“This is like déjà vu all over again,” said Assistant Attorney General (for the state of Texas) Shelley Dahlberg, quoted in yesterday’s New York Times. Her concern was the dwindling funds for education, about which she blasted the requests of superintendents of school districts. Dahlberg went on to say, ““Ask yourself or the witnesses whether a district can provide for the general diffusion of knowledge without iPads or teacher aides or brand-new facilities.”
She is right. It is deja vu. Back in 1974 I attended a city school board meeting in which a board member quoted a study, “An experienced teacher can disseminate information to 45 children.” He was defending class sizes of up to 33 for k-6 schools.
Why is it that as a nation we allow the politics of school boards and state legislatures to determine what is best for children? As educators we are not “disseminators of information,” but as Dr. JoAnn Deak, brain and learning expert says, we are “neurosculptors,” shaping the brains of children for effectiveness in their lives. Our systems underlying education cannot support the needs of 21st century learning.
There is broad “buy-in” to the concept of achievement gaps throughout our nation, defined by socio-economic status. Some brave souls refuse to accept such a link, and through their own perseverance and initiative have created schools like the Celerity Schools and Valor Academy, both charter schools in Los Angeles. These schools demonstrate through that site-based, research-driven school leadership, all children can be successful. School by school, these innovative institutions are closing the documented gap among students in public schools.
Once that gap is closed, we need to take a step out and notice that there is an even bigger gap, the gap between national school evaluations that define outstanding, blue-ribbon schools as schools in which all students read at grade level and schools that produce students ready for the 21st century. A great number of our citizens are not even represented in the data, as they shuttle their children to independent schools that are current with 21st century trends, research, and knowledge of how the brain works.
What will happen when we as a nation take a look at the REAL academic gap in our country?
(photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/siacademy/4098291846/)
Wendy's World 