Closing the Achievement Gap in America: A National Imperative for a Super Man, a Super Woman, and a Superintendent

By Dr. Jesse J. Hargrove

This book reveals how this new generation of learners, the Deuce Millennium Generation (DMG), began their journey from Pre-kindergarten at the start of the new millennium in fall 2001 to their middle school years. This generation has endured the societal effects of the post 9/11 years for almost ten years, yet the author asserts that they will be the best and the brightest. He contends that the recent educational training delivered by highly-skilled Teacher Training Institutions will contribute to an increase in students' knowledge and performance on high stakes measures of assessments over the years. The book acknowledges that accreditation is a key factor that plays an important role in the student achievement process.

This book is a primary source for understanding how the achievement gap in America can be closed. The author contends that this scholarly work is the first comprehensive book written on the subject. He engages the audiences in issues that are thought-provoking and makes the case that the historical, social, and public education processes have a profound impact on the learning outcomes of students in American schools.

It is easy to understand why the author puts a name and a face on this new generation of learners. The book reveals a clear picture concerning who this generation is and what effects will occur to them, if the signs of the times are not reversed. This book should be read and used by all Teacher Training Institutions, teachers, parents, and decision-makers who are interested in Closing the Achievement Gap in America. The gap issue is a national imperative!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 22, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463409531

Dr. Jesse J. Hargrove

Dr. Jesse J. Hargrove is a noted author, neologist, and distinguished educator, poet, photographer, futurist, and scholar who says that public education has not kept pace with the new shifts in societal changes which have been prompted by national and global events. He encourages parents to play their role in educating children about the importance of going to school and getting a good education. His research focuses on a new generation of learners in America, whom he refers to as the Deuce Millennium Generation. He uses ethnography as a research medium to capture a snapshot picture of the culture under study. He was born in rural Gough, Georgia where his great grandmother Celia Adams was an ex-slave and a mid-wife who lived from March 12, 1856-March 21, 1942. He was born 100 years after the birth of his great grandfather who was born on February 22, 1853. His great grandfather, Solomon Hargrove, was an educator who taught children to read and write, but was tragically lynched in 1893 for organizing his free school at Eden Baptist Church which his wife Celia helped to found in Louisville, Georgia in 1885. His mother instilled within him a love for education. He developed a love for reading in fourth grade and graduated with honors and was ranked 9th in his Class of 1971 from Dillard High School. Hargrove graduated Magna Cum Laude from Dillard University in New Orleans in 1975 and majored in Spanish Education after earning scholarships to study at two schools in Guadalajara, Mexico during the summer and a junior year exchange program at the University of California at Berkeley. Arthur Jensen and William Shockley studied him and his peers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities on the IQ genetic inferiority issue of the era. He studied six languages at Cal Berkeley. In 1977, Hargrove was awarded the M.A. degree in Spanish and Spanish American Literature and received the Ph.D. degree in 1983 from the College of Education in Bilingual/Multicultural Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana, Illinois. Hargrove has taught Spanish in public schools and higher education. He has worked at two colleges in the University of Wisconsin system, the University of Arizona in Tucson, Broward County Public Schools and Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, he is Chair of the Division of Education and has served in administration as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Dean of Instruction, and Assistant Dean of Instruction at Philander Smith College where he has been employed for the past ten years. He is civic-minded and from 2004-2009, he served as Chair of the Arkansas Commission on Closing the Achievement Gap. He can be reached at [e-mail].

Book preview

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

EDUCATION IN RETROSPECT

CHAPTER 2

INTRODUCING THE DEUCE MILLENNIUM GENERATION

CHAPTER 3

THE AMERICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM:

WHO WILL MAKE THEM BRIGHT?

CHAPTER 4

THE QUEST TO REFORM AND CLOSE

THE GAP

CHAPTER 5

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

Endnotes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book is dedicated to the students of the Deuce Millennium Generation, their teachers, parents, and the progressive leaders who continue to make a difference for America’s newest generation of learners who will occupy important roles within the United States and the world community. The author wishes to acknowledge: The Class of 2000 who inspired and encouraged him to continue their dream for future generations to be the best; the keepers of the American Dream; those who educated the author and gave their time and resources; the state and federal leaders who keep the public school dream of the founders of this nation alive; the Highly Qualified Faculty in Teacher Training Programs and institutions of higher education; the Highly Qualified Teachers in P-12 schools (Shout out to Ernestine Hargrove-Bobb, Broward County Public Schools, and formerly Marion County School District in Ocala and the Howard Middle School), and other learning settings; the parents of the Deuce Millennium Generation who assist their children to develop good learning habits in the home environment; and the public who form partnerships with the learners’ school and home connection.

Thanks to my loving daughter, AnDrea Simone Hargrove, and Carrie Coulthrust and family for allowing me to dedicate the past decade to research the Deuce Millennium Generation for this book. Thanks to the past professors, mentors, and educators from Dillard University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin, University of Arizona, Broward County Public Schools, Dade County Public Schools, New Orleans Public Schools, Berkeley Public Schools, Philadelphia Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District, Chicago Public Schools, Tucson Unified School District, Memphis Public Schools, Dallas Independent School District, Houston Independent School District, Little Rock School District, North Little Rock School District, Pulaski County Special School District, the Arkansas Department of Education, Arkansas Department of Higher Education, Arkansas Commission on Closing the Achievement Gap, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation (Dr. Sherece Y. West, and JaJuan Johnson), and the Arkansas Council of Deans of Education.

The author thanks the wonderful students and employees of Philander Smith College for their encouragement and support, and to the alumni and Board of Trustees for continuing to make a difference in the new direction of Philander Smith College, an institution where students are trained to Think Justice. Thanks to Dr. James D. Anderson, Dr. Rudolph C. Troike, Dr. Elaine Johnson Copeland, Dr. Stafford Hood (UIUC), Dr. Terry Denny, and a personal thanks to the late Dr. John Hope Franklin for his personal conversations of support, and writings that continue to inspire the new generation of thinkers who use history to change future conditions for the betterment of society and the world.

PREFACE

Let America Be America Again is a work that displays the poems of Langston Hughes, and this poem speaks to the hearts of Americans in profound words:

Give us a peace that will produce great schools-

As the war produced great armament,

A peace that will wipe out our slums-

As war wiped out our foes on evil bent. – Langston Hughes

The current decade may be the new era for bi-partisan cooperation within the chambers of leadership that have been partisan and indifferent to public education. This work seeks to inform parents, students and educators as well as state and federal leaders about the impact that gaps in achievement, dropouts, diplomas, and poverty have on communities, society and the larger world community. The author coins these factors as gapanomics. In addition, insights are shared about how this new population of learners, the Deuce Millennium Generation, achieves. In highlighting this generation, attention is focused on the conditions that both hurt children and impact society in negative ways. These conditions are intolerable because we know the conditions that work for children; and how to enable them to close learning gaps in the home, school, and community.

This work provides a comprehensive approach to encourage educators and thought makers to understand that with cooperation and will-power, together, we can close learning gaps and increase student achievement. Our current bandage approach to schooling is ineffective; when the adhesive absorbs, the material does not stay in place and the wounds are exposed once again. America’s children are too precious to have their wounds continuously exposed by an unyielding system that separates itself into two camps of thought regarding best practices for closing the achievement gap. The good news is that the new era for bi-partisan cooperation is here, and the potential for change has come to America.

While the American economy continues to struggle, public schools in the United States will experience growth due to current policies. The P-12 education pipeline, which has approximately 50 million students, will still need to educate its newest generation of learners and we can do it if we have the determination to put our economic resources into programs that will invest in our nation’s children, America’s future.

Although there have been many articles written about the achievement gap, this book is the first comprehensive book that offers a perspective of the achievement gap that enables the public to rally behind public education. The founders of this nation set the conditions for public education to grow, flourish, and expand far beyond the boundaries of the United States. The author has taken the pulse of the nation, and seeks to awaken the nation to rediscover its American Dream.

INTRODUCTION

The Fierce Urgency of Now

Closing the Achievement Gap in America

Throughout the 2008 election, President Barack Obama talked about change, and the "Fierce urgency of now. He called for positive action for our public schools and the importance of getting more students into higher education. We must close the gaps in student learning and achievement that have widened over the last quarter century. The stakes are high: we must solve the achievement gap issue for our newest generation of learners, the Deuce Millennium Generation" (DMG). The 2010 Mid-term Elections are behind us. Now is the time for this nation to dig deep and uncover the hidden belief that the American system of public education is worth the investment. Now is the time to shape a public school system that reflects the changing times that have brought new and different concerns for a future generation of learners. Now is the time to show courage in leadership!

Unless citizens show a willingness to make the necessary changes for the betterment of its schools, the public will surely witness the creation of a society where democracy does not prevail and where the democratic values will erode. Now is the time to focus on improving the condition of education in America so that public schools might be able to transition significantly more proficient and better-prepared students into the American society, and the world. We must move more students from sub-standard achievement levels, to grade-level proficiency.

The founding fathers envisioned a public system of schooling that would liberate their newly established nation from the hands of any foreign power that sought to promote values other than those this nation intended to promote. The voices of the founding fathers were strong for the establishment of a public school system that educated its citizens. Our founding fathers would feel honored that a new society of citizens understood the urgency for closing educational achievement gaps that undermine enhancing equality in our democracy, and sensed the urgency to reopen the doors of the world to a new generation of enlightened and contributing Americans.

The author embraces a philosophy that says when public school students’ academic performance significantly improves, the negative conditions that promote social inequality are diminished. Concomitantly, when gaps in achievement are closed in America, the societal burdens that push and pull against the fabric of the American society can be predicted to decrease. Further, researchers would be better able to document change and assess factors associated with a decrease in conditions that impact the economy of states and federal governments and give rise to crime, increase prison populations, poverty, mental and physical healthcare issues, family, and blight within our communities

When public schools fail to educate students and their learners fall behind and eventually drop out of the system, many of these students end up as a burden to our economy and society. The majority of such students have been documented as having had late starts in their school preparation and learning due to limited opportunities and exposure to early childhood programs in their targeted schools and state. So, many become school dropouts, and non-contributing citizens. This cyclical pattern over time contributes to societal inequalities, leads to a decrease in the nation’s values, and gradually to a declining nation, or, a nation at risk. Now is the time to invest in our children, and now is the time to improve our public schools and our students’ learning. This is our opportunity to learn from one another concerning best model to improve teaching and learning.

The DMG deserves the best that society can offer its newest generation of learners. The public system of education is the major vehicle for ensuring that this new generation of learners gains access to power, influence, and authority in the new society. Since the days of our nation’s founders, there have been different and ever-changing goals for public schools. When new presidents are elected, they traditionally have established their own goals for their administrations. In recent years, federal laws such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 have impacted the curriculum of the public schools. The aim of these public education laws has been to teach students the needed skills to enable them to function in this society rather than to teach them skills that will not only allow them to function, but to enable them to improve the conditions within society and the global world for all inhabitants of humanity. Social justice is left behind.

The aim has merit – but public education in America today does not teach students why certain skills are needed in this society and world. Instead, public education primarily tells students that certain skills must be acquired so that they are functionally literate and able to compute to function in a global society. Merely telling students won’t get the job done.

In recent years, society has relied on telling parents to play their role in educating children about the importance of going to school and getting a good education. The flaw in this approach is that many parents are unable to educate students about the role that education plays in the maintenance of the American democracy. Therefore, the moral force of public education has gradually resulted in a declining state of affairs. Thus, educating a new generation of parents and learners is paramount for reversing the diminished effectiveness of our public education, which is guided principally by 50 individual states  –  each with its individual set of standards.

Democracy works best when there is a literate and knowledgeable citizenry. Literacy has undergone a transformation in the past quarter century. The new society of Americans must be taught how to use the Internet in meaningful, democratic ways, so that a new generation of learners might be better able to change the conditions within the global world.

Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) have begun to see their role as one that contributes to helping public schools close the gap in student learning and teaching. Foundations such as the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and the Schott Foundation are willing to help IHEs. However, IHEs are going to have to move beyond having discussions and forums on gap closure initiatives. IHEs are going to have to get off the sidelines and get in the game if they are going to be partners in public education. Some Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have begun to refocus. Philander Smith College, for example, has a mission that promotes social justice as a major way to get significant numbers of students more knowledgeable about the roots of democracy and how to help society improve the quality of students enrolled in public education.

Research has long shown that the more affluent schools are better able to provide students with the needed skills necessary to graduate from high schools and go on to college and beyond. But what about our less affluent schools? Insufficient attention has been paid, to education policy and needed funding on behalf of public education to improve life opportunities for this new generation of learners. No Child Left Behind has been a fine opportunity to make a difference. But voting Americans have not been sufficiently aware of the need to fund this mandate. In one of the most exciting elections in recent years, Barack Obama may have stood out as a presidential candidate who repeatedly made education and funding a priority in his 2008 campaign for the presidency. (See Chapter 2, page 35 for Obama’s education goals). After the 2010 Mid-term Elections, will his funding goals for Education take a negative shift? Full funding of the NCLB act can serve to improve public education as well as lead to important changes in this society for its betterment.

There are approximately 14,000 school districts in the United States. They have different levels of academic performance, influenced by geographic region, race, and gender. Discussions of the lack of academic performance between and among students have focused on achievement gap issues. A new euphemism called the achievement gap has subtly replaced the then-popular 1960s term school inequity or inequality This linguistic transition masks an important policy decision: the burden has been shifted from the school entity to that of the child and parent. This shift makes the parent a principal agent responsible for helping the child to overcome the achievement gap in student performance.

Helping schools produce more quality graduates among the DMG is the major challenge for this nation. In academic year 2014-2015, the first graduates of the DMG will graduate from public schools. The public school system will continue to carry the DMG in its education pipeline until the year 2033. It is paramount for our democracy that the dropouts tide of students in public schools is stemmed so that productive citizens might increase and crime, jail, and prison rates might decrease.

The effectiveness of a society can be measured by the extent to which it funds its societal agenda. Public education remains the major unfunded mandate of our nation. It is ironic that students’ performance on national tests is discussed more frequently than dropout rates, a major indicator of potential problems that will impact our society and the quality of the American lifestyle. Issues of war and poverty, income levels, crime, jail, prison, lack of healthcare, and a burden on social services are all associated with the need for improvements in public schools. Yet, this message has not gotten through to the average American citizen. We Americans continue to live in a state of mental penury when it comes to public awareness about public schools and the intent of Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers of our nation.

To improve society and the world requires a focus on education by improving public schools. Standardizing education from school district to school district and making education consistent throughout the nation can do this. It does not take throwing good money after bad, but it does take more than a stomp speech by an elected official or candidates who undervalue the important role that public schools play in America. Our society recognized as one of its original purposes the importance of educating its citizens.

There is a growing awareness among educators and other enlightened citizens that the United States is becoming increasingly divided along political party lines. Concomitantly, there is an increasing neglect of domestic issues that should have been solved years ago. As a result of this neglect, the wars being fought on three fronts (Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq) and the U.S. economy have emerged as competing interests. There is a need for unifying this nation: and public education is the issue that can unite a state and a nation. If Americans can develop the will-power to re-gain its commitment to social justice, public schools will be improved and our nation will be strengthened immeasurably as a result. Nothing is more important than the continuation of our democratic ideals and public education to promote the ideals of an enlightened society.

This author writes this book because conditions require the DMG, America’s newest generation of learners be educated to meet 21st century standards. In addition, it is written to inform the nation’s citizens about the intended purpose and importance of public schools and what must be done for public schools to fulfill the ideals of our democracy, and those of the nation’s founders. It highlights a history of education in retrospect and brings the readers up the five-generation progression chart in the United States from the Pre-Baby Boom Generation to the Deuce Millennium Generation. I write to provide insightful glimpses into the inner world of the modern American public school process and to inform the reader about the need to protect our public system of education for the betterment of our nation.

Clearly we can do better than have 34 states report their 2008 high school graduation rates as being lower than their 2002-03 graduation rates.

Do we really want to accept test scores as improving when they are caused by poor performing students who are dropping out of schools at profound and alarming rates? Our society deserves better attention to our public schools, and our new generation of learners deserves better public schools. Yes, we can. ¡Sí, podemos!

Let’s start!

CHAPTER 1

EDUCATION IN RETROSPECT

The history of education in America is not only exciting because it shares with the public what happened in the past, but because it forces the contemporary society to look at what can happen