What's to be Done?

While I have been commenting on the growth of reading and mathematics achievement over the past 20 years in addition to the good news about the decline in the student dropout rate, there are real concerns regarding various portions of America's student population.

Let's not sugar coat it, as Ravitch reports, "black and hispanic youths who attend high-poverty, racially isolated schools have serious problems."

To be quite blunt, poverty and segregation are in evidence in many parts of America (urban and rural alike). These conditions, and others, do affect their level of success in school and beyond. It raises the question...what can be done to mitigate the harmful effects of poverty and segregation?

Ravitch, in fact, does offer some guidance with respect to this critical question. She interjects in Reign of Error that "our efforts should focus on reducing the causes of their disengagement from school, part of which has to do with being unprepared for high school work and part of which results from the circumstances in which they live."

We would be wise to heed such advice.

Dick