On September 25, a ceremony in Little Rock, Arkansas, commemorated the 50-year anniversary of the day that nine African American students began attending previously all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The hope, of course, was that the example of the “Little Rock Nine” would lead to integration throughout the United States and to a more equal education for all students.
Some IRA leaders experienced early desegregation efforts firsthand, and those experiences helped shape their later work. Former IRA Board member Patricia Edwards, a professor of teacher education at Michigan State University, was in the second group of black students to attend Albany High School in Albany, Georgia. She was part of a group of 25 African American students among a student body of 2,500.
Edwards remembers the spirit of support that existed in the African American community at the time. “When you went to a predominantly white school, you were representing the entire community,” she says. She recalls that neighbors would walk up to her and say, “You go show them that black people can compete and do well with white students.”
It sometimes took a bit of creative assertiveness to get by. Edwards was the only student in her Spanish class without a conversational partner. Using John F. Kennedy’s advice, “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate,” she stood up in front of the class and said she was negotiating to find a practice partner. Six students volunteered.
Partly as a result of her experiences as a youth, Edwards has focused many of her efforts during her 25 years of teacher education—working mostly with white teachers—helping educators feel more comfortable working with students of other races. “Race and class are two issues that people tiptoe around,” she says. “Diversity should come out of the closet. We need to talk about it openly.
“Many teachers don’t know what diversity really is,” she adds. “It’s more than studying foods or dress or cultures. How do you bring a diverse class together and teach to it? How do you walk into the classroom and connect with all the students?”
IRA Past President Dolores B. Malcolm, a retired administrator from the St. Louis Public Schools, remembers transitioning from an all-black high school to the first fully integrated classes at another high school in St. Louis. Since there were only two African American faculty members and neither of them was her teacher, the coursework seemed more rigorous. However, after a period of acclimation to the difference in teaching styles, her transition was eased. By the time graduation rolled around in two years, “the students and faculty were more accepting” of the minority students. And, throughout her career, she has worked to promote equity and diversity.
Fifty years after desegregation began, many educational inequalities remain. Long-term trend data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which has gathered data on student performance since 1971, indicate a continuing gap between white and black students. And while supporters of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) point to a narrowing in the gap in reading scores for 9-year-olds between 1999 and 2004, many educators question how much of the gain should be attributed to NCLB and how much should be attributed to state-level reforms that were already underway in many states prior to NCLB’s passage.
In addition, researchers such as Gary Orfield of Harvard University say schools in many urban areas are being resegregated by race and poverty. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5–4 decision to strike down school desegregation plans in Seattle and Louisville has raised further questions about the status of racial segregation in the United States. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer noted that 1 in 6 African American children currently attends a school that has almost total minority enrollment.
A new study by the Pew Hispanic Center found that over the past dozen years black and Hispanic students have become slightly more isolated from white students. According to the Pew study, 31% of African American students and 29% of Hispanic students attended schools during the 2005–2006 school year that were nearly all minority (less than 5% white students). Furthermore, the number of nearly all-minority public schools had nearly doubled, from 5,498 in 1993–1994 to 10,135 in 2005–2006. For further information, visit the Pew Hispanic Center’s website at www.pewhispanic.org.
There are challenges involved no matter what decisions are made. Some people support the notion of neighborhood schools because of the community aspect, Malcolm notes—with busing you may have 10 children in the same neighborhood going to 8 different schools. “But if you get neighborhood schools, you will have resegregation because of the geographic distribution of students throughout the city,” she says.
One result of NCLB that most educators applaud is the disaggregation of test scores by subgroup, including race. Previously, schools could claim that overall scores were rising even as scores for specific subgroups remained stagnant or fell. Malcolm notes that recognition of subgroups reminds schools of the importance of serving all learners.”There is recognition that every child does not learn to read in the same way and also that every child has the right to learn to read,” Malcolm says. She believes IRA’s Making a Difference Means Making It Different position statement makes clear the importance of meeting the literacy needs of each individual student.
The goal of effectively reaching all students permeates many of the discussions about diversity issues. “Where there has been progress is that there is at least the opportunity for equal opportunity in the schools,” says Eric Cooper, president and founder of the National Urban Alliance (NUA). NUA works with a number of school districts throughout the United States to improve the opportunities being provided for students, especially in urban centers.
“We need to improve the opportunities for students from poverty,” Cooper says. “Virtually every American child has the capacity to complete a high school education.” Through its programs in various cities, NUA is gathering both quantitative and qualitative data to show that students from poverty can and do achieve at the same levels as any other students. For further information about NUA programs, visit the organization’s website at www.nuatc.org. For information about ways IRA members can get involved, see the call for consultants on page 16 of the print issue of Reading Today.
How can success for all students best be achieved? Experts agree that it begins with teacher education. “The single most important factor for in-school learning is the teacher,” says Cooper. NUA’s work focuses on students who are “school dependent”; they often lack the home support that many other students have. “A good teacher can change the trajectory of these students.”
Many teachers in urban settings, however—most of whom are white—do not know how to effectively work with African American or Hispanic students, who often comprise much of the student population in cities. This represents one of the “most neglected areas” in teacher education, says Bill Hammond, administrative supervisor for the Alternative Education Program for DeKalb County Schools in Georgia and the current cochair of IRA’s Diversity Committee.
“Faculties are not reflective of the kinds of students that teachers will deal with,” Hammond adds. “Urban institutions are turning out large numbers of teachers going out into urban centers, and they are in some ways lacking portfolio.”
Cooper wants not only to educate teachers but also to empower them. “How do we elevate the self-worth of the teacher so that he or she is empowered to realize that he or she can be an effective advocate in the community?” Cooper asks. “That’s the key.”
To help address some of these issues, IRA has established a Literacy Leadership for Urban Teacher Education Commission. The commission is cochaired by Victoria Chou, Lesley M. Morrow, and Louise C. Wilkinson.
Another aspect of effectively reaching African American learners—especially boys—involves providing literature they can relate to. Teachers play an important role in linking students with appropriate books. Author Walter Dean Myers and educator Alfred Tatum, featured speakers at the 2008 IRA Annual Convention in Atlanta, speak to this issue in an interview on page 40 of the print issue of Reading Today.
IRA has been trying to address diversity issues in a number of ways. The Association formed the Urban Diversity Initiatives Commission (now the Diversity Committee) to enhance IRA’s outreach to a broader range of educators. Carmelita Williams, professor emerita at Norfolk State University and former head of the Reading Department, was IRA president the year the Commission was formed. “We wanted to get more people of color involved in IRA because we felt IRA had so much to offer all teachers and administrators.”
Commission activities included going out and speaking to various groups, making presentations at conferences, forming an Urban Deans Network to examine issues involved in preparing teachers to work effectively with diverse groups of students, participating in an IRA book entitled Promising Practices for Urban Reading Instruction, and organizing professional development activities for teachers.
These professional development activities have included three Leadership Academies designed to help teachers be successful in educating diverse students, especially African American males in heavily urban and rural settings. At the last academy, held in cooperation with Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, keynote presenter Joyce King of Georgia State University spoke on “Cultural Standards for Learning and Being.” IRA also has run successful workshops for teachers in Washington, D.C.
The Commission’s term has ended, but its work continues through IRA’s new Diversity Committee. Williams is glad to see the Commission’s legacy live on. “As IRA grows, we need to continue to help those who may feel disenfranchised to feel welcomed as a part of this wonderful organization.”
Edwards, who was closely involved in the birth of the Urban Diversity Initiatives Commission, echoes these sentiments. While serving on the IRA Board, “one of my top priorities was to increase diversity within the organization,” she says.
Malcolm, long a leader in diversity issues for IRA, also believes these efforts need to continue. “As we become more diverse, the need becomes greater,” she concludes.
Desegregation: Celebrations and challenges. (October 2007). Reading Today, 25(2), 1,4.
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