Haycock said data collection was vital to keep track of the status of minorities in the country. “It shows how opportunity plays out in America,” she said. “We haven’t restructured opportunities and until that happens, we’ll keep seeing the gaps.”
According to Hill, NCLB has “made a mess of race.” He said, “To use NCLB for this proposition [racially dividing schools] is a big mistake. It is confounded by the increasing number of immigrants. But as we see Hispanic immigrants progress after every generation, it has not been the same for African Americans."
However, Haycock said there are a number of public and charter schools that have worked well for minority children and there are results to show for it.
Abigail Thernstrom said that if schools don’t address the cultural differences between various groups, the achievement gap will not be closed.
“Good schools do change the culture of the school,” she said. “It delivers the message that you can climb the ladder of opportunity regardless of the color of your skin."
-- By Shilpa Banerji
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