Diverse schools are stronger academically and socially

It happens every year. Well-meaning parents begin their exploration for a new home, a place where their kids can attend a "good" school. And what's usually their primary tool for measuring a school's worth? Spurred by our national obsession with standardized tests, they check out the school's scores, assuming the highest average scores define the best schools. They check out demographic statistics, fearing that high populations of minority students translate to schools where gangs rule, violence is common, and expectations are low. Far too often, they don't dig beyond the most basic statistics. They never learn that many diverse schools have challenging curricula, high-achieving graduates, and low rates of violence. The parents never investigate research that clearly shows the benefit of being educated in a diverse environment.

Who loses in the end? We all do. Gary Orfield at Harvard's Civil Rights Project has found an alarming trend toward resegregation of U.S. schools, even though our nation's school-age population is becoming increasingly diverse. One of the reasons is that parents with the economic luxury of moving into the neighborhood of their choice select predominantly white neighborhoods that feed into schools where the vast majority of students look and think alike. Or they move into vibrant diverse neighborhoods and send their children to private schools with little racial diversity and even less economic diversity. The escalating separation o four races and ethnic groups by school raises serious concerns.

Our nation's workforce is becoming more diverse and will continue to do so. Our students must learn how to interact with people different from them--whether as leader, staff, seller, or buyer. This becomes even more significant as our economy becomes more international in scope.

Not only must our students learn how to function in a diverse, global marketplace, they must also be educated participants in our global society. There are serious implications for assuming there is only one lens for viewing history and the events of today. Since September 11, 2001, we have learned that people who view the world far differently can take actions that have dramatic impact on our daily lives in the United States. To be able to appreciate what is happening in our country and understand events in a world context, students must be exposed to people of different experiences and different frames of reference.

Within the borders of the United States, we've learned difficult lessons about our traditional definition of a good school, basically a school where middle-class kids score high on standardized tests. Shooting rampages by disaffected teenagers have taught us that a predominantly white middle-class school with high test scores can be missing out on crucial lessons in character and respect for individual differences. What can high SAT scores tell you about positive school climate?

Schools with diverse student populations constantly battle myths that these schools are less desirable. The reality is that a diverse school can provide a first-class academic education. Learning comes alive when wisdom is shared not only by competent teachers and textbooks but also by fellow students with life experiences and cultures that illuminate whole new worlds. With a teacher who encourages all students to speak their minds and respectfully listen to others, classroom discussions with students from varying backgrounds are rich and dynamic, fostering critical thinking skills. Students learn there are a range of perspectives on issues, motivating them to study and thoughtfully define their own views. These schools provide world-class academic environments.

Beyond valuable academic lessons, diverse schools offer unique opportunities to learn significant life skills. Dangerous stereotypes break down as students study, and play ball, and just talk with one another. The seeds of tolerance and respect are planted and bred in schools with students from all over the world.

A well-run school will seize each of these opportunities and build a solid school community where every student, parent, educator, and community member benefits. Yes, these schools present particular challenges to school leadership. But When educational leaders proceed with open eyes, champion the diversity, and commit themselves to serving all students at the school, these schools become academic and social goldmines that offer opportunities which can't be replicated in homogeneous environments. Many parents, including white parents like myself, would never trade this for a school where our children's world is limited to those who look and think like they do.

I watched my son and daughter flourish at one of the most diverse schools in the nation, Annandale High in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., a school with students from more than 85 nations and wide-ranging economic backgrounds. The educational leaders viewed differences in beliefs and practices not as a burden to be overcome, but as human qualities to be respected and learned from. Principal Don Clausen constantly seeks ways to meet the needs of individuals without infringing on the rights of others. And all the students learn valuable lessons. During Ramadan, when Muslims fast during daylight, Annandale High offers Muslim students a classroom where they can study during lunch so they don't have to enter the cafeteria. Because Ramadan is an accepted part of the school culture, just about every student is knowledgeable about the holiday. At a girls' basketball game, a parent mentioned to her daughter that the star player wasn't doing well that night. "Come on, Mom," her daughter replied, "Don't you know that it's Ramadan, and she's been fasting all day?" While too many people in our society have only stereotypes to associate with Muslims, Annandale High students think of basketball players who fast from sunup to sundown and still go out on the court at night to represent the school.