Later, I saw the following story online and thought I'd share it with you.
I think they're on to something with the idea of pairing black mentors with black kids. One of the most frustrating aspects of my oldest son's current school is that there is ZERO racial diversity among the staff. The only black adult faces he sees all day are the janitorial crew that clean the school at the end of the day. There are also no male teachers- honestly, I am OK with that at the kindergarten level. I am going to begin searching for the research in support of a single sex, single race environment for black students- particularly males. If there was a school with that demographic profile near me, I would enroll my son in a heartbeat. I have no fear that he will be unable to engage other cultures. Here is a link to a charter school in Illinois that I admire called Urban Prep.
To read more of my thoughts on education click here and here for previous posts.
Excellence is Deliberate! I believe that and so should you.
Until next time,
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They are definitely on to something with the idea of mentoring. However, I tend to agree with Dr. Noguera.
ReplyDeleteThe intention is good and there is a need. But, segregation in a public school is too slippery a slope. If blacks OK this (with hard evidence to support it), there is no argument to prevent separate but equal from becoming the norm overall. Further, with the deficits these particular students face, a short homeroom and once a week mentoring is not nearly enough time to help them achieve average, let alone excellent.
If people tend to self segregate socially as a matter of course, perhaps a more practical solution is true relationship with the "village" (more parental involvement, connection with extended family and community, and participation in organizations such as Jack and Jill, Delta See, or SEEK [NSBE]).
Jackie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughtful comment. I was most intrigued by this school's focus on mentoring, and agree with you and Dr. Noguera that these educators are clearly well intentioned. Given our history and the current political climate, you are right to caution that deliberate racial segregation in a public school setting is definitely a slippery slope. Perhaps the better (more studied) approach to take is a focus on single gender educational opportunities for boys and girls. According to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education (NASSPE), there are currently 524 public schools in the U.S. that offer some form of single sex education (outside of gym/health). Of this number, about 103 are completely single-sex schools. For more interesting info on this topic you can visit their website at http://www.singlesexschools.org/. They also have a listing of schools around the country that are already educating in this format.
Thanks for mentioning the Delta See program (deltasee.org)- this program flows nicely with the goals of my peer group in educating our little ones. I have never heard of it. Please let me know if you are involved and if so, what your experience has been.
Thanks!