The Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) this morning received encouraging feedback from the U.S. Department of Education (USED) following a review of its State plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). USED officials gave the indication for “ultimate approval of the plan” during a call with HIDOE officials.
“We had a great discussion with federal education officials who determined that Hawaii is well on its way for approval once we make minor adjustments to our consolidated plan,” said Superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto. “The State plan is a culmination of a community effort and it’s rewarding to see that the USED recognizes Hawaii’s effort and commitment to providing equitable and accessible education.”
ESSA is a reauthorization of the federal education law known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It replaces the prior reauthorization, most commonly known as No Child Left Behind.
Following the Hawaii State Board of Education approval, the Superintendent and Governor David Ige submitted the signed state’s ESSA plan to USED in September 2017. The Hawaii ESSA plan is designed to support HIDOE’s Strategic Plan objectives, which provides common direction for public schools to empower students in their learning.
“I’m pleased to learn that we are close to getting our ESSA plan approved,” said BOE Chairman Lance Mizumoto. “The plan reflects our collective commitment to providing a well-rounded education for all students.”
HIDOE is making the necessary adjustments where further clarification is being sought on student supports that are already in place. Once the non-substantial changes are made, Superintendent Kishimoto will send the State plan to the USED for final approval.
Indiana University Northwest’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs invites the campus and community to observances of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Black History Month. All events are free and open to the public.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration
January 18, 2018
In observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, IU Northwest welcomes Stephon Ferguson. His presentation takes place at 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 18 in the Theater at the Arts & Sciences Building.
For the past 12 years, Ferguson has traveled the globe performing as King and educating people about his philosophy of love, peace, justice, and unity to bring about positive change. Ferguson works with the National Park Service at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia, where he gives historical presentations and Dr. King re-enactments. He is certified by The King Center, Emory University, and the University of Rhode Island to teach the Kingian Nonviolence Curriculum.
Black History Month Theatrical Production: “The Movement: 50 Years of Love and Struggle in America,”
February 8, 2018
“The Movement: 50 Years of Love and Struggle in America,” a multifaceted journey through the ever-changing face of the African American experience, takes place at 6 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 8 in the Bruce W. Bergland Auditorium, located in the Savannah Center.
A visual chronicle highlighting many of the political, social, cultural markers of the more than 50 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, this theatrical production features Emmy Award winning actor Ron Jones playing multiple characters. An open discussion with the audience follows the performance.
The Wiz
February 22 – 25, 2018
The Wiz, a production written by William Brown and Charlie Smalls; directed by Mark Spencer; and choreographed by Asia Dickens, is set for 7:30 p.m., February 22, 23 and 24 and 2:30 p.m., Sunday, February 25 at the Theater at the Arts & Sciences building.
After celebrating the demise of the Wicked Witch of the East with the Munchkins, Dorothy departs for the Emerald City with a live yellow brick road. The words are jive, the songs upbeat. She encounters a hip Scarecrow who wants to join her because he has a feeling he isn’t going anywhere; an uptight Tin Man who needs Dorothy’s help to hang loose again, and a mama’s-boy Lion who has lost faith in the psychiatric help he’s been getting from an owl. Together they will seek help from the great and powerful Oz.
Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace
February 27, 2018
A film screening of the documentary Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace with film director Rich Gentile, takes place at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 27 in the Bruce W. Bergland Auditorium, located in the Savannah Center.
Imagine the Deep South, Southeastern Conference (SEC) Basketball, the 1960s. Now imagine being the first African American to play in that setting. And now, imagine no university or coaching support between you and the noisy, venomous crowds, waving confederate flags and spewing racial epithets—demonstrating their displeasure that you are even stepping onto the court.
That’s the line Perry Wallace crossed in 1966 and the challenge he faced—alone—with courage, talent, tenacity, and faith. He ultimately prevailed and our country, along with collegiate sports, took another long-overdue step forward, thanks to Perry. Perry’s crusade continued after playing for Vanderbilt University, and today, 50 years later, his remarkable story is finally being told.
This is not just the story of a trailblazing athlete, but of civil rights, race in America, a campus in transition during the tumultuous ’60s, the mental toll of pioneering, decades of ostracism, and eventual reconciliation and healing.
More events are being planned for Black History Month. For updates, please visit iun.edu/diversity.
For more information, contact Tierra Jackson at jacksoti@iun.edu or (219) 980-6596.
About Indiana University Northwest
One of eight campuses of Indiana University, IU Northwest is located in metropolitan Northwest Indiana, approximately 30 miles southeast of Chicago and 10 miles from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The campus has a diverse student population of approximately 4,000 degree-seeking students and 1,500 dual-degree-seeking students. The campus offers Associate, Baccalaureate and Master’s degrees in a variety of un- dergraduate, graduate and pre-professional degree options available from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Health and Human Services, the School of Business and Economics, and the School of Education. The campus is also host to IU School of Medicine-Northwest-Gary, which actively involves students in research and local healthcare needs through its four-year medical doctorate program. IU Northwest emphasizes high-quality teaching, faculty and student research and engagement on campus and in the community. As a student-centered campus, IU Northwest is committed to academic excellence characterized by a love of ideas and achievement in learning, discovery, creativity and engagement. Indiana University Northwest is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer committed to achieving excellence through diversity. The University actively encourages applications from women, minorities, veterans, persons with disabilities, and members of other underrepresented groups.
The nation’s graduation rate rose again to a record high, with more than 84 percent of students graduating on time in 2016, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education.
That is the highest graduation rate recorded since 2011, when the Education Department began requiring schools to report rates in a standardized way. The graduation rate rose by nearly a percentage point from 2015 to 2016, from 83.2 percent to 84.1 percent. It has risen about 4 percentage points since 2011, when 79 percent of students obtained a high school diploma within four years.
All minority groups saw a rise in on-time graduation rates in 2016, but gaps persist. Only 76 percent of black students and 79 percent of Hispanic students graduated on time, compared to 88 percent of white students and 91 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander students.
The Obama administration considered the rise in graduation rates among its most important achievements in education, but experts have cautioned those rates can be a poor measure of how prepared young people are for work and higher education. Even as they are graduating at higher rates, students’ performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test of reading and math achievement, is unchanged or slipping…
Black students in Louisiana are more than twice as likely as white students to be suspended, according to a study from Tulane University’s Education Research Alliance for New Orleans. The new study from the organization also concluded that for fights involving one white student and one black student, black students receive slightly longer suspensions than white ones.
Drawing attention to how students of color and low-income students experience higher rates of suspensions and expulsions than their peers nationwide, the organization released a report Monday (Nov. 20) analyzing Louisiana Education Department data on discipline among K-12 students in the state’s public schools from 2001 through 2014.
Although researchers say the data provides “new insights” into the origins of disparities, the study acknowledges it offers “an incomplete look” because researchers cannot observe whether behaviors that were tolerated for some groups of students were coded as infractions for other groups of students. Researchers usually cannot observe students’ true behaviors and can only analyze the records created by schools writing up students.
The study reviewed discipline infractions and corresponding punishments by race and free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, which was deemed a common measure of family income. Researchers also reviewed the punishments issued after interracial fights for “a credible check for the existence of direct discrimination in cases where students behave similarly.”
“It’s extremely difficult to assess whether discriminatory school practices contribute to disparities in suspension rates,” co-author Jon Valant of the Brookings Institution stated…
“By looking at interracial fights and controlling for students’ other background characteristics, we tried to isolate cases in which it would be hard to attribute gaps to explanations other than discriminatory practices. We see small but statistically significant gaps in how black and white students are punished,” he added…
A $13 million dollar federal grant has been awarded to two New Orleans universities and four nonprofits in an effort to recruit and train 900 diverse teachers for Louisiana by 2020.
The U.S. Education Department’s Supporting Effective Educator Development Program grant will fund the task set forth by Xavier University and Loyola University, according to school officials Monday morning (Nov. 13) at Xavier’s campus. The schools will be collaborating with Teach For America Greater New Orleans, teachNOLA, Relay Graduate School of Education, and New Schools for New Orleans to address teacher pipeline challenges in the city.
The federal funding comes as figures from Tulane University’sEducation Research Alliance for New Orleans showed the rate of teachers leaving the profession or leaving the city was as high as 25 percent annually as of 2015. With this in mind, New Schools CEO Patrick Dobard said the funding serves as a “starting point” as organizations seek longterm sustainable strategies to fund and retain teachers in the city and the region.
Dobard said New Orleans needs to fill 800 teacher vacancies annually, and that doing so would contribute to the improved quality of its public schools. Drawing attention to the C-rating awarded to Orleans Parish schools by Louisiana’s Department of Education, Dobard stressed that “too many of our children are still not receiving the quality education that we’ve come to expect in New Orleans….”
Shown above at the Eutaw City Park L to R: Mt. Hebron Coalition Members Severe Strode, and Johnni Morning, Eutaw Mayor Raymond Steele, Extension Secretary Mary Beck, Extension Coordinator Lovie Parks and Expanded Food and Nutrition Educational Program Director Mary Henley.
GREEN COUNTY DEMOCRAT — The Eutaw City Park on Lock 7 Road now has state-of-the-art playground equipment, secured with an AlProHealth grant through Auburn University Extension Program coordinated by Greene County Extension Coordinator Mrs. Lovie Parks. The grant also provides fencing around the park grounds. “The total investment in the park by Auburn Extension exceeds $40,000,” stated Ms. Parks.
According to Eutaw Mayor Raymond Steele, this project has been in the works for some time.
“We are also committed to adding a concession stand and a large pavilion with restrooms to make the park comparable to other state-of-the art parks in the state,” he said.
The playground unit will be available to children, ages 12 and under, from 7:00 a.m. until sundown. He noted that the park is also available to the community for special events such as reunions, birthday parties and more, by contacting the city for reservations.
Other benefits to Greene County by the Auburn Extension Program include providing the benches on the old courthouse square in Eutaw.
The Mt. Hebron Coalition has also benefited from an ALProHealth grant. The SCORE Center, originally organized by Betsy and Reola Bizzell, received funds for exercise equipment and other related live well programs. The SCORE Center is open to the community, serving seniors as well as youth. Johnni Morning, a Mt. Hebron Coalition Member, stated that along with the exercise equipment, internet service is also available at the Score Center. She noted that the public is invited to join the exercise program on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at the SCORE Center (old Mt. Hebron Pre-School) from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. ages 18 and older. Marvin Childs serves a president of the Mt. Hebron Coalition.
Mrs. Parks emphasized that a big component of the Auburn Extension program is building unity, bringing families and the community together. “The goal of ALProHealth includes increasing physical activity, improving nutrition, reducing obesity, and preventing and controlling diabetes, heart disease, and stroke by promoting community wellness,” she stated.
The Extension Program also sponsors after school programs, community gardens and various live well programs, partnering with churches and community groups.
Opinion by Carol McCall — Much is written — especially nationally — about what is happening in education in Louisiana. We should be cheering for our students and teachers as we do for our athletes and their coaches. By critically important measures, Louisiana has experienced and continues to experience major wins in education.
For more than 20 years, the state has been moving for higher standards and accountability. Now led by state Superintendent John White and his staff at the Department of Education, Louisiana has been nationally recognized for progress in a number of key areas.
Teacher preparation: Recognized by the Council of Chief State School Officers, Louisiana has built a collaboration between PreK-12 and higher education institutions for teacher preparation programs that include a year-long teacher internship program, to increase competence prior to entering the classroom.
Curriculum-driven reform: According to an article by national education policy journal Education Next, Louisiana’s education administration “has quietly engineered a system of curriculum-driven reforms that have prompted Louisiana’s public school teachers to change the quality of their instruction in measurable and observable ways.” These advances are unmatched in other states.
High school graduation rate: In 2005, 54 percent of Louisiana students graduated from high school, and now that number has significantly increased to 77 percent. These results come amidst a five-year push by Louisiana’s Department of Education to increase the number of graduates earning employer-validated “Jump Start” credentials and early college credits…
Carol McCall is chairwoman of the Education Committee for Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans.
It’s not a required course or an exam, but Louisiana’s estimated 40,000 public high school seniors won’t be allowed to graduate without completing it.
“It” is the FAFSA – the free application for federal student aid – and the graduating class of 2018 is the first to be affected by the policy approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in 2015.
The form is used to determine student eligibility for financial aid, such as Pell grants, work study programs and federal student loans.
BESE, the governing and policymaking board for K-12 public schools, tethered completion of the federal application as a requirement for getting a high school diploma because of the historically low number of Louisiana students using the form. The state department of education officials said when students didn’t fill out the form, it created unnecessary financial barriers to postsecondary schools or training.
“We wanted to ensure equitable access to all students,” state education department spokeswoman Sydni Dunn said. “Too few students take advantage of state and federal aid.”
Although the state’s number of submissions is improving, Louisiana’s rank near the bottom among states for submission of the FAFSA form was the impetus for the policy two years ago, Dunn said. The amount of money left on the table is “staggering,” she said.
“By not completing the FAFSA, Louisiana students forego millions of dollars each year in federal grants, state opportunities and other post-secondary funding,” Dunn said. “This year, for example, it is estimated the 25 percent of students who did not submit the FAFSA, to date, may be missing out on more than $150 million in aid…
The newspaper reports Davis Magnet International Baccalaureate World School is in Jackson, Miss, and is a predominantly black public elementary school. The president of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association told the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees on Tuesday night (Oct. 17) that “school stakeholders” voted to change the school’s name to Barack Obama Magnet IB. The report did not say who the stakeholders were.
“Jefferson Davis, although infamous in his own right, would probably not be too happy about a diverse school promoting the education of the very individuals he fought to keep enslaved being named after him,” the PTA president told the board, according to the report.
Milwaukee Public Schools has begun to pave a way to a better future for young men and boys of color. The Department of Black and Latino Male Achievement (BLMA) was established to address the disparities in academic and life outcomes for young men and boys of color, and to implement programs that improve their lives, according to a press release.
MPS has high hopes that this new department, that officially launched this school year, will be a success.
BLMA is ran by five men who are dedicated to changing the lives of young men and boys. Juan Baez and Lanelle Ramey are directors of BLMA, Paul Moga is the coordinator, David Castillo is the planning assistant and the newest member is Sergio Muniz who will be working closely with the children— each of these men will report directly to Superintendent Darienne Driver.
The department brought out 50 male students of color to Casimir Pulaski High School on Oct. 2 to let the students know this department is an advocate for them, said Ramey.
Ramey along with other members of the department are products of MPS, and he’s happy to be helping young men who were just like him have a better chance at life.
“We do this from our heart,” said Ramey. “I am a product from it (MPS) all the way.”
Ramey began his days with MPS in grade school, and now many years later he’s still in the system, but now with more power to help change things.
Men and boys of color is the focus of this department because the data shows they’ve fallen behind everyone else. Now the department has made it their duty to help these students reach their full potential.
“Change is coming for our boys of color,” said Ramey. “They’re important to us.”
BLMA is in the process of their 100-day plan, which is trying to define what exact activities and curriculum the department will provide not only for the boys of color, but MPS as a whole.
The National Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA) has partnered with BLMA and will be supporting the department through its endeavors.
Ramey and Baez hope to change the media’s image of these young boys and men, and to also show these students how to embrace themselves.
Baez knows by helping these young men and boys it will positively affect the rest of MPS, and other students.
“We’re going to need to need the community’s support with this,” said Baez. “It’s really going to take a family.”
