Excellence with Equity (Closing the Achievement Gap): Instruction

In January, two open meetings were held in order to discuss the achievement gap between white students and black students in Henrico County Public Schools.  More than 400 community members participated and generated barriers to student success as well as possible solutions. The information on this table represents high points from the discussion. Members of the community were organized into groups of approximately 10 people and asked to generate lists of barriers and solutions to share with the entire congregation.  Overall, there were 30 groups generating barriers and solutions on chart paper.  Following the group sharing, each individual participant was given six dots and asked to identify three barriers and three solutions that he/she felt were the most important to consider. At the end of the meeting, each individual chart was reviewed and organized around themes.  

 

This table shows the ideas submitted by community teams around this particular theme.  The column identified as “Number of Times Noted on Chart Paper” shows the reader how many of the 30 teams had this idea on their team chart. The last column “Number of Dots” shows how many individual people of those who attended the meetings identified the specific idea as one of the most important to consider. 

 

Theme	Possible Solutions	Number of Times Noted on Chart Paper	Number of Dots
Instruction	Increase differentiated approaches to learning	8	14
	Increase rigor in the curriculum (teach beyond the test) and ensure consistency across schools	6	9
	Remediation programs in reading and math/early intervention	4	8
	Daily reading instruction	1	5
	Enhance the curriculum (foreign language, arts)	3	4
	More innovative teaching	1	3
	Optimize retention	1	3
	Study the alignment of social studies in Grade 4-6	1	2
	Teach study skills and life skills	1	1
	Multicultural educational programs	1	1
	Reduce the number of diploma options	1	1
	Separate setting for special education	1

 

As information, issues, and ideas develop specific to this theme, it will be made available on this webpage for review and consideration. Stay involved in the conversation by signing up to receive notifications and updates.