The Gap According to Adaeze Okoli

The results of a national reading exam administered in 2009 showed Wisconsin’s African-American fourth-grade students posted scores that trailed their racial peers in every other state. Now, there is new national data from 2011; and this new data shows only slight improvement for those Wisconsin students. [read more...]

Everyone is their own person. Everyone has unique and special qualities about them, yet we try so hard to follow the crowd. We are all guilty of committing this crime, but we all have had moments when we’ve tried to go against the grain. [read more...]

The editors of the Simpson Street Free Press strongly support the Urban League of Greater Madison’s proposal for a new charter school in south Madison. [read more...]

To succeed in school takes more than just wanting to do well. You must have a plan, and then you must execute that plan. [read more...]

As I near the end of my sophomore year in high school, the idea of college is quickly becoming a reality. I beginning to learn more about the requirements I need to get into college. One of the key deciders of college admission is your standardized test scores. [read more...]

In 2006, 49 percent of Wisconsin’s African-American seniors graduated from high school. That figure is 32 percentage points below the state average for all students. Numbers like those are saddening and make me realize that the achievement gap is still very wide, and a lot of work needs to be done. However much work there is to do on a national or state level, but to many of us, this is a personal thing. Each of us must possess a desire to not be a statistic. We should set the precedent. [read more...]

For the past three years the popular Bridging the Achievement Gap Column has covered various topics regarding the academic excellence of minority students. This column has become a tradition at the Simpson Street Free Press, and has now been passed down to me. [read more...]