Poverty: Helping to Succeed vs. Believing in Success

Last week I was struck by the title of a blog entry that I saw on my Twitter account – “The Poverty Myth Persists.” That blog can be found at http://educationnext.org/the-poverty-myth-persists/. What really caught my interest were the first few lines of the blog.

Every time I see a “poverty and education” story I think of the famous line from the New Testament in which Jesus says, “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want.”

So, with education. Want a convenient scapegoat for our problems? Poverty. It’s there, it’s handy.

The author, Peter Meyer, makes the case that quite often, educators and politicians blame poverty as the reason why schools in large urban and rural settings are failing to educate children. The achievement gap between students who don’t receive free and reduced-price meals and those who do receive free and reduced-price meals has widened in the last decade. Historically, education has always been seen as the path to the “American Dream.” Education is the great equalizer. However, our ability to provide an education to children in poverty is going in the wrong direction.

As Commissioner of Education, I believe there are two reasons for our inability to close achievement gaps based on poverty. It is either we do not know HOW to help children in poverty achieve at high levels or we do not BELIEVE that children in poverty can achieve at high levels.

If we do not know how, then that is something we can work hard to address. We can engage parents and communities in developing social capital that will help the community to value education and support educators. We can provide professional development to help teachers and administrators understand the challenges of homelessness and poverty. We can provide professional development on how to be more culturally responsive to the needs of students. We can provide resources needed to help children reach success. We know the HOW, and there are many examples of schools all across the nation and world that are helping children in poverty achieve at high levels. If educators make excuses for poverty and do not BELIEVE that children in poverty can achieve at high levels, then there is really nothing we can do other than coach these educators into other professions.

While I do not always agree with the positions of the Fordham Institute or the author of the blog, I thought the blog and articles cited were very thought-provoking. I also was reminded of the wonderful work that organizations like our own Prichard Committee, the Education Trust and the Children’s Defense Fund do in showing the HOW of helping children in poverty achieve to high levels.

The final sentence in the blog was perhaps the most thought-provoking – “Let’s resolve to quit blaming the poor for the poor education they receive.” Indeed, in Kentucky, let’s commit to never blame the poor, but commit to work with parents, communities, educators and government to collaborate on closing the achievement gaps and ensuring that education is the pathway to a brighter future for our children and the Commonwealth.

While Numbers Are Important, Children Matter Most

As I was reviewing materials for my first interview with the Kentucky Board of Education, one of the things to impress me about Kentucky was the state graduation rate. Graduation rate is the ultimate measure of our success as a state education system. The school board and community in my previous position had made graduation rate the key strategic goal. The graduation rate in my previous position had improved from one of the lowest in the state (below 60 percent) to one of the top ten in the state (81 percent). Also, the gaps between different student groups had been reduced to single digits.

While I was impressed with the Kentucky graduation rate of more than 83 percent, I did learn that Kentucky had not yet reported the NCLB four-year graduation rate due to technical issues. We are scheduled to report this data with this year’s entering freshman class when that group graduates in 2013.

Upon digging into the data, I learned that Kentucky had more than 6,500 students drop out of school in the 2007-08 school year. These numbers reflect real children and reflect a real concern for the economic, social, moral and civil rights impact that high school dropouts will have on our Commonwealth.

Thanks to First Lady Jane Beshear, we are going to focus on this issue in Kentucky. While we have made good progress in improving the number of high school graduates, we cannot accept 6,500 students dropping out of school. Beginning with the Graduation Summit this weekend and the Graduate Kentucky efforts that will follow, I am certain local communities and schools will rally around the goal of reducing dropout numbers and increasing graduation rates.

There are some that will focus on the numbers and debate the accuracy of those numbers. We do need to ensure we are reporting accurately; however, we need to focus on the children and what we as adults can do to help more children graduate from high school and be prepared for postsecondary work.

The biggest challenge to overcome is the excuse that some children cannot learn due to their economic and social conditions. We must raise our expectations for all children to be successful, and we must focus our schools and classrooms on what the children need rather than what the adults may prefer. This is difficult work; however, it is work we must do to ensure a future for our community, our state and our nation.

There are schools all over Kentucky that are defying the odds and helping more children learn. I recently visited Calloway County High School, where the principal and staff make student involvement and success the number-one priority. The dropout rate there is well below state and national averages.

There are many other schools that are doing this kind of great work. Let’s share our best practices with each other, work together to lower the dropout rates in all of our schools and send forward high school graduates who are ready to lead and solve the problems that we have left behind.