If we are looking for improvements in learning, they lie, not solely, but importantly, in pedagogical changes. In the schools we want, teachers establish rewards and incentives for positive achievement and behavior. Subject matter is organized and taught in ways that encourage students to develop cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, to think creatively and critically, and to identify and solve problems. Effective support will also include resources to provide teachers with the time to increase their involvement in school governance, participation in curriculum and instruction development, and collaboration with parents. The Challenge We, as a nation, must assert that the sorry and inequitable state of public education is not inevitable and will no longer be tolerated.
Equity depends on how much more than access to schools and their offerings.
For example, we know a good deal about what drives poor and minority youth out of school - our schools can stop doing those things. There are effective pedagogies that involve students in active, creative learning - we can make their use routine rather than exceptional. We know that critical thinking is more important, more useful and more exciting than rote memory recital - we can engage all students in the fullest use of their minds. Abandoning the piecemeal approach to meeting the needs of historically marginalized students, we can restructure our schools to make them places of excellent learning opportunity for all . All decision-making considers the potential impact on the learning opportunities of all student groups.