Minneapolis Public Schools & the new anti-Civil Rights movement

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Eight proposals to 'close the gap' | Minneapolis Public Schools & the new anti-Civil Rights movement

Subj: [Mpls] Racism & Minneapolis Public Schools

Date: 7/6/2004 7:53:57 PM Central Daylight Time

From: Socialist2001@cs.com

Sender: mpls-bounces@mnforum.org

To: mpls@mnforum.org

Last evening I was a guest on Voices of the African American community on KMOJ, hosted by Spike Moss. And I have been invited back to participate in an on-air discussion of educational issues within the next few weeks.

I believe the Minneapolis school district can rapidly close most of the academic achievement gap between whites and African Americans by making some changes in how education is done in the schools. Example: create positions for

inexperienced teachers that are evenly distributed throughout the schools. In some areas the learning curve for teachers is pretty steep during their first five years as a regular classroom teacher, such as behavior and classroom

management. Students in many of the high-poverty, high-minority schools have been overexposed to new teachers, and most of the new teachers are not getting adequate supervision, training, and support.

Another reason the district is failing to adequately educate African American students is the promotion of "colorblind" discrimination in the form of 'ability-grouping' and part-to-full time curriculum tracking as early as Kindergarten. Students within an early elementary grade-level are divided into different classrooms according to perceived ability for reading instruction, and are exposed to quite different types of instruction. The "high-ability" students learn higher order reading skills than the "low-ability" students. The rest of the curriculum in the "mixed ability" classroom is hard for students to keep up with if they don't get the higher order reading instruction. The designated low-ability students usually fail to thrive academically, develop low self-esteem, and in many cases are diagnosed as having an Emotional / Behavioral disorder. Just a few years ago it was reported that about 25% of African American students fall a couple years behind grade level expectations and are diagnosed as having Emotional-Behavioral disorders.

I believe that outcomes for a majority of MPS students would improve dramatically if the general student population was learning high order reading skills, not just a minority of students designated as gifted and talented. And of course, the teachers, and especially the least experienced teachers need adequate and appropriate supervision, training and support.

The problem isn't that white teachers want to undereducate black students, in my opinion. However, teachers do discriminate based on their perception of a students academic ability, and lower-income and nonwhite students are seen as "low-ability," and their failure to thrive academically is attributed to student background characteristics and not the educational setting. That's an environment which generates negative stereotypes of African American students and positive stereotypes of white students.

I don't agree that we will close the gap by going back to racially segregating the schools. When racial segregation in the schools was legally enforced (1890s to 1960s) some black students had access to high quality educational

programs, but overall whites, and especially middle to upper class whites had much better access to high quality schools and academic programs. The process of racially segregating the school system that began in the 1890s reduced pressure on the political establishment to ensure that a high quality education is accessible to all on an equal basis.

We saw substantial progress toward closing the test score gap when the school system was moving away from color conscious and "colorblind" separation of students during the 1970s and early 1980s. That was a reflection of the pressure of a mobilized and militant civil rights movement, and the access to a quality public education was a high priority demand.

What the Minneapolis school board supports is not a "new civil rights movement" but an anti-Civil Rights agenda.

-Doug Mann, King Field

Mann for School Board

www.educationright.com


	Mann for School Board \| home Eight proposals to 'close the gap' \| Minneapolis Public Schools & the new anti-Civil Rights movement Minneapolis Public Schools & the new anti-Civil Rights movement Subj: [Mpls] Racism & Minneapolis Public Schools Date: 7/6/2004 7:53:57 PM Central Daylight Time From: Socialist2001@cs.com Sender: mpls-bounces@mnforum.org To: mpls@mnforum.org Last evening I was a guest on Voices of the African American community on KMOJ, hosted by Spike Moss. And I have been invited back to participate in an on-air discussion of educational issues within the next few weeks. I believe the Minneapolis school district can rapidly close most of the academic achievement gap between whites and African Americans by making some changes in how education is done in the schools. Example: create positions for inexperienced teachers that are evenly distributed throughout the schools. In some areas the learning curve for teachers is pretty steep during their first five years as a regular classroom teacher, such as behavior and classroom management. Students in many of the high-poverty, high-minority schools have been overexposed to new teachers, and most of the new teachers are not getting adequate supervision, training, and support. Another reason the district is failing to adequately educate African American students is the promotion of "colorblind" discrimination in the form of 'ability-grouping' and part-to-full time curriculum tracking as early as Kindergarten. Students within an early elementary grade-level are divided into different classrooms according to perceived ability for reading instruction, and are exposed to quite different types of instruction. The "high-ability" students learn higher order reading skills than the "low-ability" students. The rest of the curriculum in the "mixed ability" classroom is hard for students to keep up with if they don't get the higher order reading instruction. The designated low-ability students usually fail to thrive academically, develop low self-esteem, and in many cases are diagnosed as having an Emotional / Behavioral disorder. Just a few years ago it was reported that about 25% of African American students fall a couple years behind grade level expectations and are diagnosed as having Emotional-Behavioral disorders. I believe that outcomes for a majority of MPS students would improve dramatically if the general student population was learning high order reading skills, not just a minority of students designated as gifted and talented. And of course, the teachers, and especially the least experienced teachers need adequate and appropriate supervision, training and support. The problem isn't that white teachers want to undereducate black students, in my opinion. However, teachers do discriminate based on their perception of a students academic ability, and lower-income and nonwhite students are seen as "low-ability," and their failure to thrive academically is attributed to student background characteristics and not the educational setting. That's an environment which generates negative stereotypes of African American students and positive stereotypes of white students. I don't agree that we will close the gap by going back to racially segregating the schools. When racial segregation in the schools was legally enforced (1890s to 1960s) some black students had access to high quality educational programs, but overall whites, and especially middle to upper class whites had much better access to high quality schools and academic programs. The process of racially segregating the school system that began in the 1890s reduced pressure on the political establishment to ensure that a high quality education is accessible to all on an equal basis. We saw substantial progress toward closing the test score gap when the school system was moving away from color conscious and "colorblind" separation of students during the 1970s and early 1980s. That was a reflection of the pressure of a mobilized and militant civil rights movement, and the access to a quality public education was a high priority demand. What the Minneapolis school board supports is not a "new civil rights movement" but an anti-Civil Rights agenda. -Doug Mann, King Field Mann for School Board www.educationright.com