WE ARE
REFFER to/....
Kettering Foundation
The Kettering Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan
research institute based in Dayton, Ohio (with offices
in Washington, D.C., and New York), was founded
in 1927. It has provided books, materials, and moderator
training for the National Issues Forums, which
celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary last year. For
information about the Kettering Foundation, please visit
www.kettering.org or contact us at 200 Commons
Road, Dayton, Ohio 45459-2799. Phone: 800-221-3657.
The Public and Public Education Research
This issue guide was prepared by the Kettering
Foundation for research into the nature of the relationship
between the public and public education. It is
similar to ones produced by the foundation for the
National Issues Forums (
NIF) network, which are used
by civic and educational organizations interested in
addressing public issues.
Writer: Fanny
FlonoEditor: Ilse
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Cover Illustration: Long’s Graphic Design, Inc.
Copy Editor: Lisa Boone-Berry
Too Many Children Left Behind: How Can We Close the
Achievement Gap?
AQUALITY EDUCATION is often the pathway to the
American Dream, but far too many students in
U.S. public schools are lagging behind. They leave school
unable to make change at the local McDonald’s when
the computerized cash register fails. Many can’t write a
readable essay, or sometimes a readable sentence. Nearly
30 percent drop out and never complete high school.
These failures are occurring in every nook and
cranny of this country—in urban America, in suburban
America, even in rural America. More than 30 percent
of the nation’s children attend rural schools, many in
vulnerable, poverty-plagued communities in states like
Mississippi and Alaska where students drop out and
perform poorly in school at rates to rival urban areas.
For African American and Hispanic students, particularly
those from low-income families, the situation is
dire. According to the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan
public policy research group, those students have only a
50 percent chance of finishing high school with a diploma.
Rural and low-income whites face daunting educational
challenges as well.
KETTERING
What Criticb Say!!!Critics of this approach point to two big problems:
First, requiring public funds to address daunting issues,
such as health and housing needs, is a very costly strategy
and, practically speaking, out of reach for the communities
that need it most. Second, there is no guarantee
that tackling these problems will do anything to improve
performance or close the achievement gap. As Professor
John
Ogbu has noted, middle-class students can perform
poorly as well. These students have the means to meet
these needs on their own. Why are they still struggling?
Furthermore, Temple University sociology professor
Annette
Lareau told Time magazine in 2005 that
lowincomeparents face some cultural obstacles in helping
their children academically. “Working class and poor
families don’t have college educations,” she said. They
look up to teachers and are inclined to leave the education
of their children to the professionals.
Some opponents of this approach say that it embodies
unnecessary government intervention. Parents should
be encouraged to provide for their children through
programs that help put them to work and get access to
better jobs. The government should provide a leg-up,
not hand-outs.
Finally, some critics maintain that this approach
does not go far enough. Only simultaneous interventions
by families, schools, and the larger society will lead to
sustained academic improvement for low-income and
minority children.
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