Before children even get to school though, their home environment has a huge impact on their cognitive development. One key element for success is early language learning. Another is habitual positive reinforcement and encouragement. Children who hear fewer words are stunted in their development, and those who do most poorly have parents who also continually discourage them. As they reach school age and later go into the work force, the more involved their parents are, the more successful their children.
Tough concentrates on at-risk kids who have been put back on the path to success in life by strong measures and long days at charter schools committed to their cause. One was founded by a self-described "total liberal" who decided she could contribute more by teaching than becoming a civil rights lawyer. Another was started by two recent grads working in Texas through Teach for America who made a practice of rigorously comparing notes on a daily basis to fine-tune what worked and what didn't. They came up with KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program), which includes a positive attitude as part of character development, and have now expanded their "franchise" nationally.
Resistance of course comes from the education establishment, the teachers' union, and their political bedfellow, the Democrat party. Charters have been allowed up until now on an experimental basis, usually the number is capped. The typical critique from the left suggests society must undertake large-scale social engineering to eradicate poverty, the presumed "root cause" of children failing in our schools. The response from the right, (and charter founders are surprised to find themselves in agreement) is to work intensively with the individual children to help them succeed right now.
This debate plays out as NCLB is up for reauthorization next year, a law that has been attacked by the left and the right---the left wanting more money of course, and the right chafing at loss of local control.
Through it all, the teachers' union continues to stifle reform.
Merit pay is also an important component for success. The union opposes extra pay for better results, which is sorely needed to draw effective teachers to help the most needy children. The article cites Illinois as an example of the worst kind of system, where the worst teachers are concentrated in the poorest schools.
But while the article concludes that a one-size fits all approach based on the typical middle class child fails deprived children, I would argue that it also fails other children. Recall the series of articles on Chicago Public Schools that identified a gender gap in performance, regardless of income. And a study in the suburban Wilmette schools identified a gender gap even in an affluent, lighthouse district. Boys did worse academically across the board.
Affluent parents have an out---private schools. Most boys, though, are locked in failing schools, with huge implications for our society.
Any reform of No Child Left Behind needs to consider this as well.
The only way to devote enough resources in time to rescue a generation of children is to throw schoolhouse doors wide open to parental choice. Involving parents in their children's education is key, and letting the funds follow the child is the only way to stop endless bickering over any school's fair share of taxpayer resources.
It's the civil rights issue of our time. And it's the only way for our country to stay competitive in the world in the long run. Our greatest asset is the ingenuity of our people. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
UPDATE: Another good essay from Arnold Kling, TCS, RCP:
While politicians champion more homogeneity in education (national standards; send everyone to college), my guess is that what we need is more differentiation. Students are heterogeneous in terms of their abilities, learning styles, and rates of maturation. Putting every student on the same track is sub-optimal for large numbers of young people.
Some students -- probably more than we realize -- are autodidacts, meaning that they teach themselves at their own pace. One of the brightest students in my high school statistics class simply cannot handle the structure of a school day. He is motivated to learn on his own (he was curious to read my book on health care and asked me for a copy), but he is demotivated by most of his classes.
Kling also suggests replacing community service requirements with classes on entrepreneurship. Read the whole thing.
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