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Is this a bit of "Separate but Equal"?
Submitted by dave on Wed, 05/14/2008 - 08:39
Maybe you can help me. When I read this Oakland Tribune article I was a little bit confused.
Devareaux Manley's mother does everything she can to keep her son on the academic track. Devareaux, who attends Castlemont's Leadership Preparatory High School, said he doesn't exactly want for encouragement or motivation.
But when he received an African American Honor Roll certificate, it caused him to step back and think about what he had accomplished, he said, and where he was headed.
"It felt pretty good to be honored for doing hard work and keeping up my good grades," said Devareaux, 15. "It feels good to get acknowledged."
Devareaux was one of some 1,100 African-American Oakland public school students in grades 8 through 12 who were honored Monday evening for earning a B average or above. It was the seventh consecutive year the Oakland school district's African American Education Task Force has organized the event, held at the spacious Acts Full Gospel Church in East Oakland.
While these 1,100 students and their parents have reason to be proud of their academic achievement in earning a B average or above, doesn't this event reek of "separate but equal"? I'm hoping that as a fat, old, white guy, I'm just missing the point of the event. I'm not sure that I understand why an "African American Honor Roll certificate" is OK, when I'm sure that a "White Honor Roll Certificate" would result in front page stories in every newspaper in the state and not in the complementary tone of this story. Are the Hispanic, Asian or white parents and children supposed to feel slighted by not having a similar events?
If we truly have high expectations for all students, then should we be having events like this? Should we be honoring specific ethnic groups for a behavior, only because they're part of that group? Maybe I'm reading something into it that isn't there, but it seems like making a big deal out of a B grade for these students is a bit like a "participation trophy."
I'd love to hear from others on whether they agree or disagree. I'm really not sure how I should react to this article.
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I'm curious, too
I think I agree with you, but I'm a white guy, too, so I'm open to the idea that I just don't get it.
I like the idea of improvement awards, since they factor in each student's initial conditions. If you base awards on a specific score, then you'll eventually end up with people asking if it's fair for students with difficult situations (stressful home life, below poverty line) to be judged against those with no worries in their life.
Improvement Awards
Thanks for the comment.
I think there is something to be said for "improvement awards" but we need to be careful. Often in public education, the very things you mention such as "stressful home life, below poverty line", become excuses for why students aren't successful. While those things do have an impact on a student's ability to improve their academic achievement, the existence of those factors doesn't preclude learning. It might take new strategies or hard work, but all students, except some in special education, can learn and reach grade-level proficiency.
I was at a meeting Tuesday, where three principals from schools that are closing achievement gaps and increasing student achievement for all students participated in a panel discussion. They weren't making excuses. They talked about working hard and holding students and teachers accountable to high standards. It requires a change in thinking, but educators need to realize that it is possible and if they're not getting there, they need to look at their own teaching practices rather than external causes.
No one should be deciding which students are worth their effort. Those principals and their colleagues at 566 other high achieving schools who received an award aren't willing to give up and neither should we.