Closing the achievement gap: Seattle tries again. (Notebook: educations information from schools, business, research and professional organizations).

Since 1986, the Seattle School District has twice tried to tackle racial disparities in discipline and academic achievement. Despite these efforts, the achievement gap has remained fairly constant: African-American, Hispanic and Native American students continue to score lower on standardized tests than white students, and black students are suspended or expelled more often than whites.

But the district is not giving up. It recently adopted its third disproportionality plan, and its new goal is to eliminate the gap by 2005.

Unlike earlier attempts, the most recent plan represents an ongoing commitment to the problem. "This effort is much more aligned to the nature of the problem. It's a long-term problem, and there is no cookbook recipe with the answer," explains district Superintendent Joseph Olchefske. The district formed a standing Disproportionality Action Committee, comprised of teachers, administrators, parents and community members, to monitor the plan and provide input.

While the district's previous plans did not eliminate racial disparities, the district did accomplish many interim objectives, Olchefske says. For one, resource reallocation is "critical," he says. So the district is reallocating and transferring money and talent, such as the strongest principals to the district's highest need schools. The current plan calls for district-wide discussions about the impact of race on teaching and learning. Two-hundred-forty staff members and 200 administrators have received training to lead "courageous conversations." For example, during an August workshop, teachers reflected on their own beliefs and actions about equity and ethnicity and how those actions affect others.

Seattle's to-do list for 2002-03 includes continued emphasis on raising teacher quality and developing cultural competency among teachers.

The new plan also recognizes the role of parents, students and community groups. "This problem is present in schools, but solutions exist in far more places than schools," Olchefske says. A new Empowering Parents program will provide information about locating resources within the educational bureaucracy, becoming involved at school, working with schools and teachers, and supporting academic work at home. The district will identify a pool of possible mentors.

www.seattleschools.org