We have been speaking about the difference in the the background knowledge and experiences students have prior to coming to school. How can schools work to close the achievement gap? Alli proposed on her blog if PreK becomes mandatory part of all curriculum isn't that just beginning the achievement gap earlier? However, I propose that we can find examples, of attempting to level out the playing field without pushing the achievement gap earlier.
I student taught in Pennsylvania, where Kindergarten is not required, as I have previously blogged some schools only offer half day Kindergarten. The particular school district I was in took a unique approach to try and close the achievement gap. Most of their schools have half day Kindergarten, but some have "extended day" Kindergarten. These students meet until 2:00pm instead of leaving at in the middle of the day. If your student does not test proficient at the beginning of the year and you are not at an extended day Kindergarten you can stay for both am and pm Kindergarten. It is an interesting way to help get all students at minimum at a proficient level.
Another example of trying to level out the playing field is some schools providing PreK, who have a higher level of students at need. The inner city school district near where I student taught had PreK, just as people in our class teach PreK in Baltimore City schools. Where as areas with less at risk children do not have PreK in public schools. The school systems and public need to push to give students who are starting with less exposure to literacy the opportunities they need to be able to achieve.
Our goal is for all our students to have the tools to be able to succeeded in school.
Rhea,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you about the need to level out the achievement gap. I like the idea you suggested about schools with higher numbers of at risk students offering Pre-K classes. However, I know at my school we offer Pre-K but the problem is that there are only 2 classes (a morning session and afternoon session). Therefore only about 30-40 students can attend Pre-K in the public schools. For the students that can't go to these classes, their parents have to pay for their students to go to Pre-K at another school. However, some of these preschool programs don't necessarily offer the same academic program as other schools. I am not sure if this is due to the fact that the teachers don't get paid as much or what but there is definitely a disconnect. I think before the achievement gap can be closed, something needs to change with the curriculum, the qualifications of educators or the pay scale. Maybe if these things were equal across the board, it would start to make a difference in the programs being offered.
Heather