By Steve Brawner

WILSON — Lindsey Kelley, a second-year English teacher at Rivercrest High School, and her assistant principal, Tom Bennett, couldn’t accept that only 31 percent of the school’s African-American juniors scored at least proficient in English on the state’s 2010 benchmark exams, compared to 65 percent of white kids. So they tried a new approach: They asked the African-American students what the problem was and what could be done to solve it.

The result? One year later, 48 percent of African-American juniors scored at least proficient — a 17-point increase.

It all started when Kelley attended a professional development course with the Arkansas Leadership Academy, a training consortium for educators. For her research project, she wanted to do something about the achievement gap between white and black students. Trainer Blaine Alexander suggested she try what educators call “student voice” — giving young people a say in their own education.

Kelley agreed, knowing that singling out students by race was a potential minefield. Undaunted, she, along with Bennett, also an assistant football coach, showed the test scores to two of her high-achieving African-American students: juniors Terrian Tyler and Robert Cooney, and asked for their help. For Kelley, a 24-year-old graduate of all-white Valley View High School in Jonesboro, the conversation was “a little bit” awkward. But the two football players, competitive by nature and embarrassed by what they saw, were eager to change their school’s culture. Sophomores Rakeem Stewart and DeSean Gordan also were asked to join the effort.

A few days later, African-American students at this northeastern Arkansas high school were summoned one grade at a time to the library. Tyler used a flip chart to explain the test scores to his fellow students, who then were divided into small groups to discuss the problem further and then report to the entire class. Throughout the process, teachers were not bashed. Racism was barely mentioned. Mostly the students took responsibility for their own test scores and offered helpful suggestions about how teachers might better reach them: for example, waiting until everyone understands a concept rather than racing ahead in order to stay on schedule.

Afterwards, Coach Bennett and Alexander personally interviewed every African-American student in the junior class in groups of two or three about their individual learning styles. That information was compiled and given to their teachers, along with the results of the group meetings. At the end of each interview session, Bennett looked each student in the eye and asked to be held accountable.

Then something happened that the grown-ups hadn’t planned. The four students began inviting some of their male African-American classmates to join their group until it reached 10 young leaders. When Kelley asked if they wanted a different sponsor, they replied that they wanted her — the one who had proven she believed in them from the beginning. After much debate, they decided to name themselves the Gentlemen of Knowledge. (“I wanted to call it the ‘Justice League,’” Gordan quipped.)

The Gentlemen began doing what their teachers couldn’t: Inspire themselves and their classmates peer to peer to do their best in school and in life. They became a highly visible influence on campus. They bought matching shirts that they wore to class. Junior Tay Baber came up with a motto, “Impossible,” which, broken into two parts, is “I’m possible.”

Achieving in school became more important than competing in sports — which, by the way, Rivercrest High was doing very well, winning state championships in football, boys’ basketball and track. The day before this year’s benchmark exams, the Gentlemen led their classmates in a motivational session in which they explained how important it was to excel. Afterwards, some of the football players, black and white, told Coach Bennett that the reason they tried their best was because everyone else was. When Bennett told Baber and his twin brother, Ty, about the 48 percent score, they responded that next year it should be 58 percent.

Word is getting out. Luxora Elementary School invited the Gentlemen to speak to their students before they took their benchmark exams. The Gentlemen have held online sessions with similar groups forming at Arkansas High in Texarkana and Sylvan Hills Middle School in Little Rock. They moved male administrators to tears while addressing a training session at the Arkansas Leadership Academy. Next year, the group plans to be multiracial, and a girls’ group is forming.

Could the achievement gap at other Arkansas schools be closed if students are given a voice in their own education and shown that the adults really want them to succeed?

Impossible, some might say. The Gentlemen of Knowledge would say the same, meaning just the opposite.

Steve Brawner

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Steve Brawner is an independent journalist in Arkansas. His blog — Independent Arkansas — is linked at Arkansasnews.com. His e-mail address is brawnersteve@mac.com.