Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
I can't count how many times I have heard educators say without a bit of irony that black students were better off during segregation.
Not that separate and unequal part of that equation, but the cultural part, when black students were taught by black teachers and usually with an equal emphasis on historical black achievement and white achievement.
A high school, McCaskey East High School, in Lancaster, Penn., has decided to take that sentiment to heart, segregating students by gender and race.
The separation is only for a short period - six minutes each day and 20 minutes twice a month - but it has drawn criticism for raising the spectre of racial segregation.
Administrators said the school noticed that black students were not performing as well as other students and that research had shown that same-race classes with strong same-race role models led to better academic results.
Research showed that grouping black students by gender with a strong role model could boost both academic achievement and self-esteem.
Some students, staff and parents were against the segregation, saying that it ran against everything the school stood for - with so many students being from diverse backgrounds.
But administrators thought it was something worth trying.
In all segregated classes, mentors track their students' grades, test scores and attendance.
One such mentor is Michael Mitchell, who hopes to inspire his black male students during their short daily meetings, according to an article in the UK's Daily Mail.
Mitchell says he often quotes the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., who said:
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
Mitchell recently used the quote when he found that some of his students were failing gym.
Mitchell adds:
"They're all young. They're all strong. They're all athletic. But they're failing because they chose not to participate."
On the one hand, it's not a unique idea. There are religious schools, Jewish and Catholic, where students learn about their religious heritage daily and it complements their standard lessons.
There are also Jewish and Arabic colleges that offer the same thing, and while there are hundreds of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, there are very few secondary schools that overtly claim that they segregate their schools to focus on black culture.
My daughter goes to a public school in a predominantly black school district and has had only one black teacher in her six years in public school. Has she done well in school? Of course, but the year she had a black teacher, she was happier and she stayed after school to be with her teacher.
The teacher encouraged her outside of academics with things like keeping her room clean (which I was thankful for) and was interested in her outside of the classroom. In return, in the classroom, my daughter went above and beyond the call of duty and was excited every day about school.
One of the main issues with segregated schools was the aforementioned unequal issue (which is still a problem today): Students at black segregated schools received second-hand books and worked in crumbling buildings, with teachers who had been to schools with the same conditions.
I doubt, though, that parents complained about teachers who demanded excellence AND taught in a culturally relevant environment. That's the ideal for most parents, even today. Does that fix the problem that black students may not be able to intermingle with other cultures?
No.
But it may alleviate the crisis of low black student achievement.