Much of the discussion here presupposes that all ethnic groups have--or should have--the same attitudes and expectations about education as the dominant culture.
"You will need a sea change in culture and families to fix these communities," sounds like if we simply force these minority communities to have the same values as us, getting their test scores to be as high as ours will be no problem. Well, that may be true, but it may not be a realistic goal, or an ethical one.
My wide-ranging experience as a human and as a teacher has made me question these assumptions and wish to hear a greater variety of voices on the subject.
Here's one:
"We know that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in your colleges, and that the maintenance of our young men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinced, therefore, that you mean to do us good by your proposal, and we thank you heartily. But you who are wise must know that different nations have different conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same with yours.
"We have had some experience of it: several of our young people were formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they were bad runners; ignorant of every means of living in the woods; unable to bear either cold or hunger; knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy; spoke our language imperfectly; were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, or counsellors; they were totally good for nothing.
"We are, however, not the less obliged by your kind offer, though we decline accepting it: and to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them."
Benjamin Franklin's account of a 1744 Iroquois speech at a council with the government of Virginia
Quoted in Blaisdell, Bob, ed. (2000) Great Speeches by Native Americans, Dover Thrift Editions.
If you really don't see the difference between Iriquois in the 1700s and American minorities in the 2000s, you should not be teaching. The Iriquois probably expected to live in their own communities and not to live and work with whites. American students of all races need to function in what you call the "dominant culture" in order to make a living. They need to learn standard written (and spoken) English, math, and science to the extent of their abilities.
