Julie Niles Petersen's List: Achievement Gap

EXCELLENT article!!!

Excellent article! This is one of my favorite parts:

"In the current climate, anybody who raises the issue of how poverty affects students runs the risk of being labeled as:
*a defender of the status quo
*someone who uses poverty as an excuse for bad teachers who are protected by bad teachers unions
*someone who believes that certain kids cannot learn as well as other kids.

None of those are true.

Authentic reform must include addressing the very real health and emotional and social issues that kids bring with them to school every day, often getting in the way of their ability to focus on geometry, read and analyze a novel or take a standardized test. Canada knows this.

Pretending poverty doesn't matter doesn't mean it doesn't matter."

This is the key to the achievement gap in my opinion. I consider it a must read.

This 5 pg pdf discusses 7 surprising discoveries from the very important study, "Meaningful Differences." It is a great read!

This is a People Make a Difference Video from CSU, Dominguez Hills TV. Krashen discusses his plan to close the achievement gap.

This is a great 7 1/2 min video narrated by Reba McEntire. The importance of reading aloud & talking with children is discussed.

A collection of YouTube videos organized in a playlist. (Look on the right-hand side.).

This is an excerpt from Trelease's wonderful "The Read-Aloud Handbook." Excellent advice for parents!