Student learning, is it Truly the Ultimate Goal of Schools?
By: Learning For Life
Tags: Collaboration, Achievement Gap, Learning, Teaching, Education

“ Is equality even possible?” — Anthony Muhammad

I started reading Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap Liberating Mindsets to Effect Change by Anthony Muhammad in preparation for a virtual event that I will be hosting the end of the January. Dr. Muhammad is going to be one of my featured guests for the event. This book of his is one that I have not read and thought with the current climate in education would be a good focus for our interview. I have only gotten as far as the preface and it has sparked some passionate beliefs in me. Muhammad states, “Robert Marzano (2003) who is often recognized as one of the greatest contemporary educational researchers in the world, concludes that we know enough to close every measurable achievement gap if schools would only seek and utilize the proven strategies. This is clear evidence that when a school is effective, uses the right methods, and creates the right conditions, it is able to develop high-level academic skills in nearly all of its students. So, if learning for all is possible, why do we have an achievement gap?” I have been asking myself this question for a long time.

When I was working as a National literacy consultant with schools around the country, there is one thing that I would tell people that I observed. There is good news and bad news. The good news is, I see the same things all over the country and the bad news is, I see the same things all over the country. I would share this because as I worked with staff, I was often met with resistance to change and their belief that their circumstances were much worse than anyone else’s. That is not the case. What I encountered is hardworking teachers everywhere that struggled with closing the achievement gap and feeling defeated and discouraged. Why is this a reality? How do we work to change this perceived reality and close the ever-present achievement gap?

Dr. Muhammad suggests the Professional Learning Communities at Work model (PLC), “which emphasizes professional collaboration and an intense focus on learning for all students…” The goal of the PLC model, is to ensure high levels of achievement for all students (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2008).

I participated in this work at one urban school that I worked at. The PLC model is something I believe in, but you must have all stakeholders committed to making it work. If this isn’t the case, it will be difficult to achieve the desired outcome. It can be frustrating to be committed to this model and have it met with resistance and stakeholders that refuse to contribute or work toward the common goal of achievement for all. I have actually encountered educators that do not believe some students can make progress. That belief is so surprising and insulting to me that I have to wonder why they became a teacher or educator?

Muhammad talks about being an advocate of the PLC model as an effective way to make an impact on student achievement. Dr. Muhammad found there is a precursor that needs to be addressed before the PLC process can be successful. That is the culture of the school or organization. The culture has to effectively allow for an environment that creates good teaching practice implementation. However, what he “discovered was that organizational culture was a quintessential factor in the success or failure of good professional practice.”

There seems to be a two-fold issue that needs to be addressed to tackle the achievement gap. First, the organizational culture. Second, a way to ensure high levels of achievement for all students through professional development or learning.

I once heard a speaker say, the field of education has a rare problem that no other field has, it is the one field that everyone has personal experience with as they attended public school unless they were homeschooled. Each person bases their opinion on what worked or did not work from their own experience. I thought this statement was insightful and had a lot of merit that I had not considered before. I have had many discussions with people that have a strong opinion about why the education system is failing students. People seem to have a belief that since they went through the system they have insight into what is working or not and how to fix it. What I find rather insulting is, they believe, as a lay person that they have the answers to fix the system. This false belief discounts the work of esteemed researchers like Robert Marzano, Richard Allington and many others.

Unfortunately, there seems to be something looming in the background that is having a dramatic effect on student achievement even before organizational culture and professional development or learning can be addressed. That is “the issue of educational equity has become a platform for lobbies that want to push a political and economic agenda.” Many interested parties are using student test scores to advance a political agenda rather than what the ultimate goal of education should be, student achievement.

I am excited to read the rest of Dr. Muhammad’s book to find out what he discovered in his research.

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

― Frederick Douglass

The joy is in the journey!

Peace,

Mary

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