My wife teaches in a high poverty school and it just mystifies us that so much of the public debate about how to deal with the achievement gap focuses on blame.
We want to blame people. Teachers, parents, administrators, we're all looking for a scapegoat and there's no consensus which group is to blame.
But it's not that simple. There aren't any bad guys for us to nail to the cross. The achievement gap is the result of stark socioeconomic inequality.
Kids in poverty are kids not learning. The only way to deal with the achievement gap is for us to be brave enough as a society to deal with that. Failing schools are a symptom of disease of poverty, not the disease itself.
We want to blame people. Teachers, parents, administrators, we're all looking for a scapegoat and there's no consensus which group is to blame.
But it's not that simple. There aren't any bad guys for us to nail to the cross. The achievement gap is the result of stark socioeconomic inequality.
Kids in poverty are kids not learning. The only way to deal with the achievement gap is for us to be brave enough as a society to deal with that. Failing schools are a symptom of disease of poverty, not the disease itself.
I strongly recommend everyone read this article: http://www.salon.com/2013/08/25/i_taught_at_the_worst_school...
My wife didn't write it, but it strongly resembles her day to day experience where she teaches.