Nov162009
Is labeling some students as ‘at risk’ appropriate?
Filed under Nashua by michael brindley at 6:11 pm
Jay Mathews of the Washington Post had an interesting column yesterday about the use of the term “at risk” when defining a certain population of students. The students are often minority students and come from low-income households. Mathews writes about a school district in Virginia which had dropped the term from its vocabulary. The district will now refer to the students as “at promise.”
I’ve always been cautious about using the term in my articles because, to be honest, I’ve never fully understood what it means. What are they at risk of, exactly? When I do use it, as I did in today’s story about a review of the Phoenix Program, I make sure to put it in quotes because it is a term the school district uses.
On the Web site of the Phoenix Program, it defines its mission as striving “to enrich the lives of Nashua’s ‘at-risk’ students.” Notice how the school district even puts the term in quotes.
In 2006, I asked people who work with these so-called “at-risk” students what they thought the term means. Patti Place, principal of the Academy of Learning and Technology (now the Phoenix Program), said she didn’t think using the term could have a negative effect on the students.
“Some people say we shouldn’t use that term, but you’ve got to be straight up with these kids,” she said. “These are your obstacles. Now how are we going to help you overcome these hurdles?”
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