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Why attention will return to non-school factors
- 05-24-2011
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Commentary by Jeffrey R. Henig and S. Paul Reville/Education Week
Jeffrey R. Henig is a professor of political science and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. S. Paul Reville is the Massachusetts secretary of education.
When thinking about their own families, parents take it as a given that nonschool factors—good health, good food, emotional well-being, safety, stability, enrichment activities, positive peer influences, parental encouragement, and guidance—affect whether their children will thrive. When studying patterns of educational achievement, analysts take it as a given that socioeconomic status, concentrations of poverty, and school and residential mobility are dominating predictors that must be statistically controlled for before one can accurately register weaker and less reliable effects of teachers and schools. That there are exceptions to the rule—that children and schools in poor neighborhoods succeed against all odds—does not gainsay the core reality that the odds are steep. But in polite education reform circles, drawing attention to community and other nonschool factors is met with impatience, resigned shrugs, or a weary rolling of the eyes. (more...)
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