by Pam Shipp for Springs Magazine
A few weeks ago, I had lunch with an enthusiastic young man. We talked about The Colorado Springs Preparatory School, a new charter school he co-founded that is opening this fall. The Colorado Springs Preparatory School is built on the philosophy that ALL students can graduate high school prepared to attend and graduate from a four-year college, regardless of their academic, social, or economic background. As one who sees the disparities in education as a major threat to the American way of life, I was moved by his absolute resolve to correct one of our nation’s biggest evils – the “achievement gap.”
Across the country the gap in academic achievement persists between minority students and their white counterparts. My lunch companion had charts and graphs showing how the trends in CSAP and ACT scores are influenced by economics – the lower the family income, the lower the student’s achievement. The disturbing truth is that there is not equal opportunity in our schools. Hispanic and black students are dropping out of high school at rates two and three times higher than white students. The thirteen million students who live below the poverty line are still falling behind. By the time these kids reach grade 4, they will be – on average – 3 grade levels behind. One-half of these same children drop out of high school only reading at an 8th grade skill level. When you think it can’t get any worse, the data suggest that only 1 of 10 kids growing up in low income families will graduate from college. Too many children are still being left behind.
When our conversation turned to the role of staffs and teachers, his approach was similar to Teach for America, the domestic Peace Corps for educating kids in low-income communities. Teach for America recruits high-achieving college graduates straight out of college and places them for two years in schools that are hard to staff. Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO, boasts that her teachers make a difference. Her evidence is the 2005 study where 75% of school principals sampled ranked Teach for America teachers as more effective than other teachers, especially in math and science. Ms. Kopp attributes the success of her teachers to their unwavering belief that ALL children can succeed.
Teach for America teachers share the belief that children do not fail because they lack motivation, poor parental involvement, or what we euphemistically refer to as “home-life issues.” For the Teach for America alumni, student academic failure has more to do with teacher quality, principal quality, and academic expectation for kids. In a recent interview with Charlie Rose (7/1/08), Ms. Kopp was asked what made her teachers know that their kids can excel and that correcting the achievement gap is not hopeless; Ms. Kopp’s response was that Teach for America teachers share a common vision that directs all that they do and most importantly they believe that excellent teaching equates to excellent leadership! I agree with Wendy Kopp – teaching is about leadership.
If we are ever to resolve current academic disparities, leadership in education cannot just be the responsibility of building principals and district superintendents. Leadership in education is the responsibility of every staff member, teacher, parent and community stakeholder – these are the people who establish the culture and expectations where all students can succeed.
Joel Barker writes in “Leadershift” that “leaders take people places they would not go on their own; they build bridges linking today and tomorrow.” This sounds like the job description of any good educator.
Some schools are accepting the challenge to educate all of their students. Harrison School District 2 has embarked on a mission to significantly raise student academic proficiency. The District is working to increase its leadership density – empowering others to make decisions in addition to administrators – the linchpin for systemic reform in education. The District has created Leadership Academies for its staffs, teachers, and community members; each academy focuses on leadership development and the characteristics and behaviors of school leaders.
As a former school teacher and administrator, I fear that the achievement gap has slowly become the status quo – but it need not be that way. No great nation can afford to lose millions of children to low expectations and creeping mediocrity. We need to educate all of our children for success, regardless of their economic status or ancestry. We need effective leaders at every level of our education system, leaders like the young man I met at lunch, leaders who have a passion for the mission and are committed to closing the achievement gap. We need to support the efforts of these leaders in any way we can.
For more information about the Colorado Springs Preparatory School, contact Zack McComsey, 719.237.5836 zmccomsey@buildingexcellentschools.org. For more information about Harrison District 2 Leadership Academies, contact Christine Czajka 719-579-2000 or cczajka@hsd2.org.