The Joint Education Committee of the Arkansas Legislature heard ideas today for closing the "achievement gap" between different racial and socioeconomic groups in the state. The full report of the prepared testimony is available through the Arkansas Times. But here are some highlighted suggestions from Dr. Jay Barth of Arkansas' Hendrix College:
1. Promote and expand participation in early childhood education;
2. Implement longitudinal tracking and aggressively improve teacher quality;
3. Approve only new charter schools focused on reducing the racial and
socioeconomic achievement gap, and study how lessons from successful charters
can be applied to whole school system;
4. Implement the recommendations of the Governor’s Task Force on After-Schooland Summer Programs;
5. Expand school-based health clinics for under-served students;
6. Reduce class size in schools with high proportions of low-income, African
American or Latino students;
7. And promote broader community and parental engagement in schools.
Closing the so-called "achievement gap" and promoting educational reform so that all American students, not just those privileged enough to attend the country's best schools, has been a key issue toted by the Obama campaign. Will media coverage of Dr. Barth's testimony help convince undecided Arkansas voters of the importance of this issue?
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