Achievement Gap: Montclair School Officials Prepare To Tackle Longstanding Issue

MONTCLAIR, NJ — What steps are Montclair school officials taking to combat the district’s racially tinted achievement gap issues for the 2016-17 school year?

Earlier this month, Interim Superintendent Ron Bolandi issued a letter to parents and guardians informing them about the “many new initiatives in place that are designed to continue our work closing the achievement (learning) gap” for the new school year.

According to Bolandi, these initiatives include:

• Undoing Racism workshops continue with nearly 250 staff trained so far and more scheduled workshops for October, November, and December. This diversity training is designed to enhance the delivery of instruction for all students and build a team of culturally sensitive educators.
• Our tutorial programs with community partners and clergy that took place in the last quarter and during the summer will continue throughout the year and provide support for our most needy students.
• District data was analyzed and along with staff/parent input, we developed a consistent K-5 literacy program. Our literacy presentation can be found on our website, here. This year the district begins its second year of a consistent K-5 math program.
• We are engaging Montclair State University to assist us with tutorial and staff development programs.
• Algebra placement and course offerings were redesigned for middle and high school and beginning this year, all students will have the opportunity to progress in math reaching higher levels. More details on math and algebra can be found on this website.
• To more efficiently benefit our most needy students, we have removed all staff salary allocations from Title I funds and have dedicated these funds to programming.
• With the 3D Printing Initiative, we have successfully instituted STEM teaching and learning in all buildings, K-12.

MONTCLAIR’S ACHIEVEMENT GAP

In June of 2015, the members of the Montclair School District’s Achievement Gap Panel (AGAP) released a report about the inequality that its members said is plaguing the district’s public schools.

• See related article: Black and White: Fixing The Student Achievement Gap In Montclair

AGAP members stated that the district’s problems included:

• In Montclair, four out of 10 (40 percent) of black students are not proficient in language arts (reading) by the end of 3rd grade. By contrast, 90 percent of white students are proficient.
• Black students make up about 80 percent of school suspensions at the high school, while representing only 38 percent of the total school population. Black middle school students represent about 70 percent of school suspensions, while representing only 32 percent of the total population.
• White students make up 72 percent of enrolled AP students at the high school, yet are 49 percent of the total population; Black students are 11 percent of AP classes and 35 percent of the total population.

File Photo: Montclair Public Schools

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