The Shield

The shield is finished!  It will travel with me to Harvard, and back to Canoe Journey. It will carry with it the prayers of many Native American elders, educators, parents, community members for help for our children in ending the achievement gap.  It will make a journey of prayer and hope for one year in the Pacific North West.

    

    However, just what is the achievement gap when perceived through the eyes of a child? Does a child feel it when they are kept in from recess because their homework was not completed, or they are in the "special" classroom,  they are bored, told they are failing? When does the child begin to interpret there is an achievement gap and they have fallen into it? Is it when the test results are returned and once again they are not at"grade level?" 

     I remember when I taught in Spanish Harlem as P S 101. There children who came inconsistently to school, never completed a math assignment were capable of running a business to support themselves on the street.

I remember Tyrone who had become an expert in five finger discount with eggs and cheese. Why? So he could stand on a box and cook himself and his toddler brother a meal. All in a days work. Somewhere out there, outside of the classroom, Tyrone would probably also learn how to turn street opportunities into a livelihood. At least until eventually he got caught, sent to jail, and someone gathering data in a national data bank added his name to the list of the incarcerated without a high school diploma or GED.  

     This page will have no formal references, the references exist in the prayers of the many who care for those who fall into the achievement gap and begin the downward spiral.  If I don't sound all that positive, it's because I am cynical about ever really ending the achievement gap for real. That is the main reason I am going to Harvard: to see if perhaps there is something positive that can be done. In the meantime my fall back position is prayer. As my friend Dr. Troeh, Tsinook said, "That has been the fallback position for our ancestors and our people forever. Its where we start."