Posted on 03/16/2002 5:14:04 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Black children are being treated unfairly in schools, with higher levels of expulsion and poor exam grades, a special conference in London is being told. The event, aimed at finding ways to improve the performance of black pupils, is being organised and chaired by Labour MP Diane Abbott. As it got under way on Saturday, she said the "massive turnout" showed how concerned black parents were at the way schools were "failing" their children.
There are concerns that children from certain ethnic groups are falling behind in the transition from primary to secondary education. Ms Abbott says parents, teachers and government must all play their part in the solution, and has called for more government funding for Saturday schools set up by black people.
The schools are popular with African-Caribbean parents in Britain concerned that their children are not doing as well as they might in state schools. Ms Abbott said in a BBC News Online forum that people often struggled to keep supplementary schools going, and should be supported financially.
The Department for Education does have a support service to help such "supplementary schools" - of which there are known to be 1,200 - focused on four pilot areas. It is developing a new strategy to deal with what it says is a complex issue, in part through trying to draw these Saturday schools into the mainstream system.
'A light goes out'
Until the results of the new, fully computerised school census are made public, it is not clear exactly how different racial groups fare in school. But surveys suggest pupils of black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin have improved less well than other groups.
Ms Abbott told News Online's users that when children from her Hackney constituency visited the House of Commons they were bright, sharp, eager, and full of interest. "And somehow by the time these same children are in secondary school it is as if a light has gone out inside them," she said.
"And I want to find out what is happening to them so that those children could continue to be as eager and willing to learn as they are when they come into schools aged five and six." She said the turning point of puberty raised a number of issues.
"The boys are reaching adolescence, they look quite big - literally quite big and threatening - and I think some teachers do have a problem with this. "I think it's a complex thing but I mean it's sad that children that come in so bright and so eager should end up disaffected and disillusioned."
'No quick fix'
Schools Minister Catherine Ashton is also attending the conference. Her message is that successive governments have failed to solve the problem of black under achievement and it is unacceptable that attainment gaps remain - but there are no "quick fix" solutions.
She wants to look at how successful ideas - such as supplementary schools - can be integrated into mainstream education. "Previously our approach was to see ethnic minority achievement as an add-on rather than thinking about how we can create mainstream policies for every child," she said.
A new group will bring together people from a range of backgrounds, and there will be encouragement for black parents to become involved in schools and to become governors.
I should have liked more information about how successful the "Saturday schools" have been.
Does the fact that black children have higher levels of expulsion and poor exam grades mean that they are being treated unfairly, or does it mean that they actually do not behave as well and do not study?
If the students are not behaving in school, this could be the cause of the low exam grades and higher expulsion rate. (Of course, lack of ability or lack of skills can lead to poor behavior -- but so can lack of parenting.)
It would be nice to see a scientifically valid study of whether the cause was cultural, genetic, or a result of prejudice within the school system, but I don't expect one.
What an incredibly weird thing to say.
In the US, black IQ test scores are comparable to how whites scored decades before. Whites haven't gotten smarter in the interim. The differences in performance are almost certainly attributable to differences in culture, IMHO. They aren't carved in stone, but none of the measures taken have addressed the key issue.
That being the case, governments and people should simply accept what is inevitable rather than feed unrealistic expectations.
That's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Shame shame shame on you, with your racist and intolerant talk! How dare you suggest that THEY are responsible for their own behavior and grades! You're in need of a Sensitivity course, the 16-week kind.
The press, and even many educators, do not understand that correlation DOES NOT equal causation! I suspect, however, that even if they did, they would still use the numbers to distort the facts. It's a common practice used especially well by libs to promote their point of view.
Nope. Racists are responsible.
ha ha hah. That is rich.
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