Opportunity to Learn: Implications for Professional Development

Abstract

Opportunity to is the most recent banner under which Black Americans have rallied in their long and, as yet, unsuccessful quest for equal educational opportunity in America. The history of education for Blacks in the United States has been a constant struggle to secure educational opportunities comparable to those available to White students. Moreover, the definition of the concept of equal opportunity has shifted in emphasis over the years, due in large part to the demographic, political, and educational realities that Blacks have faced. The course of the debate over educational opportunity has been one of subtle changes, such that implicit values in earlier definitions become explicit concerns in later ones. The debate began with questions concerning Black children's access to the education received by White children; it has since moved on to concern itself with questions about the quality of the educational services rendered to Black students. Ironically, the quality of educational services is an issue that is currently disconcerting Whites as well as Blacks. One result of this explicit concern for process variables in the opportunity-to-learn definition is a focus on teacher quality. In this article, I briefly review the history of the concept of equal educational opportunity, highlighting the shift in focus from a separatebut-equal, input definition to an opportunity-to-learn, process interpretation. From there, I go on to discuss the implications of the present definition of opportunity to learn for professional development. Lastly, I suggest elements that may become important aspects of future thinking about educational opportunity if Black children, particularly those at risk of academic failure due to their social circumstances, are to flourish and achieve according to their potential.