Dive Brief:
- Antwan Wilson, about a month into his position as chancellor in Washington, DC, told Edutopia it is important to consider messaging when addressing achievement gaps and black student ability because students can find it overwhelming to continually hear how behind they are.
- In a Q&A, Wilson said black students, in particular, need to hear that educators in their district love them and believe in them, and then they need to get wraparound services to help them master the material and develop a growth mindset about their abilities.
- Wilson believes supports need to be in place at birth to help prepare black students for kindergarten and later success, they need exposure to new places and career options throughout their education, and they need to hear about their strengths along with constructive criticism about ways to get stronger.
Dive Insight:
Many researchers have traced stubborn achievement gaps throughout the K-12 education system to the earliest years of life. Students show up to kindergarten with those gaps already firmly in place. Catching up means learning at an even faster pace than their peers, which is difficult to accomplish. And summer slide tends to more negatively impact the low-income students who show up behind in the first place, meaning they return to school each consecutive year even farther behind.
While school districts do not have any obligation to spend money on early childhood efforts before kindergarten, a growing number are investing in this work for later returns. Coordinating with preschool providers, hosting Parents as Teachers groups and developing a more comprehensive strategy for kindergarten readiness are becoming common. And the Every Student Succeeds Act specifically allows schools to use federal money for these efforts.