More partners needed to close school achievement gaps

On Tuesday, we will begin another new school year in the Charleston County School District and at the College of Charleston. This new beginning is a good time to reflect on the successes of the Charleston County School District Plan for Excellence and the College of Charleston's Center for Partnerships to Improve Education. We believe our unique and innovative partnership promises to benefit our children. Numerous activities and accomplishments provide evidence that we are on track to improved public education. We will mention just a few:

1) We have made impressive academic gains at Burke High School.

2) Through our Middle Grades Acceleration Program (M-GAP) at James Island Middle School, many over-aged and at-risk middle school students from James Island and Johns Island have accelerated their academic performance and are moving to high school.

3) The Greater Charleston Chamber of Commerce and Education Foundation offer support for improved public education.

4) Mayors Hallman, Riley, Summey, our School Board, and other political leaders are staunch supporters of our public school students and teachers.

5) We have a good relationship with Dr. Jim Rex, the S.C. Superintendent of Education, and have agreed to focus attention on the Palmetto Priority Schools in Charleston and implement model programs that will ensure better performance for students throughout South Carolina.

Our greatest challenge is addressing the needs of the 21,000 of our 45,000 students in the Charleston County School District who live in poverty. Their school progress is impeded by non-academic issues.

These students come to school with significant challenges. They do not have the necessary health care, family resources or other support to ensure high levels of learning.

Even in high-performing schools, a significant achievement gap exists between students from higher socioeconomic status homes and those who live in poverty. When Pedro Noguera, a professor of education at New York University talks about the achievement gap, he says, "The gap is not new. What is new is the idea that we should and must close the gap and that all students should be learning."

The most important ingredient for the academic success of a student is a good teacher. In many cases, students with the greatest academic needs are being taught by teachers who are new to the profession and/or not as well prepared. Very few of our National Board Certified teachers and many teachers with temporary certificates are teaching our most challenged students. Teaching is hard work and is made even harder when engaging with children and families who live in poverty.

While many individuals and families have broken out of the cycle of poverty and improved their quality of life through educational attainment, large segments of poor children are still not getting the education they need. Many students from poverty need more time, more support and more extensive educational opportunities.

Given these circumstances, what can we do? We need to form more partnerships and focus support on children and families who live in poverty. We, as individuals, families and churches, and through state, national and international companies, must commit to supporting a child, a family or a school, and work with educators to provide the necessary resources, through focused partnerships, to improve the functioning of that child, that family and that school. To be effective, these efforts must be sustained. To close the achievement gap in Charleston, we need to join with other agencies and individuals to form a child and family welfare agenda to support students who live in poverty.

In the commencement address at Harvard this past June, Bill Gates shared his mother's powerful, frequently spoken words: "From those to whom much is given, much is expected."

Charleston is a beautiful city, many of us lead privileged lives, but we have many children and families living in poverty. Through these focused partnerships, we can harness the necessary resources to overcome this poverty — the major barrier to improved public education in Charleston.

Dr. Nancy J. McGinley is superintendent of the Charleston County School District. Dr. Fran Welch is dean of the College of Charleston's School of Education, Health, and Human Performance.