“The gap is there before kids walk into kindergarten. School
neither increases nor reduces it.” That’s what Nobel Prize winner James Heckman
opined after reviewing the results of a study which tested the cognitive abilities
of a group of several hundred children from age 3 until they reached age 18.
He spoke from just one study of a limited group of young
people, to corroborate what we all know from other research of other children
conducted over many years. Children’s environments strongly influence academic
success. Those environments propel young people in certain directions. Nourishment
and nurturing, from the earliest years, even prenatally, have lasting effects –
for good and for bad.
Heckman might sound a bit too pessimistic about the ability
of schools to make a difference for kids. But all of us do know that families,
communities, and schools jointly influence our children’s environments.
Consequently, all of these important institutions must play roles if we want to
eliminate gaps in educational achievement and promote the greatest development
of talents for all young people. No one of them can do it alone.
That’s why we at Wilder Research value the opportunity to
collaborate with Generation Next.
Generation Next takes a holistic approach. It pays attention
to young people from cradle to career. It seeks to mobilize all who need to be
involved in promoting academic success for all of our children. Generation Next
seeks to identify the causes of both the bad and the good.
That is, by examining the indicators, doing research, and
assembling networks of organizations who have expertise, Generation Next will
first figure out what needs or issues exist that might be restricting the
ability of young people to succeed. (R.T. Rybak likens that process to CSI.)
However, this initiative doesn’t want to focus only on the empty part of the
glass; Generation Next wants to understand the full part as well: What produces
success, especially for kids whose environments have created many challenges.
What about the kids who do well despite adversity? What about the schools who
transform kids who begin their education several steps behind others?
Generation Next wants to build consensus around whatever we
need to do to ensure we have the best educated young people that we possibly
can.
We are happy to support this effort by assisting Generation
Next to keep everyone informed about community trends and to equip everyone
with knowledge that increases their effectiveness. It’s not just a select few
who need to work on increasing academic success. As R.T. Rybak put it:
“This whole community will rise or fall on our ability to
solve this problem that has stood for too long, so this whole community needs
to help us find the right actions that can close our gaps.”
