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News155718

Speaker urges Moorhead Schools’ staff to create opportunities for all students

September 17, 2015

According to Patrick Briggs, this country doesn’t have an achievement gap. Instead, he believes there are two gaps — an opportunity gap and an expectation gap.

Briggs, a former teacher and administrator, now AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) Texas state director, spoke to district employees at the Moorhead Area Public Schools’ all-staff assembly on Sept. 2.

Students need the opportunity to learn at high levels, he said. Not every student will go to college, but should every student have the opportunity and expectation — absolutely, Briggs said. College degrees double lifetime income, cut unemployment in half, and provide higher levels of happiness, according to research Briggs cited.

Briggs explained that equity is not equal. “Equity is moving students from a different place to a common place,” he said, and students may need different instructional strategies to be successful.

“Between curriculum and assessment is a variable called instruction,” he said.

“How do you become better basketball player? Practice. How do you become a better saxophone player? Practice. How do you become a better writer? Practice,” Briggs told the audience, asking them to consider how many opportunities they give students to write.

He also spoke to eliminating the predictability and disproportionality of which student groups occupy the highest and lowest achievement categories, asking staff to consider the question “does all mean all?”

Briggs emphasized the importance of relationships between students and teachers, including citing himself as an example.

“Great teachers closed my opportunity gap and my expectation gap,” he said.

Categorized under: School