Recently, nationally known educator and author Dr. Linda Darling- Hammond presented a lecture to future teachers and scholars at Temple University in Philadelphia. Darling- Hammond, currently a professor of Education at the Stanford University School of Education noted that “The United States will never reverse the decline of its students’ academic achievement scores compared to the rest of the developed world- nor ensure its continued economic and political prominence- until it makes the necessary financial commitment to ensuring equality in education.”
Dr. Darling-Hammond noted that she observed two significant areas of achievement gaps for American students. One was the gap (which has been persistent) between white and affluent students and those students who live in poverty. The second gap – which has widened considerably since the 1970s- is between American school children and their counterparts in other high achieving countries. When asked about possible solutions, her recommendations included making a significant investment in teacher preparation programs in America’s colleges and universities, emphasis on higher order thinking skills ( HOTS), and personalization in the classroom including making schools smaller and limited class size. Finally, the importance of parent contact and cooperation cannot be overlooked.
How are we as a nation going to be able to equip our children and prepare them to compete in the intense 21st century global job market unless we as a nation address the issues of poverty, homelessness, health care and adequate nutrition ? The focus is on urban education, teaching our nation’s school children who live in the inner cities. This crusade for equality is not new. Fellow educator Jonathan Kozol has for many years been a champion of inner city children with his written work that includes,” Savage Inequalities,” Death at an Early Age, On Being a Teacher and Illiterate America.
The landscape and final agenda has not been set for the upcoming Presidential election, so it is difficult to tell if public education in America will become a significant campaign issue in 2012. However, during all of the campaigns that I have followed, I have yet to come across a candidate who was not an “education President!” The difficulty lies in the juxtaposition of being pro-education and at the same time cutting funding or eliminating social programs that would help underserved children to become more successful. While throwing money at a problem is not a sure fire way to solve it, neither is withholding funding from programs that have proven to be successful.
Please note- Dr. Linda Darling Hammond most recent book,” The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future” was reviewed on this blog on June 27,2011 and is retrievable from the link on this page. Other books by Linda Darling-Hammond include: Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and be Able to do ( 2007), The Right to Learn: a Blueprint for Creating Schools that Work, and A Good Teacher in Every Classroom (2005). All of the above listed books are available at Amazon.com and can be order via the link on this site.
As always your comments and suggestions are welcome.
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