L.A. Task Force Aims to Close Achievement Gap

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Last year, 7 of every 10 African-American high school juniors enrolled in the Los Angeles Unified School District scored below average in language arts.

These numbers keep Sharon V. Robinson up at night.

Robinson, special assistant to the superintendent, has seen similar numbers during her long career at the district. But before she retires in April, she is committed to tackling this issue.

"I was really concerned," Robinson said, who has also served as a teacher, school psychologist and a principal. "Every time we looked at the data we worried. We knew there was something we needed to do to address the problem."

The achievement gap between black students and their white counterparts is a problem faced by districts across the country. In an effort to close that gap, the LAUSD, the second largest district in the country, formed a special task force in January.

The 40-member African-American Task Force is made up of parents, community members, teachers, administrators, social workers and university professors. They will focus on reviewing student data, educational research and identifying successful instructional practices. Task force members will also be charged with compiling a "best practice" guide for the district.

Take, for example, the 122nd Street Elementary School, which scored 825 Academic Performance Index points last year and shows no signs of an achievement gap. The school reached the 800 API proficiency mark set by the state even though more than 80 percent of the students come from economically disadvantaged homes.

"There is a strong belief that every child can learn," said Gayle Pollard-Terry, a district spokeswoman. "We know there is a real collaboration between teachers and leaders and good parent participation."

The 122nd Street School data had shown a significant gap between African-American students and all of other students in math during the 2006-07 school year. By the next school year, the school had a 70-point gain in the API scores. The school has kept the double-digit growth, she said.

The African-American Task Force will look for ways to repeat this success throughout the district. It will also develop a strategy designed to improve student engagement, increase graduation rates and increase the number of African-American students who pass the California High School Exit Exam as sophomores.

This project is expected to end by June 2012, but the task force may present the findings to the superintendent as early as this summer.

"This is a huge issue for me because I've been in education for so long and I want every student to have the same access to education," said Robinson.

It's a big project, Robinson says. But she's ready for it.

Zamudio is a journalist living in California.