Over Morning Coffee

It's September and kids are back in school. As a retired high school teacher, I always feel nostalgic this time of year as I remember the students. When they stepped into the building, the halls came alive. Some were excited, some were more hesitant, and all were wondering what would be expected of them that year. Most would meet those expectations and others would struggle. Unfortunately, some would fail.

It was those students, especially, that drew my attention, and I spent the final 15 years of my teaching career working with at-risk teens in an alternative high school setting. During my time as lead instructor, I coordinated a team of certified teachers to help students who had dropped out, or were in danger of dropping out, of high school. Together, we assisted over 200 teens in completing credits needed for their high school diplomas.

Because of my experience with under-achieving and reluctant learners, I am troubled by recent calls for equity in schools. It aims to create an equal outcome in education – an impossible goal because students differ greatly in ability and the effort they put into learning. Each student is unique and should not be subjected to a cookie-cutter system that attempts to make them all the same.

The idea of lowering standards in the name of fairness is deeply unfair to students at every level. Society loses if the most capable people are not allowed to excel. At best, equity in education is a feel-good effort to make it appear as though under-achievers are on par with their peers, performing at grade-level proficiency. At worst, it is educational malpractice.

Decisions to lower, and even eliminate, education standards in the name of fairness are appalling. From Ivy League universities to school district classrooms, advanced courses are being dropped and standards revised downward in order to make education more equitable for the disadvantaged minority. Unfortunately, these misguided efforts will fail to prepare disadvantaged students for life after high school. They will neither be prepared for post-secondary education nor possess the skills needed for better-paying jobs.

Equity has become the latest buzzword in education. Tests that require critical thinking in order to write essays and short answers have been replaced with much easier multiple-choice and true-false questions where a passing grade can possibly be earned simply by guessing. Social promotion is used to advance students even when they are unable to read or write at grade level. Grading scales have been revised down to 50 percent as passing. In many places, even the ACT/SAT college admissions exams have been eliminated.

Educational institutions at all levels are lowering the bar. One of the most egregious examples can be seen in several states where grants from the Gates Foundation support an "Equitable Math" curriculum. Equitable Math aims to do away with the idea that there are right and wrong answers in math because, "the concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false." Middle school students will no longer be placed by ability in traditional or advanced math classes. In order to promote equity, all students will be placed in the same math class at their grade level. Accelerated math will not be offered.

Some private schools have replaced entrance exams with a lottery in order to make the student body more "inclusive," no matter the student's ability to keep up with requirements. Until this past year, 27 states required an exit exam to graduate from high school; now, only 11 states still require it. (An exit exam is not required for high schoolers in Iowa, but the state does administer standardized tests to measure grade-level proficiency of high schoolers.)

Lowering the bar in the name of fairness is blatantly unfair to everyone, especially those whom it is purportedly designed to help – struggling and disadvantaged learners, many of whom happen to be minorities. The push for equity in education assumes they cannot succeed. Rather than changing teaching methods to help them be successful, the current trend is to lower the standards to give the impression they have succeeded when they have not. To quote President George W. Bush, it is "the soft bigotry of low expectations," the mistaken assumption that these students are incapable of achieving success.

As a teacher with years of experience working with at-risk teens, I reject the idea of equity. I know first-hand that students who have fallen behind, or dropped out entirely, can turn things around and graduate. They need teachers and mentors who believe. They need a school system that provides trained instructors, methods to match different learning styles, interventional strategies, and an environment that fits their individual needs. We cannot give up on under-achieving and disadvantaged learners in the name of equity. With help and support, they can meet expectations and reach their full potential.

Bonnie Ewoldt, of rural Milford, is a retired teacher, news junkie and freelance writer. Her opinion pieces have appeared online and in newspapers across Iowa and neighboring states. Visit her blog at http://www.bonniesblogbox.wordpress.com.