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From: nccrest@cudenver.edu
Date: 08/29/03

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NCCRESt News, the electronic newsletter of the
National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems

Volume 1, Number 3 August 2003
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Welcome to NCCRESt News, the monthly electronic newsletter of the National
Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt). NCCRESt
News keeps you informed of the work of this project and other news and
information related to reducing the disproportionate representation of
culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education. Each
issue features resources, research, events, and examples of educational
practices that facilitate the learning and development of all children.

"...education, in the broadest sense of the word, holds the key to meeting
the challenges of global responsibility and fostering tolerance."
--Daisaku Ikeda

IN THIS ISSUE:

==> NCCRESt Update: NCCRESt's fall activities; follow-up on Mid-South
Regional Resource Center's Disproportionality Forum
==> Culturally Responsive Resource: Rethinking Schools Online Newsletter
==> Events: NCCRESt staff to present at NAME (Nov. 8); Project LASER's
annual conference (Dec. 3-6)
==> Web Site of the Month: National Association of School Psychologists'
Culturally Competence Practice Web Page
==> NCCRESt Support Desk

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NCCRESt UPDATE

==> Upcoming NCCRESt regional meetings

This fall, NCCRESt will hold three regional meetings with state teams on
the issue of disproportionality. On October 20-21, NCCRESt will hold a
Forum on Disproportionality in Denver, Colorado, for the Mountain Plains,
Western, and Great Lakes regions. NCCRESt is opening up this invited
conference to advocacy and grassroots organizations for a small fee.
NCCRESt will also hold Technical Assistance Meetings for the Mid-South on
November 2-3, in Baltimore, Maryland, and for the Southeast on December
8-9, in Dallas, Texas.

Additional details about these events will be released on http://www.nccrest.org, or please contact Project Coordinator Shelley Zion at
shelley.zion@cudenver.edu or 303-556-3990.

==> Strategies for closing the achievement gap

The Mid-South Regional Resource Center (MSRRC) recently released a summary
of its May 7-8 Forum on Disproportionality. MSRRC, which includes the
states of Delaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, designed
its forum to look at the issue of disproportionality through the lenses of
intervention, identification, and instruction. NCCRESt's Project
Coordinator Shelley Zion and advisory board member Dr. Brenda L. Townsend
served as keynote speakers. A synopsis of their presentations' key points
are included at the following link:
http://www.ihdi.uky.edu/msrrc/disprop_forum.htm.

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CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE RESOURCE

==> Rethinking Schools Newsletter

Rethinking Schools is an organization committed to equity and to the
vision that public education is central to the creation of a humane,
caring, multiracial democracy. The organization publishes a quarterly
newsletter, "Rethinking Schools," which focuses on problems facing urban
schools, particularly related to issues of race. The organization's Web
site includes current and back issues of the newsletter, which are
organized into a useful, searchable database. The organization also
organizes special collections of articles on topics such as bilingual
education and "the return to separate but not equal education" in
Milwaukee. For more information, or to read "Rethinking Schools" online,
visit http://www.rethinkingschools.org/.
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EVENTS
 
==> NCCRESt to present at the National Association for Multicultural
Education's (NAME) 13th Annual Conference:
"From Rhetoric to Reality: Student Achievement in Multicultural Societies"

November 5-9, 2003 * Seattle, WA

NCCRESt’s Co-Principal Investigator Elizabeth Kozleski and Project Coordinator Shelley Zion will present "Creating the Context for Culturally Responsive Practice through Professional Development" on Saturday, November 8. NAME's annual conference also will feature presentations from Cherry McGee Banks, James Banks, Eugene Garcia, Geneva Gay, Carl Grant, Louise Derman-Sparks, Sonia Nieto, and many other leading researchers and scholars in the field. We are also very pleased to be co-presenting this session with Ginger Kwan, who is a Trainer with the Multicultural Competence Training Project and a member of NCCRESt's professional development team. Ginger also brings to this presentation her experience and insight as a parent of a child with disabilities. Participants will have opportunities to interact with educators who are conducting exemplary programs, share effective strategies, obtain valuable curricular and resource materials that support diversity and educational equity, visit multicultural schools and sites in Seattle, and much more. For more information, please visit http://www.nameorg.org/conferences.html.

==> Project LASER's 3rd Annual Urban Education Research Conference
"Fifty years of broken promises, dashed hopes, and shattered dreams:
Solutions wanted!
Only evidence-based research need apply"
December 3-6, 2003 (Pre-Conference: December 2) * Dallas, TX

NCCRESt's advisory board member Dr. Brenda L. Townsend directs Linking
Academic Scholars to Educational Resources (LASER), a project of the
Office of Special Education Programs. The mission of the project is to
enhance the capacity of faculty and graduate students in minority
institutions to engage in research that impacts children from minority
and/or low-income backgrounds. Dr. Townsend has invited a distinguished
list of presenters to LASER's annual conference, including NCCRESt's
Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Alfredo Artiles. Other presenters will
include Drs. James Banks, Vivian Correa, Richard Figueroa, Geneva Gay, Tom
Peacock, Theresa Perry, Francisco Rios, Christine Sleeter, Orlando Taylor,
Martha Thurlow, and William Trent.
 
For more information, please visit http://www.coedu.usf.edu/LASER or contact LASER Dr. Townsend (btownsen@tempest.coedu.usf.edu or
813-974-1385), or Project Coordinator Ms. Anh-Kay Pizano (813-974-9890 or
apizano@tempest.coedu.usf.edu).
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WEB SITE OF THE MONTH

==> National Association of School Psychologists' Culturally Competent
Practice Web Page

The National Association of School Psychologists is committed to promoting
inclusive educational environments that respect and respond to differences
in race, culture, ethnicity, and language. NASP's recently launched
Culturally Competent Practice Web site - http://www.nasponline.org/culturalcompetence/ - is designed to assist school psychologists, educators, and parents in
their efforts to enhance the mental health and educational competence of
all children. The site includes a self-assessment checklist on Promoting
Cultural Diversity and Cultural Competency; definitions of what it means
to be cultural competent policymakers, administrators, and educators; a
bilingual edition of tips and tools for helping children at home and
school; and much more.
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NCCRESt SUPPORT DESK

If you have comments or questions about NCCRESt News, or have information
you would like us to distribute to the list, please
email nccrest@cudenver.edu.
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Archives of NCCRESt News are available at http://www.edc.org/hypermail/nccrest/
For more information about NCCRESt, please contact:
Shelley Zion, Project Coordinator
National Center for Culturally Responsive
Educational Systems (NCCRESt)
1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 625
Denver, CO 80204
Phone: 303-556-3990
Fax: 303-556-6141
Email: shelley.zion@cudenver.edu
Web: www.nccrest.org
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NCCRESt is a technical assistance center funded by
the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.
Project Officer: Grace Zamora Duràn. Award No. H326E020003.
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