Tom,
Thanks for your thoughtful response.
I attempted to reply but my response was sent for review, for
some unknown reason.
Pixie

On 10/19/09, Tom wrote:
> One of the main points Patrick Welsh (teacher) makes in that
> piece is this: The reason African American kids (as a group)
> display an educational achievement gap is that they don't
> have fathers at home.
>
> I propose that this is likely a case of correlation rather
> than causation. Here's why...
>
> 1. If you did a study of ALL kids who are growing up in
> fatherless homes, this hypotheses would suggest findings
> commensurate with current African American achievement. So,
> MOST kids without fathers - regardless of socio-economic
> status or ethnic identity - would have similar test scores. I
> seriously doubt that this is true. My guess that the
> achievement of fatherless kids will break down according to
> socio-economic strati, and not ethnic or racial. (Anyone want
> to research this?)
>
> 2. After reading Paul Tough's book on Geoffrey
> Canada, "Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change
> Harlem and America," I propose a different hypotheses: The
> reason African American kids (as a group) don't do as well as
> Caucasian and Latino kids is that a greater percentage of
> them are in a lower socio-economic class. AND the values of
> that class DO NOT INCLUDE reading and reasoning with kids
> from a very early age. As Geoffrey Canada found out,
> the "middle class values" of lots of talking, lots of
> reading, lots of questioning, lots of discussion designed to
> impart curiousity and thinking skills ... well, these values
> are simply not held by most people in the lowest socio-
> economic groups.
>
> 3. To create more educational success in the African American
> community in Harlem, Geoffrey Canada has created parenting
> programs which actually teach those middle class values to
> the parents in each home. And it seems to be having a
> profound impact.
>
> So, my guess is that the African American students in Patrick
> Welsh's classes were not read to when they were young, and
> were not intellectually stimulated by a parent who held the
> development of their child's thinking skills to be of
> paramount value. Most kids with home backgrounds like this
> will come to kindergarten WAY unprepared, and will have an
> extremely difficult time catching up. Without the bedrock of
> reading and thought development, they simply flounder in
> deeper and deeper water with each new grade level. By the
> time they get to high school (IF they get to high school),
> their competence and confidence levels are incredibly ... and
> oh-so-frustratingly low.
>
> Incidentally, one of the other points in Welsh's article
> relates to the lack of "discipline" created by the lack of a
> father in the home. Ironically, the other major difference
> that Canada found in Harlem is the TYPE of "discipline" that
> these parents were using. The Harlem parents were doing a lot
> of hitting/spanking and shouting, and NOT the middle class-
> valued behaviors such as emotional coaching, time outs,
> reasoning, helping the kid develop an understanding and
> different coping strategies so they can "do it differently
> next time...."
>
> Again, it's associated with class and not skin color, with
> the middle class discipline structure imparting skills with
> support success at school, and the lower class structure
> throwing mental/emotional roadblocks to that same success.
> And simply having a father in the home to deliver MORE of
> that ineffective discipline (louder shouting, harder hitting)
> will likely just make things worse.
>
> All my best,
>
> Tom

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