Afrocentric Charter Schools in Detroit Show Strong Results

To fight against disproportionately high dropout rates of black students, and the ever-present "achievement gap," education professionals agree that learning must be "relevant, meaningful and interesting" to keep the most at-risk students engaged. It turns out that Afrocentric-themed schools in Detroit are seeing improved standardized test results from students who hail from some of the most challenging environments in the state.

At Marcus Garvey Academy in Detroit, the week begins with the recitation of black history facts followed by the sounds of drummers summoning students to an assembly. Students sing the black national anthem and recite the school creed, which starts, "I will have faith in myself. ... I can learn! I will learn! I must learn!" This is before any reading, writing and arithmetic. Garvey is an African-centered educational environment, and in 2008, its students outperformed the state average in most categories on the MEAP. Three other African-centered schools in Detroit serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade fared better than the Detroit Public Schools average. Source: How Marcus Garvey Academy Rises Above, freep.com

Like many charter schools, strong character and pride are taught hand-in-hand with academics. And the love-of-self is what Garvey teachers, parents and students see as a distinguishing benefit to this kind of educational environment.

African-centered schools outperform others because of their family-oriented environment, said Haki Madhubuti, a nationally renowned educator. "It is critical that you love yourself. ... If you have humanity, you don't go out and shoot people," he said.

Open to anyone in the Detroit Public Schools district, Garvey has surpassed DPS and state scores on the MEAP in many areas, despite moving and merging three times in the last eight years and high poverty rates among students. More than 86 percent are economically disadvantaged. Source: How Marcus Garvey Academy Rises Above, freep.com

Although I'm excited to see a model that is successful in motivating underserved kids, I hope these kids are prepared to function and thrive in a world filled with people of many colors and cultures. Civil rights stalwart, Southern Poverty Law Center has even raised considerations that charter schools are fueling a "re-segregation" of America.

Are charter schools helping to resegregate public schools? A just-released study states flatly that they are. The Washington Post reports that:

"Seven out of 10 black charter school students are on campuses with extremely few white students, according to a new study of enrollment trends that shows the independent public schools are less racially diverse than their traditional counterparts.

[ ] "To the authors of the study, the findings point to a civil rights issue: 'As the country continues moving steadily toward greater segregation and inequality of education for students of color in schools with lower achievement and graduation rates,' the study concludes, 'the rapid growth of charter schools has been expanding a sector that is even more segregated than the public schools.'" Source: Charter Schools:Resegregating America? Teaching Tolerance

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