Ron Brown Part 2 Bluest Eye 2000
Equity & Diversity Audio

‘They Can’t Just Be Average': Profound Academic Challenges in a D.C. School for Young Black Men

By Kavitha Cardoza & Cory Turner — October 25, 2017 1 min read
Equity & Diversity Audio

‘They Can’t Just Be Average': Profound Academic Challenges in a D.C. School for Young Black Men

By Kavitha Cardoza & Cory Turner — October 25, 2017 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Raising Kings: A Three-Part Audio Series From Education Week/NPR (Episode 2)

If you’ve been following this audio series, you know about Ron Brown College Prep, the remarkable new D.C. school designed specifically to meet the needs of young men of color.

In episode one, you met the principal and learned about the school’s core philosophy—placing high expectations on its students—known as “kings”—and infusing love into their schooling experience.

In the second episode, Ron Brown’s unique CARE team and the teaching faculty continue their focus on nurturing students’ social and emotional growth. But their time becomes increasingly dominated by a few kings who are getting into trouble.

The school’s commitment to never suspending a student is put to the test by some serious incidents, including a couple of staff members who are assaulted. And there is pushback from some parents who are deeply skeptical of this unfamiliar approach to discipline.

Meanwhile, the profound academic gaps among students have become glaringly obvious. Some kings are reading on the 1st grade level and struggling with even the most basic math concepts. Others are reading on the 10th grade level and able to do college-prep math.

Teachers are worried about both extremes—how to accelerate years of literacy work into a few months for the kings who are woefully behind and how to keep high-performing students from becoming bored and complacent among so many peers who are years behind them academically.

And morale is beginning to flag as pressure mounts on the Ron Brown faculty to squeeze two years of learning into one year of teaching and ultimately, to prove that this radically different approach to educating students won’t be a failure. Can it be done?

"School has to come first. … If you leave high school and you still make a 600 on the SAT, nobody cares how much you were loved." — Shaka Greene, Math teacher
"If I’m tough on them, it’s because I have high expectations for them." — Schalette Gudger, English teacher
"I do this corny thing called, ‘Let me give you a tool for your toolbox.’ … I give lots of tools every day." — Travis Bouldin, World History teacher

Listen to Episode Two

This episode originally aired Oct. 25, 2017 on NPR’s Code Switch. It’s introduced by Code Switch’s Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby.

Browse other episodes: Episode One | Episode Three

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Opinion What March Madness Can Teach Schools About Equity
What if we modeled equity in action in K-12 classrooms after the resources provided to college student-athletes? asks Bettina L. Love.
3 min read
A young student is celebrated like a pro athlete for earning an A+!
Chris Kindred for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Girls Are Falling in Love With Wrestling, the Nation's Fastest-Growing High School Sport
A surging number of states have sanctioned the sport, with bolstering from various groups.
6 min read
Benton's Callie Hess, left, battles Plum's Saphia Davis, right, during the first found of the PIAA High School Wrestling Championships in Hershey, Pa., on March 7, 2024. Girls’ wrestling has become the fastest-growing high school sport in the country.
Callie Hess, left, battles Saphia Davis, right, during the first round of the PIAA High School Wrestling Championships in Hershey, Pa., on March 7, 2024. Girls’ wrestling has become the fastest-growing high school sport in the country.
Matt Rourke/AP
Equity & Diversity What's Permissible Under Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law? A New Legal Settlement Clarifies
The Florida department of education must send out a copy of the settlement agreement to school boards across the state.
4 min read
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media, March 7, 2023, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms under a settlement reached March 11, 2024 between Florida education officials and civil rights attorneys who had challenged a state law which critics dubbed “Don't Say Gay.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media, March 7, 2023, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms under a settlement reached March 11, 2024, between Florida education officials and civil rights attorneys who had challenged the state's “Don't Say Gay” law.
Phil Sears/AP
Equity & Diversity Q&A The Lily Gladstone Effect: A Teacher Explains the Value of Indigenous Language Immersion
Students in the Browning public schools district in Montana engage in a Blackfoot language immersion program for all ages.
5 min read
Lily Gladstone arrives at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Lily Gladstone arrives at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Jordan Strauss/Invision via AP