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BRIAN A. PILLE Ann Arbor, Mich...
Superintendents from the districts Ferguson studied, including Rossi Ray-Taylor, Fornero's predecessor in Ann Arbor, had created a network to share gap-closing ideas even before Ferguson began his research. His findings formed the basis for the efforts Ray-Taylor started in 2002, which Fornero expanded when he took over in January 2003. "Our goal is achievement and opportunity for all students--and I'm serious about it," Fornero says...
Boosting the number of minority students in Advanced Placement (AP) classes is a priority for Ann Arbor officials, but part of their challenge will be to make the students feel less alienated once they get into them. Sterling Cross, a junior at Pioneer High School, is often one of just two or three black students in AP classes because, he says, many of his black friends who are also qualified to take them are intimidated by both the rigor and the prospect of going it alone. They are worried that if they have trouble, they won't get any help...
...everyone in Ann Arbor is enthusiastic about Fornero's approach to narrowing the achievement gap. Some white residents have complained that the efforts to bring black students up to par will divert resources from other students. Accordingly, the phrases "African American" and "minority" are absent from the titles and mission statements of the various initiatives, and the programs are open to all underachieving students. Many teachers are simply ill at ease with the frank public conversations on race that the new strategies sometimes require. To assuage those anxieties, Fornero has hired Deborah Harmon, an African-American education professor from nearby...
...there are some signs that the chasm is beginning to narrow. Among fourth-graders, for example, 92% of whites met state reading standards last year, and so did nearly 70% of their black classmates, up from a mere 35% three years ago. Nonetheless, superintendent Fornero gives Ann Arbor's performance only a grade of C because "some people still don't believe we have a problem." Until they do, he says, the path to an A will be long and uphill...