"Held Back"

KUT News Radio
5/1/2020

Achievement gaps are something school districts across the country want to fix, yet nobody has a solution to do so. Year after year, schools see their poor students and students of color do worse on standardized tests. Many say they want to try and close these gaps, but there is not a proven solution to the pervasive problem.

My 30-minute documentary, and accompanying web story, looks at this issue in Austin ISD. I explore what the problem looks like, and how one principal at a high poverty school found a solution that worked for his kids. But his tactics were controversial and not accepted by others. So the piece raises the question- what are we willing to do to have kids be successful?

LINK to content online

Submitted by Claire McInerny.