Comments on: Read: Diversity Department http://dropoutnation.net/2010/01/08/read-diversity-department/ Coverage of the Reform of American Public Education Edited by RiShawn Biddle Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:21:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Dropout Nation » Blog Archive » Read: Monday Morning Quarterback Edition http://dropoutnation.net/2010/01/08/read-diversity-department/comment-page-1/#comment-64571 Dropout Nation » Blog Archive » Read: Monday Morning Quarterback Edition Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:00:32 +0000 http://dropoutnation.net/?p=902#comment-64571 [...] Foundation’s Steve Suitts, who co-wrote the recently-released A New Diverse Majority report, responds to Monise Seward’s criticisms of the study (and of education think tankers in general). He [...] [...] Foundation’s Steve Suitts, who co-wrote the recently-released A New Diverse Majority report, responds to Monise Seward’s criticisms of the study (and of education think tankers in general). He [...]

]]> By: rbiddle http://dropoutnation.net/2010/01/08/read-diversity-department/comment-page-1/#comment-64566 rbiddle Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:31:50 +0000 http://dropoutnation.net/?p=902#comment-64566 Thanks, Steve, for your response. I will definitely note it in Monday's Read. Thanks, Steve, for your response. I will definitely note it in Monday’s Read.

]]> By: Steve Suitts http://dropoutnation.net/2010/01/08/read-diversity-department/comment-page-1/#comment-64561 Steve Suitts Sat, 09 Jan 2010 03:19:07 +0000 http://dropoutnation.net/?p=902#comment-64561 I wrote the SEF report, A New Diverse Majority: Students of Color in the South's Public Schools, that may have displeased Monise Seward. However she and others may have read news coverage of the report, they would be hard pressed to find anything in the report to suggest that "if you are poor and/or minority, you cannot and will not learn anything or perform on par with White, Asian, and affluent students." Quite the opposite. This report and others on the SEF website (www.southerneducation.org) call for profound changes in the way America finances and undertakes public education because poor and minority students are not learning to their potential. You mention the problem of mis-diagnosis for special education. That certainly is one problem. Another disparity relates to school discipline. The percentage of African American students suspended or expelled far exceeds their student population in almost every Southern state, including Georgia. What the SEF report, in essence, says is that these problem no longer simply deny groups of students of a fair opportunity to learn and their own educational justice but they endanger the entire community's quality of life and economic prosperity unless profound changes are made. The reality is that far too many students of color and low income students of all races and ethnicities are not getting the education they need to excel. Too often these students have the greatest needs and get the least help. SEF’s report is a call to arms for change. I wrote the SEF report, A New Diverse Majority: Students of Color in the South’s Public Schools, that may have displeased Monise Seward. However she and others may have read news coverage of the report, they would be hard pressed to find anything in the report to suggest that “if you are poor and/or minority, you cannot and will not learn anything or perform on par with White, Asian, and affluent students.”

Quite the opposite. This report and others on the SEF website (www.southerneducation.org) call for profound changes in the way America finances and undertakes public education because poor and minority students are not learning to their potential.

You mention the problem of mis-diagnosis for special education. That certainly is one problem. Another disparity relates to school discipline. The percentage of African American students suspended or expelled far exceeds their student population in almost every Southern state, including Georgia.

What the SEF report, in essence, says is that these problem no longer simply deny groups of students of a fair opportunity to learn and their own educational justice but they endanger the entire community’s quality of life and economic prosperity unless profound changes are made.

The reality is that far too many students of color and low income students of all races and ethnicities are not getting the education they need to excel. Too often these students have the greatest needs and get the least help. SEF’s report is a call to arms for change.

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