Educational Leadership - November 2010

Perspectives
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Getting a Grip on the Gaps

Writing this Perspectives on a Sunday afternoon, I am grap- pling with the difficulty of closing the myriad gaps depicted in this issue.

From the nefarious achievement gaps, to the racial isolation in our increasingly segregated schools; from the digital divide that results in kids not having access to computers, to the poverty gulf that results in kids not having homes; from boys’ reading difficulties and girls’ problems with math, to the disparities among rural, suburban, and urban school needs— these gaps present baffling problems. Even though our authors suggest many practical and even inspiring solutions, the problems themselves sometimes seem as if they will never be conquered entirely. While we address one gap, another springs up.

In the middle of my reading, I receive two back-to-back, welcome interruptions—phone calls from friends. When they hear what I am up to, each friend quickly offers an opinion about the solution to learning gaps. Neither friend is an educator, and they are on opposite sides politically. But, surprisingly, they both urge me to write about the philanthropy of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, who recently announced a gift of $100 million to the school district of Newark, New Jersey. Each has a different take on this event.

Friend 1 is delighted with the windfall
for Newark (she’s from New York).
When I demur about the influence of
the “billionaire boys club” on education
(using Diane Ravitch’s term), she says,
“Who cares where the money comes
from or the motives for giving it? Think
of all the good it can do.”
Friend 2 does not believe that the
money will make a difference. She scoffs
that, once again, money will be “thrown
at education without regard to changing
attitudes.” Citing Bill Cosby as her hero,
she believes that an attitude gap—lack of
motivation and the will to succeed—is at
the heart of most achievement gaps.

that we combine school improvement
with community resources to alleviate
the effects of poverty and racial segre-
gation. And not only does he believe
in “lifting the floor for the lowest-per-
forming schools,” but he also notes that
we must “raise the ceiling for the schools
in the uppermost tier of achievement.”
From massive infusions of money
donated by successful entrepreneurs to
an attitude adjustment for each of us, the
suggestions abound. Our writers in this
issue advocate looking at gaps as oppor-
tunities. Among their recommenda-
tions are providing equitable resources,
high-quality education for all, intensive
early literacy programs, well-planned
after-school and summer programs, and
social and health service coordination for
families.

“Ambitious intervention can make a real difference,” Richard E. Nisbett (p. 15) writes, but he speaks also of small interventions that would cost little more than school as usual. “When it comes to reducing the achievement gap, don’t think big. Think very big . . . and very small,” he writes.

Describing the efforts of schools that have successfully reduced gaps, Karin Chenoweth (p. 21) puts it this way, “Do whatever it takes to make sure students learn.”

References

Cuban, L. (2010). As good as it gets: What school reform brought to Austin. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Matthews, J. (2010, August 29). Class struggle: Forget about the achievement gap [blog post]. Retrieved from The Washington Post at http://voices.washington post.com/class-struggle/2010/08/forget _about_the_achievement_g.html