At West Wind, we believe the system was perfectly designed to get the results it is getting. Thus, we seek to problematize the racial achievement gap by reframing the problem from one of failing students to one of a failing system. While this most certainly includes inequitable resources and inequitable distribution of highly qualified teachers and principals, we believe these are just symptoms of the larger systemic problem—an enduring belief in the inferiority of students of color, their families, and their communities. A new study by Marvin Lynn et al (2010) illustrates this point.

Lynn et al. examined how teachers’ and administrators’ understood the problem of African American male underachievement in an all-black, low-performing high school, and how those understandings impacted their ability to work successfully with such students. They found that school personnel overwhelmingly blamed students of color, their families, and their communities. Further, Marvin et al. tell us that “the school was pervaded by a culture of defeat and hopelessness” and that “ongoing conversations with a smaller group of teachers committed to the success of African American male students revealed that the school was not a safe space for caring teachers who wanted to make a difference in the lives of their students.”

The full article is available through the Teacher College Record here.

I just reconnected with an amazing woman from my grad school days at the University of Maryland.  Avis Jones-Deweever is director of the Research, Public Policy, and Information Center at the National Council of Nego Women.  Please read her recent blog post on “Precious” and “The Blind Side” on the Race-Talk blog site!  Media portrayals of black women, men, children, families, and communities deeply impact choices we ultimately make about public policy, education, care, and trust.  Avis’ blog helps put current movie releases into relief.

At West Wind, we have been exploring the impact of othering on education…how our expectations and beliefs about children of color, their families, and their communities have been shaped by centuries of images of people of color designed to justify oppression and lack of care.  The conversations we had with folks at the Summit for Courageous Conversation and the Harvard Alumni of Color Conference have helped us to understand much of what we have seen in our work with schools, communities, researchers, and policy leaders.  If we don’t believe children can learn, we don’t teach them effectively.  If we believe they are dangerous, we discipline them at higher rates and we do what we can to protect others from them.  This is precisely what we are doing as a society.

Overcoming dominant narratives about children of color may be our greatest challenge as a nation and an education system.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  This morning, I opened my email to a much appreciated message from the president of the National Congress of American Indians, Jefferson Keel.

NCAI President Jefferson Keel Speaks of Gratitude and Hope on Thanksgiving Day

WASHINGTON — November 25, 2009 — National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Jefferson Keel released the following statement on the eve of Thanksgiving Day:

“Indian Country was here at the beginning of our first national holiday, and we are still here four centuries later — grateful that we stand proud of our tribal cultures and contribute their strength to the sustaining diversity of America.

Indian Country is grateful on many, many counts. A President and his Administration have heard our concerns and priorities, acknowledging the nation-to-nation relationship, at the first annual White House Tribal Nations Conference. The Embassy of Tribal Nations has opened its doors in the nation’s capital. Congress is working in partnership with us to advance the priorities of Indian Country as seldom before. And a national museum on the Washington Mall bears witness to us for all who visit it.

We also have much to contribute to this great nation. Above all, our cultural heritage has positioned us to spearhead the historic task of restoring a human connection to the land, air, water, all living things and one another. We give thanks that the Creator has safeguarded our message of oneness in the web of life, for it is instrumental to restoring the global environment and good will among nations.

We must give thanks for other safeguards — the warriors who guard our homeland, many of them far from home on this holiday of gratitude and reunion. Native men and women have steadfastly fought and died defending this country as the highest serving minority group in the U.S. armed forces. We give thanks for all who defend our country.

Also this year, we give thanks for the harvest that inspired the first Thanksgiving. Abundant as the harvest has been this year for many, for many others it is a lean year. We’ve known that unemployment is high and that household hunger is a growing concern.

As always, Americans give thanks this day for their individual and community harvest. But especially this year, NCAI calls on them to join the many tribes and individuals in Indian Country who are going the extra mile to help their needy neighbors, just as they did on that first Thanksgiving.”

Teaching Tolerance, a project of  The Southern Poverty Law Center, recently launched a new effort entitled the  “Teaching Diverse Students Initiative.”  This is a very nicely designed site with researched-based tools and resources for teaching racially and ethnically diverse students.   Contributors to the site include Linda Darling-Hammond, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Sonia Nieto, Mica Pollock and others including a couple of my early literacy friends and colleagues, Dorothy Strickland and Patricia Edwards.

Follow the link below.  You need to register to check out the tools.  Its free.

http://www.tolerance.org/tdsi/