From today's Chicago Tribune:

Schools consider Afrocentric curriculum

Hoping to better capture the attention of African-Americans and close the achievement gap between black and white students, a group of parents and educators is pushing for adoption of an African-centered curriculum in Evanston/Skokie School District 65.

The curriculum would keep state-required core subjects such as reading, language arts and math but include the history and culture of Africans and African-Americans in daily school lessons. [snip]

The idea behind Afrocentric curriculum is that the lessons focus on black students and, in addition to teaching them basic skills, build their self-esteem and confidence, said Cheryl Ajirotutu, an anthropology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who is co-author of the book "African-Centered Schooling in Theory and Practice."

Whenever you hear the phrase "building self-esteem" it's time to head for the hills. Schools are for learning, homes are for building self-esteem. 

Beyond that, why on earth would we expect a curriculum with a special focus on African-American culture to have any effect on closing the achivement gap in math? In fact, the Tribune article references a Harvard University expert who says, "there's no proof that the concept actually works."

So why spend time blindly grasping at straws  - no matter how well intentioned - to try and solve the achievement gap? The answer, I think, is that we seem unwilling to address some of other core issues involved head on.