Teach Effectively!

According to Michael Barber of the Herald Today (Bradenton, FL, US), the Florida area has many children from ethnic minority groups who score poorly on the statewide test of achievement.

MANATEE - Before they can come up with a solution, school and community leaders are striving to find out why many African American students in Manatee County continue to perform poorly on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Recent FCAT results revealed 72 percent of local African American students scored below grade level and 71 percent tested below grade level in math. Those scores are lower than any other ethnic or socioeconomic group in the county.

Mr. Barber continued, “School and community leaders cited poverty, ineffective teaching methods, societal factors and problems with the FCAT itself to explain the low scores” (my emphasis). Fortunately, he found someone who mentioned the unmentionable. To be sure, SES is highly correlated with school outcomes, but it doesn’t have to be that way. There are examples (see Houston, Baltimore) where schools in poverty areas are pulling ahead of their advantage counterparts, so it can be done. It may not be possible to do it everywhere, but putting effective practices into place would be a great way to eliminate that particular explanation for low scores…and give some kids the skills they need to escape poverty!

Link to Mr. Barber’s extensive story. If you read the whole piece, you can see who gave Mr. Barber the tip.