Mind the {Opportunity} Gap

We've all heard the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never

hurt me,” and acknowledge the inaccuracies of such a simplistic phrase. I invite everyone to

close their eyes and reflect back on the time where we learned the truth of this phrase. While the

range of such experiences is likely extensive, there is a commonality between all of them: they

all require a relationship of kind between two individuals. While this phrase most likely conjures

up images of the elementary school playground and childhood bullies, its implications extend

much wider than this. In the growing age of technology and national educational policies, I

would like to argue this same simple phrase can be applied and proven wrong in this setting as

well.

A world of standardization and testing, with a focus on equality and achievement for all

students may seem honorable, until a closer examination of the kind of language being used is

evaluated more closely. Hidden behind the intention of helping America's students, is it actually

doing more harm than good? To quote Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, are there students who are

intentionally being “cut out of the picture”? Additional questions we can ask are: Who does this

benefit? Why do American citizens and their elected representatives allow for the most

vulnerable members of our community to encounter such an unequal and inequitable educational

system and access to resources and opportunity, especially if the United States is supposed to be

the “land of opportunity?” Are our increasingly diverse children really being left behind? Doesn't

that seem backwards?

These are the kinds of questions that must be asked, considered, pondered, answered, and

reconsidered all over and over again. While this may not be the intended actions of policy

makers, a language of ‘equality’ means there will be groups of individuals who just naturally fall

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behind. In this way, blame can be placed easily on many outside parties, with fingers pointing in

all directions. One direction these fingers are being pointed towards are to America's teachers.

With test scores being published in local and national newspapers, an uneducated citizen may

naturally feel this is valid. However, in viewing teachers in this way, or seeing something as

being “wrong” with schools when in reality is in fact a larger societal issue actually starts to get

at the heart of this issue. It is a matter of understanding what is being measured and what factors

go into standardized testing where many individuals fall short. Their assumptions seem legit.

Likewise, the language surrounding such press is also terribly misguiding. By labeling

the gaps in test scores as an “achievement gap,” while perhaps a safer term for those in power,

since it places blame elsewhere, is hugely inaccurate and will do nothing but widen the divide.

Paul Gorski, associate professor of integrative studies at George Mason University and founder

of EdChange, explains how all students come to school with different amounts of baggage and

stresses how many students are already behind from the moment they step into a classroom.

Shadow education, or resources and opportunities to attend attractions such as museums, plays,

concerts, or to participate in things such as music or the arts all fall under this category. “We as

teachers have little control over whether our students’ families can afford shadow education

programs,” he states. Encouragingly, however, Gorski goes on to explain:

We do have control, though, about whether we take this and other access discrepancies

into account when we are forming our perceptions of low-income students. Certainly we

never intend to mistake gaps in opportunity for gaps in intelligence or ability. It is

possible, though, that we sometimes are susceptible to false impressions, confusing the

fruits of access, such as the academic boosts shadow education provides to students

whose families can afford it, with intellectual superiority. (95)

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I would like to stress the idea again that these gaps that so naturally develop are not due to a

character deficit, lack of intelligence, or ability. Rather, it is the quality and availability of

resources and opportunities afforded.

Now to the purpose of this paper. Especially given recent political events that seem to be

turning the nation into a tailspin, the importance of being conscious about language is more

crucial now than perhaps ever before. While many words seem to be interchangeable, words, as

we decompress, obviously matter. What we say matters. How we say it, even more. Therefore,

before I get to the heart of this paper, a few definitions are necessary. First, the idea of

“achievement” versus “opportunity.” Both are gaps; both may appear to be the same thing.

However, one follows a line of ‘deficit-based’ thinking – achievement – and the other, ‘asset-

based' thinking – opportunity. Essentially, the achievement gap suggests the reason there is a

gap is due to, like what Gorski suggests, a certain lack (or deficit) of intelligence. Conversely,

using the language of opportunity instead indicates there are other uncontrollable outside factors

limiting success, or at least causing students and schools to be labeled as ‘failing’.

Equality and equity often fall under the same category. These words must also be used

intentionally. While the United States was indeed founded as a land of equality, to subject its

citizens to that now would be a disservice to our beautiful diversity. Sebastian Witherspoon,

Director of Equity Services in St. Cloud's District 742, provides an analogy to demonstrate the

difference in these two seemingly similar words. Picture three students unable to afford a

baseball game. Luckily, they find boxes to stand on to peer over the fence. Each friend is a

different height, but all, in an attempt to be equal, get a box. Now only one of the three can see

over the top of the fence. Now let us rewind. This time, upon realizing if each received a box it

would only allow one of them to see over the top of the fence (which he could already see over),

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the boxes were distributed fairly to the other two friends so they too could see over the top of the

fence. This is equity.

To stop when things are equal is not fair. It is like meeting a new person and only

acknowledging them for what they look like. “Culture is 9/10 below the surface of what we can

see,” Mr. Witherspoon continued to say; “if we stop at face value, then we miss the entire picture

of what makes a person a person, and that would be so sad.” Words are the same way. To say

something without consciously thinking about the affect it may have on another person is a

misuse of words. Disadvantages and roadblocks are set up unintentionally. Discourse is created.

Awareness is key and understanding our biases and privileges and taking action to educate

ourselves must follow (please see Appendix A). To recap, a shift away from the language of

“achievement” towards a more inclusive and accessible language of “opportunity” is essential to

finally begin mending and closing the gap.

A MATTER OF LANGUAGE: BACKGROUND AND ETHICAL ISSUES

To begin, it is important to go back to where the language of equality first surfaced in an

educational setting. While education has always been an American ideal, it has also been clear it

never been fair (or equal, for that matter). Following the years after the Civil War and

Reconstruction, one of the most significant court cases following this language of equality was

Plessy v. Ferguson, the landmark decision made by the Supreme Court in 1896. This decision

began the era of “equal education” in the United States. James Ryan, William L. Matheson and

Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, declares

boldly how opportunities in education are a foundational principle of this nation, and is an

“embraced [...] ideal by school officials, citizens, parents and politicians alike. [While not] all

would agree on what makes educational opportunities equal, most would agree, at least at a

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sufficient level if abstraction, that it remains a worthy – indeed, a primary – goal” (Ryan 1).

Herein lies the central issue: the emphasis on ‘equality’ as a foundational principle.

By way of explaining both the equality and inequity caused by Plessy, I am going to

present several case studies. The first is of Freeman and Thomas Jefferson (“Tee-Jay”) High

Schools, located in Richmond, Virginia, five miles apart. Separated by “the most important

boundary in public education,” the border between city and suburban schools, one is considered

to be highly successful while the other is labeled as failing. This ‘fault line’ of sorts shapes and

defines the opportunities presented to its students (Ryan 3). While schools, by law under Plessy,

were “separate but equal” and both provided the basic human right of education, a look inside

both of these schools would suggest otherwise. The following passage is from James Ryan's time

in these Richmond schools in the early 2000s, though upon first glance could have been from the

early years of the 20th century:

In Richmond and surrounding counties, White schools surpassed black ones on nearly

every measure, including facilities, course offerings, teacher salaries, and extracurricular

activities. Black schools lacked science labs, auditoriums, lunchrooms and classroom

space. (Ryan 26)

Mirroring the Plessy era, an argument supporting this clear divide today in the 21st century

between the suburban White and city black schools might be, ‘well, at least they get something,

and they get an education.’ This argument is still being made today, in 2016. This is not what

progress looks like. Ryan agrees with this statement as he states how these two schools are “good

examples of past and interesting harbingers of the future of educational opportunity” (Ryan 3).

Moving forward, the Supreme Court overruled their 1896 decision of “separate but

equal” in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, which called for an integration of

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America's segregated schools. Yet, the two schools in the above example were visited in 200[x],

some fifty years after the decision that was supposed to reverse segregation. In 1970, then

President Richard Nixon came up with his solution (or loophole) to this solve this problem,

stating that it is “time for us to make a national commitment to see that schools in central cities

are upgraded so that the children who go there will have just as good a chance to get a quality

education as do the children who go to school in the suburbs” (Ryan 5). While acknowledging

the disparities and inequality of these situations, this solution did nothing to address the real

problem lurking in the background. Emphasizing equality, Nixon forgot about equality's fairness

counterpart, equity.

Today the country is littered with education reforms and policies, all with the focus on

equality, America's ‘foundational principle.’ There are countless examples of this in action: The

Declaration of Independence boldly declaring how “we hold these truths to be self-evident,” and

the Plessy v. Ferguson decision; while later overturned, it still has a long-lasting legacy. Ryan

later goes on to prove this legacy as he states how “in the two decades prior to Brown, southern

states spent between two and ten times more per capita on white students than blacks. These

figures did not include expenditures on facilities, which were “as spectacular as [they were] well

known” (Ryan 27). Essentially, this is a movement towards legalized re-segregation. History is

repeating itself.

W.E.B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist,

author, and editor, once was recorded saying, “theoretically the Negro needs neither segregated

schools nor mixed schools. What he needs is Education” (Ryan 29). Today ‘Negro’ can be

swapped out for groups such as ‘Somali’, ‘Latino/a’, ‘Syrian’, ‘Muslim’, ‘Hmong,’ ‘Karen,’ gay,

lesbian, transgender, or anything perceived as different from the norm. But what even is the

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“norm” anymore? Thus, we find ourselves where we are today: waist-deep in a sea of

standardized testing and with an additional handful of questions. Is this the common good? Is it

fair to our nation's students to hold them to the same equal standards? Does it actually do more

harm than good? What would an equitable educational system look like?

No Child Left Behind. Again at this point in this paper, a focus on the language of equality versus

equity is essential, especially as the purpose and intentions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

Act from 2000 was to create equal measures of achievement (there's that word again, too). But

what actually happened? Did it succeed?

Time for a second case study, this time focused on a “failing” school in California and

one of its students, Maria, a current immigrant from El Salvador. In spite of her overall successes

at Mission High, she is, at least in the eyes of NCLB, failing. To quote Sebastian Witherspoon

again: “If a student is coming in, new-to-country, speaking four or five different languages, none

of which are English, who are we to call them stupid for not doing well on a standardized test

that can be challenging for native English speakers? That is absolute bull shit.”

What is needed here, in a case for standardized testing, is not an equal test, but rather, an

equitable one. Providing opportunities to test in one's native language, or with assistance to read

test questions, or removing time restrictions is what must be done to make more authentic

assessments. Standardized tests are not intended to measure how well students can read, write,

and comprehend English, but rather test what a student knows about the subject matter. Yet,

Maria’s story would indicate otherwise:

Maria stared at the rows of empty bubbles. A sharp, pounding pain filled her head. She

picked up a pencil and read the first question: ‘During the late 19th and 20th centuries,

urban immigrants generally supported local political machines that...’ As always, Maria

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started translating the words into Spanish. Then she got to 'discouraged.' She'd seen the

word many times before, but it was usually in a context where she could guess the

meaning of the passage without knowing every term. In this short sentence, though, there

were no hints. (Rizga 57)

At this time, I would like to direct everybody's attention to the Jabberwocky Quiz, which can be

found in Appendix B. Set a timer for fifteen-minutes maximum. Before you begin you should

know the following: “Jabberwocky” is a poem originating from Lewis Carroll's Alice books, and

while it is written in 'old' English, it is written in English. Okay, you may begin. Done? Good.

Now for some brief reflection: What did it feel like trying to take this test, especially given that

you knew it was all in English? What was it like with the time restriction? Did you, like Maria,

try to look for context clues? Did you resort to guessing when you started running out of time?

Even myself, a native English speaker, struggled greatly while attempting to finish. Again, this

demonstrates the need for a more authentic way to assess students where emphasis is placed on

equity over equality. It should also be noted that on the essay portion of Maria’s test, she

received a perfect score (Rizga 57).

With this (possible) frustration in mind from the world of No Child Left Behind's

emphasis on equality, I would like to use this time now to present an idea from Christopher

Emdin, assistant professor for science education at Teacher's College at Columbia University.

Going along with the crucial idea of meeting all students where they are at, Emdin has shaped his

entire teaching philosophy around what he calls the five “C's” of his “reality pedagogy.” With

the intention of creating a strong, safe, and welcoming classroom environment that is beneficial

for all students, not just the traditionally oppressed, the five “C's” are as paraphrased below:

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1. Cogenerative dialogues: Engage in student lead, teacher facilitated conversations that

allow all involved to communicate with each other effectively without the traditional and

formal classroom structures that get in the way and typically “encourage black males to

act disinterested,” allowing teachers to better meet the needs of their students while

students feel comfortable presenting “their true selves to their teacher” (Emdin 14-5).

2. Co-Teaching: Position black male (or any student, of any gender or race) as “experts

and allows [him or her] to teach the class” and move “beyond traditional co-teaching

towards empowerment of [all] students” (Emdin 15).

3. Cosmopolitanism: Give responsibility to students who traditionally do not receive

responsibility and set high expectations for all students by challenging them to move

beyond and defy their own stereotypes; provide students to be responsible for the well-

being and learning of their peers (Emdin 16).

4. Context: Symbolic artifacts of significance to students are brought into the classroom

and help connect academic content with relevance. For example, bringing in something

like Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical “Hamilton” into the History classroom not

only will help defy the stereotypes surrounding hip-hop and rap music but promotes

learning of a historically mundane topic like Alexander Hamilton and the Founding

Fathers while also being a culturally relevant and relatable concept for students of diverse

backgrounds (Emdin 16). Going beyond the classroom, this also means teachers need to

get “down and dirty” and visit hometowns and neighborhoods, watch the television

programs and listen to the music of their students, and learn how to communicate with

students at their level (Emdin 16). Showing and expressing humanism is important,

especially in teacher-student relationships.

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5. Content: Teachers must “expose and embrace the limitations of his or her own content

knowledge” and teach students how education does not stop after graduation (Emdin 16).

All students should strive to be life-long learners.

The danger here is simply to remember all of these strategies are beneficial to all students, but

especially students who are traditionally and systematically oppressed and marginalized. As a

teacher, adult, or member of society, you have the power to be an advocate.

Every Student Succeeds [Act]. President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act

(ESSA) into law December 10, 2015, effectively replacing NCLB with a gradual phase-out.

Within Minnesota's state plan, there is a refocused emphasis on educating the whole child over a

focus solely on assessment and test scores. With more breathing room to innovate, equity can

finally begin working its way into the daily language of not just schools, principals,

administration, teachers and staff, but parents and citizens as well. Its intentions, like NCLB are

good, with a hope to create tools and opportunities for parents and communities, in addition to

schools to support equity, accessibility, and accountability for all students.

The main goal for this act, in a movement away from NCLB is to start erasing disparities

left behind by the language of achievement and testing to the opening of opportunities for better

student outcomes. Academic standards are to be reworked in order to align with college entrance

requirements and to prepare students for the working world (ESSA). While there will still be

annual testing to continue measuring how students are achieving in school, hopefully when

scores are reported to the public there will be supplementary materials that explain exactly what

the scores measure. Or, perhaps additional measures can be taken, such as a providing a scribe,

reader, or access to a native language that is not English in order to make equity possible during

a testing.

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Additionally, this new act turns the table through its promise to provide statewide

accountability systems with opportunity gap-closing goals with school ratings being based on the

progress of all students and smaller demographics of students. Lower-performing, high-poverty

and at-risk schools will be provided more resources and intervention rather than punishment

(ESSA). In the provision of such resources, it is an acknowledgement that the reason schools are

struggling may simply be due to things outside of their (and their students’) control. This is what

progress looks like. While the ESSA will be completely implemented in the United States and

Minnesota this upcoming September (2017), its intentions seem honorable.

POSITION AND ETHICAL ANALYSIS

Time now for my stated position on this issue. Going back to my note about bias at the very

beginning of this paper, I mentioned how all people have bias, and as un-biased I tried to be in

the section above, it is essentially an impossible task. Now let us now dive further into the ethical

issues already presented. By way of organization, I have divided my analysis into three themes:

personal autonomy, duty, and common good. In presenting various ideas of ethicists and scholars

as well as intertwining my own values, personal experiences, and opinions, a clear winning side

should emerge, while in reality, this issue is much more complicated than choosing a ‘winner’

and a ‘loser’.

Personal autonomy and power. According to Aristotle and the ancient philosophers, it is up to

each and every person to act autonomously, or in the vernacular, having the capacity to decide

for oneself and pursue a course of action in one's life while respecting others’ individual rights to

act in the same way (Vanier 88). The question that emerges from a focus on equality,

achievement, and testing is whether or not such tests, standards, and regulations hinder one's

ability to act in this way.

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Returning to the argument in support of standardized testing, using the language of

equality and achievement in their minds may appear to be the ‘fair’ thing to do, while in reality

this group fails to acknowledge the definitions of the words ‘equality’ and ‘fairness’, and are

unintentionally contradicting themselves while using this argument. Conversely, the argument

against this use of equality language would express the idea of how important it is to be aware

the word 'fair' is in no way synonymous to ‘equality,’ and rather, ‘equity.’ Please keep this in

mind.

The formal definition of power is to influence or focus one way of thinking, rendering

other ways of thinking invisible. This knowledge, or mode of rule, according to

Duty as citizens of the world. The word ‘duty’ may hold many implications already, but a simple

definition for the purposes of this argument is what our role as human beings is in order to help

other human beings (and all life, for that matter). In this context, one's ethical duty therefore

would be to provide more resources to individuals who find themselves as part of a traditionally

oppressed community of people. Again, this is not equality, but equity, as it is the most just (or

fair) way to approach any given situation in an effort to improve society. With this, I would like

to present two personal examples highlighting this idea of one’s humanistic duty of providing

equitable services:

1. Breakthrough Twin Cities: The mission statement of Breakthrough Twin Cities (BTC) is two-

fold: to “prepare under-resourced students for college success” and to “cultivate the next

generation of educators.” A college access program, the success of the program can be proven by

its numbers.

99 percent of students who are part of BTC report saying they are excited about learning

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96 percent of students are from backgrounds whose race is traditionally underrepresented

in college

90 percent of Breakthrough families live below the poverty line

86 percent of Breakthrough students are soon-to-be first generation college students

55 percent of Breakthrough students do not speak English at home

100 percent of the Class of 2016 graduated from high school and are currently enrolled in

a 2 or 4-year higher education program and have been accepted at colleges and

universities including: Brown University, Carleton College, Macalester College,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Stanford University, the

University of Minnesota, etc. (all statistics from breakthroughtwincities.org)

If this is not impressive enough, within the teaching fellowship (i.e. the future educators), 39

percent of the 2015 cohort of teaching fellows were people of color compared to six percent of

teachers in Minnesota, with 34 percent being male in comparison to 25 percent in Minnesota.

This is what diversity in the classroom looks like. This is what seeing yourself represented – no

matter your background – looks like.

Personally, I always saw myself represented at school because I am a white woman. Not

all students are like me. The majority of students are not like me. And that is amazing. It adds

richness of experiences and new dynamics, but teaching cannot be monolithic anymore. It has to

be flexible and capable of going with the flow and changing. That is what Breakthrough does,

and why I am proud to be part of the organization.

2. Pencils of Promise: If Breakthrough is the at-home vision of educational equity in action, then

Pencils of Promise (PoP) is its global counterpart. Founded in 2008 by Adam Braun, its mission

statement is: “We believe every child should have access to quality education. We create

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schools, programs and global communities around the common goal of education for all”

(Pencils of Promise). Labeled a ‘for-purpose’ organization, and starting with only a $25 deposit,

PoP has built 363 schools and counting. With the power of a single pencil and access to equitable

education, the world has been opened up to thousands of students, parents, and communities,

who before were told, “sorry.” In his memoir, The Promise of a Pencil, Braun expresses the

complexity and difficulty of running such an organization writing:

Education is complex. You can't inject someone with education the way you can with a

vaccine. You can't force it upon people. They have to reach out and work for it

themselves. Such a fragmented issue requires a fragmented set of solutions. Every child

needs several key things to attain a quality education. Most important among these are a

safe place to learn, a support system of well-trained teachers and invested parents, and the

ability for progress from year to year as the cost of learning increases. We wanted to

dedicate ourselves to making these realities for communities around the world. (Braun

235)

Now back to the idea of duty. As two non-profit (or ‘for-purpose’) organizations, both rely on

the financial and personal donations of individuals outside the inner circles of their staff. While

this paper is not a push for whoever is reading this now to reach for your wallet, it is a reminder

of the importance of providing such opportunities to these students and communities. Test scores

and achievement-based language only extend so far. Our duty as human beings is to

acknowledge and provide for the development of all people, in all of their diversities.

Justice and the common good. Another definition (*sigh*). (Last one, I promise.) According to

Virgil Michel, the common good is the “condition of social life necessary for individuals to

attain the good life” (Virgil Michel 512). Thus, the responsibility of society comes into play yet

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again. Thomas Aquinas is quoted in explaining how “all justice orders man in relation to others,”

and can happen in one of two ways. One, in relation to [another individual] or two, in relation to

[another individual] as members of a larger community (Virgil Michel 425).

Likewise, in looking at this second type of relationship, in any good relationship, one's

focus should always be on what can be done to promote the good of the whole community, with

the good achieved “accordingly...by any virtue, whether it regards man in himself, or man as

related to his fellow men is referable to the common good to which justice directs things” (Virgil

Michel 425). This leads us to the definition (sorry) of social justice as:

The contribution society makes to the developmental, physical, moral, intellectual,

spiritual, of every human being. Social justice, then cannot just be restricted to legal

justice, least of all to the duties prescribed by the positive law for the support of the

common good. Nor can it be restricted to legal justice and distributive justice, even if

both of these be taken in their widest sense. (Virgil Michel 426)

For some food-for-thought, if this is the obligation of social justice, then why are we

unknowingly or ignorantly telling some students they are somehow less capable then their more

affluent peers who can afford shadow education opportunities or peers who were fortunate

enough to be born White? It just does not seem to add up. The “contribution to the positive

share,” according to Michel, “and [maintenance of] the common good of everyone else” (Virgil

Michel 426) should be what every individual strives to achieve each and every day.

Some possible outcomes of these small suggestions? Countless, as creating equitable

opportunities for students and people of diversity and disadvantage is beneficial to all people in

society. One such example is the potential end of what is known as the “prison pipeline,” or the

creation of prison beds based off of third grade reading scores and the higher likelihood of

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suspension for students of color for the same or lesser offenses than their White peers. This

would mean a safer society, less people in the prison system, and more money to allocate

towards things such as education. Subsequently, the creation of more active citizens who have

the opportunity to gain a quality education and maybe even college education means that not

only can they better contribute to society, but also give back to society. This way, everybody

benefits. In the provision of access programs like Breakthrough Twin Cities, or simply providing

all students with high expectations like Christopher Emdin does, it shows students they can not

only achieve their potential but reach beyond them.

Slowly but surely, the constant and seemingly never-ending cycle of poverty and

inequality can end. The moral of this story is simple: just because someone is seemingly different

than you does not mean that you have any right to treat them as less than a person; all individuals

are given personal autonomy by right of being a person. People should not be torn down for

circumstances of which they have no control, whether it be their country of birth, nationality,

race, gender, sexual orientation, religious views, culture, poverty status, et. centra. All people

have the right to be treated as people – that is one place where equality should take charge.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ACTION

The implications for such a topic are huge. What if questions are endless, as well as, “how?”

There is no easy answer. Should testing be eliminated? Maybe. Are all children entitled to

receiving a top-notch education where they are valued, feel safe, and surrounded by teachers who

allow them to see their potentials? Absolutely. Yet this all takes time, sweat, tears, effort, and

money. All students are worth all of these things. I feel it is important to bring up the results of

the 2016 Presidential Election here. This country is more polarized and divided than maybe it

ever has been before, but it is also the most diverse it has ever been before. These conversations

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cannot stop because people are frustrated, and civility must remain a core value. Communication

is crucial. Yet we cannot let fear control actions. That will not create progress.

A quote made famous by Albert Einstein reads, “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge

a fish [or elephant or human being] by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life

believing it is stupid.” And what a shame that would be. This past summer I had the great

privilege and responsibility to teach seventh grade math at Breakthrough Twin Cities, and while

all of my students hold a special place in my heart, one student stands out in particular to me.

William1 is perhaps the most positive young person I have ever met. Yet it was also

disheartening to see for all of his enthusiasm how hard on himself he could be. One day our

objective was working on the distributive property with negative numbers, and though William

had been absent the day before, he was his usual, confident self. He was all smiles when we

started the lesson that day, as he was able to answer the questions I presented easily. Then I

amped up the challenge and almost immediately, William deflated. His smile was gone. His self-

doubt took over as he started struggling. As the other students were discussing within small

groups, I went over to have a conversation with William.

“This is hard stuff, you know,” I said.

William simply nodded, not really acknowledging me.

I tried again, “What if we try and break this down into steps I know you can do?”

Another nod, so that is what we did. We took the problem he was stuck on and

backtracked slightly in order to help regain William's confidence. After a few steps, he shakily

said, “Oooooooh, I get this!” His smile was back. We were back in action.

1 Last name omitted for confidentiality purposes

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This entire exchange took less than five minutes, but it took a deflated child who told

himself he couldn't do something, and turned him into someone who could say, “well this might

be hard, but I know I can do this.”

No child deserves going through their lives believing they are stupid just because

someone else believes they are. With small changes, beginning with something as simple as the

words we use - achievement vs. opportunity and equality vs. equity - it will be amazing to see the

kind of transformation that will occur and spread like wildfire throughout not only the United

States of America, but throughout the entire world.

Works Cited

Braun, Adam. The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary

Change. Scribner, 2014.

Breakthrough Twin Cities. Breakthrough Twin Cities and Collaborative, 2016,

breakthroughtwincities.org. Accessed 16 November 2016.

Emdin, Christopher. “Yes, black males are different, but different is not deficient.” Kappan

Magazine, February 2012, pp. 13-6.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Minnesota Department of Education, 2016,

http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/dse/essa/. Accessed 9 November 2016.

Gorski, Paul C. Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the

Opportunity Gap. Teachers College Press, 2013.

Michel, Virgil. “Defining Social Justice.” The Commonweal. 14 February 1936, pp. 425-6.

Pencils of Promise. Pencils of Promise, 2016, pencilsofpromise.org. Accessed 19 November

2016.

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Rizga, Kristina. “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools is Wrong.” Mother Jones,

Sept.-Oct. 2012, http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/08/mission-high-false-low-

performing-school. Accessed 22 October 2016.

Ryan, James E. Five Miles Away; A World Apart: One City, Two Schools, and the Story of

Educational Opportunity in Modern America. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Vanier, Jean. Made for Happiness. House of Anansi Press, 2001.

Annotated Bibliography

Beegle, Donna M. See Poverty…Be the Difference! Communication Across Barriers, Inc., 2007.

This book is unique as it discusses poverty from the perspective of a white woman who grew up experiencing the hardships of generational poverty. As poverty is often thought of as being ‘somewhere else,’ and for ‘those people,’ this brings the issue of poverty to a closer and more personal level. Weaving in her own story of being in poverty and how she was able to climb out of it through educational opportunities and mentorship, this text provides a strong basis for why education is important to all students, not just the ones who are fortunate enough to never have to experience poverty.

Daniel Tatum, Beverly. Can We Talk about Race? And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation. Beacon Press, 2007.

As a follow-up to Tatum’s Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together... this book continues the conversation about the persistence of the discrepancies between the educational opportunities and stereotypes between people of different races and socioeconomic classes. This book boldly asks the question of how to talk about race, and then attempts to answer it. An emphasis on the creation of racial identity and personal autonomy is the center of this crucial conversation. Understanding this aspect of students, and being able to meet students where they are at may be an important step forward.

---. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race. Basic Books, 1997.

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This book, like Can We Talk About Race, discusses the prevalence of stereotypes and the importance of being aware of them, especially in a school setting. Asking questions like, “why all the Black kids sitting together” might seem to be a legitimate question until someone points out that “all the White kids are sitting together” too. The importance of racial identity formation for minority or traditionally oppressed students is paramount in their personal developments. With the assumptions that surround students of color running rampant, it has the power to turn a previously motivated student of color into one who, in an attempt to fit in with her Black peers, drops out of the Honors program. This is a problem, and this text provides ample strategies about how to combat them.

Darling-Hammond, Linda. The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. Teacher’s College Press, 2010.

This book written by Linda Darling-Hammond focuses on the idea of an equitable educational system in the United States. Beginning of a discussion of the role and importance of educational policy, the question of how the opportunity gap was constructed and how it is maintained is addressed. With a focus on the re-segregation of schools and unequal distribution of resources, the myth of an “achievement gap” begins to be debunked. Using specific state examples and parallels to other countries with notoriously strong educational systems, a comparison and warning is made about how the United States might be able to enter back into the race.

Gorski, Paul C. Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap. Teachers College Press, 2013.

As a white person, this book is especially important, as it provides a basis for understanding the myths of individuals living in poverty with an emphasis on its implications in the educational sphere. With strategies that highlight both poor and powerful teaching techniques to help students in poverty, this book offers applicable strategies to begin closing the opportunity gap on a personal, up-front level. Access to resources and quality education, not a deficit or lack of ability, is the cause of the education gap, Gorski claims.

Kozol, Johnathan. Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation. Broadway Paperbacks, 1995.

Amazing Grace tells of the heartbreaking true stories of the disparities of individuals living in the South Bronx, one of the poorest urban neighborhoods in the United States. Looking at this book from an educational lens, the information provided about the overcrowded and poorly funded schools and overall lack of opportunities they provide brings yet another perspective to the notion of an achievement verses opportunity gap in the US. With his first-hand accounts and conversations with children and teachers alike, it begins to paint a picture of hardworking, devoted, humble, and unselfish people and allows the deconstruction of stereotypes to begin. While there are other sources that speak of this widespread issue from a purely factual stance, the fact that Kozol has

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dedicated his life’s work to learning and growing with the people he interviews brings a more authentic and urgent viewpoint to the argument of the opportunity gap.

Levin, Murray. Teach Me! Kids Will Learn When Oppression is the Lesson. Monthly Review Press, 1998.

While the idea of holding high expectations for all students despite their socioeconomic status is somewhat of a controversial topic, Murray Levin does not shy away from it. Likewise, while it is often assumed students from poverty or disadvantaged backgrounds are not motivated in school, perhaps that simply necessitates a shift in educational pedagogy and techniques. Connecting learning experiences to shared experiences of oppression, Levin argues, is a key in reaching the previously ‘unmotivated students of poverty,’ and calls for a shift in perspective for teachers from privileged backgrounds.

Milner IV, H. Richard. Start Where You Are, But Don’t Stay There: Understanding Diversity, Opportunity Gaps, and Teaching in Today’s Classrooms. Harvard Education Press, 2010.

The main argument presented by H. Richard Milner IV in Start Where You Are is the importance of shifting away from the language of an “achievement gap” and deficit-mindset thinking towards the language of opportunity and assets. Rather than ignoring race in an attempt to be ‘colorblind,’ the acknowledgement of race, especially in America’s increasingly diverse schools is becoming increasingly important. The idea of holding high expectations for all students, while it should be obvious, is an additional argument and possible solution in starting to close the gap. The idea of creating personal autonomy and allowing all people, in spite of their backgrounds, to explore this human ideal is another possibility explored.

Rizga, Kristina. “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools is Wrong.” Mother Jones, Sept.-Oct. 2012, http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/08/mission-high-false-low-performing-school. Accessed 22 October 2016.

A crucial question about the opportunity gap not often asked is, what really caused it, and what can be done to eliminate it? This article uniquely attempts to answer this question, highlighting Mission High School, which in spite of evidence of raising attendance, college acceptance, and plummeting drop-out rates, is still labeled a “failing” high school, due to its low test scores on the No Child Left Behind standardized tests. Following the story of a young undocumented El Salvadorian student, it speaks to the challenges and successes she faces at the so-called low-performing school, and follows her on her path towards attaining a college education. What is powerful about this article is how it challenges the well-established stereotype, created by lawmakers, about what ‘failure’ looks like.

Rothstein, Richard. “The Racial Achievement Gap, Segregated Schools, and Segregated Neighborhoods – A Constitutional Insult.” Economic Policy Institute, 12 Nov. 2014, http://www.epi.org/publication/the-racial-achievement-gap-segregated-schools-and-segregated-neighborhoods-a-constitutional-insult/. Accessed 17 October 2016.

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This article discusses the ideas of school as well as neighborhood segregation, stressing how until policies are put in place to help start desegregating where students live, the possibility of providing equitable schooling opportunities does not exist. Systematic structures that allow for poverty to continue to exist in the United States subsequently encourages the continuation of building the opportunity gap, often incorrectly labeled the achievement gap. With general awareness by all people to help remove the stigma held against those in poverty, it may be possible to help encourage law-makers to stop trying so hard to eliminate the “achievement gap” and instead start focusing on housing segregation as well.

Ryan, James E. Five Miles Away; A World Apart: One City, Two Schools, and the Story of Educational Opportunity in Modern America. Oxford University Press, 2010.

James Ryan, a leading national expert on school law in the United States, dives into the world of two schools in Richmond, Virginia – one in the city, and one in the suburbs, five miles apart – and begins to explain how educational opportunities are still unequal. Even 50 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, segregation still exists in the United States, albeit, in a different way, as Ryan argues. Tying together various court orders, interviews, and social science research, the question of why all of the educational reforms since the 1970s have failed to close the educational gaps between students born into privilege and those born into poverty is attempted to be answered, along with a (hopefully possible) solution.

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Appendix A: Racial Inventory

An important question all people should be asking themselves is, “How does race affect me, and do different people have different experiences due to their race or racial perceptions, misconceptions, and stereotypes?” The following is a quiz adapted from Peggy McIntosh's “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” and forces participants to think about, reflect upon, and acknowledge how their race may give them certain advantages, especially if they are perceived as part of the dominant race, White, with an Anglo or European ancestry. Likewise, those with a minority background, or anyone from any other racial or cultural background, may have many disadvantages simply based on the circumstances of their birth. In a paper focused on the ethical issues of race, language, and the opportunity gap, I felt it was important to include this resource as a way for readers to see what kinds of privileges they may have simply based on their race, and hopefully raise an awareness of how some of these perceptions may start being deconstructed and implemented in a classroom and educational setting as well as in a more general context.

Score 5 if the statement is always true for you.

Score 3 if the statement is sometimes true for you.

Score 1 if the statement is seldom or never true for you.

1. _____ I can be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

2. _____ If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an

area in which I would want to live and which I can afford.

3. _____ I can turn on the television or open the front page of the paper and see people of my

race widely and positively represented.

4. _____ When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that my

people made it what it is.

5. _____ I can be sure that curricular materials will testify to the existence of my race.

6. _____ I can go into most supermarkets and find the stable foods that fit with my cultural

traditions.

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7. _____ I can go into any hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.

8. _____ Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work

against the appearance of financial reliability.

9. _____ I can swear, dress in second-hand clothes, or not answer letters/email, without having

people attribute these choices to the bad morals, poverty, or illiteracy of my race.

10. _____ I can do well in challenging situations without being called a credit to my race.

11. _____ I am never asked to speak for people of my race.

12. _____ I can criticize our government and/or talk about how much I fear its policies and

behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.

13. _____ I can be pretty sure that if I ask to speak to the “person in charge,” I will face a person

of my race.

14. _____ I can conveniently buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, children's

magazines, or go on social media to see them featuring people of my race positively.

15. _____If a traffic cop pulls me over, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my

race.

16. _____I can go home from most meetings of the organizations I belong to feeling tied n rather

than isolated, out of place, outnumbered, feared, unheard, feared, or hated.

17. _____ I can take a job with affirmative action employer without having co-workers who

suspect I got the job simply because of my race.

18. _____ I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get

in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.

19. _____ I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.

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20. _____ If my week or year is going badly, I need not wonder if each negative episode or

situation has racial overtones.

21. _____ I can comfortably avoid, ignore or minimize the impact of racism on my life.

22. _____ I can speak in public to a powerful group without putting my race on trial.

23. _____ 1 can choose blemish cover bandages (i.e. BandAids) in “flesh” color and have them

more or less match my skin.

_____/115 total possible points

Why is your score important?

As a nation, 82 percent of public school teachers (in the 2011-12 school year) were White, compared to 51 percent of elementary and secondary students enrolled in public schools. To compare, only seven percent of teachers compared to 16 percent of students were Black, eight percent Hispanic/Latino(a) teachers compared to 24 percent of students. Likewise, a look into the 114th United States Congress (2015) is even more monolithic (even though it is the most diverse Congress ever), with 80 percent of its members being White, with 80 percent also being male and 92 percent Christian. In an increasingly diverse landscape within the United States, it seems increasingly important to, if not increase the diversity of those in power, increase overall awareness of those with that power. In removing or starting to remove ignorance, it may be possible for an all-over renegotiation of and facilitation of conversations about what is important in America's increasingly diverse classrooms.

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Appendix B: The Jabberwocky Quiz

Name: ________________________________

Answer truthfully: (circle the one you most identify with)

o Are you Hispanic/Latino(a)? o Yes, I am Hispanic or Latino(a), including if I am from Spaino No. o If so, please describe your background:

___________________________________________o Regardless of how you answered the prior question, please indicate how you

identify yourself. Circle one or more and describe your background. o American Indian or Alaska Native (Including all Original Peoples of the

Americas) o Asian (Including Indian subcontinent and Philippines)o Black or African American (Including Africa and Caribbean)o Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (Original Peoples)o White (including Middle Eastern)

Directions: Read “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll. Then, circle the letter preceding one correct answer to each item. Each item is worth one point. Suggested time limit: fifteen minutes. Good luck. (You’ll need it.)

Jabberwocky*

By Lewis Carroll

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves       Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves,       And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!       The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun       The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand;

      Long time the manxome foe he sought— So rested he by the Tumtum tree       And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,       The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,       And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through       The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

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He left it dead, and with its head       He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?       Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”

      He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves       Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves,       And the mome raths outgrabe.

Quiz:

1. A sword is made vorpal through a process known as

a. Vorpalization

b. Whiffling

c. Calloohsion

d. Outgrabe

2. A jubjub bird is most likely to sign when

a. Toves gyre

b. Wood is tulgey, if it is brillig

c. A bandersnach is fruminous

d. A blade is sniker-shacks

3. When days are brillig, then

a. All toves slithe

b. Bandersnatches are always fruminous

c. Foes are usually manxome

d. No mome rath can ever galumph

4. A jabberwock burbles best in close proximity with a(n)

a. Borogrove

b. Bandersnatch

c. Slithing tove

d. Uffish

5. Among the reasons why the borogroves were mimsy were

a. It was brillig and the toves gimbled

b. The jabberwock was outgrabed

c. The boy was beamish

d. The callay was whiffing

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6. What always appear when days are frabjous?

a. Borogroves and mome raths

b. Mome raths

c. Jubjub birds and mome raths

d. Mome raths and tumtums

7. Burbling near an uffish is most effective when done by a

a. Bandersnatches

b. Vorpal sword

c. Jabberwock

d. Beamish boys

8. Which one of the following answers is the correct one?

a. I'm the one.

b. I'm the one.

c. I'm the one.

d. I'm the one.

Reflection Questions:

o What was it like identifying your race before taking the quiz? Do you think that affected your performance?

o What if the results of this quiz determined if you were a failing student, or if your school overall was failing and consequently received less resources and funding?

o What if you knew this quiz was actually all in English? Would that increase or decrease your stress levels about doing well?

o How do you think you would do if English was not your primary/native language?

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*Poem Source: The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (1983)

Appendix C:

Vocabulary

Achievement gap: a “deficit-based” way of thinking that suggests the reason there is a gap is

due to, like what Paul Gorski suggests, a certain lack (or deficit) of intelligence.

Authentic assessment: measurements that are worthwhile, significant, or meaningful, in

contrast to multiple choice standardized tests. Can be projects, formative assessments, etc.

Brown v. Board of Education: US Supreme Court landmark decision from 1954, overturned

Plessy and called for the de-segregation of American schools.

Common Good: the “condition of social life necessary for individuals to attain the good life”

(Virgil Michel 512)

Culture: the norms and values of a specific group of individuals.

Duty: our role as human beings is in order to help other human beings (and all life, for that

matter) and to provide more resources to individuals who find themselves as part of a

traditionally oppressed community of people.

Equality: sameness, or providing the same resources for all people regardless of backgrounds,

resources, etc.

o Inequality: opposite of equality, fairness, providing a different amount of resources to

different people.

Answer Key: All answers are subject to opinion and are most likely discriminatory. Sorry!

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Equity: fairness, or providing the resources necessary for specific people that is not

necessarily the same as another person.

o Inequity: opposite of equity, unfairness, equality.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): replacement of NCLB with refocused emphasis on

educating the whole child over a focus solely on assessment and test scores, intention is to

create tools and opportunities for parents and communities, in addition to schools to support

equity, accessibility, and accountability for all students. Equity-focused.

Harm: opposite of duty, where provisions are not met and cause hardships towards another

person.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): nationwide initiative of testing and assessment with intentions

create equal measures of achievement within the United States, created in 2000 by the George

W. Bush Administration. Equality-focused.

Norm: something typical or widespread amongst a group of people within a culture.

Opportunity gap: an “asset-based” way of thinking that indicates there are other

uncontrollable outside factors limiting success, or at least causing students and schools to be

labeled as ‘failing.’

Traditionally oppressed: groups of people who have historically been seen as ‘lesser’ groups

(i.e. African American, Asian, LGBTQ+, etc.)

Oppression: prolonged unjust treatment against another individual or group of people

Plessy v. Ferguson: US Supreme Court landmark decision from 1896, declared and legalized

a “separate but equal society.”

Power: the capacity to mobilize resources to attend to the needs.

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Regime: a governing body with the power to franchise or disfranchise people; something with

power and influence to focus one way of thinking, makes other ways of knowing invisible.

o Regime of truth (Foucault): discourses that are accepted and perform as truth; functions to

disqualify other knowledges.

Shadow education: resources and opportunities to attend attractions such as museums, plays,

concerts, or to participate in things such as music or the arts.

Social Justice: the contribution society makes to the developmental, physical, moral,

intellectual, spiritual, of every human being (Virgil Michel 426)

Standardized testing: equal testing where every student receives the same test, regardless of

native language; usually timed and help determine the success rates of schools and teachers.

Subjugation: to bring under control, to make submissive; hidden or hierarchized knowledges

in the conceptual system and history of knowledge.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): document from the United Nations, lays out

the basic rights all people are entitled to for being human.

Value: something held in high regard or importance; principles and guides for behaviors

within a specific culture.

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