The month of August for educators is comparable to the executives at Toys 'R Us in December.

During our sessions, we present topics such as best practices, high-stakes test preparation, newly adopted textbooks, etc; but, something is missing…at what point in urban education are we to begin having courageous conversations about the cultural gaps and expectations between our teachers and students? All too often, particularly in the urban setting, we train our teachers to implement the research-based, instructional best practices, while we turn a blind eye to training our teachers in how to narrow and in some instances, close the cultural gaps in the classrooms. In the African-American culture along with others, the first rule of thumb to ensure teaching and learning between teachers and students is to establish and sustain a mediated learning environment In a mediated learning environment, there is a trusting yet nurturing relationship between the teacher and a student- if a student feels safe and loved, s/he will want to excel. This kind of relationship building is absent in many classrooms.

Think about it--- if we provided professional development for our young, bright-eyed, eager teachers to “learn how to teach” especially our young black boys, perhaps our special education referrals would decrease and teacher retention would increase?

Thoughts? I’d love to hear from you.

Paula Knight is Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction K-12, for the St. Louis Public Schools.

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