HB2722 African-American Achievement Gap Study

I’m back after a long season of being out of the office in Baltimore, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma… everywhere but home. I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some of the important work CISL has been doing lately.

Some of you may have attended one of the town hall meetings associated with the House Bill 2722, the African-American Achievement Gap Study. We held town hall meetings in Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma over the course of the past 2 weeks, hoping to hear from educators, parents, students and community members about their experiences with education. The town hall presentations offered our state’s data around African-American student success in math and reading, as well as data related to the importance of teacher quality, student supports, leadership and family/community involvement.

Following the presentations, all participants had the opportunity to share in small groups around the four goals the committee has developed: (1) Providing quality early learning opportunities for all African-American children; (2) Making sure the teachers teaching African-American students are of the highest quality; (3) Making sure all African-American students graduate on time, ready for college and career opportunities, and (4) Assuring that all African-American students enter post-secondary institutions without the need for remediation. These conversations were rich and provided the committee with wonderful feedback that will inform the final plan.

More than anything, I think the town hall meetings were most powerful in that they provided opportunities for those who do not usually have a voice to share their own experiences. Giving people a voice empowers them to believe they are important, that what they say and do matters. As an African-American mother, educator and community member, I was so proud to be a part of these events, to be able to see other mothers and children talk about education publically, many for the first time.

As we closed out these meetings, I stood in front of each group and exhorted them to not wait for the Legislature or school districts to mandate change, to begin to take action in their own homes, in their own schools, in their own communities. I don’t know that parents realize the immense power of their decisions. As most of the research will support, parent involvement is critical to the success of all students, Black, White, Latino, Asian or Native American. Parents do not need to wait for this bill to go to the Legislature. They can begin to take time to find quiet places for their children to do homework. They can set aside time each day for the family to stop everything and read. Parents can take time to talk with their children about what goes on at school each day.

Being a parent is not easy. I have three of my own children, and each is as different as possible from the other. What works with my youngest does not work with my oldest. The teachers my daughter has operate much differently from the teachers my oldest son has, and they are in the same school. I guess I have decided we need to take one step at a time. Make a determination to try one new thing that you are not doing right now. Don’t try to do it all. There is a document on our website that provides some suggestions about how to get involved with your kids in ways that will help them be successful. Pick one thing on that sheet and try it for a month or two until you feel confident. Then try something else.

You are the master of your own destiny. Schools are not perfect places. There is much that still has to be changed so all schools are serving all kids well, but all we have control over is what happens in our homes with our children. Let’s make every moment count!
Erin Jones, Director
Center for the Improvement of Student Learning