October 19, 2009
Making the grade isn’t about race. It’s about parents.
After a recent state report on test scores in California schools, Jack O’Connell, the state’s superintendent of instruction, said the gap is “the biggest civil rights issue of this generation” — a very popular phrase in education circles.
But focusing on a “racial achievement gap” is too simple; it’s a gap in familial support and involvement, too. Administrators focused solely on race are stigmatizing black students. At the same time, they are encouraging the easy excuse that the kids who are not excelling are victims, as well as the idea that once schools stop being racist and raise expectations, these low achievers will suddenly blossom.
While I agree with the article’s premise*, I found myself wondering why the emphasis on fathers. I’d hedge that it’s having two parents, two incomes, and two role models that make the difference, and not just some problem with ‘soft’ single mothers.
* I spend my forty-hour work week advocating for more parental involvement to close the aforementioned achievement gap.
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82% of single parents are mothers. If you want two parent families, I’d say start emphasizing the the role fathers first. Think how much easier it is for a father to leave than it is for a mother. But the research is there: in general kids with both a father and a mother do better in school/life.