Good News About Good Schools
May 22, 2006 Volusia school officials keep raising the barBy LINDA TRIMBLE
News-Journal Education WriterVolusia County school officials are shooting at a moving target in their efforts to close the achievement gap, not wanting simply to bring minority students up to the level where white students are performing today, but striving to push everyone to a higher level of learning. To achieve that goal, school officials are taking a broad approach that includes enlisting minority community leaders to serve on advisory committees; pushing more students -- especially minorities -- into tougher courses; providing diversity training for key staff and encouraging parents to get more involved in their child´s education. The Latino Advisory Committee is developing a mentoring program to match Hispanic students with adults who can help them set goals for academic success. It´s also looking into establishing a "newcomer" program where students who don´t speak English could get intensive language instruction up front and outfitting a bus that could take bilingual information about school programs to areas with large concentrations of Hispanic residents. The African-American Advisory Committee has been reaching out to the community too, partly through a January forum at Campbell Middle School to discuss what the school district is doing to close the achievement gap and how parents and the community can help. Only a handful of parents showed up at the Saturday morning meeting. While disappointed, school officials said they´ll continue to schedule such forums, possibly piggybacking on already scheduled school events or services at black churches to try to reach a wider audience. The committee also is working with school district officials to incorporate African-American history throughout the curriculum of Volusia schools. Stetson University Professor Patrick Coggins, who serves on the committee, is helping to develop the multicultural curriculum expected to be ready in October. Without learning about the role their ancestors played in American history, Coggins said minority students often feel like outsiders and have a hard time visualizing their role in the nation´s future. "If you don´t integrate these things, kids grow up confused as though they can´t compete," Coggins said. To push more students into rigorous academic courses, Volusia middle and high schools are reviewing thousands of student records to identify students not working up to their potential. Hundreds of additional minority students enrolled in advanced courses this year as a result. "We will know we have reached success when you can look at any honors course in any school and see the same diversity and same success (as the general school population)," said Deputy Superintendent Chris Colwell.
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