Blaming others or circumstances prevents us from creating equity in our schools.  Equity in our schools is defined by doing whatever it takes to ensure all students master grade level standards.  For some students that means providing more supports than others may need.  That is okay.  That is equity.  (For a more in-depth definition of equity see Chapter 1 in Equity in Our Schools: Ensuring All Students Achieve at High Levels)

We cast blame when we attribute a student’s lack of mastery of grade level standards to reasons such as lack of motivation, poverty, first language, parents, culture, previous schools, etc. Examples of casting blame are below:

• Their parents don’t care.
• Their homelife is chaotic.
• They are not read to at home.
• They are still learning English.
• They are poor and have not had the experiences they need.
• They are not motivated to learn.
• They want to be the cool/funny kid.
• They are disabled, and life is hard.
• The elementary school didn’t teach them to read.
• They started school behind.

When we engage in such thinking, we are placing blame for the lack of student mastery rather than looking at what we can control or do in the schoolhouse to improve student learning so that they all master the standards.  When we have placed blame for lack of student learning outside of what we control, we believe we are free from owning the responsibility to find solutions to improving student outcomes.

These types of justifications for students not mastering grade level content are often called deficit thinking. We see students with all the difficulties they have in life and immediately determine they cannot learn to high levels. We do not recognize the incredible strengths that these students bring to school. We fail to realize that they are perfectly capable of learning to high levels if we create the systems in our schools that provide each student with whatever they need to achieve at a high level.  We become part of the problem, instead of part of the solution.

Our schools are full of systems that were created (I chose to believe.) with good intentions to help students but in reality, hurt them and provide many students with a lessor education than those who master rigorous grade level content. When we fail to provide students with grade level learning because they are the bottom reading group or have placed them in the special education classroom or the English Learner Lab rather than including them in rigorous course work, we are lowering learning expectations for these students and failing to provide rigorous instruction with acceleration and additional tutoring needed for them to master the grade level content.

When we sort students into basic math classes versus advanced math classes, we once again fail to ensure all students are educated to a high level. In secondary schools, mathematics becomes a gate keeper.  Students that master the advanced mathematics of algebra and geometry graduate high school ready for college and/or career. Those who do not, most often need remedial math instruction before they can succeed in college or career technical training.

When we put students out of school time and time again because we don’t know how to respond to their trauma induced behaviors in ways that help them to be able to focus on learning, we once again fail to provide a high level of education to all students. These students fall behind and our expectations for them are unconsciously lowered. They either eventually drop out of school or graduate with a lessor education that does not prepare them for college and/or career.

Yes, many of our students need more resources than their peers to learn to high levels. And yes, this is often true because of their life circumstances. However, they are perfectly capable of mastering rigorous content, just like their peers, when given the supports that they need. It is our obligation to provide whatever it takes to ensure they master rigorous content so that they too graduate college and/or career ready.

Schools that provide whatever it takes to ensure that all students learn to a high level demonstrate that they have high expectations for every student. They provide rigorous grade level instruction to all their students using instructional practices and programs that are inclusive and research proven. They ensure all their students are reading on or above grade level when they exit third grade. They continue to support their literacy development in the various disciplines as students move through the grades. They ensure all students master higher mathematics and succeed in advanced classes. They provide, either with their own staff or with community partners, the supports students need for their mental and physical health so they can focus on learning.

Schools that do this incredible work of providing whatever it takes for each student, are schools built by teams of educators that work together to ensure all students succeed. These educator teams take joint ownership of student learning and success. No one educator stands alone, because they work together teaching students (often co-teaching), studying student data and planning next steps in learning, mentoring and counseling students, and teaming up with parents and guardians, as well as community partners, to support student learning.

These schools are staff by dynamic teachers with a wide variety of expertise that relish working and learning side by side, by administrators who work tirelessly to ensure teachers have time to plan and work together and are constantly reaching out to the community and parents to draw them in, by social workers and mental health therapists that help students and their teachers learn how to navigate the trauma or other issues students face while also continuing to learn at high levels, and by support staff that ensure students are warmly greeted, fed, clothed if need be, have a safe and secure place to learn, and are sent home at the end of the day knowing they are seen and deeply valued for who they are as individuals.

These schools exist all across our country. However, not everyone of our schools is a whatever it takes schools. The people inside the schoolhouse determine whether they will be a whatever it takes school or that they will be a school that casts blame to absolve themselves from ensuring their students learn. It is our duty, as educators, to provide whatever it takes when students need additional support.  Dr. Pedro Noguera makes this observation in A Search for Common Ground, when he states, “A culture of blame pervades American education, and I believe it is one of the reasons why we’re not making more progress. When we’re pointing fingers, it usually means we’re not taking responsibility for the factors we control.” (p. 119).  

References:

Hess, F. M. and Noguera, P. A. (2021). A search for common ground: Conversations about the toughest questions in K-12 education. Teachers College Press.

Holmes, G. H. (2023). Equity in our schools: Ensuring marginalized students achieve at a high level. Rowman and Littlefield.

This blog is written by Dr. GwenCarol Holmes, a long-time educator and passionate advocate for all students mastering rigorous standards.