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AngryAmish

(25,704 posts)
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 11:18 AM Sep 2012

D.C. schools set new achievement targets for students by race and income

"Every public school in the United States has aimed for the same goal over the past decade: that all students be proficient in math and reading by 2014.

But that noble ambition, educators and experts almost universally agree, was never realistic. Now, in the District and many states, goals over the next five years tend to be lower for black, Hispanic and poor children than they are for white and Asian students, and in the District, they tend to be higher at schools in affluent areas than in poor neighborhoods. It’s a policy shift that strikes some parents as a form of prejudice."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/student-achievement-targets-vary-by-race-income-in-dc-and-many-states/2012/09/18/3b306568-fd13-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_story.html

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D.C. schools set new achievement targets for students by race and income (Original Post) AngryAmish Sep 2012 OP
It is bigoted JustAnotherGen Sep 2012 #1
Puke PowerToThePeople Sep 2012 #2
Interestingly enough some of this is lead by minority educators ProgressiveProfessor Sep 2012 #3
That's some shitty phrasing XemaSab Sep 2012 #4
it is horrible d_r Sep 2012 #5
It will handicap them for the rest of their lives. Downwinder Sep 2012 #6
Yes, and I think d_r Sep 2012 #7

JustAnotherGen

(31,681 posts)
1. It is bigoted
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 11:21 AM
Sep 2012

Nothing like assuming minority children(other than asians) /poor children are not capable of achievement. Looks like D.C. is going the way of places like Mississippi - where institutional racism says - you might have made us 'integrate' - but the white folks moved away - so to hell with these children.

ProgressiveProfessor

(22,144 posts)
3. Interestingly enough some of this is lead by minority educators
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 11:27 AM
Sep 2012

They use any number of defensive strategies, but in the end it is still shameful

XemaSab

(60,212 posts)
4. That's some shitty phrasing
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 11:27 AM
Sep 2012

"goals over the next five years tend to be lower for black, Hispanic and poor children than they are for white and Asian students"

Because white and Asian students are never poor.

d_r

(6,907 posts)
5. it is horrible
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 11:36 AM
Sep 2012

it sends a horrible message to kids - "this is what we expect of you."

There is a terrible divide that is hard to reconcile between, on the one hand, splitting kids in to "these kids" and "those kids" (which I find abhorrent and harmful to children) and, on the other hand, recognizing and understanding that children are impacted by the social contexts that they experience (which clearly they are; children in poverty do have challenges to overcome and we would be remiss not to recognize that).

I think the only approach is to individualize goals and strategies for each child, rather than by census track or demographic variables. But that is hard and I don't know how to do it.

d_r

(6,907 posts)
7. Yes, and I think
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 11:55 AM
Sep 2012

a part of the explanation for the "achievement" gap centers on the expectations we have for children - if we show the children we expect less, they internalize that.

We are letting them down.

Another thing, for what its worth and this is random, but It is also hard for my brain to synthesize this kind of approach with the current push towards core curriculum; they seem at odds.

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