It is that time of the year when schools start the new school year. Many students look forward to this exciting new beginning and prepare with new school clothes and supplies. They look forward to meeting their new teachers and reconnecting with their friends and all the fun extracurricular activities.

There are also students who do not look forward to the start of school. These are the students that are often marginalized. They do not feel seen at school or they struggle with the learning, or even worse are bullied, shunned, and/or actively ignored. 

Each state in our country has created academic standards that represent the minimum that all students are expected to master. This learning expectation is a core reason for states providing a free public education to all students.  So how do schools ensure that both students excited by school and those who feel left out at school at least master the state’s academic standards?

Educators are the secret to a school’s success or failure in achieving this mission.  Educators who come together as team to create equity in their schools ensure that all students master the state standards. They understand the equity requires that each student receive whatever it takes to master the standards. Yes, that means that some students will receive more support than others. That support could be additional instructional support, mental health support, and additional outreach to their families to provide support in removing barriers impacting student learning. They create schools that all students look forward to attending and where all students succeed at high levels.

These educators are redesigning schools to provide whatever each student needs rather than providing the same support to every student.  This can cause problems for the educators courageous enough to make this happen.  Some parents feel threated if other students receive additional resources from the school even though their own child easily masters and exceeds the state standards.  They push back on the work schools are doing to ensure that all students master the states standards by providing additional supports to some students.

These communities fail to recognize that ensuring all students master at least the state standards builds a better country for their children to live in as well.  It creates a stronger economy, a culture that is more collaborative and inventive in addressing society’s problems, and a nation that built on strong, secure, and vibrant communities. (Hernandez, 2024; McGhee, 2021; National Forum on Education Statistics, 2015) Schools where all students at least master the state standards contribute to the common good of our nation. 

To those educators that are committed and courageous enough to create schools where all students succeed, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I will always be your cheerleader. You give your all to our children and the future of our country.  You risk push back from the very community you serve and your neighbors.  Often times the risk includes the loss of your job.  Superintendent Heath Grimes is one of those heroes that does whatever it takes for all students to master the standards.  His students excelled, but it cost him his job.  Read his story here.

References:

Hernandez, Z. (2024). The truth about immigration: Why successful societies welcome newcomers. New York: St. Martins Press

McGhee, H. (2021). The sum of us: What racism costs everyone and how we can prosper together. London, England: Profile Books Ltd.

National Forum of Education Statistics (2015). Forum guide to college and career ready data. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: National Insitutues of Health.

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