They say that high school is a new beginning.
Remember reading groups back in elementary schools when your reading comprehension level was a letter from a-z, "a" being the easy one word per page book and "z" being bulky chapter books? Remember when your elementary teacher would show favoritism by progressing with the lesson with those students who could solve arithmetic problems and let the slower students slide down a slippery slope while they had to play catch-up? Remember when your elementary school teachers would give time-outs to those kids acting up in class or being rude, kids that were usually those of color?
For me, I remember it all. And I realize now that the achievement gap began even before the beginning of high school, when this issue is typically brought forth.
In my high school, there are three levels of classes: CP, college prep, the slowest paced class; Honors, the "harder" and faster paced classes; and AP, advanced placement- the separation between black and white students. Although it's true that our school encourages students to step out of their comfort zones and choose the level they feel most comfortable with academic wise, the social factor obviously plays a role here too. Students are more inclined to sign up for classes that are similar to classes their friends are in. For example, even if a black student felt more capable of and wanted to take an AP, he/she might feel discouraged because their friends are not in that class. Similarity, a while student might feel the social pressure to take AP or Honors classes, even if they feel that is not the right fit. But the choices that a high schooler makes in terms of classes are rooted far earlier than their present; the roots are planted on their first day of school in kindergarten.
The first step to solving a problem is recognizing there is one, as we've been taught in Will McAvoy's famous "The Newsroom." The achievement gap is typically a problem tackled at a high school level but it's actually a problem that should be tried to be prevented during a student's first few years of education. That way, it doesn't get to the point of shrugs and "sorry, there's nothing administration can do anymore."
We need to encourage our young students that they are all scholars and just because the next kid over is a faster reader or math problem solver, they aren't better or smarter. We need to learn how to accept everyone's individual talents and struggles to adhere to everyone's needs so the whole class moves together on the same train, at the same pace. Provided, we don't have students drowning in the deep gaps of achievement. We need to recognize that although we're facing this issue right now, we have to speak out for the next generation so it ends for them before their beginning.
