By Dr. Vernard T. Gant,
Director of ACSI Urban School Services
As a person who is engaged in or interested in the education of urban children, you are aware of the formidable academic challenges confronting this student population. The following statistics from the latest reports of the National Center for Education Statistics concern the plight of children in urban schools (Rampey, Lutkus, and Dion 2005; Lutkus, Rampey, and Donahue 2005; Education Week on the Web 2006):
In math:
- 75% of 4th graders and 81% of 8th graders perform below proficiency.
- 32% of 4th graders and 47% of 8th graders perform below basic.
- 92% of Latino 12th graders and 94% of African American 12th graders perform below proficiency.
In reading:
- 80% of 4th and 8th graders perform below proficiency in reading.
- 51% of 4th graders and 40% of 8th graders perform below basic.
- 84% of African American 12th graders and 80% of Latino 12th graders perform below proficiency.
Of low-income children:
- 71% of 4th graders and 63% of 8th graders qualify for the federal lunch program.
- 88% of urban students who qualify for the federal lunch program perform below proficient.
- 60% of 4th graders and 48% of 8th graders who qualify for the federal lunch program perform below proficiency.
Finally:
- 50% of Latino and African American male students fail to graduate from high school.
Sadly, despite the nation’s gallant efforts to address the educational plight of urban, low-resourced, and Black and Brown children through No Child Left Behind and other reforms, these children continue to perform dismally and lag behind academically. Even at the preschool level, a third to half of African American and Latino students test in the bottom quarter of students in reading, math, and general knowledge (Thernstrom and Thernstrom 2003, 130).
These students start out behind and remain behind during their entire schooling until they eventually check out mentally or drop out physically. At best, these children can look forward to only a life of underachievement and limited opportunity.
How to effectively educate these children has been the subject of intense national interest for several decades. The reason so many (in fact, the majority) of these children struggle to learn is that they have an anemic learning foundation. That is to say, they are not inherently slow or poor learners, but they do not have the cognitive tools necessary for effective learning. According to Ruby Payne (2005, 88, 89):
- In order to learn, individuals must have certain cognitive skills and must have a structure inside their head to accept the learning.
- Traditionally in schools we have assumed that the cognitive strategies are in place.
- Increasingly, students, mostly from poverty, are coming to school without the concepts, but more importantly, without the cognitive strategies.
Without proper cognitive skills, learning is difficult if not impossible. These skills are the foundation of all learning.
To put it simply, without proper cognitive skills, learning is difficult if not impossible. These skills are the foundation of all learning. And the learning structures we attempt to build at school do not stand because they are being built upon weak and even missing foundations. These foundations are usually laid at home and built upon at school. However, the reality in many urban settings is that this arrangement is not working because neither the homes nor the schools are establishing the foundations for learning for these children. One author wrote the following (Armor 2003, 58):
There is now substantial research to show that these natural parenting activities, which behavioral scientists often call “cognitive stimulation” to distinguish it from other types of parenting activities, are not merely helpful but in fact crucial to a child’s mental progress. That is, the more time that parents spend on these sorts of teaching activities during infancy, the higher the children’s IQ by the time they reach school age and the higher their academic achievement after they have started school.
He then concludes (59–60):
In fact, cognitive stimulation has a stronger association with a child’s academic ability than any other environmental risk factor…. This is especially good news, because cognitive stimulation is one of the few risk factors that can be altered and enhanced after a child is born, and it can also be offered by persons other than a child’s parents.
Educators have been trying to build learning structures in the absence of learning foundations. The structures don’t stand because the foundations are not in place.
This explains why many of the efforts, expenses, and energies to educate urban and under-resourced children yield few academic results. Historically, practically all the efforts at educating these children have been structural ones. That is, their educators have been trying to build learning structures in the absence of learning foundations. The structures don’t stand because the foundations are not in place.
Sadly, the wherewithal to diagnose and treat cognitive skills deficiencies has been both inaccessible to and unaffordable for urban children. Such treatment usually requires intense one-on-one therapy costing thousands of dollars. This issue of The Meantime is dedicated to addressing the critical role that cognitive skills play in the learning process. Note the last article in the “News You Can Use” section for some exciting information on upcoming resources that will equip you to effectively help urban students develop the cognitive strategies for successful learning.
References
Armor, David J. 2003. Maximizing intelligence. With Susan L. Aud. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Education Week on the Web. 2006. Diplomas count: State graduation reports. A special state focused supplement to Education Week’s Diplomas Count.
Lutkus, A. D., B. D. Rampey, and P. Donahue. 2005. The nation’s report card: Trial urban district assessment reading 2005. NCES 2006–455. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Payne, Ruby K. 2005. A framework for understanding poverty. 4th rev. ed. Highlands, TX: aha! Process, Inc.
Rampey, B. D., A. D. Lutkus, and G. Dion. 2005. The nation’s report card: Trial urban district assessment mathematics 2005. NCES 2006–457. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Thernstrom, Abigail, and Stephan Thernstrom. 2003. No excuses: Closing the racial gap in learning. New York: Simon & Schuster.
The Meantime Volume 7 Number 1