It's not often that Ohio education makes national news for positive items, so when Gadfly found this article detailing the methods Shaker Heights school district - just outside of Cleveland - is using to close the achievement gap, we had to share it. Among the district's successful reforms highlighted in the New York Times piece are an after-school tutoring center, a peer mentoring group, and early reading intervention. While the achievement gap in Shaker Heights has narrowed considerably, it still exists - a testimony, according to author (and veteran Times reporter) Michael Winerip, to the powerful influences of economics and home environment. But, the article makes clear, schools really can make a difference. And for those of us in Ohio, we need look no further than Shaker Heights for evidence.
"How one suburb's black students gain," by Michael Winerip, New York Times, December 14, 2005 [free subscription required]
"Shaker parents speak up about race," by Angela Townsend, Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 28, 2005