The Columbia Board of Education and Columbia Public School administrators are looking to close the achievement gap.
A 2016 performance report identifies a seven percent decrease in performance from 2015 for subgroups such as CPS students of color, low income students and special education students who have a significantly lower performance than their white counterparts.
Closing the achievement gap has been on the agenda for CPS for several years, but they have been struggling with how to effectively handle the situation and are now planning to take action.
The incorporation of equity training will help teachers understand how factors such as age, race, gender and background affect their perspectives on students and how to better handle interactions.
“The teachers are unaware of some of the stressors that the kids may endure at home and by helping them to understand, based on what we know about some of the kids’ home life, teachers may be more empathetic or understanding and be able to deal with things that come up, more readily,” Board of Education member Paul Cushing said.
Cushing said providing the best education for all students is important to achieve the goal.
CPS also plans on forming partnerships with other agencies such as Boone County Schools Mental Health Coalition and also working together toward reducing referrals of black students to juvenile authorities.
The overall goal for CPS is to get students excited about coming to school.
“This is an issue that is obviously bigger than the public school,” Board of Education member Jonathan Sessions said. “It’s a systemic community issue. It’s one that while we can make great strides in the Columbia Public Schools, we cannot do it on our own.”
CPS plans to meet at 6:30 p.m. on April 10. That’s just one week after the Board of Education elections.