ACES Participates in Panel to Engage Our Community in Improving Educational Opportunities

ACES Participates in Panel to Engage Our Community in Improving Educational Opportunities

by Jenn Schultz

ACES was honored to participate in the Common Good Breakfast Series on October 3rd. Hosted by Neuger Communications Group, the event featured a panel of experts speaking to their role in reducing the achievement gap in Minnesota and how our communities can play a role in improving educational opportunities. The panel was comprised of our own Executive Director Christina Saunders; Alvin Abraham, Founding Dean and Executive Director of Dougherty Family College at the University of St. Thomas; and Lori Carrell, and the Chancellor at the University of Minnesota Rochester.

The state of Minnesota has the worst graduation rate in the country for high school students of color. The key to improving this is ensuring the students we are working with every day are actually making progress. State testing is not always representative of how students are doing because it’s just a snapshot in time. Regular formative assessments in the classroom are critical to assessing students’ actual understanding and progress. It’s also imperative to tailor small group instruction to what each group of students needs so we are providing an environment conducive to growth.

Unfortunately, too many teachers have lowered expectations for low-income students. Because of this, they often don’t believe these students can achieve at the same level as their higher-income peers. It is on us as educators to provide the support necessary to allow our students to meet the same high expectations, regardless of socio-economic background. For example, if a student is hungry, it is increasingly difficult for them to focus. How can we support our students to overcome these roadblocks many of us take for granted?

In addition, it’s not enough to just begin expressing that we have high expectations for low-income students - we also have to support them in building their skillset along the way. One way to do this effectively is by looking at the whole child. There are reasons that low-income students are not confident in math. In ACES, we pair math with social-emotional learning so our students are not only practicing math but building the confidence needed to persevere as they try over and over, overcoming failures and setbacks.

Research also shows that social-emotional IQ is at least as important as traditional IQ when it comes to success in school. The ability to self-regulate is imperative and this can’t be done without a certain level of social-emotional understanding. Almost universally, educators have positive intent and want to do well, but they become discouraged when their students are unable to self-evaluate and self-regulate. Professional development needs to assume the best of our educators and provide them with better context.

A child’s home environment and community have a huge impact on their ability to succeed, so the best way to improve the state of education is to get the community involved. Schools often get the blame for the achievement gap but it starts much earlier than when a child enters school. Small obstacles can make it hard for people to focus, so worrying about a roof over your head or where your next meal will come from makes it extremely difficult for a child to focus. We need to give parents grace, as they are doing the best they can. They aren’t indifferent; they just aren’t always aware of situations or the best way to overcome obstacles. They want what is best for their children, but oftentimes barriers stand in their way. Schools can work with community organizations that work to develop both children and parents. This focus on supporting a child’s education is critical from cradle to career. Students from low-income communities succeeding in the classroom and obtaining degrees will help their families overcome generational poverty.

Obtaining these degrees can be another challenge as traditional college admissions favor students with a high GPA and higher test scores. However, resilience is a better indicator and predictor of whether someone will be successful. Resilience can be measured both quantitatively and qualitatively. A qualitative measurement might entail showing students a rubric and searching for resilience markers instead of grading on writing and punctuation alone. ACT tests could utilize quantitative markers to assess a student’s resilience. So many things matter more than test scores and college admissions requirements need to address this, allowing students to reflect on what it took for them to persevere through tough challenges as part of their admissions process.

At ACES, we partner with professional sports organizations to provide mentors and invaluable opportunities to our students. So many middle schoolers want to be a professional athlete, but our partnerships allow us to expand their window of opportunities by exposing them to front office and behind the scenes careers in sports. It’s also important to partner with organizations that have expertise in areas we lack to help us fill in the gaps and leverage the playing field for our students.

Providing better education and reducing the achievement gap also allows us to help our workforce. There is currently a workforce shortage as well as a diversity shortage in the workforce. Minnesota has one of the best economies in the country and even in the world when measured per capita. This is because in the 1950s, we started to pour money into education. By 2000, Minnesota had one of the most educated workforces in the country. We also have a high number of Fortune 500 companies because of the quality of our workforce and the recognized importance of education. By reducing the achievement gap, we can provide these same opportunities to a more diverse community and in turn, generate a more diverse workforce.

In the meantime, how do we be culturally responsive and meet our students where they are? This is where the community comes in! It takes time, money, additional resources, policy change and investment from industry. We need administrators who will prioritize working systemically to provide immersion experiences and true professional coaching to our teachers. Most importantly, we must talk with parents! Parents offer us the best window into how to meet our students where they are and we must have their support and cooperation to create environments conducive to learning.

150,000 low-income youth are on the waitlist for afterschool programs in the Twin Cities. To get involved in your community, check with your local district to see what they have in terms of programs. To help ACES grow our reach in the Twin Cities, consider making a donation today: aces4kids.org/donate