5/2/2007 12:40:00 PM Hopkins looks at racial achievement gap
By Kelly Westhoff
Every student enrolled in biology at the Hopkins High School is enrolled in honors biology.
This means students who might never have been given the opportunity to enroll in an honors class - students with discipline problems, academic issues and English language struggles - have suddenly found themselves completing a rigorous curriculum.
Since biology is generally taken in 10th grade, school officials hope that by requiring all students, no matter their background, to complete honors biology, more of them will come to see that they can handle the academic challenge and will therefore register for advanced chemistry, advanced physics or even advanced English next fall.
The move came after a 2004 district survey found that students of color were underrepresented in Advanced Placement and honors classes at both the junior high and high school levels.
While almost 42 percent of white students were enrolled in advanced classes, only 20 percent of the Hispanic student population attended those classes and just 8 percent of the African-American student population registered for these courses.
Because honors students generally perform higher on placement exams, they are more likely to win academic scholarships.
When students submit college applications, those with honors credits on their transcripts are the more attractive applicants. They stand a better chance to gain acceptance into a strong school.
When it comes to the job market, a diploma from a reputable institution garners more respect.
Thus a high school honors class can start a student down a road toward future success.
While everyone is taking honors biology this year, why were students of color so underrepresented in years past?
Nancy Marcy is a physical education teacher at Hopkins High School and a member of the school's equity team, a group of administrators, teachers and district staff working to abolish the achievement gap between white students and students of color.
Part of the problem, she said, is something called institutional racism.
"Institutional racism is really subtle," Marcy said. "Many of us wouldn't even notice it unless someone pointed it out."
For example, she challenged, what does a perfect classroom look like? Is it noisy? Are students moving? "Many adults would say that if a class is quiet, that's a good class," said Marcy. "But what's considered too much noise?"
As a gym teacher, Marcy willingly admits her tolerance for noise probably outweighs that of other adults. Yet she insists activity, and the noise it creates, are necessary in today's diverse classrooms.
"When they get excited in the classroom, students of color speak up. They want to turn and process with their neighbors," Marcy said.
"Many African-American students," Marcy continued, "come from a culture that values collectivity. It's really important for students of color to be supportive of their friends and to feel supported. For them, working as a small group, teaching one another and putting their names together on a project is really important."
In addition to requiring all biology students to complete honors materials this year, Hopkins High School also decided to offer a drumming and dance class with the hope that it would draw more students of color into the music department and introduce them to the performing arts.
The class touched on musical traditions from West Africa, Japan, Cuba and more.
It was successful in that 50 percent of the students who enrolled in the class were of minority populations. At the end of the semester, students performed for the community.
Teachers in the district attend workshops to help them learn strategies that will make minority students and their families feel more welcome in the schools.
The community education department is also reaching out to young families of color living within district lines.
"Many of our Somali or Hispanic parents may not have had the opportunity to go to school, or go very far in school, in their home lands," said Katie Lee, the director of community education for Hopkins Schools.
To combat this, she has helped arrange parenting classes specifically designed to meet the needs of these communities.
"We talk about how to model good reading skills at home," said Lee, often times with the help of translators. "We meet the children and have an opportunity to work with them, and assess whether any of them have special learning needs. We try to prep them for school in America. We're really trying to level the playing field so that these children don't come in at a disadvantage."
While this work has been going on at the district level, Lee has also been actively involved in getting community leaders throughout the west metro to focus on the achievement gap that exists between students of color and whites.
In March of this year, over 400 community leaders from Minneapolis and the western suburbs attended a conference in St. Louis Park called "Shaping Communities of the 21st Century: A Conversation on Race and Demographics."
Participants attended small group discussions and listened to a keynote speech given by Myron Orfield, who is the executive director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. Attendees were encouraged to return to their home communities and carry on the conversation.
"Our intent," explained Lee, "was to take this issue of the achievement gap and look at it through a local lens. This is not just a school issue. We wanted business, religious and community leaders to come together and open up the conversation, create some common language, discuss resources and create a level of awareness around the question, 'How can we help children of color succeed?'"
The TwinWest Chamber of Commerce hosted the conference along side the West Metro Education Program (WMEP) and west suburban school districts. The Qwest Foundation and WMEP contributed funds and sponsored the event.
"Attendance was very diverse," said Barbara Obershaw, TwinWest president. "It was a whole new audience, which was very satisfying. It was a very powerful meeting."
"The achievement gap greatly affects our future work force," she said, explaining why her chamber of commerce, an organization comprised of business professionals, is interested in the academic achievement gap. "The future work force in Minnesota is at very high risk."
As the baby boomers start to retire, she explained, the state is going to lose a significant number of its skilled workers.
While immigration has created an explosion of youth and diversity throughout the Twin Cities in recent years, according to statistics from the Minnesota State Demographic Center, after 2010, the state's population growth will primarily occur in people aged 65 or older. At the same time, the number Minnesotans who are of public school age is going to decrease.
This means that the future work force is smaller than the generation set to retire. There will many of jobs to fill and since those jobs are being vacated by educated workers, the positions they leave behind are likely to require education. If 100 percent of the future work force is not ready to take over these jobs, then Minnesota's future economy will suffer.
Therefore, Obershaw said, the education of all Minnesotans - be they Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, American Indian or African American - is of the utmost importance to the business community.
