Questioning racial bias in California schools

VICTORVILLE - Raising questions about racial bias in California's public schools, State School Superintendent Jack O'Connell said Tuesday that teacher's low expectations for black and Hispanic students contribute to their persistent achievement gap with whites and Asians.

He said teachers and administrators need a renewed sense of urgency to close that gap and evaluate whether they hold all students to the same standards.

"We know that all groups of children can learn and all groups can achieve at high levels," he told an audience of about 200 school district administrators, lobbyists and Department of Education officials. "So now we need to consider whether, institutionally, low expectations or other factors are holding specific groups of children back."

The superintendent, who was elected to a second term in June, said he "refuses to accept the assumption" that students from poor neighborhoods, those with learning disabilities or those with parents who don't speak English can't meet the same academic targets as others.

T h at s t i g m a h a s b e e n dismissed by many districts within the Victor Valley.

"No. That's not accurate. Our teachers hold everyone to the same accountability level," said Ross Swearingen, Victor Elementary School District assistant superintendent of educational services. "We don't see kids as black, white and Hispanic but as kids with needs we need to address," he said.

The Victor Valley, with it's high ratio of minority and socio-economically disadvantaged students, should be a prime example of what O'Connell has stated. Yet it is home to one of the h i g h e s t s c o r i n g d i s t r i c t s throughout the county - Victor Elementary School District.

In three years, the district has raised its mandated testing scores 16 points to 743 and has seven schools that exceed the federal benchmark of 800.

"We have by far the most of any districts around," Swearingen said. "I think you'd be hard pressed to find any other district in the county with that many schools over 800."

Identifying students by their needs and not by their ethnicity or income base is also being proven successful in the H e s p e r i a U n i f i e d S ch o o l District.

According to state reports, the majority of students enrolled within the district are from lower socioeconomic levels, and Juniper Elementary is home to the district's poorest student population - yet it's the highest scoring school in the district.

T h e y c re d i t a p ro g r a m designed by teachers and administrators within the district - the ExCELL program.

Through this, students are scaffold by their ability and taught at their level based on what their needs are. When students make progress, their level is adjusted so they are never stagnant.

"All students are taught and expected to learn the state's standards. Our staff is held accountable; we hold each other accountable for that," Principal Stephanie Poindexter said.

Within the state, blacks, Hispanics and students learning English typically lag behind their white and Asian counterparts by as much as 30 percentage points on state and federal math and English tests.

The biggest obstacle for poor and minority students is a lack of quality teachers, said John Affeldt, managing attorney for Public Advocates, a nonprofit San Francisco law firm that has sued the state over several education-equality issues.

In his speech, O'Connell also called for adding characterbuilding to school curricula. He said many of the schools that have been most successful at closing achievement gaps have high standards for civility and encourage students to be active in their communities.