Roll up your sleeves and study

Fairfield Daily Republic August 25, 2011
Do what the good students are doing
by Kelvin Wade



There were two disturbing stories about education in this paper recently. The first was last week’s “Young Fairfield-Suisun students improve in math on state test.” As my friend Kendall Wright pointed out to me, the headline was a bit misleading.

While the article does trumpet the excellent gains made on the STAR test by elementary school math students, as well as the improvement by math students at my alma mater Grange Middle School, it also mentions the disastrous decline in high school math scores.

From the article: “At the high school level, each grade taking the test dropped in proficiency or advanced placement: ninth grade fell from 11 percent to 8 percent; 10th grade from 8 percent to 3 percent and 11th grade from 13 percent to 5 percent.” That’s horrible.

Seventy-eight percent of 10th graders at Rodriguez and Armijo High are at “below basic” or “far below basic” in math. It’s 85 percent at Fairfield High. That’s abysmal. College is right around the corner for many of these students. As I said in a recent column, there’s a limit to the burger flipping and barista jobs in America.

Obviously not everyone is going to go to four-year colleges. But these grades are still an ominous sign for the future of the country.

The second story was “SCC stats show blacks struggling behind other minorities.” Blacks have the lowest retention rate and lowest success rate (scoring As, Bs or Cs) in the school. Their worst showing was in the Introduction to Business class, where blacks had a 31 percent success rate, lagging 30 points behind Asians.

So who is at fault? Budget cuts? Curriculum? Poor teachers? Teachers unions? Discrimination? Genetics?

We always go looking for answers in the least obvious places. Kids don’t just get more stupid in high school. And even with the abysmal scores at SCC, there are black students who are doing fine. Why don’t we just look at what the successful students are doing and what the unsuccessful students aren’t doing?

How important is education in the home? Is it prized, encouraged and rewarded? Are two parents in the home? Are they educated? How much TV/cell phone/Internet use goes on in the home in comparison to studying? Is homework completed?

In my family, my parents encouraged and rewarded education and good grades. My dad was involved in the PTA. Both parents were available to our teachers. Perhaps Tony and I were anomalies because we were both in the Gifted and Talented Education Program, and I was promoted from third to fifth grade. But my brother Ken excelled in math and science. My younger brother Scott did well and went on to college. And my oldest brother Orvis, who was probably the lowest-achieving academically, is now the most educated, having earned his master’s degree a few years ago.

My point is that what often separates those who do well and those who don’t is effort. If a third of blacks are doing well at SCC, then I know two-thirds can do well. You’re not going to convince me that all those sophomores failing at math are paying attention, doing all of their homework, studying, being tutored and still failing.

This past week or so parents should’ve received their child’s individual STAR test results in the mail. That presents a great opportunity to sit down with your child and identify the areas that he or she is struggling in and come up with a plan to improve. Peace.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES: I once saw a study that black households watch more television than any tother race. It didn't surprise me. When looking at any underperforming student, of any race, I want to see what kind of effort they're putting in. We always assume there's not enough funding or that the teacher is lousy or the student lacks books and materials....Those things may be true. But I also want to see if that student is paying attention in class. Is he taking notes? Is he doing his homework? How much time does he spend studying vs. time watching TV or going online or texting.

What we need and what we're lacking is that foundation for learning in the home. Parents have to encourage education. Learning is a child's job. My parents had us watch educational TV: (and there wasn't a lot back then. But there was Sesame Street, the Electric Company. I learned how to tie my shoes by watching Romper Room.) They took us to the library. They expected us to get good grades. I remember my father helping me with book reports in elementary school. I remember my mother helping me. We were rewarded for good grades.

Is that happening today?

When I hear about the achievement gap I think about the black kids who are doing well. Why are they doing well? Why don't we look at why they're doing well and emulate what they're doing? I know it's difficult when there's a single parent. It's doubly difficult if that single parent is uneducated her or himself. But the library is free. And often schools offer tutoring. Is it being utilized? If a parent can't help their child study, they can reach out to the teacher, other students, other family members. We can't wait for perfect schools. We can't wait for funding levels to increase. Your child's education is going on right now. We have to be ready and willing to do whatever it takes to educate a child. Make up tests, extra credit...whatever.

Education levels playing fields. Education offers a hand up. And while I support the arts and sports, the books come first IMHO.