TABLE OF CONTENTS
UPDATE
NOTICE
SPOTLIGHT
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
RECOMMENDED READINGS
TOOLS YOU CAN USE
RESEARCH BASED PRODUCTS
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE UPDATE
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
FEATURED WEBSITE
DID YOU KNOW …
UPCOMING EVENTS
This eNEWS is sent formatted in HTML. If the graphics do not display properly, please go to: www.nccrest.org or www.urbanschools.org to view the eNEWS online. Back issues of the eNEWS are also available there.
Join us for a 3 day certification training on NCCRESt’s Professional Development Module:
Understanding Culture and Cultural Responsiveness
May 14th-16th and June 18th-20th in Denver, CO
You will have the opportunity to…o Understand the influence of race, class, and culture on individuals and society,Registration will open March 9th. Watch our website for more details… www.nccrest.org.
o Explore your own cultural background and identity,
o Identify the ways that systems of power and privilege impact our daily lives, and
o Develop skills to facilitate these conversations in your school or organization.
The conference was a great success with leading educators, policy makers, advocacy groups, parents, and community members attending from across the United States. Keynote speakers included Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Robert P. Moses, Sonia Nieto, and Pedro Noguera, who addressed issues of equity, power and privilege, race, systems change, and policy leadership. The focus for the three days was to share current research, best practices, and tools for transforming educational systems. There was a wonderful turnout of over 500 participants, powerful keynotes, insightful concurrent session presentations, thought provoking entertainment, and a national art contest. Overall, the conference inspired strong enthusiasm to promote quality, culturally responsive education for ALL students.
Art Contest Wrap Up
Congratulations to Tannia Cortez who was awarded the grand prize for her inspiring artwork that captured her vision of what schools would look like when they value and include the backgrounds, experiences, and heritage of ALL students. Seventeen year old Tannia is from San Luis, Arizona and attends San Luis High School. She received a plaque and a cash award of $300 as well as a trip for two to Washington DC, where she was honored during the reception at the National Conference. She says this about her artwork, “I am comparing the world where I believe to live in to the world where I wish I could exist. I am expressing the need to respect and appreciate diversity in school to create unity in a learning environment.”
There was also a winner from each age group: K-4th, 5th-8th, 9th-12th, and Adult. The age group winners received $200 and a plaque. All the winners' artwork is on our website.
Kindergarten through 4th grade:
Joanne Wang
Plainsboro, NJ5th through 8th grade:
Dylan Bozic
Cimora VA9th through 12th grade:
Jon Rosario
Burbank, CAAdult:
Dara Sharapan
Scottsdale, AZEntertainment Follow Up
NCCREST would like to publicly thank The Figureheads and Quique Avilés for their participation at the Forum. They both brought a lot of energy and provided thought provoking performances. To purchase books or CD's from The Figureheads visit this site. To purchase Quique's new book, The Immigrant Museum, call Busboys and Poets at 202-387-7638 or 1-800-763-9131.Presentations Follow Up
Presentations from keynotes and concurrent sessions will be on our website by March 14th. Please send all presentations to nccrest@cudenver.edu.
Madison Metropolitan School District was honored during NCCRESt’s national conference in Washington D.C. Madison was recognized for their efforts in addressing issues of disproportionality through a systems change framework that engages all district leaders in ownership and action.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction was honored during NCCRESt’s national conference in Washington D.C. North Carolina was recognized for “bridging the gap” between general education and special education divisions at the state level.
The Regional Resource and Federal Centers Networks were honored during NCCRESt’s national conference in Washington D.C. The centers were recognized for their ongoing support and dissemination of disproportionality information and resources to the state education agencies.
The Equity Project at Indiana University was honored during NCCRESt’s national conference in Washington D.C. The Equity Project was recognized for supporting educators and educational institutions in developing and maintaining safe, effective, and equitable learning opportunities for all students.
To view press releases go to… www.nccrest.org
|
LISA
DELPIT
|
Lisa
D. Delpit is the Executive Director/Eminent Scholar for the Center
for Urban Education & Innovation at Florida International University,
Miami. She is the former holder of the Benjamin E. Mays Chair of
Urban Educational Excellence at Georgia State University, Atlanta.By Susan Eaton
"The Children in Room E4," is a new book chronicling the ups and downs of an urban school district with a history of low performance, and the occasional bright spot. Author, Susan Eaton follows one student, one classroom, and one teacher at an all-minority school in inner-city Hartford, Ct., the poorest city in the wealthiest state in the nation. She also tracks the ups and downs of Sheff v. O’Neill, the ongoing legal battle over equity in Connecticut schools.
TEACHER MAGAZINE had this to say about the book: "The educational disparities between rich and poor, black and white, urban and suburban students are well known. But Eaton, who has a PhD in education policy and has also been a newspaper reporter, takes the old familiar story and invests it with new interest."
You can follow the below link to hear an interview with the author:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7474250
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODULE
Mining Data ModuleNIUSI’s Mining Data Module is available on the web. In this module we take a serious look at understanding and using data and other evidence of student performance to improve student learning. Participants will consider a variety of measures of academic performance by asking tough questions about data such as: What do students need to know? How will we know if students have learned it? What will we do if students have not learned what they need to know? Working steadily and continuously as a team, school faculty and administrators can become successful with all, not just some, of their students.NIUSI periodically develops modules to facilitate and encourage school wide reform on various topics. Each module has a theme and is broken down into academies. To view or download the module please visit our web site at www.urbanschools.orgPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODULE
Collaborative Leadership Team Module
NCCRESt’s Collaborative Leadership Team module is available online. The academies in this module promote inclusive and culturally responsive educational systems. The module effectively coaches Collaborative Leadership Team members in both leadership skills and team collaboration. Included academies are…• Fostering Team Leadership in Culturally Responsive Systems
• Engaging Stakeholders in Culturally Responsive Systems
• Creating Culturally Responsive SystemsThis module is useful for practitioners and administrators, as well as anyone interested in implementing school reform.NCCRESt periodically develops modules to facilitate and encourage school wide reform on various topics. Each module has a theme and is broken down into academies. To view or download the module for free please visit our web site at www.nccrest.org.
FORGING A KNOWLEDGE BASE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: THEORETICAL, POPULATION, AND TECHNICAL ISSUES. VOLUME 108, NUMBER 11
To purchase this special issue go to…
http://www.tcrecord.org/Issue.asp?volyear=2006&number=11&volume=108
Included in the issue are…
It Depends: A Sociohistorical Account of the Definition and Methods of Identification of Learning Disabilities
by Margaret Gallego, Grace Zamora Durán & Elba Reyes
In this paper, the authors examine the official definition and the means for the identification of learning disabilities and their constancy in view of surrounding historical chronologies.Who Are These Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students?
by Eugene Garcia & Delis CuéllarThe Special Education Referral and Decision-Making Process for English Language Learners: Child Study Team Meetings and Placement Conferences
by Janette Klingner & Beth HarryPsychometric Issues in the ELL Assessment and Special Education Eligibility
by Jamal AbediHow Language Proficiency Tests Mislead Us About Ability: Implications for English Language Learner Placement in Special Education
by Jeff MacSwan & Kellie RolstadSemilingualism Applied to the Literacy Behaviors of Spanish-Speaking Emerging Bilinguals: Bi-illiteracy or Emerging Biliteracy?
by Kathy EscamillaLanguage, Dialect, and Register: Sociolinguistics and the Estimation of Measurement Error in the Testing of English Language Learners
by Guillermo Solano-FloresIdentity Texts and Literacy Development Among Preschool English Language Learners: Enhancing Learning Opportunities for Children at Risk for Learning Disabilities
by Judith Bernhard, Jim Cummins, F. Campoy, Alma Ada, Adam Winsler & Charles BleikerBuilding Consensus: Future Directions for Research on English Language Learners at Risk for Learning Difficulties
by Nonie LesauxArtiles, A. J., & Klingner, J. K. (Eds.). (2006). Forging a knowledge base on English language learners with special needs: Theoretical, population, and technical issues. Teachers College Record, 108, 2187-2438.
NCCRESt staff went to Raleigh, North Carolina and spent three days training a combined group of general and special education trainers and disproportionality task force members at the state department to facilitate the NCCRESt professional development modules “Understanding Culture and Cultural Responsiveness” and “Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practice”. This group of trainers will now be able to use these training materials with districts across the state.
The Louisiana Department of Education hosted a technical assistance meeting for 17 identified districts who are working to address issues of Disproportionality. Each district sent a team of people, including the superintendent, special education director, school psychologists, teachers, and family members to work for the day on the NCCRESt rubric for addressing disproportionality. Teams will return to their districts and finish the self assessment over the next few months.
“The end of all education should surely be service to others. We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sake and for our own.”
-Cesar Chavez
Diversitydata.org allows visitors to explore how metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. perform on a diverse range of social measures that comprise a well-rounded life experience.
These data call attention to the equality of opportunity and diversity of experiences for different racial and ethnic groups in America.
Learn more about the project.
|
AASA NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION
New Orleans, LA March 1-4, 2007
http://www.aasa.org/nce/FACING RACE 2007: DEFINE JUSTICE, MAKE CHANGE
New York, NY March 22-24, 2007
http://www.arc.org/content/view/487/111/CELEBRATION OF TEACHING & LEARNING
New York, NY March 23-24, 2007
http://www.thirteencelebration.org/RAISING ACHIEVEMENT AND CLOSING GAPS CONFERENCE
Greensboro, NC March 26-28, 2007
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/racg/conference/NATIONAL DIVERSITY CONFERENCE
Seattle, WA April 25-27, 2007
http://www.ediversitycenter.net/casde/index.php
CONFERENCE ON EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATION
The Richard Stockton College Pomona, New Jersey, April 28, 2007
Bradley.porfilio@stockton.eduNCUST’S 2ND ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM: THE ROLE OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN CREATING AND SUSTAINING HIGH PERFORMING URBAN SCHOOLS
San Diego, CA, May 4-5, 2007
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/ncust/NCCREST’S CULTURE MODULE CERTIFICATION TRAINING
Denver, CO, May 14th-16th and June 18th-20th, 2007
www.nccrest.orgINFUSING CULTURAL, LINGUISTIC AND ABILITY DIVERSITY IN PRESERVICE EDUCATION
Asheville, NC, July 25- 28, 2007
http://www.fpg.unc.edu/%7Escpp/crosswalks/pages/nationalinstitute.cfm
