New Report: Strategies for Closing Academic Achievement Gaps

Posted by on November 26, 2004

[posted from Promising Practices in After School listserv]

“All Students Reaching the Top: Strategies for Closing Academic Achievement Gaps” summarizes the work of the National Study Group for the Affirmative Development of Academic Ability. The group’s vision focuses on “affirming academic ability, nurturing intellective competence, and moving all students-particularly minority and low-income students-to high levels of academic achievement.”

Affirmative development contends the purpose of learning is to gain knowledge and develop human intellect. The report supports the idea that intellective competence is developed, not fixed, and can be nurtured among all students, including the minority groups of African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans.

To ensure all students reach academic success, the report encourages the following educational experiences in classrooms, schools, homes, and communities:

* Classroom teaching and learning should balance content mastery with metacognitive understanding.
* Schools should stress academic success as a universal civil right, regardless of race, ethnicity, or income.
* Schools should promote feelings of trust in schools and the people who staff them.
* Families and communities should be empowered to offer supplemental education supports.
* Local communities should focus on socializing young people to the behavioral requirements of challenging academic work.

The report also outlines these recommendations at the national, state, and local levels:

* National: Colleges, universities, and policy makers should urge teacher preparation programs to target their curricula to enhance teacher knowledge of subject matter.
* State: By collaborating with higher education institutions, state education agencies should concentrate on preparing school leaders for developing high-performance learning conditions.
* Local: Professional development of teachers and administrators should focus on helping them meet the instructional requirements of a diverse student body.

The 41-page report is available at no charge from the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory at http://www.ncrel.org/gap/studies/allstudents.pdf.