CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN EDUCATION

According to the 2009 Achievement in California report by The Education Trust-West, Latino and African-American students comprise the single largest group of young people in California’s schools, and yet, these students continue to be short-changed by our public education system. While some improvements have been made, California’s public schools are still struggling to serve the most vulnerable children well. Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Silicon Valley Education Foundation partnered on a series of forums to examine the gaps in access and achievement for California's historically underserved students.

This invitation-only series brought together education, business, civic, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders to examine the achievement gap and develop a set of policy recommendations that local leaders could support and school boards adopt. What follows are highlights from each forum.

Institutional Racism and the Achievement Gap: Together and Unequal Education expert Glenn E. Singleton expands on his frank assessment of the mathematics achievement gap for minorities in the What If? column from our spring issue of ONE Magazine.

Institutional Racism and the Achievement Gap: Together and Unequal

At the first forum in February, Glenn Singleton provided the keynote address. Mr. Singleton is the executive director of the Pacific Educational Group and a nationally recognized speaker, trainer and author on the powerful intersection of race and schooling. He led participants through a systematic investigation of the data that summarizes standardized assessments, showing that lower-income white students consistently outperform higher-income African American and Latino students. Participants were challenged to consider race as the missing factor in closing the achievement gap. A panel of leaders, including the San Mateo and Santa Clara County superintendents, then shared what strategies were currently in place to address the achievement gap and racial equity in our school reform efforts.

Solutions for Closing the Achievement Gap

The second forum in March provided more concrete examples of ways in which institutional racism plays out in our schools. Local data were presented from a Noyce Foundation-commissioned study on student placement in higher level mathematics courses and how a student’s placement affects preparation for college or a career. Among the study’s major findings was the fact that African American, Latino, Pacific Islander and Filipino students were far more likely to be placed in lower-level math courses in eighth grade than white students. Participants discussed what were the most important solutions for addressing issues of racial equity in closing the achievement gap and supporting policy changes.

Time to Act: Developing Effective Local Policy Changes to Close the Achievement Gap

The final forum in April featured Jack O’Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, who spoke about the state’s P-16 Council and its recommendations for closing the achievement gap followed by Arun Ramanathan, Executive Director of The Education Trust-West, who emphasized the importance of effective teachers, school stability and academic rigor for students of color. After these presentations, participants were led through a facilitated process to more fully develop draft policy recommendations based on the discussions at the previous forums. These recommendations included professional development for teachers that is culturally responsive, assigning the most effective teachers to the highest need students and ensuring an environment of high expectations for all students by guaranteeing access to college and career-ready coursework.

Staffs from Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Silicon Valley Education Foundation are now synthesizing the information from the series into a policy brief that will be shared with all school district superintendents and school boards in the region. Together we must close the achievement gap so that all students are better prepared for the 21st century workforce that our region demands.