08/16/2023

What Happened When an Ohio School District Rushed to Integrate Classrooms

Shaker Heights sorted students by ability level - and it didn't work

David Glasner had been superintendent of schools in this Cleveland suburb for less than a year when a single sentence from a fifth-grader left him shaken.

He was visiting Woodbury Elementary School, home to the district’s fifth- and sixth-graders, in fall 2019. Here, the sorting of students by ability — or perceived ability — began. Advanced students, about half the grade, were sent to the basement for enriched math and English language. The other half stayed put.

Glasner popped his head into a fifth-grade classroom and saw that all but one student were Black. A colleague asked a child sitting in the corner, "Where are the White students?" And the student replied, "The White kids — they’re enriched."

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.