In suburban Chicago, an integrated school with a 13 percent African American population -- many of whom are struggling academically -- is trying something controversial to close the achievement gap: racially segregated extra help for minority students, including an all-black ACT prep class and a peer tutoring program for non-white students. In our December print issue, I'll have a feature article on a similar program in New York that goes even a step further, targeting boys of color in particular for academic enrichment and social support. While it makes sense that students with different family and cultural backgrounds need different kinds of support at school, these programs are potentially problematic. Although the Daily Herald article doesn't mention it, when the Supreme Court struck down Seattle's integration program early this year, it immediately put all public school programs that target children according to race at risk. And then there's the debate over whether focusing on children's socio-economic class is more important or at least less politically volatile than focusing on their race. Are children of color are stigmatized further by special school programs that explicitly call attention to the racial achievement gap? I like what Ronald Ferguson, director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University, told the Daily Herald: "Being racially equitable doesn't mean treating everybody the same. It doesn't mean being race blind. ... It can be done in ways that are condescending and stigmatizing and it can be done in ways that are caring and uplifting, so the details matter." --Dana Goldstein
