Fifteen year old Steven (the name
has been changed to protect his identity) was the kind of student who used to
go to his local library regularly for peace and quiet and the opportunity to
read books. He was an engaging young man who was liked by his classmates and
teachers. In many ways he represented the majority of students who attend
schools in the United States.
Tragically, he was killed last year as he approached the library he used to
frequent.
I have the great honor of serving
as the President of the school district where Steven was a student. As President of this school district, a
resident of Steven’s home state, and a citizen of the United States,
I called upon political leaders, educators and my fellow citizens to completely redesign public education
to ensure that students like Steven have the opportunity to get the education
they need to become productive citizens. The future of our country depends upon
the redesign of education to ensure that all students receive positive
educational influences from 8:00 am
to 8:00 pm.
But privately, many of these
leaders know that this gap will never change with an exclusive focus on the 8:00 am to 3:00 pm education window.
As a school board member who has
served on public, private and charter school boards, I am convinced that the
quality of the curriculum and teaching provided students in schools is a
vitally important component of their learning. However, as someone who has
established and run after-school programs for students and their parents, I
have learned that the influences in the lives of students outside of school are
more important to their academic success.
Unfortunately, current education
policy assumes that a student’s classroom experiences account for 100% of the
positive influence they need to succeed in school. It is clear that influences outside of
school, however, account for at least 50% (and, more likely, 75%) of the
educational influences in a student’s life - as students spend more than 70% of
their day outside of a classroom. Yet
funding does not reflect this fact.
Steven was yet another of the
hundreds of thousands of victims of negative community influences. He was not a
member of a local gang in his hometown.
But he was killed by a gang member and was clearly a victim of the
negative forces in his neighborhood. Tragically, our district has applied for
funding from government and nonprofit organizations to create programs for
students like Steven, which would enable us to provide the positive educational
influence from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm that these students need to
succeed in school and to “stay alive.” However, we have not received funding
because of the almost exclusive focus of public and foundation dollars on the 8:00 am to 3:00 pm education of
students.
To close this achievement gap,
public policy must accept and utilize a concept that we call “Intelligent Influence”. This approach to
academic and life success is founded on the belief that the influences in every
person’s life blend seamlessly with their personality to determine their
actions.
Frequently, the quality of the
curriculum and teaching is irrelevant to a student’s success. Many students in
urban schools, with outstanding teachers, get excellent grades because they
have a mix of positive influences throughout the day and evening that
complement their personality in a way that ensures their academic success. Conversely, students in the same class who
are struggling in school have an overwhelming number of negative influences
after-school and in the evening that blend with their personality to ensure
academic failure or even death (as in Steven’s case).
Few people would argue with the
fact that students who are influenced by positive mentors to do homework
after-school and in the evening will do better academically than students who
are influenced by gangs to ignore their school work. However, public policy and
funding virtually ignore the need to provide the after-school and evening
influence necessary to turn struggling students into exceptional students. To make matters worse, there is very little
research on the impact of influences outside of the classroom on the test
scores of students.
Some people believe that it is exclusively
the parent’s responsibility to provide this positive influence after-school and
at home. However, the number of broken
or unhealthy homes often outnumbers the healthy homes in most poor communities. Far too many parents are incapable of providing
this critical positive influence on a consistent basis (either because of their
lack of education or because they work multiple jobs to feed their family).
If, as a society, we are serious
about closing the achievement gap, reducing crime, minimizing taxes, and saving
lives, we need to support programs that provide the educational influences
students need from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm, the “at risk” hours for youth. This can
be done without increasing taxes. As a former senior state government official
I can guarantee that a seamless integration of current state funding from the
Departments of Education, Human Services, Law and Public Safety and Community
Affairs will enable the state to adequately support 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm programs
(at current funding levels) that can increase high school graduation rates,
significantly increase test scores, reduce crime, minimize taxes, and save
lives.
We call the utilization of Intelligent Influence in public
education (i.e. investing in the integration of positive influences into the
lives of all students before, during and after-school) “Influence Driven Education” If we do not provide this type of
education to students, the gap in test scores will continue to widen and crime
will continue to increase because more students will succumb to the temptations
of the urban streets. Even more tragically, Steven’s death will have meant
nothing to society as a whole.
