The Achievement Gap

Many years ago, Dr. William Bradford Shockley, who shared a Nobel Prize in physics for his role in the creation of the transistor, earned the enmity of many for his views on the genetic differences between the races. He preached a philosophy of ''retrogressive evolution.'' Stipulating that intelligence was genetically transmitted, he deemed blacks genetically inferior to whites and unable to achieve their intellectual level.

Shockley's theory on racial differences set off a national argument over the use and applicability of I.Q. tests. Evidence that blacks tend to score lower than whites was discounted by most experts who saw the explanation in cultural and social rather than genetic terms. In short, as much as Dr. Shockley gave to society in the field of transistors and semiconductors, was offset by his unfortunate foray into genetics, intelligence and the field of eugenics. In other words, just about every study conducted since Shockley's theory has proven him wrong - period.

Flash forward to today. It has been reported the city of Minneapolis has the highest achievement gap of any large city in the country. The achievement gap being defined as test scores between white and students of color, most prominently, African American. Every time I hear a story on this subject it makes my blood boil. In my career in both industry and the Navy, I have worked with all races, many African Americans, both male and female, from all over the country. I have seen absolutely no difference what so ever in how people learn or apply that knowledge, regardless of race. None.

I will say this however - I do believe many children of color in the Minneapolis school district are victims of low expectations. Many years ago I knew a man who taught science in a middle school in the district. After many years of being enculturated by the district, he believed that many students of color were in his class to do anything but learn. He gave up on them before the opening bell had even rung. He would start the first day of class by saying "Those that want to learn sit up front - everybody else sit in the back of the room and keep quiet." Low expectations, and sometimes no expectations.

I have thought for years that education is like a three legged bar stool. The bar stool only works if all three legs are solid. If one leg is weak or broken, the stool will tip over - fail for the purpose it was intended. The three legs in education are 1) the student 2) the teacher and 3) the parent(s). As with the bar stool, if one is not involved, the student will probably not succeed.

I believe most teachers care about teaching and want the items taught to be learned. There are some which are just "mailing it in", but I believe the majority are professionals that care. In addition, I also believe that the majority of kids would choose to succeed rather than fail - in other words, they would like to learn. The weakest link (in my opinion) are the parents, or lack thereof.

Someone once said it is possible to raise a family with one parent, but that parent often needs to work twice as hard. What has happened to many single parent families in large metro areas, rather than working twice as hard, the effects of poverty have caused dysfunction which make the home learning environment strained. Being a single parent does not necessarily lead to failure, being a two parent family and living in poverty does not necessarily lead to failure, however being a single parent AND living in poverty greatly increases the chances for failure of the student. And this, is where I see the achievement gap.

More money poured into the education system is not the answer. The City of Minneapolis, like most big cities, spends more per student on education funding than suburban or rural districts. Nor is the answer that kids of color are not smart enough to learn.  As stated earlier, many tests have been done with the same conclusion - students of color are every bit as intelligent and able to learn as white students. The answer is now and always has been poverty.

This one is going to hurt a bit. Father-absent families—black and white alike—generally occupy the bottom rung of our society’s economic ladder. Unwed mothers, regardless of their race, are four times more likely to live in poverty than the average American. Female-headed black families earn only 36 percent as much as two-parent black families, and female-headed white families earn just 46 percent as much as two-parent white families. Not only do unmarried mothers tend to earn relatively little, but their households are obviously limited to a single breadwinner—thus further widening the income gap between one-parent and two-parent families. Fully 85 percent of all black children in poverty live in single-parent, mother-child homes.

We need to stop this needless slide into self inflicted poverty before it becomes generational. If we cannot stop it, or do not have the will to do so, I am afraid that the achievement gap will be with us until the end of time. This is a problem that can be fixed. However, just like with any type of addiction, the first step is problem recognition. Recognize it, address it, and then fix it.