Readings on Education: Online

ONLINE

Gerard Robinson was the commissioner of the Florida Department of Education from 2011–2012. Prior to that he was the secretary of education for Virginia and the president of the Black Alliance for Education Options, a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization promoting parental choice and educational options for black children. A longtime advocate for charter schools, Robinson cowrote this article with Edwin Chang.

Edwin Chang is the founder and principal of KIPP Strive Academy, a middle school in Atlanta. Chang was also a founding teacher at Atlanta Charter Middle School and the director of strategic initiatives at KIPP WAYS Academy, also in Atlanta.

This article was published by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the charter school movement and advocating for improved education public policy. The article argues that charter schools may be the answer to closing the achievement gap between black and white students. Important words and phrases have been italicized in this reading. Look up those you do not know, and write the definitions in your personal vocabulary list.

Pre-Reading

Preview the text. Based on the sections headings and titles of the boxes, what do you expect this article will be about? Make a list of topics or points that you think the article will discuss. For more on previewing the text, see Chapter 1, Reading and Responding to College Texts, page 000 in your book.