Ok, so in my last post I summed up the “Reality Check” survey by Public Agenda which showed some troubling differences in the ways that white students and minority students in the U.S. described their school experiences.

I thought that the survey was interesting, and or course upsetting that there would be such a difference. I do think that it would have been more enlightening if white students and minority students in the same schools had been interviewed for the survey however, because I don’t think that it is a surprise to anyone that issues like dropout rates, drugs, fighting, etc. are more prevalent in inner-city schools than they are in predominantly white areas.

This imbalance is something that my family has first-hand experience with. We adopted our two older girls, who at the time were 9 and 6, two years ago. At that point they were just going into fourth grade and first grade. They had been born and raised to that point in Mississippi, in a predominantly black inner-city area. When my daughters came to us, they hated school. They were afraid of teachers and principals. They were afraid of other kids. One of them had just finished Kindergarten and still did not understand that letters made sounds, nor could she write her own name. The one going into fourth grade had decent grades on her report card, but in actuality, had extremely minimal understanding of basic math concepts and her reading skills were also very behind. So they came to us as two children doing extremely poorly in school and definitely NOT enjoying their school experience.

They told us that where they used to go to school that the teachers and principals still “whooped” the kids when they misbehaved. Des told me once, “Mom, here when you do something wrong at school you get a talking to and maybe a consequence or punishment. In Mississippi, you got beat three times. Once from the teacher, once from the principal and once when you got home.” There was also tons of fighting between students and swearing was rampant (and this was elementary school). My daughter who had just finished kindergarten told us that the teacher used to put the TV on or make them take naps when they “got on her nerves”. They both hated school.

Well, what a difference! After two years with us, they are thriving in school. The younger caught up to her peers very quickly, and the older one is still working on catching up her math skills, but she has made amazing progress overall. They both love school now. They love their teachers, their friends and their principals. Their self-esteem has soared. They not only enjoy school, but all of the extra curricular activities that they participate in, such as Girl Scouts, basketball, the school camping club, chorus, art, etc. They talk about college and professions that they might enjoy (and might pay for their desire for things like convertibles, cell phones and trips to Hawaii!!!)

It saddens me to think of the path that my girls were on and what direction their schooling and their lives would have gone in if drastic changes hadn’t been made. The difference in them two years ago and now is night and day.

We didn’t need a survey to tell us that there is a huge difference in the experience of kids in school in predominantly minority communities and those in predominantly white communities.

How do we begin to address this? How do you raise the quality level of education for all students, no matter where they live and what color their skin is? The sad reality is that many children still are being left behind.