Saint Paul aims to close African American achievement gap 9/1/2007 5:48 PMMedia Release Office of Community Relations Contact: Brett Johnson - (651) 767-8107 Saint Paul, Minn – Saint Paul Public Schools is collaborating with key stakeholders on a new community-based planning initiative for engaging and educating at-risk African and African American students. The goal, with help from the community, is to close achievement gaps. The disparity of academic achievement between white students and their non-white peers is perhaps the most critical issue in public education today. Across the nation, and in Saint Paul, students of color and students in poverty have a lower rate of academic success than white students. Saint Paul Public Schools’ Transitions Initiative focuses on African and African American students because it is the largest and most enduring academic achievement gap in the district, in Minnesota and across the United States. “Minnesota consistently leads the nation in academic achievement,” said Superintendent Meria Carstarphen. “We know how to teach children in this state and we do it well. If the achievement gap is going to be closed anywhere, it’s going to be here in Saint Paul, and it’s going to take a community-wide effort.” The Superintendent added, “The biggest and most enduring challenge is educating our ethnic minority students, especially African and African American.” Saint Paul Public Schools is committed to closing all of its achievement gaps. Last year, the district held community-based work sessions to address the concerns of ethnic and other groups, and expects to reconnect with work groups later this fall. The Transitions Initiative is sponsored by a grant from Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi Foundation for Education, Public Health and Social Justice, a supporting organization of the Minneapolis Foundation, with additional support from the Saint Paul Public Schools Foundation. It is a six-month planning process to assist the district by:
“Because these achievement gaps have lingered for awhile, it’s time we demystify the problem. This is something that’s in our control,” said Supt. Carstarphen. “We know that kids will learn when they’re ready for school, when they’re engaged in their classes and when they have high expectations. The Transitions Initiative will help us identify how to best accomplish this.” The initiative builds on the work of the African American Leadership Council, which earlier this year identified priorities for Saint Paul Public Schools. One priority was greater involvement of community-based organizations in addressing African American academic issues. “We know the achievement gap is real, and for some of us in the community, we have been working on it for years,” said Tyrone Terrill, African American Leadership Council chair. “We are anxious for the initiative to focus on what needs to be done right now.” To launch the Transitions Initiative, Supt. Carstarphen formed a broad community leadership team that included Terrill, Mayor Chris Coleman, Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter and others. “We will close the achievement gap only if we come together as a community, “ said Mayor Coleman. “Our city’s future will be shaped by our children. We must prepare them for success by surrounding them with both high expectations and high quality academic, social and cultural opportunities. To devote anything less than our very best effort to this work is to give up on the future.” “Whether you live in Saint Paul or not, the success of young people touches our lives in subtle ways,” said Commissioner Carter, who is a former Saint Paul School Board member. “Young people who have success in school open their lives to a host of opportunities. When they are successful in life, they pay it back to the community by creating jobs, buying homes and investing in the places that cared about them from the start.” |