 LOCAL AND STATE NEWS |
NHCS SYSTEM LAGS FAR BEHIND IN CLOSING THE EDUCATION GAP, WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2009
The Wilmington Journal
Originally posted 9/18/2009
BY ELISE MUHAMMAD
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
When Dr. Robert Smith of UNCW came upon data on Forest Hills Elementary School indicating that only 20.5% of its Black students passed the math and reading tests compared to 71.8% of white students, he sounded an alarm.
An alarm that New Hanover County Board Member Dorothy DeShields says she had been sounding for the past four years with little effective response from the board in general.
The same school board that refused to meet with the local NAACP to discuss the gap and other issues until a representative from the U.S. Department of Justice became involved.
The same entity that decided to change the redistricting process during a work session of which it was not an agenda item with few people in attendance.
On receiving the charted data (See page 2) from Dr. Smith, Professor Maurice Martinez of UNCW's School of Education, continued the alarm via the following email blast:
Dear Friends:
A colleague called my attention to the data below on students who passed both the reading and math tests in North Carolina.
In this one public school cited, named Forest Hills, only 20.5% of the Black students passed the tests, compared to 71.8% White, 57.1% Hispanic, and 50% Multiracial. WHY????
A look at the Wilmington, North Carolina school district, schools as a whole, 26.1% of the Black students passed COMPARED TO 69.1% White, 37% Hispanic, 79% Asian Pacific Islander, and 54.6% Multiracial.
ON THE STATE LEVEL IN NORTH CAROLINA, 29.5% OF THE BLACK STUDENTS PASSED IN READING AND MATH, compared to 64.4% White, 34.6% Hispanic, 65.9% Asian Pacific Islander, and 51.7% Multiracial.
WHERE IS THE OUTCRY FOR BLACK STUDENTS?
WHERE IS THE NAACP ON THIS?
SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT THIS?
WHY ARE SO FEW BLACKS PASSING THESE TESTS?
AT THE LOCAL LEVEL = ONE IN FIVE PASSING, FOUR FAILING.
AT THE DISTRICT AND STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA LEVEL = 2 OUT OF 3 BLACKS ARE FAILING.
ONE COULD CONCLUDE THAT PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORTH CAROLINA IS FAILING THE MAJORITY OF BLACK STUDENTS.
CAN SOMETHING BE DONE?
WHAT?
I know that a single measure such as a single test score does not provide us with the total picture of an ''educated'' child, and that one should look at the many other skills and talents of Black children especially.
There are many schools that do try to nurture these qualities. But if these standardized test scores are the basis for selection, admissions to colleges, retention in school, and success in mainstream America, then it is very important that our Black youth do well on these reading and math tests. How is it possible to fail to teach any one group of students how to read and do math? Some of the successful practices appear in my latest video documentary titled: ''NO TEACHER LEFT BEHIND'' (86 minutes)
Maurice M. Martinez, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Instructional Technology, Foundations, and Secondary Education, Watson School of Education, UNCW
New Hanover County NAACP President
Harold Beatty responds that the NAACP is aware of the disparity in the schools, has held community forums on resolving it, and has established a dialogue with the board via a meeting held in May. ''We need the community's help to keep this {dialogue} going…We need parental involvement at the highest level; we need someone to speak at these meetings,'' he added, echoing DeShields' and Martinez' concern for community involvement.
Dr. Martinez' statement to the The Wilmington Journal reads that, ''…exemplary models and teachers who are succeeding with our African American youth be presented so that the black community and 'others' who make policy decisions and who control the resources … can no longer afford to hide in the escape zone of indifference and inaction...
Instead of wasting valuable time on superficial petit bourgeois things like 'dress codes' for teachers, the school board should be addressing the needs of black youth, finding resources to support those few hard working teachers who have developed programs and successful best practices that work, and facilitating the replication of innovative strategies that succeed in teaching black youth to read and do math.''
In the coming weeks, The Wilmington Journal will present some of these successful initiatives and programs to facilitate the need to keep the education gap from becoming a gaping hole.
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