Developing a Perspective on the Global Achievement Gap: School Leaders as International Collaborators.

Abstract: In recent years American schools and the scholars who study these schools have become focused on bridging the achievement gap. The scholarly literature is most often focused on the discrepancy in achievement in one school, a region, or perhaps one nation. The literature examining the best practices of schools that have bridged this gap occasionally recounts successful strategies; however, the discussion regarding the achievement gap has been nearly silent regarding international law and the obligations all governments have to remove learning inequalities. In addition, the literature rarely discusses the importance of international collaboration. This article introduces all of these topics, with the purpose of encouraging global collaboration between educational leaders and scholars to meet the challenge of providing all children an equitable education in order to close the Global Achievement Gap.

Introduction

Educational leaders from many parts of the world are concerned about how to address the achievement gap in their countries as indicated below:

1. A Pakistani educator who trains school leaders believes that schools in Pakistan which do not have a shared vision and active partnerships with important community members will never be able to bring about sustained school improvement and equity of learning (N. Sherwani, personal communication, January 7, 2007).

2. At an international gathering of 1450 educators and scholars from 40 countries, an editor of a Chinese/English bilingual journal published in Hong Kong strongly encouraged school leaders and scholars to publish, in this journal, their ideas and research on how we can best prepare educators and school leaders so that critical global issues, such as how to bring about improved educational opportunities for all, can be addressed by sharing what has worked in other parts of the world (K. Ho, personal communication, January 7, 2007).

3. Lincoln Elementary School in Mount Vernon, New York has a population of 66% children of color and 55% of its students are below the poverty level. Interestingly enough, this school does not have an achievement gap. Ninety-nine percent of the school's fourth graders meet or exceed New York State's proficiency levels in English, math, and science. Other schools with similar demographics have a 35% achievement gap. According to one of its teachers, the key to their leadership team's success is, "First of all, you don't give up" (Merrow, 2004).

4. A professor of educational leadership from Thailand, after listening to the school improvement strategies mentioned by colleagues from eight countries, said, "We also have a gap between children who are poor and students whose families are middle class, and we are interested in finding out what has worked in other countries to close this gap" (T. Phetmalaikui, personal communication, January 8, 2007).