Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Bullard promises reachable goals to close gap for troubled students

The At-Risk students, involved in the Close-the-Gap Task Force, are to be respected, says the chairman of that task force.

It was also suggested that getting excited about goals students are interested in might just keep them wanting to stay around public school for graduation.

Col. Charles Bullard, who was given that title for life by the United States Congress after 36 years of service in the Army  including numerous capacities as a leader, is the task force chairman and a School Board member.

Bullard also has the advantage of being a Gurdon High School graduate and native of this city.

Chairman Bullard and the Achievement Gap task force held their second public meeting on Thursday, March 2 and set their next meeting for 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 20 in the Gurdon High School Student Center.

"We want the people to know this task force is trying to help bridge the gap between low achievers and high achievers without putting down our teachers or those students," he said. "I was once a class president at Gurdon High School and enjoyed a fair amount of success as a football player here.

Even though I have had my fair share of successes, in and out of the classroom, there have been times I felt picked on.

"Feeling put down, rather than encouraged to improve, did not help me in my character development and I do not believe negative comments will help modern-day Gurdon school children either."

Bullard said last meeting was basically a seminar conducted by Dr. Calvin Johnson, Educational Department Head at the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff.

Johnson said the Arkansas-initiated, Closing the Achievement Gap Task Force idea, came from Arkansas Act 1777, and the idea took legislative hold during the September of 2005 meeting.

"I learned there has been some success with variations of the 15 original commission goals," Bullard said.

"We are not going to use all of them, as our local task force plans to come up with some variations we can try right here in Gurdon. But hearing Dr. Johnsons ideas gives us a better place to start."

Bullard said hiring the six paraprofessionals for middle and primarly school, for at least the remainder of the school year, was a good move on the part of the Gurdon School Board to promote closing the achievement gap.

"We do things all of the time at school to help close the achievement gap," Bonnie Ross, secretary of the task force, said.

Ross is also in charge of the federal grant programs for the Gurdon School System.

"What we are doing differently with our current task force is to bring the minds of men and women from other backgrounds in the community into the mix, with the goal of coming up with better ways to satisfy the academic needs of all of our students."

Ross said the six para-professionals hired this year by the School Board as tutors at the primary and middle schools will probably continue working next school year.

"The grant to keep them on did not come through, but that does not mean our School Board will not see fit to let them continue," she said. "In all likelihood, they will be here, as more help to teach our children should have a positive effect on test scores.

"But unfortunately the No Kid Left Behind philosophy of our federal government does not address too many issues not directly related to improving eveyones score on a Bench Marck or similar exam."

Libby White, principal at Cabe Middle School, and Rita Roe, principal at Gurdon Primary School, are both concerned the achievement gap for economically deprived, or socially deprived, children, may be getting larger because the school system has gotten away from self-esteem building programs in favor of teaching kids how to score higher and higher on tests.

Col. Bullard said, "We are all new at this, but weve got to use some common sense here. These educators are right. We desperately need to come at the students from where they are. If someone is trade school minded, go with that. If they are college minded, go with that. It would seem to me encouraging a person to develop existing talents, and to learn employment oriented skills, might not be a bad place to start in closing an achievement gap that is at least in part in existence because of someone feeling he or she is a loser because of some test saying they are not good enough to be considered proficient."

Col. Bullard said coming down on a student who does poorly on a test, and even implying that kid is less than OK, is unfair conduct on the part of our system.

"It sure would be nice if the same government telling us to narrow the achievement gap between our students would have provided us a budget to do so.

"I must say mandates without built-in financing do not go along with a common sense approach to improving much of anything."  Charles Bullard, task force chairman

Johnsons reaction to Bullards comment about needing a budget to perform the gap closing efforts was to say he did not know where to get financing, other than putting task force proposals before a School Board.

Bullard said, as a member of the School Board and concerned citizen, he would try that approach as much as necessary.

Superintendent Bobby Smithson suggested shooting at an increase in grades for the at risk groups, setting a time limit and working toward that grade hike.

"Our superintendent realizes we must get specific in our goals and stay realistic, in regard to feasibility among our students and also feasibility within our school budget," Bullard said.

"If we all work together and keep some mutual respect between our task force members, the students and the teachers, I believe we can accomplish what we are all after  a better education for all of the students concerned and getting them better prepared to responsibly face the adult world."