We Talk Equity

Mission/Vision Statements from School Districts Near Me

• "Every child college and career ready" (Minneapolis Public Schools)
• ". . . inspire and prepare all students . . ." (Osseo Area School District)
• ". . . effectively educate each of our students for success." (Anoka-Hennepin School District)
• " . . . meets the needs of each individual student" (Monticello School District)

Now that you've read the above statements, please read them again. Slowly. What do all four have in common? If you guessed every child, you are correct. In seems school districts all over my state of Minnesota talk about meeting the needs of each and every student, but, alas, it's only talk. Words. Put down on paper to make it sound like we are doing what needs to be done for our students. It takes meeting upon meeting upon meeting to create effective mission statements (or vision statements, whatever districts call them). 

The mission/vision statements aren't cutting it, folks, but we hear things from districts like, "Oh, but we spent so much time on these statements, talked to staff, community members, parents, and students. Everyone had a say." That's great. I truly am glad that everyone had a say in what our missions are. Really. Truly. Honestly. But . . . 

I have students who are in 8th grade who are not reading at the middle school level. I have students who are reading at about the fourth grade reading level and below. 

• Is this "EVERY child and career ready"?
• Do we "inspire and prepare ALL students"?
• Do we "effectively educate EACH of our students for success"?
• De we "meet the needs of EACH individual student"? 

No. No. No. No.

Talkin' About Equity

In the last 15 years, I have taught in a few different districts, which means I have sat through quite a few staff meetings, professional development meetings, workshops, etc. In the last 10 years, most of these meetings have focused on equity - learning about race, racism, implicit bias, whiteness, privilege, micro-aggressions, cultural relevance, teaching strategies, etc. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the same information - just in a different way. (Heck, I even read professional books on my own about the topic.) It is THE topic right now, as well it should be. We have not done right by our students - of color, of religion, of ethnicity, of sexual orientation, of gender, of immigrants, with learning disabilities.

My issue is we get so focused on "teaching" what equity means and examining our own biases that we don't actually solve the inequities, and we still have lots of inequities in our Minnesota schools. I want to focus on the reading inequity since that is my area of expertise. 

So getting back to the many students I have not reading even close to grade level . . . I understand that there are multiple factors that come into play when kids are in school that affect reading: mobility, new to country, poverty, homelessness, language other than English, hunger, lack of access to books, etc. Trust me. It's hard being a teacher and trying to help each and every one of our kids. We want every one of our students to read at or above grade-level, but it's hard to do when the systems in our schools and districts are not set up to truly help ALL kids. 

Since one of our many school systems focuses on equity, why aren't we focusing on reading as being an issue of equity? We can understand our biases, learn strategies to help all students access the content, and talk about equity until we are blue in the face, yet our kids are not learning to read - specifically, being able to decode words at a middle school level. [FYI - I teach at a middle school with 80% F/RL (maybe higher), and large majority of students of color.] 

I'm tired of my students not being taught how to read. We are sending them to high school, and they can't read. I know saying, "They can't read," sounds awful. Like somehow I am blaming the kids. I am NOT blaming the kids. I am saying, "They can't read," because we have failed them. We have failed to teach our kids how to read. We are going to pass them into high school where they won't learn how to read. We will pass them into the "real world" where they will not be able to read at a level to participate fully in society, live life to their best, and make money (right?). That is NOT equity. That is INEQUITY. We are pushing some of our most vulnerable kids into a life of crime. (Trust me. Kids can't read. School is hard. Easier to not do school. Easier to be manipulated. Easier to do bad things. Easier to associate with the "wrong side of the tracks.") 

No amount of talking about race, racism, implicit bias, whiteness, privilege, micro-aggressions, cultural relevance, teaching strategies, etc. will teach my kids to read. Period. Can we just acknowledge that? Please? We like to avoid talking about reading and equity because it's easier to talk about all of the things we talk about in our equity discussions. It looks like we are doing something on the surface, but dig deeper. Below the surface, nothing is changing for our kids. They aren't learning how to read. 

No More Talk. More Action. 

Now, before you say I should be teaching them to read, I am. I am doing the best I can to meet the needs of my 25 students in each class with varying degrees of reading ability. I have an English teaching license and a K-12 Reading license. I do what I can in my 50 minute class periods to the best of my abilities. I will start tutoring an 8th grade student in the mornings before school starts because she has dyslexia (diagnosed) and reading is soooooo hard for her. She knows it. Her parents know it. Yet we don't have anything in place to help her. (BTW, I will be using Barton Reading and Spelling.) I am starting an after-school group to do the same thing for my 8th graders who find reading difficult and frustrating. 

While I don't have all of the answers to solve this issue of inequity, I do have some ideas - although they are vague at this point.

1. English class periods that are 90 minutes 
2. Looping grades with students
3. Teachers who value reading - all teachers, not just reading and ELA teachers
4. Schools that value reading - can see it all over the building
5. Orton-Gillingham program to teach phonics sequentially for ALL students in all grade levels
6. Specifically targeting students who are falling behind
7. Increase independent reading time
8. Classroom libraries funded by schools
9. School libraries with a full-time librarian
10. Lots of audio books
11. Recognizing that reading is an equity issue
12. Balanced literacy 
13. Appropriate funding
14. Expert teachers, who are passionate, working with struggling readers
15. Reading specialist in each school

It's Up to Us

We have allowed our children to fall behind in reading. Let's just put that out there. It's now up to us to shake up the systems we work in. Reading = Equity