CSUCL and DPPA sponsor Education Dialogue on Race and the Achievement Gap featuring Dr. Ronald Ferguson.

Race and the achievement gap in urban schools were the subjects of an educational dialogue held by Rutgers University on April 3rd and presented by Dr. Ronald Ferguson, a lecturer in Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. 

Over 80 professionals from the Camden City district and Rutgers–Camden attended the event, which was co-sponsored by the Rutgers Department of Public Policy and Administration (DPPA) and the Rutgers Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership (CSUCL) and was hosted at the Waterfront Technology Center in Camden. 

Dr. Ferguson delivered an exciting seminar discussion that emphasized racial disparities, school culture, and effective teaching practices in urban education while underscoring the cultural and economic necessity for America to create “a social movement towards excellence with equity.” 

Dr. Ferguson used a metaphor of seeds to apples and compared it to education and children.  “We need to get more apples from these seeds.  We need to unlock the latent, unharvested potential of children,” he said. 

Dr. Ferguson also highlighted an ongoing population shift in the United States and said that the total minority population (non-whites) will increase by 22% from 2000 and 2050.  He said that the U.S. was already falling behind other nations in math and education and that “Minority populations need to be brought up” in order for the U.S. to maintain its economic and social prosperity. 

“We need to work together in ways to unlock children’s potentials.  We need work hard enough and long enough to make it happen,” he said. 

Dr.Ferguson has taught at Harvard since 1983 and is a Senior Research Associate with the MalcolmWeinerCenter for Social Policy.  His work has focused on a variety of education and economic issues and his research on racial achievement gaps has appeared in publications by the National Research Council, The Brookings Institution, and the U.S. Department of Education.

Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership   321 Cooper Street, Camden, NJ 08102   Phone:. 856-225-6348   Fax: 856-225-6500