Does the Achievement Gap in Athletic Terms Make Sense?

This is a post that I started some time ago, and I am just getting around to finishing – well, because this one is complicated.  You see, in the 1960’s, a guy with the last name Coleman issued a report that said that poor kids don’t do as well as rich kids in school.  Then in the 1990s, another researcher did another study that said, Yep, that guy in the ’60s was right, and nearly 40 years later, nothing has changed.  Well, there are also the facts that school achievement doesn’t only differ by zip code but also by race, color, and much more.

I’ve been working on this stuff for a long, long time.  And at some point during the last school year, I was at a meeting, and one of its attendees, somewhat out of the blue, said, “I’d like to know what we are doing about our special education test scores,” as this seemingly angry person peered at me.  I have a voice in my head that answers quickly, but the words rarely get out of my mouth, for I have learned that when they do, people get mad at me. So, I kept it under control for this one.

In my mind…Do you mean the test scores that have been the same way for seven consecutive decades?  Do you mean the scores that Federal Legislation (rewritten several times and added to) could not fix?  Are you now asking about the test scores I talked about in my interview and told you about just weeks after I started?  Oh, I see; you’d like to know what we will do about this matter tomorrow and have it resolved in the next few weeks, right? 

What I said…Honestly, I can’t remember.  And really, it doesn’t matter.  I can tell you that I did not say what I was thinking – that’s for sure.

For those of us in schools and classrooms, the achievement gap is the arena where we fight like gladiators.  An arena is my best comparison to this work –the Gladiators must be able to do so much to move the needle just the slightest bit.  No one tactic has worked; believe me, many have been tried.  This goal has been addressed only piecemeal, and the mish-mash of ideas, programs, methods, and saviors has yet to get it right –up to Ted Kennedy and George W. Bush when that dream team paired up for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). 

Too many school district outsiders see crappy achievement scores as the result of crappy governance, poor leadership, lackluster instruction, and dilapidated resources.  You know what?  In some cases, they are correct…but missing some things too.   Because even when the governance is supportive, the leadership is motivating, the teachers lose sleep fighting for their students, and resources are plentiful, the gap still exists, albeit smaller, between low-income, disabled, and high-income and/or non-disabled children. 

One of the many reasons for this is that the first day of kindergarten is like the start of a 13-year race.  This race is one in which each athlete comes to the starting line, equally excited to run… finger paint, dance, sing, and play.  It is on the very first day of school that our teachers notice these littlest of learners are all on different starting lines. 

To our littles getting ready to run this long, long, 13 year race…

If both of your caregivers work, and you haven’t had much time to read books, you are at the wrong starting line.  You need to go behind the rest of the competitors by 25 yards.  Please step back to that line. 

You are also at the wrong starting line if you only have one parent who is working full time to support you and your siblings.  You also need to go behind the rest of the competitors by 25 yards.  Please step back to that line. 

If you are from a low-income home, you know the drill…back 25 yards.

If you have a learning disability, get moving…back 25 yards.

We still cannot start the race yet.  If you have a learning disability and are from a low-income home, you must go backward 35 yards.  Get moving.  There is another line back there for you.

If there is any mental illness in your home, a family member suffers from addiction, or you have been abused, please tack on another 25 yards. 

We are almost ready to go.  Wait.  If you don’t speak English, are learning English, or your parents do not, we regret to inform you that you must go back 25 yards. 

Hey! No Fair! A Head Start?

I think every one is getting the drift.  What we need you to do here – is if you have had any other factor in your home as a child, such as parental incarceration, the death or loss of a primary caregiver, psychological or verbal abuse, or a medical condition that kept you away from age-appropriate play for an extended time…you too must go back the standard 25 yards from the starting line. 

Okay.  We are ready to go now.  Oh.  Wait. One more thing.  For those of you at the original starting line…If you by any chance were enrolled in a private pre-school such as Montessori, or if your parents made it a point to read to you and or teach you how to read before you started Kindergarten…We’d like for you to move up 10 yards ahead of those at the starting line with you. 

Okay.  We are looking good for Lap 1. 

On your marks. Get Set. Go!

Run.  For those of you in the back. Run faster.  Catch up.  Get moving.  Catch those who are in front of you.  I don’t care if you started behind everyone else.  GO! GO!  FASTER! 

It takes hard work to catch up when everyone is running simultaneously. 

This illustrates the “Faucet Theory,” also a significant reason why the achievement gap is so hard to close.  When the faucet of learning is on for our students, they all learn simultaneously.  Thus, those in the back have a tough time catching up to the rapidly advancing targets in front of them. 

If only the kids who got off to that slow start – for whatever reason – could have more time to learn.  Maybe an after-school program, weekend learning opportunities, or even the summer? 

What do you think?  Are after-school and vacation learning opportunities a promising way to close the gap?    

“Hey! Can You Give Me a Few Summers to Catch Up?”