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When Grit Isn't Enough: A High School Principal Examines How Poverty and Inequality Thwart the College-for-All Promise
Examines major myths informing American education and explores how educators can better serve students, increase college retention rates, and develop alternatives to college that don’t disadvantage students on the basis of race or income
Each year, as the founding headmaster of the Boston Arts Academy (BAA), an urban high school that boasts a 94 percent college acceptance rate, Linda Nathan made a promise to the incoming “All of you will graduate from high school and go on to college or a career.” After fourteen years at the helm, Nathan stepped down and took stock of her of those who went to college, a third dropped out. Feeling like she failed to fulfill her promise, Nathan reflected on ideas she and others have perpetuated about that college is for all, that hard work and determination are enough to get you through, that America is a land of equality.
In When Grit Isn’t Enough , Nathan investigates five assumptions that inform our ideas about education today, revealing how these beliefs mask systemic inequity. Seeing a rift between these false promises and the lived experiences of her students, she argues that it is time for educators to face these uncomfortable issues head-on and explores how educators can better serve all students, increase college retention rates, and develop alternatives to college that don’t disadvantage students on the basis of race or income.
Drawing on the voices of BAA alumni whose stories provide a window through which to view urban education today, When Grit Isn’t Enough helps imagine greater purposes for schooling.
Each year, as the founding headmaster of the Boston Arts Academy (BAA), an urban high school that boasts a 94 percent college acceptance rate, Linda Nathan made a promise to the incoming “All of you will graduate from high school and go on to college or a career.” After fourteen years at the helm, Nathan stepped down and took stock of her of those who went to college, a third dropped out. Feeling like she failed to fulfill her promise, Nathan reflected on ideas she and others have perpetuated about that college is for all, that hard work and determination are enough to get you through, that America is a land of equality.
In When Grit Isn’t Enough , Nathan investigates five assumptions that inform our ideas about education today, revealing how these beliefs mask systemic inequity. Seeing a rift between these false promises and the lived experiences of her students, she argues that it is time for educators to face these uncomfortable issues head-on and explores how educators can better serve all students, increase college retention rates, and develop alternatives to college that don’t disadvantage students on the basis of race or income.
Drawing on the voices of BAA alumni whose stories provide a window through which to view urban education today, When Grit Isn’t Enough helps imagine greater purposes for schooling.
184 pages, Hardcover
Published October 17, 2017
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October 25, 2017
When Grit Isn't Enough: Five Assumptions about American Education and How They Hurt StudentsWhen Grit Isn’t Enough by Linda F. Nathan is an exciting, sometimes overwhelming, book examining the assumptions we make in this country about how people succeed, especially in school. Nathan is a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and founding headmaster of the Boston Arts Academy—BAA--Boston’s only public high school for the visual and performing arts. Drawing on her experience at BAA, reflecting on the graduates of that school, Nathan explores what she considers the five basic assumptions we act on when judging others, particularly those who have “failed”—dropped out of high school, not gone to college (or not graduated), or not “made it” into the middle class.
The five assumptions Nathan looks at are:
1. “Money doesn’t have to be an obstacle”
2. “Race doesn’t matter”
3. “Just work harder”
4. “Everyone can go to college”
5. “If you believe, your dreams will come true”
Nathan recognizes the strengths each of these statements can convey to students but she also examines their shortcoming. For students of color, even after getting into college, being one of a few students of color can be an alienating and lonely experience, compounding the difficulties already inherent in the first year of college. Racism in many forms, often unrecognized by the person or group practicing it, can make college success even harder to achieve.
Poverty can also compromise the ability to attend—or continue in—college. Especially for students who are the first in their family to go to college, even the complexities of applying for financial aid can lead to disastrous mistakes that can shut down their chance to go to or remain in college. We underestimate the amount and varying forms of support middle class students have when going through the college application process and navigating their college years, especially that critical first one.
“Just work harder” again implies that a student’s success is solely dependent on his or her individual efforts, ignoring other societal factors, the lack of supports available, the inflexibility of many colleges in working with first generation college students, and other factors that may result even in the best efforts failing.
Nathan questions her own promise to her students at BAA that “everyone can go to college”. While affirming the vital importance of ensuring that vocational programs not be a way to track students of color away from the college experience, Nathan offers thoughtful suggestions, along with some stellar examples, of where high schools can combine with the world of work to ensure that students receive both a rigorous academic education and attain vocational skills and experience that can result in entry into the middle class with or without a traditional college degree.
And lastly, although Nathan provides numerous examples of students who believe in their dreams and realized them, she again cautions that to hold these students up as the norm and not sometimes the exceptions is to place blame on the students that they may not—or may only partially—deserve.
As the title of the book suggests, Nathan believes that the current emphasis on grit does a disservice to students and absolves society of its need to address issues such as racism and poverty. While affirming the need for individual perseverance and determination, she also discusses the ways in which education can help develop those qualities, along with creativity, flexibility, passion, problem-solving, and commitment to community. Nathan believes that the current emphasis on high-stakes testing as the only measure of student success cuts off the development of these other essential traits that need to be nurtured to support student agency and success in college and in life. Further, the “no excuses” school model reinforces a lack of said agency, particularly in students of color who are the primary students in this model school.
Although this review is lengthy, it only highlights a few of Nathan’s insights and discussions of how to make education more productive for the student, the community, and, ultimately, the nation. This is an important work that should be read by everybody concerned with the education of our country’s youth (that would be everybody).
I am grateful to LibraryThing for providing me with a copy of this work. I am grateful to have read it and hope that Nathan’s passionate arguments for creating more educational opportunities and necessary supports are heard by more people.
The five assumptions Nathan looks at are:
1. “Money doesn’t have to be an obstacle”
2. “Race doesn’t matter”
3. “Just work harder”
4. “Everyone can go to college”
5. “If you believe, your dreams will come true”
Nathan recognizes the strengths each of these statements can convey to students but she also examines their shortcoming. For students of color, even after getting into college, being one of a few students of color can be an alienating and lonely experience, compounding the difficulties already inherent in the first year of college. Racism in many forms, often unrecognized by the person or group practicing it, can make college success even harder to achieve.
Poverty can also compromise the ability to attend—or continue in—college. Especially for students who are the first in their family to go to college, even the complexities of applying for financial aid can lead to disastrous mistakes that can shut down their chance to go to or remain in college. We underestimate the amount and varying forms of support middle class students have when going through the college application process and navigating their college years, especially that critical first one.
“Just work harder” again implies that a student’s success is solely dependent on his or her individual efforts, ignoring other societal factors, the lack of supports available, the inflexibility of many colleges in working with first generation college students, and other factors that may result even in the best efforts failing.
Nathan questions her own promise to her students at BAA that “everyone can go to college”. While affirming the vital importance of ensuring that vocational programs not be a way to track students of color away from the college experience, Nathan offers thoughtful suggestions, along with some stellar examples, of where high schools can combine with the world of work to ensure that students receive both a rigorous academic education and attain vocational skills and experience that can result in entry into the middle class with or without a traditional college degree.
And lastly, although Nathan provides numerous examples of students who believe in their dreams and realized them, she again cautions that to hold these students up as the norm and not sometimes the exceptions is to place blame on the students that they may not—or may only partially—deserve.
As the title of the book suggests, Nathan believes that the current emphasis on grit does a disservice to students and absolves society of its need to address issues such as racism and poverty. While affirming the need for individual perseverance and determination, she also discusses the ways in which education can help develop those qualities, along with creativity, flexibility, passion, problem-solving, and commitment to community. Nathan believes that the current emphasis on high-stakes testing as the only measure of student success cuts off the development of these other essential traits that need to be nurtured to support student agency and success in college and in life. Further, the “no excuses” school model reinforces a lack of said agency, particularly in students of color who are the primary students in this model school.
Although this review is lengthy, it only highlights a few of Nathan’s insights and discussions of how to make education more productive for the student, the community, and, ultimately, the nation. This is an important work that should be read by everybody concerned with the education of our country’s youth (that would be everybody).
I am grateful to LibraryThing for providing me with a copy of this work. I am grateful to have read it and hope that Nathan’s passionate arguments for creating more educational opportunities and necessary supports are heard by more people.
February 19, 2018
I learned two things from this book - 1. Most administrators and teachers/professors in high schools and colleges have no clue what it means to be poor and 2. High schools and colleges should spend time teaching children and their parents the basics - how to budget money, how to complete financial aid forms, how to read and respond to emails/letters, the importance of meeting deadlines and the true cost of going to college.
March 24, 2022
it was really interesting and made me think about a lot of ways education can be improved, great book!
May 5, 2018
I won this book in a giveaway. This book is an important read for middle and high school educators. I am a first generation college graduate. I grew up in a housing project, surrounded by poverty and crime. I also grew up with a lot of people that loved and believed in me, but didn't understand much of what I was going through in school. I had always been an honor student and college was assumed to be a given, but no one in my family knew what that meant. It meant 11 years of going to school (a private college because no one said, "Hey, save money and go to a community college first"), dropping semesters when I couldn't afford it, and navigating loans and grants on my own without a full understanding of what I was getting into. All while working and raising two children on my own. I did it though-- I graduated with honors (and $140,000 in debt). I'm a middle school teacher. I also work in Massachusetts, and have seen firsthand the issues Linda Nathan discusses in this book (not that they are specific to MA, just that I have a familiarity with some of the schools mentioned). I have looked at students who would benefit from exposure to internships and other hands-experiences. I have seen how high-stakes testing takes away student engagement and independent thinking. However, I was lucky enough to be part of the team that worked to turn our failing school into a Pilot Expeditionary Learning School. We were able to cut our class sizes significantly. Our students were engaged each year in a year-long Expeditionary Learning Project, much like BAA's capstone project. I was given the freedom to dive deep into all aspects of a topic with my students (my classroom was the LINKS classroom, consisting entirely of children on the Autism/Asperger's Spectrum but the work they engaged in facilitated higher level skills and was not remedial ). These students were able to think independently and creatively, and to speak about the topic with ownership, confident in their knowledge. They experienced pride in themselves and their abilities. In my classroom we engaged in discussion, took risks, and were allowed to experience multiple ways of approaching a problem and learning. I was lucky, but I knew that despite what we were doing in our school, it still wasn't enough. There were still systemic, system-wide issues affecting our kids. Even in middle school, "money was an obstacle and race did matter." Some students had supportive parents who understood how to help with school and homework and immersing their children in learning-rich, literate environments. Others had parents who did their best just to pay the bills, or who came from cultures that viewed schoolwork differently. Some students could learn in the classroom, but other students would so obviously have benefited from going out for part of the day and working with their hands, being introduced to a trade that would reinforce many of the math, science, and literacy skills we were teaching . The book's focus was on college, but I taught middle school. My concern was high school graduation, and even by sixth or seventh grade, my colleagues and I could pinpoint certain students that weren't going to make it. Bright students that didn't successfully fit into the mold. I recall one student who was kept back repeatedly. He was 16 and a sixth-grader. He was angry, and had lost faith in himself. He had internalized the message that he was a failure. Many adults treated him that way as well. Not me. I saw determination. This was a boy who came to school every day, every year, in spite of repeated failure and embarrassment. No wonder he was angry. But he wasn't the failure-- the system was. Had their been a vocational opportunity at the middle school level, this student would have thrived. He would have been given access to a career path-- an optimistic glimpse of the future. He would have been given the chance to engage in learning in a way that was accessible to him. We would have fulfilled our promise, as educators, to have produced an educated, productive member of society. I agree with Linda Nathan that we need system-wide changes. I just think it has to happen way before high school. I think every educator, especially those from white, middle class backgrounds, needs to read this book.
April 9, 2018
If you’re a college student, when is grit not enough? When you’re not a white student in the middle-to-upper class. Linda Nathan, founding headmaster of the Boston Arts Academy, tracks some of her talented high school graduates who needed grit and a whole lot more. She concludes that perseverance and hard work alone can’t overcome the obstacles imposed by poverty, daily microaggressions, stereotype threat, and lack of cultural capital necessary to navigate the classrooms, dormitories, and administrative offices of predominantly white colleges and universities.
The power of this book lies in the personal testimony of those high school graduates.
“My mother . . . didn’t understand that you have to do the [financial aid] forms every year” (p. 20).
“My college is such a well-known school that it just assumes that every college student has the resources and means to navigate the system. But that’s just true. I didn’t” (p. 24).
“My friends from college . . . don’t have to worry about money as much as I do. They come from families where there is more financial support. But I had that scholarship [for students with a GPA of at least 2.8] and that was it. For a long time I thought I could go back . . . . But, you know, I began to feel that I didn’t belong there any more. Maybe I wasn’t smart enough for college” (p. 19).
“Sometimes I feel nervous about speaking up. I never felt like that in high school” (p. 56).
Some of Nathan’s students believed that they could graduate from college. They worked hard, found the necessary support, learned the ropes, overcame the obstacles, and achieved their dream. Many, however, withdrew with a few credits and a load of debt.
Nathan makes us wonder what can be done to remove some of the obstacles that prevent them from persisting until graduation. She offers some suggestions like fostering a growth mindset culture, training college professors and staff for anti-racism, educating students about their social contexts, and maintaining transparency about college academic and administrative systems. She also argues that college is not, in fact, for everyone. If students are more suited to a two-year associate's degree or a vocational track, then it's better for them to take that training and succeed than to wash out of college.
The power of this book lies in the personal testimony of those high school graduates.
“My mother . . . didn’t understand that you have to do the [financial aid] forms every year” (p. 20).
“My college is such a well-known school that it just assumes that every college student has the resources and means to navigate the system. But that’s just true. I didn’t” (p. 24).
“My friends from college . . . don’t have to worry about money as much as I do. They come from families where there is more financial support. But I had that scholarship [for students with a GPA of at least 2.8] and that was it. For a long time I thought I could go back . . . . But, you know, I began to feel that I didn’t belong there any more. Maybe I wasn’t smart enough for college” (p. 19).
“Sometimes I feel nervous about speaking up. I never felt like that in high school” (p. 56).
Some of Nathan’s students believed that they could graduate from college. They worked hard, found the necessary support, learned the ropes, overcame the obstacles, and achieved their dream. Many, however, withdrew with a few credits and a load of debt.
Nathan makes us wonder what can be done to remove some of the obstacles that prevent them from persisting until graduation. She offers some suggestions like fostering a growth mindset culture, training college professors and staff for anti-racism, educating students about their social contexts, and maintaining transparency about college academic and administrative systems. She also argues that college is not, in fact, for everyone. If students are more suited to a two-year associate's degree or a vocational track, then it's better for them to take that training and succeed than to wash out of college.
January 4, 2018
Nathan's book comes along right at the time we get a new meaning for the word "woke". That movement carries a lot of baggage, but one of the trends seems to be for the privileged to understand the institutions that favor them to the detriment of those lacking privilege. "Grit" as a topic to unpack and understand is great! Duckworth's research was helpful in nailing down a key component to nurturing a developing mind-- but it still isn't the be-all-end-all that some educational institutions want it to be. Nathan is here to force the conversation away from the individual and towards the educational institutions who are meant to help them.
Each chapter address what Nathan calls a myth. Racism doesn't matter. Money isn't everything. Just follow your dreams. Then she points out how all those myths hide a nasty truth: numbers. If money's isn't everything, why are so many of the poor not able to go to college? If racism doesn't matter, why are minorities disproportionately represented in the number of individuals who never complete a degree? Nathan ran an arts school, and her love of creativity and nurturing the "souls" of children is stamped on every page, but she's not entirely doe-eyed either. It's all well and good to look at what is lacking from the student (dare we say, "grit"?), but it's takes two to tango. Individuals don't live in glass bubbles. Leaving out the context of their lives does a disservice to the student and prevents the educational institutions from clearly seeing how to make their mission a reality.
Each chapter address what Nathan calls a myth. Racism doesn't matter. Money isn't everything. Just follow your dreams. Then she points out how all those myths hide a nasty truth: numbers. If money's isn't everything, why are so many of the poor not able to go to college? If racism doesn't matter, why are minorities disproportionately represented in the number of individuals who never complete a degree? Nathan ran an arts school, and her love of creativity and nurturing the "souls" of children is stamped on every page, but she's not entirely doe-eyed either. It's all well and good to look at what is lacking from the student (dare we say, "grit"?), but it's takes two to tango. Individuals don't live in glass bubbles. Leaving out the context of their lives does a disservice to the student and prevents the educational institutions from clearly seeing how to make their mission a reality.
October 13, 2017
There is so much about this book that I appreciate, namely the author's push-back against the idea of using grit as a magic fix-all for students' low achievement. She acknowledges the problematic reality that when we focus our efforts on getting our students to up their grittiness, then we are giving external factors like poverty and institutional oppression a pass: "Without intense interrogation we might assume that success is individually created and sustained. 'If I could do it, so can you' is how so much of this 'grit' work gets translated into practice. The assumption of how you can 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' becomes nearly impossible to break. The no-excuses world of schools seem to ignore reams of data that repeatedly show how poverty, social class, race, and parents' educational attainment more directly influence an individual's success and potential earnings than any individual effort. Individual effort is still vitally important, but a student's circumstances still do impact his or her future, and we can't ignore these additional important factors"(93).
I respect the way Nathan names and honors nuance and the fact that students--particularly students of color--are not monolithic as she argues what educators a.) need to do in order to better support our young people and b.) need to stop doing because when we operate within the 5 major assumptions she outlines in this book, we are unintentionally, in many cases, harming our students.
I respect the way Nathan names and honors nuance and the fact that students--particularly students of color--are not monolithic as she argues what educators a.) need to do in order to better support our young people and b.) need to stop doing because when we operate within the 5 major assumptions she outlines in this book, we are unintentionally, in many cases, harming our students.
January 23, 2018
Author Linda F Nathan challenges five assumptions about hard work and success in college and in life.
• Money doesn’t’ have to be an obstacle
• Race doesn’t matter
• Just work harder
• Everyone can go to college
• If you believe in yourself, your dreams will come true.
Nathan calls these the grit words: If you have grit, you can overcome the barriers to an education.
The grit words don’t work for Nathan. Her evidence is the stories of students in her school. The problem, she says, is that grit makes us measure of the achievement of the individual. The assumption is that only those with grit can go on to college.
She proposes a number of plans to overcome the grit assumption, starting with the radical idea that college is not necessary to be successful.
The girt word gets out attention. More importantly, it’s a powerful word seldom used in educational circles. I would not have picked up the book if the word wasn’t in the title.
Nathan and other educators need to expand on this idea, especially when teachers– especially those in the inner-city schools – are struggling with many challenges.
I look forward to a second grit book for more detail.
• Money doesn’t’ have to be an obstacle
• Race doesn’t matter
• Just work harder
• Everyone can go to college
• If you believe in yourself, your dreams will come true.
Nathan calls these the grit words: If you have grit, you can overcome the barriers to an education.
The grit words don’t work for Nathan. Her evidence is the stories of students in her school. The problem, she says, is that grit makes us measure of the achievement of the individual. The assumption is that only those with grit can go on to college.
She proposes a number of plans to overcome the grit assumption, starting with the radical idea that college is not necessary to be successful.
The girt word gets out attention. More importantly, it’s a powerful word seldom used in educational circles. I would not have picked up the book if the word wasn’t in the title.
Nathan and other educators need to expand on this idea, especially when teachers– especially those in the inner-city schools – are struggling with many challenges.
I look forward to a second grit book for more detail.
October 8, 2018
I actually could not finish this book. It was well written and the author put a lot into it from her experiences as a parent of college graduates and as an educator in the public school system. But I had a hard time agreeing with all her arguments. I think the only people who would really enjoy or gain much from this book are educators, parents who want their kids to go to college, and perhaps college students who are struggling in school. This book is filled with stories of kids not making it through college for a number of reasons. Personally, I had almost no education until college, my parents were poor and "homeschooled" me poorly and were of no help to me when I started college. But you know what? I didn't find staying on top of my classes or financial aid that challenging. Also, most of the students at the colleges I attended were of color so I don't agree that race is an issue. I was denied many scholarships because I was not of color so...I'm not saying that the issues discussed in this book are all wrong but it just felt like someones political agenda to me.
September 27, 2017
What's stopping more of our prepared, motivated young people from finding their way not only to but through college? Based on her work as the founding headmaster of Boston Arts Academy (BAA), Linda thinks about the opportunities and obstacles that confront that graduates--and millions of their peers--as they move into higher education. After talking to more than 90 BAA graduates, Linda identifies 5 assumptions that create real problems for the ways we support young people to find success, and shares her thinking about what we need to do to make real change. This is a must-read for all of us thinking about and working on ways to open avenues to productivity, happiness, and success for all of our young people.
January 6, 2024
I have always struggled with how my academic journey has turned out as the child of a low income immigrant. I bought into the idea that if I had enough “grit” and just worked “hard enough” I could achieve my dreams but it’s more complicated than that. I really resonated with the student vignettes throughout the book and the argument that we need to rethink and reframe the way “grit,” “work hard enough” and the “college for everyone” mentality in higher education. We need to educate those that work in higher education how these circumstances impact students ability to not only perform academically but also to embark on a journey into higher education and expand the concept of success to include other life trajectories such as trade schools etc. Overall good read!
May 8, 2018
This was a tough read at parts for me. There was a lot of it I found interesting and insightful. Some of it, however, I really struggled with agreeing with Ms. Nathan on wholeheartedly. There is nothing wrong with a good argument, but I often find myself wrestling with the idea that one can take the experiences of a set of students at one school and extrapolate that across the entirety of students as a whole. I am sure she did some research in this process, but it is just the limitation of anecdotal data from a small population.
That said, it generated a lot of thought and has already ready to some quality discussions with my guidance department.
That said, it generated a lot of thought and has already ready to some quality discussions with my guidance department.
March 19, 2018
The first chapter, "Money Doesn't Have to Be an Obstacle" basically brought back my clinical depression that formed thanks to being a typical low-income black student in a middle-class white school system, feelings I usually successfully avoid until I remember I'm a college dropout and feel like shit. But enough of some of my reasons for therapy! The rest was so-so.
December 2, 2019
Some important and accurate ideas are in here, but too often it feels like the author is indirectly working through their guilt of not being able to effectively disrupt the institution due to buying into an oppressive structure for education. It happens to all of us, but you don't have to write a book about it.
January 27, 2020
Well written. Nathan explores "myths" about how all students can go to college and succeed and then using anecdotes mostly from students are her school, Boston Arts Academy, as well as other examples tp show how those myths can be misleading and dangerous. She also uses positive examples of how they are or could be overcome.
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August 13, 2019I won a copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. So that others may also enjoy this book, I am paying it forward by donating it to my local library.
January 9, 2018
This is an environmentally and socially important book. I recommend it for anyone who wants to read it. and also for those who see it but don't want to read it.
June 5, 2018
A must read for educators.
January 15, 2020
A really good read for all educators teaching in the US.
June 23, 2020
Should be part of every teacher-training curriculum.
July 14, 2021
Did not finish….just seems to be a bunch of stories about why kids dropped out of college. What is the argument? That poverty is bad? Not sure.
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August 13, 2019I won a copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. So that others may also enjoy this book, I am paying it forward by donating it to my local library.
October 8, 2017
The author using compelling student stories to illustrate the reality that we must all acknowledge. She uses the stories to challenge the assumptions that can feel like absolutes. As a principal committed to the long term for my students, I appreciated an accurate picture that challenges our common messages, and I also appreciated the concrete and specific action steps proposed. Anyone who feels that our true obligations to students are getting lost will appreciate the author's clear commitment to actual lifelong outcomes for all students.
December 11, 2018
What a pertinent book for all to read but I'm afraid it will only be read by interested educators! It is thoughtful, evocative and well documented but moreso, it is a good read that makes the reader think about all the cliches we give to kids: "pull yourself up by your bootstraps." "you can do it ...it just takes time and planning"---yes, all good things but unrealistic for some kiddos who are working full time jobs, raising families and often times being the first ones to go to college. Egads, Nathan stresses how in some homes (like hers and ours) college is discussed around the dinner table and process is precluded....forms, financial aid, etc..... How does this work for families who have never experienced the process? Understanding of process is key but also the reality that getting in to a school even with a full scholarship is not enough! Good read and not simplistic about it. Very straightforward but alarming. I wish everyone could read this or be interested in reading it. How do we get folks to read educational books????
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