district. Just teach reading writing and arithmetic and leave all the social, liberal, indoctrination out of schools! The best and brightest should be the no. 1 priority. If you have parents and students who don't want to learn, that is their fault and will remain poor and left behind.

Basic Bob

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 1 p.m.

@a2roots, "Odds are the parents are already on the public dole and our little cycle of poverty continues" "So our little cycle continues along with dependency on public welfare" These are horrible generalizations about black parents. I am happy that you are not part of the plan to improve their children's lives, because you are already rationalizing failure.

treetowncartel

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 12:47 p.m.

I am drinking the same kool aid as Top Cat.One other point to mention is that the children need to be shown education is a means toward an end that is worth reaching.I was very anti-authority as a teenager and really didn't apply myself in junior high and high school.I never really saw the value in school. It didn't take me long after I got out to realize I made a big mistake there. thanks to my parents and all they did for me growing up, i was able to right the ship.

shadow wilson

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 12:40 p.m.

I knew someone (now gone)that was the highest level of public school administrator possible.Her suggestion was that these pupils should be taken and put into for a lack(on my part)boarding school like facilities. In fact it might be ironic that those kids in boarding schools likely don't need the structure of a boarding school and those that do can not afford it.

suswhit

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 12:33 p.m.

I hope you realize I was being snide. I am simply befuddled at the school board members who think we need to waste our money on administration when any money they have should be going into the classrooms. More teachers = lower class sizes. More administrator at higher pay range =?

KeepingItReal

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 12:29 p.m.

This is the latest in a long list of initiatives to address the "gap." After the implementation of each, there usually is a report summarizing the promise of the initiative and its uniqueness in addressing the "gap." This initial report is usually designed to respond to pressures to address the "gap" and to lay the foundation for its continuation and for additional fund. Until and unless there is a way to hold parents accountable for making sure that their dependents are prepared to learn, no initiative is going to have significant impact. There are parents who have little or nothing in the way of material things, yet their children are successful in school because they understand the importance of an education and they are engaged in their child's education. I know that it is not politically correct to talk openly about holding parents accountable, but until we have that conversation in earnest, we will be getting an update on a new initiative five years from now to address the "gap." In the meantime, our constant reference to the "gap" and its association to black students is wrecking havoc on these children self-esteem as competent learners. Paying a superintendent a top notch salary is not going to make the difference. This is not a criticism of the effort of the board, administrators or teachers but it is high time to focus on the one thing we know makes a difference in a child success in school and that is parent involvement in a meaningful way. I would hope the next phase of this plan addresses this.

DonBee

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 12:08 p.m.

There was a piece on NPR in the last couple of days. The graduation rate NATIONALLY for African American male students is half that of Caucasian male students. I would like to see Ann Arbor close the achievement gap, but it is not just an Ann Arbor issue. It is a national issue. More preschool is good according to all the research I have done, but, there is a need to include in the pre school cooperative play and other non academic time to develop more than just the academic side of a child. @Top Cat - You are spot on, every bit of research I have seen says that the involvement of the parent is the number one difference in success in school. One of the issues Detroit has, is that many parents cannot read, and have little or no academic background, so they cannot assist their children. One item I am not seeing in any attempt in Ann Arbor is the willingness to engage the parents of students in a meaningful way. Look at parent teacher conference, they are short and you have to sign up for them. The teachers are not seeking out the parents of students who really need help and working with them. I know that the folks struggling probably have the least access to computers, but the district bought a system to provide communications between parents and teachers which is at best under used. Teachers mostly ignore it. Want to fix at least part of the gap, parents have to become meaningful partners in the process, up to and including teaching them to read. @suswhit - That $65,000 would pay for a full time reading assistant in a grade school library with change to spare.

suswhit

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 11:48 a.m.

I bet spending an extra $65,000 on the next administrator will do the trick. Maybe they should lay off a few teacher so that they can afford more overpaid administrators.

local

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 11:07 a.m.

Top Cat, I am glad you said it, because I was afraid to. Teachers can teach concepts until they are blue in the face, but we all understand that at some point the child and parents need to help take the next step. That is reading at home with your child, doing flash cards to help kids learn basic facts if they haven't mastered them yet, require kids to sit down and do their homework, etc... I think that sometimes people assume that teachers can fix everything in the framework of the school day and that isn't always the case. I realize as a parent that I must work with my kids as well to help master many of the skills being introduced at school. Learning shouldn't end for these kids when they leave at 3:30 (3:42), it must carry on at home.

a2roots

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 11:04 a.m.

Thank you Top Cat. Parents and or guardians need to be vested in how well their dependents are progressing in the classroom. All the money and resources in the world can be thrown at this problem but until the parents/guardians take responsibility and hold their dependents accountable it will continue to be a problem.

Top Cat

Thu, Nov 11, 2010 : 10:55 a.m.

Should it more accurately be labeled a parent involvement gap?