Are You Ready Dreamers?
I am excited to welcome you to the first post on the Ed.D. Series site! The [ed]ucational + [dream]er and The EdD Series was developed to help close the opportunity gap in education as we give every student the chance to succeed.
The information shared on this site can be used to develop and achieve the educational dream.
What is the Education?
Education is supposed to be an enlightening experience as the brain is fed with knowledge; however, since the establishment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, minority students have not been giving an education, which promotes understanding, tolerance and friendship. Instead, students have been provided a systemic educational system, which stifles knowledge attainment and lacks vitality, as it fails to prepare students for a promising future. As an educator for the past seven years, I have seen trained educators and educational leaders fail to reach students academically, socially and emotionally. Using a utopia mindset, they create lesson plans, behavioral consequences, and activities that do not aid in the intellectual growth of all students, which exacerbate the achievement gap.
As described by the National Education Association (NEA), the achievement gap overlaps in a series of groups. Those groups are: racial and ethnic minorities, boys and girls and students from low-income families. These overlapping groups aid in students failure as the achievement gap leads to: dropping out of high school, low reading levels, low end of course test scores, teen pregnancy, criminal activity and or incarceration, low to no college enrollment and even death. So how do we create a true educational experience for all students? I believe the answer is in the way we ask that question. I believe there is no achievement gap; however, there is an opportunity gap. The solution to increasing academic performance is giving minority students opportunities. The opportunity to have hands on experiences within the classroom, opportunities to build their self esteem through social and emotional learning, the opportunity to travel (field trips) and gain cultural exposure through food and the arts.
While, race, ethnicity, gender and or socioeconomic status may play in the lack of opportunities minority students may receive, I find it offensive that educators (and others) think minority students can’t achieve because of their living environment and or family history. Ironically, barriers minority students face such as low socioeconomic status, builds grit as they continue to attend schools who fail to understand their culture and or level of intellect.
What continues to drive the “achievement gap” is a system that pities instead of support intellectual growth. A system that continues to use cultural bias vocabulary and narratives that only tells a portion of America’s melting pot of history. A educational system that does not value or invest in education, educators, and or students. Instead, students and educators become pawns in a game of popularity, opinions, and money controlled by lawmakers who have never taught or sincerely volunteered and or invested in the educational growth of students outside of their cultures.
Most lawmakers haven’t studied child psychology to be trained or aware of current education topics and or issues. Most lawmakers haven’t listened to the cries of parents and students as they describe the economical, social and skill barrier, which prevents them from being successful. The majority of these lawmakers are influenced by major companies and brands instead of surveying community stakeholders to determine the needs and skills of the communities in which they “serve”. Lawmakers who do not support passionate educators who want to provide differentiated high-level instruction. Lawmakers and school board members who enjoy a hegemony style of dictatorship.
The action and opinions of our educational leaders has caused the “achievement gap”, which has changed the original idea of a fair and authentic education experience. Until we unite and empower each other on the educational issues that plague our communities, minority students will continue to struggle and the opportunity and or achievement gap will remain.
Lets work together to ensure this country’s original ideas (or even our own ideas) of education prevail as we prepare all students for a better tomorrow through a fair and culturally diverse education.
I would like to challenge you all to reflect on the questions below as we continue to work together to inspire, empower and educate.
The Challenge:
- Discover what are your rights as a stakeholder (parent, student, educator, community member).
- When is your parish/districts next school board meeting? Once you find out, ATTEND! Empower yourself with how your district/parish is spending your tax dollars to aid in students educational dreams.
- Who are your school board members? What action steps are they taking to ensure educational equality within your district/parish?
- Do you know the educational issues within your parish/districts? What solutions have been discussed and or in place to ensure they are resolved.
The Educational Dreamer 