Debunking the Myth: Schools Are Failing Our Students

Is summer setting American students behind?  According to Karl Alexander, yes.  Summer is a time for fun in the sun, but it is hurting low-income students more than children of middle and upper-income statuses,  John Hopkins University's research (Karl Alexander) follows the progress of 650 first graders in Baltimore.  They scored low, middle, and upper income students in math and reading skills from the beginning of the school year to the end, then from summer to the following September.

When looking at the data, the students do not have significant score differences, with the high income students having a 32 point advantage over the low-income 1st grade students.  When the students are in 5th grade the gap more than doubled (low-income = 461, high-income = 534).  Alexander's research confirms what other research shows; that high income children are not smarter, but have circumstantial advantages.  Because of these advantages, his research proves it is not the schools that are failing children.

Alexander gave the students the test in September, then June, then September again.  What he found was low-income children actually outperformed high-income children by 5 points during the school year.  So, all children are learning while in school.  Then there is the data from after students were on their summer vacation.  This is where the "achievement gap" shows itself.  The high-income children return to school in September scoring 15 more points, compared to the previous June's score.  The low-income children dropped 4 points.  In summary, "(P)oor kids learn nothing when school is not in session."

So why is this happening?  It comes down to culture of parenting (See The Outliers).  High-income children are put in educational settings and conversations throughout the summer, whereas low-income children do not have access to such settings.  Their parents may not afford a caretaker to take them to special summer programs.  They may not have access to find such programs, nor transportation to get the child to and from them.  Additionally, research (i.e. 3,000 Word Gap and others) shows low-income parents typically talk at their students rather than having a conversation with them.  High-income children are taught to converse and question, resulting in higher-order thinking.

So what can we do to decrease this summer achievement gap?  There is the conversation of year-round schools and/or extending the school day.  Yet there is more to it, we need to intersect the cycle where it really matters.  First, we need to address the culture of young parents.  Often, men in low-income cultures are proud to have multiple children from multiple mothers.  This leaves children without a male role model.  It also means many young females are playing the role of a parent without knowing the extent of their responsibilities.  If we can reach these young parents while the child is in the womb, we can begin to positively affect the next generation.  We may never reverse the idea that it's acceptable to have children while in high school and continued education is not needed, or not an option.  But we can try by intervening with the generation still in the womb and the mothers who carry them.  We need to stop the cycle of passivity and teach these mothers how to advocate for their child, read to them, feed them properly, and mentally engage them when they are outside of school.  Many programs currently exist with these goals in mind.