Every once in a while you unexpectedly find yourself in the presence of a person with a most extraordinary life story. The exact year is a little foggy in my head, but I think it was 1992 when I had this particular experience. During a quick break from studying on campus, I happened to notice on a nearby event flier that a public lecture was within minutes of starting upstairs. The lecturer was Dr. Benjamin Carson and the quick bio on the flier said he had led a team of neurosurgeons in the first successful operation to separate conjoined twins that were connected at the head. Although medical sciences wasn't my study area, I was intrigued by Dr. Carson's accomplishments and decided to trot upstairs to catch the lecture.
As expected, the first half of Dr. Carson's lecture focused on the difficulties, triumphs and failures of separating the conjoined twins. To my surprise, the second half of his lecture was nothing of the sort. Instead, it was about his upbringing, personal accountability, and perseverance. He had grown up in Detroit with his single mother and older brother. His mother always worked two or three jobs at a time to support them. When his 5th grade school teacher told his mother that he was unfocused and performing poorly, his mother decided to make him read a couple library books per week and write a report about each one. She would then mark up his book reports just like at school and critique his performance. What he didn't know at the time was that his mother could barely read herself. But his mother's ploy worked and the focus on education changed his life's direction by sparking self confidence and discipline. Eventually he would graduate from Yale and the University of Michigan and become the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. In 2009, his story was made into the movie “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story”.
When I think about Dr. Carson's early schooling, what jumps out is the importance of parents setting high expectations and expecting corresponding results. Dr. Carson's mother didn't have a lot of resources, but she saw her children's education as a top priority and she demanded top effort. Once she understood his classroom struggles, she set expectations at home, and the results started appearing in the classroom. Parental involvement was instrumental to the student becoming more receptive to his teacher's lessons and assignments.
In an informal way, his mother had created a new achievement standard for young Ben and his compliance with it was non-negotiable. Standards are valuable because they set a level of required proficiency in a given domain. In our public school system, if the student meets the standards set by the high school, then he or she will earn a diploma to commemorate the accomplishment. Unfortunately, over the past few years, a number of school districts around the country have lowered their standards for dubious reasons. Here are some typical examples:
When I come across articles like the above, I really wonder what kind of future society is desired by the people making these decisions. They all seem to penalize high achievement. I suppose they are good ideas if you want to lower the collective intelligence of a society, decrease motivation to succeed, and reduce the ability of our great nation to compete in business and technological innovation.
I say let's not go there and instead demand academic excellence. Here in Grand Haven we are fortunate to have a school system that has historically maintained a high standard of educational requirements. Four of our schools have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools since 2016. Since only 420 schools are nominated for this award annually, this is a fantastic accomplishment. On top of its core graduation requirements, our high school offers twelve Advanced Placement (AP) courses and another six Honors classes. Overall, our schools rank in the top 15% in Michigan. We have a lot to be proud of when it comes to our students and educators. However, yesterday's successes do not guarantee tomorrow's. It is the duty of our community and educators to remain vigilant in safeguarding this legacy. Unlike the governor of Oregon (example #2 above), I do care that our graduates continue to be proficient in reading, writing and math.