State education secretary addresses achievement gap in Lynn

LYNN – Massachusetts leads the nation and in some respect the world in education but state Secretary of Education Paul Reville said there is still an achievement gap that is plaguing communities such as Lynn.”We lead the nation in fourth and eighth grade English and math, and we have for four consecutive years,” he said. “We have reason to be proud of what we’re doing.”However, Reville noted that not everyone in Lynn fits the state’s mold and Massachusetts does have a much larger achievement gap than other states. Top students are doing very well but too many are also doing poorly, he said.”In the 21st century there is no one-size fits all,” he said. “A 21st century education meets a kid where he is at and gives him quality and the quantity of instruction they need.”Part of meeting a child’s needs includes social and emotional needs as well as their academic. Reville said that is where the district’s Wraparound Zone Grant comes into play, he said. Lynn has received $4.6 million in Race to the Top Money, which funds the Wraparound Grant for the district.The grant is aimed at addressing non-academic and out-of-school learning barriers, with the idea of allowing educators to focus on raising student achievement.Reville said teachers have to be mindful of things that get in the way of student learning, whether its a crisis at home, the fact the student doesn’t have a home, any kind of disruption in the child’s life that is distracting or prohibiting education.”I don’t expect the teacher to solve the problem but I would like that teacher to have the capacity to pick up the phone and call someone in the building who can make a connection for that child to the right agency,” he said.Lynn schools are in the middle of putting such a program in place.Reville said it is not always easy for a teacher to ferret out a given student’s situation either but it is important to pay attention.”I would argue that we have better schools than we’ve ever had ? but we need to pay attention to non-school time,” Reville said.Reville said parent participation is also important to a 21st century education but the question isn’t do they show up on parent/teacher night. It is more about getting parents to be co-educators in their children’s lives, which is hard to do when many of the parents in Lynn don’t speak English. While some have argued that the city needs more GED classes Reville said he would argue more English Language Learner classes are needed.When it comes to ELL students, he said time is also needed.A typical scenario includes thrusting a student who doesn’t speak English into a mainstream school and expecting them to catch up while learning the language and in a year’s time raise their MCAS scores.”Why are we surprised when it doesn’t work?” he said. “It takes more than one year.”Reville, however, praised vocational school. He said vocational educators have figured out how to teach students in a way that is relevant to their lives.”They’ve given kids a way to understand the rationale for what they’re learning and that makes a difference,” he said.He said it creates motivation among students, which you don’t always see in traditional schools.”We ought to have a system that prepares everybody to be successful,” he said.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].