Education commissioner says schools must meet needs of all students

During a conference focusing on diversity and poverty, Christensen said it is no longer possible to make all the students fit into one mold and have then emerge with similar educations. The “one size fits all” theory worked for many years, but times have changed, he said.

Christensen said children from middle-class homes will have a vocabulary of about 10,000 words when they enter kindergarten, but those from disadvantaged homes may know only 1,000 words. That’s because there are few, if any, books, magazines or newspapers available and no one has spent the time reading to the children from homes where poverty is prevalent.

In these situations, Christensen said pre-school literacy and word development programs are necessary to help the children catch up with their peers from more well-to-do backgrounds. Otherwise, he said the disadvantaged students will never be able become competent readers and students

He also said providing breakfast for students has been a step in the right direction, helping improve both attendance and achievement.

The education commissioner said the gap between Nebraska’s best and worst students is expanding every day. He said the state has more high school seniors with high ACT scores than ever before, and, in fact, leads the nation in high ACT scores. But Christensen said Nebraska also has more students with extremely low scores than ever before.

“We’ve had more students score 34 or higher (36 is the maximum) on the ACT in the last five years than we had in the previous 50,” said Christensen. “But our bottom one-third has never been so low and it’s getting worse by the day. We’ve got to meet the needs of the kids and not force kids to fit into certain slots in school.”

 

A second conference took place Thursday with about 150 teachers and administrators from western Nebraska in attendance. Both sessions were told that a large share of the low-achieving students are minorities. That’s not because of the color of their skin, but because they are frequently the victims of poverty, which puts them at a huge disadvantage.

Christensen said teachers must become familiar with different cultures to help them understand the various learning styles and the problems children from minority cultures may face.

“Not much happens until a teacher adapts the curriculum to meet the needs of the different students,” he said. “You can’t keep them at arm’s length and expect change to occur. Teachers have to put their arms around diversity.”

The commissioner added that the largest gains have been made in schools that involve the communities and have an active dialogue with the parents. He also said some noteworthy improvements have been made in attendance, achievement and graduation rates on several of the Indian reservations in northeast Nebraska the past few years.

“We have invested a lot of time and energy in these places, and we must continue it,” he said. “We’ve got to continue it through a whole generation of students or our efforts will have been wasted. It must be an ongoing commitment.”

Another of the speakers was Jessie Myles, a black who is the multicultural and urban education director for the Nebraska Department of Education.

Myles said he grew up in poverty in Mississippi. He said his family was sometimes without food and the city dump was a resource for food and clothing. But he said his grandmother continually told him that education was his ticket out of poverty and that no one could take his education away from him.

Another role model, Myles said, was his high school agriculture teacher. He said the teacher never said “If you go to college,” but continually stated, “When you go to college.”

Myles also said that on Fridays the ag teacher always had a proverb to discuss and required that the students dress up

“We had to wear a shirt and tie on Fridays. It may have always been the same necktie, but we had to wear one on Fridays,” Myles recalled. “He also taught us life skills and how to be courteous and mannerly. He was a teacher who cared about his students both inside and outside the classroom. Sometimes a teacher can make a difference. I think it’s their responsibility to try to make a difference.”

Contrary to some comments he’s heard, Myles added that he has never met a parent who doesn’t value education.

“The question is, does the educational system always value underprivileged students?” he asked.