by Lachin Hatemi M.D.
I am a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell, the author of many
bestselling books, including “The Tipping Point,” “Outliers” and “Blink.” His
books are thought-provoking and based firmly on research with a mission to
answer tough questions, with a novel approach to sociology. One of the
questions raised by Gladwell was about racial disparity in test scores and low
high school graduation rates among black students.
In his book “Outliers,” Gladwell asks a difficult question:
Why is a great majority of black youth is failing in school? He subsequently
proceeds to asks more difficult questions about the same topic, which would
garner immediate attention almost simultaneously from both the Ku Klux Klan and
the NAACP.
Some ignorant people might say, “Maybe black kids are just
stupid with low IQs, and they lack intelligence!”
After examining the existing research on IQ results, Gladwell comes back with a very different answer. The studies reviewed by him showed no statistically significant difference in intelligence between blacks, whites and Hispanic kids. They all had similar IQ levels. The problem was a discrepancy in the opportunities provided to black or Hispanic kids.
Gladwell found that the main problem is our beloved summer
vacations, a cultural legacy of the previous century. By quoting the research
of a John Hopkins sociologist, Gladwell points out that summer vacation is the
main handicap for poor black kids. While underprivileged black kids easily can
outperform their rich classmates during the academic year, they forget the
learned skills and fall behind after a long idle summer break. Most of the white
kids from the suburbs, meanwhile, get ahead during summer breaks and improve
their scores by attending summer school and continue to learn during summer
break.
The academic failure of the black youth was simply the
accumulation of educational gaps generated during those summer breaks over
multiple years.
What is solution to this problem?
Simple: We should eliminate or shorten the summer break in
inner city schools!
This controversial solution to falling test scores is slowly
getting the attention from some charter schools. Simply look at the Pioneer Charter School of Science, started
by Turkish-born educators in Everett, Massachusetts. Pioneer’s academic year is
200 days, which is 20 days longer than regular public schools’ academic year.
Pioneer also provides optional Turkish language classes and summer school for
kids to the interested families. Their goal is not just to help students
graduate from high school but get them ready for college and the competitive
job market.
Pioneer Charter School,
with its predominantly African-American and Hispanic student body, has
emphasized math and science as a path to college and a promising career. Pioneer’s
students outperformed students from neighboring districts and the rest of the
state in the statewide averages on this year’s MCAS exams. Compared to
districts across the state, Pioneer Charter School is ranked first in the state
on the 10th grade English and the Science & Technology/Engineering
categories on MCAS.
Another school founded by Turkish-born educators in Buffalo,
New York – The Buffalo Academy of Science
Charter School (BASCS) – also serves predominantly African American inner
city demographics. About 85-90 percent of the students attending BASCS qualify for free lunch. This year, BASCS
reached a 91 percent high school graduation rate. This success was a result of
long academic year and summer programs. This is a huge success considering that
some public schools in Buffalo are facing imminent closure due to outrageously
low graduation rates as low as 40 percent.
Already applying the same principles popularized by
Gladwell, charter schools will create a paradigm shift within the failing
public school system by having shorter summer breaks and longer school days.
When the legions of black kids graduating from these Turkish-run charter
schools go on to college, they will change their impoverished communities in
the most dramatic of ways.
Law schools and medical schools across the nation should be
ready to admit these overachieving black kids armed with world-class education
given by schools similar to Pioneer Charter School and Buffalo Academy of
Science.
Let’s keep our kids in school for the summer and give them
the opportunity to catch up with their classmates. When your kids become
academic superstars, you will remember all those summer days that you drove
your kids to school and feel good about it.
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