One of the greatest challenges in education still remains a major problem in Mississippi.
What is the best way to educate the difficult to educate and how do you close the achievement gap between well-off and poor public school students?
In Attala County and in some areas across the state, the gap is narrowing some, though it still remains too wide.
Helping the poor — many of them minorities — obtain a fair shot at the American Dream through education is surely the greatest civil rights challenge of our time. We must do better.
Last week the Mississippi Department of Education showed some alarming proficiency gaps between white and black students along with big gaps between students with and without economic disabilities. In the state, 116,108 white students were administered the Mississippi Assessment Program test with a 47.5 percent proficiency mark, while 129,269 minority students took the test with an 18.9 percent proficiency mark. Mississippi also saw similar numbers with economically disadvantaged students with a 51 percent proficiency rate for non-economically disadvantaged students opposed to a 24.5 percent rate for the poor.
Oxford, the highest-rated school district according to the state rating system, has the widest achievement gap between black and white students, as well as between poor and more affluent students. Kosciusko School District was right near the state average in the minority achievement gap with a 28.8 percent gap. The district also had a 29.2 percent gap between poor and affluent students.
Attala County School District, however, graded below the state average with a 21.6 percent minority gap and a 10.4 percent economic gap.
There were a few high points, including Tishomingo County Municipal School District which had a B rating on the accountability system with a 6.3 percent minority gap.
What lessons can we learn from their success? What are they doing right that can be replicated elsewhere? How can we make sure that these examples of excellence are supported at the state level, and not deliberately undermined by economic interests opposed to new and innovative approaches to education?
We do know from these schools that students are not condemned by demographics. Poor students can achieve at the same level as better-off students under the right circumstances.
The ideal of America has been, not guaranteed economic equality, but an opportunity for all to raise themselves through education and hard work.
Clearly, Mississippi must do a much better job of improving educational opportunities for its students. This is closely tied not only to justice, but to growing Mississippi’s economy. Well-educated students can fill jobs, create businesses and lift the entire state.
Joseph Brown is the editor and publisher of The Star-Herald. He can be reached at jbrown@starherald.net.
