Building Bridges

Last year as I walked through my school’s commons area in the morning, I couldn’t help but notice the students were sitting at tables segregated by race. The same segregation occurred when students were allowed to select their seats for assemblies. My school population has about a 60/40 mix of white and Latino students. As I glanced from table to table in the commons, once in a while I noticed a few mixed tables, but the norm was definitely segregation by color.

As I headed into summer vacation, I decided to investigate this self-segregation.  I have been teaching seventh grade in the same school for a number of years.  I don’t know how it happened, but I have become one of the old timers with twenty-one years of experience to be exact. All summer I kept thinking, “This isn’t the dream Dr. King had for his children. It’s certainly not the vision I have for my students.” Why was segregation growing in my school community?

In the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's (NICHD) Adolescent Health Study, experts found: "When there are only two races in a school, an 'us vs. them' social dynamic is likely to develop," said Dr. Moody. "With more groups within a school, however, multiple dynamics may lessen racial segregation. For example, some racial groups may serve as 'bridges' between two other groups. In addition, when there are multiple racial groups, every group is a small minority relative to the rest of the school.”  This certainly defines my school population, so it seems that other schools like mine probably experience the same dynamics.  Now my question is what can educators do to bridge the gap?

Before I get too much further, let me remind you.  The lunch table situation is just a symptom of a bigger issue.  The test scores at my school also indicate a divide. Latino students are not achieving the gains they should.  They are under represented in our quarterly achievement assemblies.  Every quarter the teachers plan an award party for students who finish assignments; again, our Latino students are under represented.

Of course, this issue is the topic of many articles and debates across the country. I realize I am not the first person to discover this occurrence. I am still bothered by what I see in my own school. As an experienced teacher, I still feel like I am standing looking across this huge raging river and throwing a rope swing across.  A few students grab the rope and hold on.  We all admire and praise the strength and tenacity of the few who make it across. However, this just isn’t good enough.  It’s time to get rid of the rope swing and build a bridge.

This summer I ran into one of my former students. She had just finished her third year of teaching.  At twenty-six with a master’s degree, she was attending a summer session for new National Board candidates.  She was one of those kids who held the rope for long enough, so I had to ask her about her middle school experience.  She told me she didn’t remember most of middle school because she struggled so hard to understand the language.  She started learning English in fourth grade.  Like most second language learners, she explained, it took seven years for me to master the language and finally start to learn the content. In her sophomore year of high school, she started earning A’s in classes and from there went on to success in high school and college. Many of the articles I read pointed out that often times Latino students face triple segregation by race, class and language. Language was the biggest barrier for this student.  However, she knew just enough English in middle school that she didn’t qualify for extra language assistance.

During the time I was thinking about those lunch tables, I read Sherman Alexie’s book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  In the book, the main character, Junior, explains the internal conflict he felt after leaving his school on the reservation and entering the nearby white school and finding success. He struggled with crossing the divide in this way: I hoped and prayed they would someday forgive me for leaving them.  I hoped and prayed I would someday forgive myself for leaving them.  I know this is a struggle for many students. During the second week of school this year, two of my former students, now freshmen in high school, stopped by to see me.  During the conversation, it came up about how well one of them was doing in school and her friend made the comment, “But that’s because you’re white.”  Both of these students are Latino, but because she was doing well her friend called her white. That’s code for you crossed the divide. That mind set is part of the problem.

So as school gets into full swing this year I am asking myself, “What should I do to help more students cross the river?” Clearly, the divide is holding us all back.  “Latinos are the fastest growing minority in U.S. schools and for them segregation is often more profound than it was when the phenomenon was first measured 40 years ago, according to the report, "Historic Reversals, Accelerating Resegregation and the need for new Integration Strategies." I might be an old timer, but I know it is time for a change.

Comments

[Shelly]

Although change starts within the walls of a classroom, this issue goes far beyond those walls. Narrowing the achievement gap is a problem all educators face within classrooms, schools, states and our nation. I must agree with Nancy, we will all be better off when the gap narrows. This issue is about providing the opportunities for all students to have access to a quality education, and that can’t just happen in one teacher’s classroom.

[Bob Heiny]

If you, Travis, mean that teachers control the learning environment and learning rates of students in their classrooms, I agree.

(Side note: "race" is a political construct, not an anthropological fact. Perhaps you refer to personal identity distinctions, but I expect as you infer that's learned with teachers' assistance, including in classrooms.)

[Travis]

This is a tough situation and we all know that it is a problem, but how to help, and should we help? Would it be better to establish environments or situations and let the students work it out thereby being "real" and not created top-down? I went to school (elementary) where the %s were probably as close to 50-50 as can be for white and black. And, yes, it did create two groups. However, in some of the classes, this did not occur, and I have to believe it was just the way the teacher set up the environment so that there was a natural mix when working. This interaction then played out during lunch and the mix of races from that class could be seen at lunch. In the grand scheme it was small, but it worked.

[Bob Heiny]

If I may, I'm sure you both know that we have a federated organization of schools, not a national school system. We have 50 state systems independently designed by state politicians with most operations assigned to local education agencies by state politicians and overseen by state education agencies controlled by state politicians. It would take a political revolution to create a national education system, although states and local agencies voluntarily taking Federal funding for school programs has eroded some state autonomy in schooling.

Now, about that "gap," that's also a state duty to address.

[Nancy Flanagan]

First of all, Shelly, if you're an old-timer, then I'm ancient. You bring wisdom to the table--like being able to have a conversation with a successful adult who was a former student about how to improve practice to meet the needs of ALL students. I'm also glad to see someone else likes Sherman Alexie!

In this blog, you've actually asked one of the two or three most essential questions about education in America--how to close the gap. We'll all be better off (white, "white" and non-white, materially advantaged and poor) when the gap narrows. We can't sustain a national school systems that succeeds with some but not with others. Until we do a better job with all kids, we run the risk of a two-tier educational system in America.

Very thoughtful post--I plan to share it with other bloggers. Thanks.

Nancy