Reply to Can achievement gap be closed with extra tutoring?

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Reply to "Can achievement gap be closed with extra tutoring?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I understand the reasons why MCPS moved to change the disciplinary code. From an equity perspective, it is hard to look at all of the data around disproportionate punishment against kids of color and continue business as usual.

HOWEVER, I think MCPS went too far in the wrong direction. As a parent in a racially and economically diverse school, I often see a tiny handful of kids derail a whole classroom.

So, you have a class of 20. Two kids are routinely disruptive, to the point that neither they nor their peers are learning.

The middle class kids? They self-advocate and ask to wear earphones or to take their book to the library and finish a project there.

It is the poor and working class kids that end up having their learning disrupted, either because their own cultural backgrounds don't stress children advocating for their own interests with adults or because the teachers lump them in with the disruptive kids.

It is also often the poor and working class kids who bear the brunt of bullying from the very small minority of kids who are acting out.

If MCPS wants to close the gap, the first thing they need to do is protect poor kids, and kids of color, by giving teachers some "sticks" to deal with children who are acting out. 
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So what if it is the poor kids of color that are disrupting? Minority kids can no longer be disciplined. [/quote]

Almost. The problem is that NO ONE can be disciplined, regardless of background.  But the origin of the policy is almost certainly that the previous system disproportionately disciplined kids of color because racism is pernicious and systemic.

The result is that the new policy helps no one. Kids who need boundaries aren't getting them AND their classmates are having their learning disrupted as a result. That is most true for poor kids and kids of color because they don't have the resources to leave the classroom and because they are disproportionately the targets of those badly behaved kids.

Basically, if MCPS wants to close the achievement gap (the subject of this chain), they need to do more to support the "regular" Black and Latinx kids who want to learn but whose learning is being disrupted by a handful of kids that need either better boundaries or a more restrictive placement.

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Wait, you are saying white kids days aren’t disrupted?  Most teachers don’t allow any kids to leave the classroom. I volunteer all the time. The disruptive kids disrupt EVERYONE. [/quote]

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