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| Bryan Harris helps his daughters, Jessica, Shirley, and Ceosa (left to far right) settle into their lockers – and their academic
lives – at SPARC Academy in Raleigh, N.C. Jeffrey A. Camarati/Special to The Christian Science Monitor |
A push to bring dads into kids' school lives
Raleigh takes up a global movement to involve fathers more, especially at school.
from the August 31, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
The average reading and math scores of black students have risen since the 1970s, according to the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) 2004 Long-Term Trend Assessment. The academic achievement gap, the report states, is narrowing: Among 9-year-old students, the divide between reading scores of white and black students decreased from 44 points in 1971 to 26 points in 2004. Similar progress has been made in math.
But even with those gains, the average scores of black students still lag behind those of whites. That needs to change, Jackson says. "The Million Father March is a push for the real and positive education for black children," he says. "We're not [accepting] pretense anymore."
In 2005, the dropout rate for black male students was 12 percent, nearly twice that of white males, according to the 2006 Digest of Educational Statistics. The rate for black females was 9 percent, compared to 5.3 percent for white females.
Father participation matters, according to a 1997 NCES report titled Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools. Children from two-parent families and single-father homes who had fathers highly involved in school were more likely to get As and enjoy school, the study found. Children with involved nonresident fathers also fared better than peers with less involved dads. They were more likely to participate in extracurricular activities, and those in grades 6-12 were less likely to be suspended, expelled, or repeat a grade.
"It's clear that when both parents are involved, kids do better," says Channell Wilkins, Director of the Office of Head Start. "There's more support, better language skills, more help to develop that child's understanding of the environment around them." At Head Start, dads who become involved in one program often join others. "It opens the door and lets them know how valuable they are to a child's life," Mr. Wilkins says.
At SPARC, dads and moms linger, giving kisses and greeting teachers. Mr. Harris walks his girls to their lockers. He tells them to be good.
But whatever the benefits of these August mornings, no single day – no single event – is a panacea for parental absence or children's academic challenges. The Million Father March goes far beyond this morning's walk to class, says Jackson. In past years, some dads and father-figures here have become mentors and tutors. They've attended sessions on parental involvement. Dads who were already involved guided those who needed encouragement. Murchison plans to have similar follow-up events in Raleigh and Wake Forest.
"Education is something that has to be driven up from the community, from the family, and into the school," Jackson says.
Days like this are a start.
After meeting the teacher of his two youngest, Harris walks Ceosa to class. Her teacher, Steve Gough, asks him inside and invites him to call anytime.
And Harris is beaming as he walks back down that path.
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