The Harlem Children’s Zone educational methods, aimed at leveling the playing field in a system rife with gaps in achievement between students, may be an applicable model in other educational systems around the country, according to a Harvard University professor.
Economics professor Roland G. Fryer Roland spoke to a group of about 35 Boston University students and professors in the Howard Thurman Center Wednesday about what components of the program could help narrow educational achievement gaps.
The Harlem Children’s Zone includes academy charter schools, early childhood programs and Harlem Gems. The HCZ schools have health and dental services, social workers, data-oriented instruction, longer school days, skilled teachers, student incentives, nutritious school lunches and coordinated after-school programs, Fryer said.
Though HCZ schools have decreased the achievement gap, Fryer said it is hard to say exactly why this program is working.
“It’s pretty impossible to disentangle,” he said.
Research has shown it is not solely teacher incentives, social workers, student incentives or longer school days that improve a gap that can be observed as early as fourth grade, when black and Latino students are already three years behind their white and Asian-American peers, he said.
“Are the things that children bring to school too much for an educator to control?” Fryer asked.
He said breaking down the HCZ strategies to use in other cities is important since inequalities in America start with inequality in the education system.
“This is it,” he said. “If you are born with money you can get a high quality education, if you are born without, it is very hard. I’m just trying to level the playing field.”
Students said they were excited about this progress but had mixed feelings as to whether these programs could be extended to a wider scale.
College of Engineering junior Kurt Abrams saw Fryer’s special “Black in America” on CNN and wanted to learn more.
“It gives me something more to think about,” he said. “I’m an engineering student and I believe that the achievement gap is an issue behind everyone’s mind, not because of the racial issue but because everyone wants to do as well as they can.”
College of Arts and Sciences senior Delphene Whittaker said she was impressed by the statistics but wonders how all of this progress can spread.
“I’m interested in the school bundle,” she said about HCZ. “But can we really have that replicated and sold to other schools?”
College of Communication sophomore Tabitha Watson said the hardest part for any school system is validating teachers.
“Why don’t you have a teacher come in and teach a class before you hire them?” she said.
Apply Harlem approach to close achievement gap, speaker says
Published: Thursday, September 17, 2009
Updated: Thursday, September 17, 2009
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