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From: nccrest@cudenver.edu
Date: 04/30/04

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

Volume 2, Number 4 April 2004
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In this issue:

==> NCCRESt Update: Presenters for NCCRESt's November ELL research
conference announced; Still Separate, Still Unequal; report on Mountain
Plains meeting
==> Events: CUBE Issues Seminar (June 25-27); Persistently Safe Schools
(Oct. 27-29); Dropout Prevention events (Oct. 31-Nov. 4)
==> New Resources: Making Race Visible; Beating the Odds IV
==> NCCRESt Support Desk
 
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NCCRESt UPDATE

==> English Language Learners Struggling to Learn:
Emergent Research on Linguistic Differences and Learning Disabilities –
Presenters announced!
November 18-19, 2004 * Scottsdale, AZ

In a recent issue of NCCRESt News, NCCRESt announced "English Language
Learners Struggling to Learn," a national research conference it is
pleased to be co-sponsoring with the Arizona State University, Council for
Exceptional Children, and National Association for Bilingual Education.

NCCRESt recently secured several distinguished presenters who will share
original, emergent scholarship on the differences between second language
acquisition and learning disabilities, including Alfredo Artiles, Leonard
Baca, Manual Barrera, Jim Cummins, Kathy Escamilla, Richard Figueroa, Todd
Fletcher, Gene Garcia, Michael Gerber, Diane Haager, Janette Klingner,
Nonie Lesaux, Jeff McSwan, Jamal Obedi, Alba Ortiz, Robert Rueda, Nadine
Ruiz, Richard Ruiz, and Sharon Vaughn.

For more information, please visit http://www.nccrest.org, or contact
Carolyn Ottke-Moore at carolyn.moore@cudenver.edu.

==> Still Separate, Still Unequal: Special Education & Brown vs. Board of
Education, 1954

Thank you for participating in NCCRESt's online discussion, Still
Separate, Still Unequal, which ran April 26-30. It was a rich and
provocative conversation that brought together a variety of stakeholders
and service providers who are concerned about achieving educational
justice for all of our nation's children and youth. An archive of the
weeklong event is available on http://www.nccrest.org.

==> Coordinating Resources and Knowledge to Leverage Improved Outcomes for
Students
A forum sponsored by Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center
April 19-20, 2004

Teams from the state departments of education in the Mountain Plains
region came together to develop a clearer understanding of the unique
purpose, resources, and technical assistance offerings of NCCRESt,
National Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS),
and the National Center for Research in Learning Disabilities (NCRLD).
Each of these centers supports using a three-tiered intervention model,
and presented information on their individual approaches to the
implementation of this model. Representatives from each of the centers
included Elizabeth Kozleski, Janette Klingner, and Shelley Zion, NCCRESt;
George Sugai, PBIS; and Daryl Mellard, NCRLD.

The state teams focused on ways to integrate initiatives and sustain
change, while applying information to state specific needs and contexts.
Teams left the meeting with a list of realistic strategies for
coordinating and integrating resources into a more coherent whole.
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EVENTS

==> National School Boards Association, Council of Urban Boards of
Education (CUBE) presents
Islands of Students: The Urban Educational Divide
June 25-27, 2004 * Baltimore, MD

Today, one of every four public school children receives academic
instruction in the nation's largest cities. Nearly half of America's
culturally and linguistically diverse children go to an urban public
school, as do a third of poor children. A significant number of these
racially, economically, and linguistically challenged children are
extremely isolated within urban schools, and have limited access to the
full range of educational opportunities or depth of challenging
curriculum.

This issues seminar will consider how urban schools are addressing the
academic needs of these isolated pockets of students, an issue which may
arguably become the most important civil rights challenge of our day.
Sessions will explore a variety of pertinent questions:

* What are urban schools doing to address the overrepresentation of
culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education?

* As we recognize the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education,
Topeka, Kansas, decision, are we still battling the same issues of
inequity today?

* How are some districts are serving and challenging these students with
limited English proficiency and helping them to excel?

For more information, visit
http://www.nsba.org/site/page_micro.asp?TRACKID=&VID=35&CID=80&DID=212

==> The Hamilton Fish Institute announces
Persistently Safe Schools: The National Conference of the Hamilton Fish
Institute
October 27-29, 2004 * Washington, DC

The conference is designed to highlight and review past and present school
violence prevention milestones and to propose directions for future
research, practice, and partnerships. The projected plenary and concurrent
sessions will be organized around the following subject tracks:

* Alternative education
* Bullying (student-on-student, student-on-teacher, teacher-on-student)
* Gender-related violence and issues
* School-based mental health
* Model interventions (universal, selective, and targeted)
* Risk and protective factors
* School security (including school bus safety)
 
Produced by the George Washington University, Eastern Kentucky University,
Florida State University, Massachusetts Mental Health Institute, Morehouse
School of Medicine (Atlanta), Shenandoah University (Virginia), Syracuse
University, University of Oregon, and University of Wisconsin at
Milwaukee, with funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of
Justice.

To register, visit http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=12700

==> 16th Annual National Dropout Prevention Network Conference
A Student With a Dream Is a Student With a Future
October 31-November 4, 2004 * Orlando, FL

Join the National Dropout Prevention Network, Communities In Schools of
Florida, Florida Learn & Serve/Title IV, Orange County Public Schools,
Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Florida Network of Youth and
Family Services, National Crime Prevention Council, and others as they
co-sponsor this national event. Participants will discover innovative
programs and proven strategies for dealing with students at high risk of
school failure.

==> 1st Annual National Special Education Forum
Creating Model Dropout Prevention Programs:
Begin with Effective Instructional Strategies
November 3-4, 2004 * Orlando, FL

The National Dropout Prevention Network encourages participants of its
annual conference to extend their stay in Florida to attend the First
Annual National Special Education Forum and learn about issues and program
strategies to increase the rate of school completion for students with
disabilities.

For more information about these events, please visit
http://www.dropoutprevention.org or call 864-656-2675.
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NEW RESOURCES

==> Making Race Visible: Literacy Research for Cultural Understanding

Stuart Greene and Dawn Abt-Perkins, Editors
Foreword by Gloria Ladson-Billings; Afterword by Sonia Nieto

Written by teachers and researchers, this volume opens new territory on a
critical but rarely addressed topic—the intersection of race with literacy
research and practice. Grounded in classroom experiences, this book:

* Shows how race is constructed through literacy instruction and how
adopting a "colorblind" stance serves to maintain a system of racism that
is pervasive in and out of schools.
* Develops authentic knowledge of teaching and learning practices to
insure that student and teacher voices are heard.
* Considers the ethics of research agendas and the consequences of their
findings, discussing the importance of research in addressing issues of
racial inequality in school literacy achievement.
* Details the value of the research process itself, coming to terms with
the researcher's aims, audiences, and their responsibilities as potential
agents of change.

For more information, visit Teachers College Press at
http://store.tcpress.com/0807743917.shtml

==> Beating the Odds IV: A City-By-City Analysis of Student Performance
and Achievement Gap On State Assessments
Results from 2002-2003 School Year (March 2004)

The Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) has prepared this fourth
edition of Beating the Odds to give the nation another look at how
inner-city schools are performing on the academic goals and standards set
by the states for our children. This analysis examines student achievement
in math and reading through spring 2003. It also measures achievement gaps
between cities and states, African Americans and whites, and Hispanics and
whites. It includes new data on language proficiency, disability, and
income. It asks two critical questions: "Are urban schools improving
academically?" and "Are urban schools closing achievement gaps?" In
general, "Beating the Odds IV" shows some urban schools as making
important gains in math and reading scores on state assessments and in
narrowing the achievement gap.

For more information, please visit the CGCS Web site:
http://www.cgcs.org/reports/beat_the_oddsIV.html

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NCCRESt SUPPORT DESK

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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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