Travel Log 3/21/14

Education secretary Arne Duncan revealed that according to a comprehensive survey in nearly 15 years of civil rights data from the 97,000 public schools show they remain marked by inequalities.  2/5ths' of the nation's public schools offer no preschool programs and most of those that do offer only part day programs.  Black students account for less than a fifth of those in preschool across the nation but make up almost half of the sstudents who are suspended from preschool  multiple times.  Duncon goes on to demounce the inequities as "socially divisive, educationally unsound, morally bankrupt and economically self-destructive.'   As a reading teacher I know that early intervention for students who struggle to read is paramount in their first years of school.  Connie Jue (1988) reported that children who were struggling readers at the end of grade one had an 88% chance of struggling at the end of grade four. The first years of school, then - kindergarten and first grade - are the prime time for intervention. (McKenna, M.C., & Walpole, S., 2013) .   The report also revealed racial inequities in access to education.  For example, a quarter of the high schools with high percentages of black and Latino students do not offer Algebra II.  How can we stop this cycle?  Is giving more money to these districts the answer?  I would only if those districts be held accountable to show that the money is going towards the equal access of programs for all students and the hiring of qualified teachers to teach the courses.