This month, most Arkansas public schoolchildren are taking a high-stakes exam that will determine the pass/ fail designation for their respective schools. The long-term implications for student non-proficiency are potentially devastating for a school and the district they are a part of.
Yet that same test holds little consequence (short- and long-term) for the student. They will still graduate, and a few of those who fail the test will still go to college.
However, for African American students there is an underlying crisis with this test and every other high-stakes exam a school might administer. Many of our children will not only fail this exam, but in the process they will verify a growing national concern. A disproportionate number of black children in Arkansas' secondary schools read poorly, or barely read, and very few read on grade level.
While this is not a conversational topic that is appealing to people of color, it is undoubtedly time to stop running from the truth of the matter. The societal impact is simply too enormous to disregard. Regarding their inability to read at level, black children are in a state of crisis.
Across the country in largely urban, suburban and in many rural areas, few black children come to public schools and exit those schools reading at a grade level consistent with being labeled functionally literate. Quite the opposite; many black children leave public schools as functional illiterates. An inordinate number are barely able to write well-reasoned sentences, read simple book passages, fill out college admittance forms, or complete basic job applications. Their inability to read for understanding compromises their ability to adequately prepare for, and perform on, the most basic assessment instruments.
Imagine the inability to comprehend the most basic reading passages on any meaningful standardized assessment. Find the average black male student at any middle school, and watch him struggle with creating and writing basic coherent sentences in a paragraph. Many will still be passed on, woefully unprepared for the rigor of high school. That being said, the ACT Aspire will test students' ability to comprehend.
How does one comprehend what they can't read?
I am deeply troubled by the current state of this union where in secondary schools black illiteracy exists and thrives. There are no exceptions. Urban, suburban, rural, high poverty, and wealthy school districts all across this country and across this state experience the same problem.
As a practicing administrator, I am exposed to this lack of functional literacy daily. Unfortunately, my experience confirms that an alarming percentage of black parents are giving their children (reading) passes at home. In short, they have not only assisted with creating the crisis, but now they become accomplices to the crime of sustaining the crisis.
There are, of course, issues that add to this emergency. Adult illiteracy, homelessness, incarceration, and abject poverty all contribute to this crisis. But even those societal disadvantages can be overcome by a simple desire to read; something, anything, it doesn't matter. Just read.
As an urban school principal for more than 15 years, today I see less desire by African American children to become proficient in reading and fluent in spoken English than ever before. This is the ultimate disrespect toward black history ... period.
History books are replete with stories of how slaves were brutally punished for seeking the opportunity to learn and teach others how to read. However, today as I observe a majority of African American children not take advantage of the fundamental right to a free and appropriate education, I am saddened. The lack of effort from our children and the lack of public discourse by African American parents, legislators, and community leadership to address this crisis is alarming.
Why the black community at large refuses to address the root cause of this major social ill in our communities and in our school is perplexing. By extension, generations of African American children continue to leave public schools ill-equipped to succeed in any arena of public life after school. If we don't fix this expeditiously, we will continue to graduate students who are not only unprepared for advanced studies beyond high school, but who also become a strain on the potential labor market in areas where economic growth depends on the educated populace.
I have asked my district to make reading on the high school level mandatory for children who fail state assessments. I understand the root cause of this crisis, and it is not just poverty, but the inability of my students to understand convoluted word problems that appear to be a foreign language when they test.
Basic preparation to develop adequate literacy skills must apply. Write is only right when a pen and paper are present. It's my problem today, but it will be "our" problem soon enough.
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Dr. Michael Nellums, Ed.D., is principal of Pine Bluff High School.
Editorial on 04/27/2019