TL;DR:
- Black and brown kids are underrepresented in higher-level courses such as honors and AP.
- We need to move the conversation away from grades and towards experiences.
- How can we encourage kids to get into the habit of challenging themselves?
A Personal Experience
Your PLN will push you towards conversations that you won’t see coming. This happened to me during my time spent with my podcast mates, Doug, Deanna, and Stephen. As we engaged in a conversation around representation, the following question came up:
How can we address the disproportionate representation of black and brown students within AP courses?
Even after the podcast was over, I couldn’t shake that question.
When our oldest daughter prepared for her freshman year, my wife and I had a very productive conversation with her about AP and honors courses. My wife shared her thoughts on what subjects she should explore within these course offerings. Grades were the common theme in my daughter and wife’s discussion, while growth and goal-setting was my focus.
It’s time for us school leaders to take charge of leading with a growth mindset centered on conversations with our black and brown parents. Click To TweetWe need to examine generational gatekeeping.
Black and brown students are brilliant in the classroom however formal testing is a big part of final grades. Some grading also factors in participation (some students are introverts). Other includes compliance (some students are vocal about expressing inequity and advocating for themselves). These factors have played a huge role in black and brown students not always scoring the highest grades on their report cards. These students accepted the fact that they were solid “B” students.
The issue is that the aforementioned students weren’t given the opportunity to challenge themselves. These students reserved themselves to the fact that they were not AP or Honors students because they did not have straight A’s. The generational problem is that these students are now parents of middle and high school students. They are basing their decisions on whether their children should take AP and Honors classes around grades. The way in which education has been done to black and brown students throughout time has stifled their perspectives around these honors courses.
Leveling the Playing Field: We can change this!
This is where educators of today can change this trajectory. All across the globe, leaders have engaged in equity committee meetings, book clubs, and other forms of professional development. Now, it’s time to put it into practice. It’s time for us school leaders to take charge of leading with a growth mindset centered on conversations with our black and brown parents. We need to be the first participants in meeting with black and brown parents to take grades out of the conversation and accentuate the greatness that we see in the classroom. We need to frame weaknesses as areas of growth.
One of my favorite books is The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh, Craig Walsh, and Steve Jamison. It has been my blueprint when it comes to talking with parents about their kids’ academic growth and development. We must inform parents of any and all brilliant spots in their lives. We should encourage parents to challenge their kids and be intentional about doing this on a more consistent basis.
Enrollment in AP and Honors Courses: My Duty as a Leader
As a school leader at the elementary level, this is an area of intentionality for me. Between grades one and five, I must promote conversations that focus on future possibilities for kids by giving families strategies to build on their child’s strengths. The key then would be strategic follow-up. When conversations are rooted less on grades, we build the confidence of black and brown students towards the mindset of challenging themselves. This heavy-lift will get easier. The groundwork with shifting parents’ mindsets earlier in their child’s educational career about the lack of straight A’s determining the success in AP and Honors courses will change.
It doesn’t stop there.
When students reach the secondary level, educators must continue those same conversations. But they must shift to staying the course even when adversity comes, especially in the form of grades less than an A. Many parents of black and brown students will tell you that they would rather have their kid in a “regular” class where they are tasting success at getting A’s rather than getting lower grades in a higher-level course. This is where educators get stuck in the conversation and then we are right back to underrepresentation in these courses.
My favorite professor in college, Dr. Chan, taught me something that changed my life. Even when I’ve found myself wallowing in periods of mediocrity during my career, his words stir up within me. He taught me to always challenge myself higher than what I believe I could achieve. He said that when you get used to giving maximum effort, working at a high level becomes the norm and it will eventually be routine for you. That’s what we need to give to our parents and students. It’s not about the A’s. It’s about practicing a behavior, challenging oneself, and working at a higher level rather than settling for mediocrity.
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Where Do We Go From Here?
Here comes another accountability piece for us as educators. We must stay in contact with our parents early and often once our number of black and brown students in AP and Honors courses grows closer to proportionate. We must continue to focus on the growth aspect of their child’s performance and not allow grades to take over the conversation.
It’s about exposure right now. I’m not saying that there aren’t students of any background that may need to move out of an AP or Honors course. But those decisions should be made collectively with the teacher, student, parent, and counselor. A student’s perspective and goals for their future should factor heavily in those decisions. This blog post is just the tip of the iceberg in a conversation that needs to be ever-evolving in order to address these inequities in enrollment in AP and Honors courses.
About Jerod Phillips Sr.
Dr. Jerod Phillips Sr. is a Principal at the elementary level in Delaware. He stepped into this role halfway through June 2021 after being the Assistant Principal at the same school since July 2018. He is passionate about developing positive public relations between the district, school, students, parents and the overall community.
As a result of Dr. Phillips’ journey from teacher to Principal while being connected, he believes that being a connected educator can help take one’s career to unprecedented heights. Dr. Phillips is the Delaware National Outstanding Assistant Principal of the Year for 2021. He is one of the three co-hosts of the podcast, Speaking Educationally.
He has a B.S. in Finance and Banking from Delaware State University, a M.S. in Educational Leadership from Purdue University, and his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership and Management at Capella University. Dr. Phillips is a proud husband and father of 3 (2 daughters and 1 son), and he is very active in his church.
