10 gap closing ideas from the 1990's

by Joseph Hawkins 

Recently, a reader of this blog said I was void of ideas—ideas that closed academic achievement gaps. That comment got me thinking—Am I really void of ideas? 

If we judged me on just me throwing ideas on the table—which I have been doing since the 1980’s, then heck no is the answer.  It is probably difficult to find any single Montgomery County resident who has tossed more ideas in the public domain than me, especially when it concern African American students and the achievement gap. 

Here are 10 ideas listed in chronological order—all 10 are from the 1990’s.  I could have easily cited another 20 ideas from just the 2000’s.  Most of the ideas come from columns and essays written for The Montgomery Journal (a local newspaper that went out of business), The Washington Post, and Education Week. 

Idea #1 (December 20, 1988):  provide black kids with better information about college.  “Establish a financial-aid clearinghouse to help black students find enough financial aid to handle the cost of college.”continues at this Patch link.