Posted 04/24/2009 - 02:11:30pm by MichelleHynes in Encores for Education & Youth
"The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools," a new report from McKinsey & Co., examines the dimensions of four gaps in education:
(1) between the U.S. and other nations, (2) between African-American and Hispanic students and white students, (3) between students of different income levels, and (4) between similar students schooled in different regions or systems. Describing the report's findings, the Wall Street Journal reported that "if the performance of students from families earning less than $25,000 a year had been raised to those from families earning more than that, annual GDP would have increased by as much as $670 billion, or 5%."
(See the WSJ article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124040633530943487.html, and the full report at http://www.mckinsey.com/achievementgap/.)
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in a recent speech to education leaders from across the country, called on his colleagues to "turn this great crisis into an opportunity."
How can Encore time and talent contribute to closing these education gaps and strengthening our nation's economic future? What opportunities do you see in your own community?
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America's Promise resources and the graduation gap
America's Promise Alliance is all about the entire community working together to improve outcomes for youth - and this definitely includes boomers. Our current focus is raising high school graduation rates and ensuring youth are ready for post-secondary life, especially in the urban areas around the country that have the greatest challenges.
The Alliance recently releasted two resources that may be of interest to community members working to positively impact the lives of youth:
Grad Nation is a resource book and toolkit that shows you how you can get involved in working to increase grad rates in your community. http://www.americaspromise.org/gradnation
The Gallup Student Poll was just launched by the Alliance in early May - it surveys thousands of 5-12th graders all over the country on their "hope, engagement, and well-being" and provides a snapshot to the community on how well youth believe themselves to be doing. The poll challenges all in the community to act on these statistics and improve these indicators of success for all. http://www.americaspromise.org/Our-Work/Gallup-Poll.aspx
For more information on America's Promise Alliance, check out www.americaspromise.org.
NYTimes Reports on Racial Disparity in NAEP Scores
In today's New York Times, Sam Dillon reports "The achievement gap between white and minority students has not narrowed in recent years, despite the focus of the No Child Left Behind law on improving black and Hispanic scores, according to results of a federal test considered to be the nation’s best measure of long-term trends in math and reading proficiency."
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/education/29scores.html?_r=1 )
Further examination of the scoring trends on the National Assessment of Educational Progress suggest that more attention and support is needed for students during the middle and high school years, so that modest gains in the early grades can be sustained. Recent attention by the Gates Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, and others to the economic importance of college attainment and completion also point us toward sustained support for students throughout their schooling.
What promising practices can we advocate for in national policy conversations and in our communities to close persistent achievement gaps and give all students the support they need to succeed? What particular contributions can your Encore make?
Money talks
Perhaps the economic cost of this gap - an estimated $670 billion, nearly as much as the federal stimulus funding! - will prod our nation to focus on students who need help.