In 2011, the United Nations declared October 11 the International Day of the Girl Child, in order “to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.”
The movement was sparked by members of School Girls Unite, an organization of youth leaders advocating for the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Following their lead, President Barack Obama proclaimed Oct. 10 Day of the Girl in 2013, writing:
“Over the past few decades, the global community has made great progress in increasing opportunity and equality for women and girls, but far too many girls face futures limited by violence, social norms, educational barriers, and even national law. On International Day of the Girl, we stand firm in the belief that all men and women are created equal, and we advance the vision of a world where girls and boys look to the future with the same sense of promise and possibility.”
In a 2016 op-ed, First Lady Michelle Obama wrote that the issue of gender equity is not just a matter of policy; it is personal.
“Unlike so many girls around the world, we have a voice. That’s why, particularly on this International Day of the Girl, I ask that you use yours to help these girls get the education they deserve. They’re counting on us, and I have no intention of letting them down. I plan to keep working on their behalf, not just for the rest of my time as First Lady, but for the rest of my life.”
Staying true to her promise, on Oct. 11, Obama and TODAY held a special event on 30 Rockefeller Plaza to “empower and celebrate girls all over the world.” Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Meghan Trainor are slated to perform.
The visibility of the event is powerful; still, it cannot, and must not, overshadow the lived experiences of Black girls who, too often, are victimized, criminalized, and erased.
In 2014, President Obama launched My Brother’s Keeper, an initiative to address persistent opportunity gaps facing Black boys. In response, over 250 Black men and other men of color challenged Obama’s decision to focus solely on Black men and boys, and called for the inclusion of Black women and girls, stating in an open letter: “MBK, in its current iteration, solely collects social data on Black men and boys. What might we find out about the scope, depth and history of our structural impediments, if we also required the collection of targeted data for Black women and girls?
“If the denunciation of male privilege, sexism and rape culture is not at the center of our quest for racial justice, then we have endorsed a position of benign neglect towards the challenges that girls and women face that undermine their well-being and the well-being of the community as a whole.”
Specifically, for Black girls in the United States, the intractable scourge of white supremacy stains every corner of their lives; meaning they must battle misogynoir on both institutional and interpersonal levels at every turn.
In the study Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girlhood (pdf), co-authored by Rebecca Epstein, Jamilia J. Blake, and Thalia Gonzalez, the answers of survey participants provided anecdotal evidence of how dehumanized Black girls are in this country. According to participants:
Black girls need less nurturing
Black girls need less protection
Black girls need to be supported less
Black girls need to be comforted less
Black girls are more independent
Black girls know more about adult topics
Black girls know more about sex
While the above racist and sexist perceptions are false, the institutionalized and systemic ramifications of such dangerous thinking are very real, with Black girls suffering the consequences.
According to the 2015 report “Gender Justice: System-Level Juvenile Justice Reform for Girls” (pdf), 84 percent of girls in the juvenile-detention system have experienced family violence; additionally, “[girls] in the justice system have experienced abuse, violence, adversity and deprivation across many of the domains of their lives—family, peers, intimate partners and community.”
Black girls are also less likely to receive any pain medication—and if they do receive it, it is less than their white counterparts.
As Melissa Harris-Perry wrote in 2016, “Girlhood has never been a shield against the brutality of white supremacy.”
Still, we rise. Our Black girls are full of promise. They are leaders and scholars, artists and writers, singers and athletes.
But even if they were none of these things, they have the unassailable right to dignity, safety, love and joy, free of the burdens and pain this nation has piled on their backs.
Happy Monday! And welcome to the next edition of “Answering Your ESSA Questions.” Our next question comes Nick Scott, who works for an Arizona-based company that manufactures LED crossing guard signs for school districts. Scott wants to know, essentially, if districts can use their Every Student Succeeds Act dollars to purchase crossing guard signs. Scott noted that his company has evidence it can point to that these signs really work. (ESSA is all about evidence-based practices.)
The short answer: Most likely, yes.
The longer answer: If districts want to purchase these crossing guard signs, their best bet is using money from the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, aka Title IV Part A of ESSA. That’s one of the much closely watched K-12 federal programs these days, in part because the money can be used for almost anything under the sun, from drama classes to counseling services.
And the program just got a whopping $700 million boost in the most recent spending bill, bringing its funding to $1.1 billion for fiscal 2018.
Broadly, Title IV dollars are supposed to be geared to improving student health and safety, making students more well-rounded, or bolstering the use of technology in learning. Crossing guard signs could fit under that safety umbrella…
Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.
Educators and education experts discussed parental engagement, equity in education and teacher diversity, during a special breakfast session for the NNPA’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Public Awareness Campaign in Washington, D.C.
The session took place during the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNPA) Black Press Week, an annual celebration of the relevance and lasting legacy of Black publishers.
Panelists included Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes; DNA Educational Solutions and Support CEO Dr. Robert L. Kirton Jr.; NAACP Washington Bureau Chief Hilary O. Shelton; Prince George’s County School Board Member Curtis Valentine; and Dr. Lannette Woodruff, an ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) taskforce member for the Office of the State Superintendent of Education in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Elizabeth Primas, the project manager for the NNPA’s ESSA Public Awareness Campaign, served as moderator for the session titled, “Striving for African American Excellence in Public Education: The Role of the Black Press” at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Friday, March 16.
“I’m pretty fired up about education,” Rolark Barnes said of the current state of education in the Black community. “As we celebrate 191 years of the Black Press in America, it’s important to remember that the education of Black people is rooted in the Black Press and the Black Church.”
Rolark Barnes also reminded the audience that one of the founders of the Black Press, Samuel Cornish, graduated from the Free African School and became a minister, before he started the Freedom’s Journal.
Shelton noted that the Black Press has been the voice of the Black community for a very long time; the NAACP Washington bureau chief also said that education is the bridge over troubled waters.
Kirton recounted a false, yet familiar adage that suggested that “The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book.” Kirton used the saying to shine a light on the paucity of high-quality education options in the Black community.
“I got into the [education] fight, because I want to make a difference,” Kirton said.
Valentine advocated for increased parental engagement in our schools at every level.
“We need policies that are more welcoming for our parents to come in,” Valentine said.
Woodruff agreed.
“We want programs in our schools, so that children understand what [parental engagement] is all about,” Woodruff said.
In 2017, the NNPA received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support a three-year, multi-media public awareness campaign focusing on the unique opportunities and challenges related to the implementation of ESSA, according to a press release about the campaign.
Under the ESSA, states have more flexibility under federal regulations to design customized solutions to improve elementary and secondary education in the nation’s public schools. The law also ensures that every child, regardless of race, income, background, or where they live can obtain a high-quality education; ESSA received bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015.
The NNPA selected Primas, a decorated and award-winning educator, as program manager and she famously refers to all her students as her children.
“‘My children’” are all of the children in schools that have been underserved, undereducated, and for all intents and purposes, forgotten about,” Primas said.
Democratic lawmakers want to know how Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will work to stop bullying, harassment, and discrimination in public schools.
In a Wednesday letter, nine senators, including Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, asked the secretary what resources the U.S. Department of Education was providing schools in order to counter “the recent increase in hateful and discriminatory speech and conduct.” They also asked for the number of ongoing investigations by the department into student-on-student harrassment based on things like race, religion, and sexual orientation, as well as whether the federal task force on bullying prevention initiated by President Barack Obama in 2010 would continue on DeVos’ watch.
The senators also took a potshot at DeVos’ boss, President Donald Trump, arguing that his remarks on Twitter have “normalized” homophobia, misogyny, and other forms of discrimination, and that his words have negatively impacted students. And they cite recent incidents in schools, from swastikas drawn in schools to Latino students blocked from entering class by a human chain of other students, to buttress their concerns.
Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.
Keeping the Dream Alive
As we celebrate MLK Day this year we are also on the verge of the 50th Anniversary of his assassination, and while the dreamer died, this drum major for justice mission lives on as today we see progress in so many areas of Black life in America.
Things we would have never dreamed possible have come to pass where African-Americans occupy positions thought unobtainable 50 years ago. A culmination of this moment happened in 2008, when a nation with a history of racial exclusion elected the nation’s first African-American President Barack Obama. At this time there was talk in the U.S. as the world celebrated that King’s Dream of a Colorblind America had become a reality. There was even talk that the nation was moving in a direction of being post-racial.
King’s Dream in Trump’s America
Fast forward eight years and while there continues to be significant progress on the racial front; there’s been a backlash among a segment of the White population who feels that inclusion, equality and justice for those who were once considered vulnerable is a problem. So as some felt anxiety about social change in response as 2016 Donald Trump won the Electoral College and became the President of the United States.
Donald Trump, whose political ascendance began with him fanning the flames of racial resentment by attaching himself to the racist myth that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. as part of the birther movement, that attempted to delegitimize the country’s first African-American President. And in his first year as president he and his coterie of Whites in his top cabinet positions are seeking to dismantle Barack Obama’s legacy and his “Make America Great Again” slogan may as well be “Take us back to a White America again.”
This is evidenced in how in this administration they are reshaping the courts by appointing conservative justices to lifetime appointments in the federal judiciary; something that can overturn decisions and have an adverse impact on Civil Rights gains. These include issues around environmental and criminal justice, housing, employment, affirmative action, voter rights and other things centering on the pursuit of justice and equality.
Re-Investing in the Dream
Today it is important that citizens become reinvested in fighting to keep the spirit of the dream alive. Today is a time to re-engage as not only Trump on a national level but on a state level some are trying to turn back the hands of time on the gains that’s given citizens access to equal rights. It is time for those today to fight in the spirit of those who came before them who have persevered the slights, the dogs attacking innocent children, the unfulfilled dreams and in spite of that they found a way to keep their eyes on the prize. Today this spirit must be renewed in this fight to continue to move America in the right direction.
King’s words of a colorblind society still ring true today as it did in 1963 at the March on Washington, even if today it is a far cry from a reality. But the struggle must continue as this nation’s problems with race continues, in addition to turning itself inward threatens America’s position not only nationally but its place as a beacon of hope and freedom across the globe.
And while many know King’s words as idyllic as they are, within his words he speaks of an imperfect nation trying to correct itself. This is what the dream is about people working together correcting our society so that all citizens can share in the dream. That all people regardless of their background can have a seat at the table of power and this is a day many Americans felt had arrived when it elected Barack Obama President in 2008.
But today on MLK Day in 2018, we are seeing a president who is trying to erase Obama’s legacy and a history of progress of all the great freedom fighters. This backlash of Trump and the Republicans who were obstructionist for 8 years must be met with force. Today this does not mean simply marching and protesting, it means being informed, it means voting in high numbers, it means getting an education, it means being better parents to our children, it means holding elected official accountable for how they vote on legislation. It is this that will continue to move the dream forward and make it a reality in the age of Trump.
The public reporting requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offer greater transparency about school quality, according to experts and education advocates who also predict that the new law will empower parents and make them more informed partners in the education process of their children.
President Barack Obama signed ESSA into law on December 10, 2015.
“Public reporting is going to be very important, because state systems, like what goes into [calculating] letter grades for schools, are incredibly complex,” said Phillip Lovell, the vice president of policy development and government relations for the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington, D.C.-based national advocacy organization that’s dedicated to ensuring all students graduate from high school, ready for success in college and in the workplace. “States are aware of and working on how to communicate information on school performance clearly.”
Brenna McMahon Parton, the director of policy and advocacy for Data Quality Campaign, one of the nation’s leading voices on education data policy and use, said that everyone deserves information, which is why ESSA requires that report cards are easy to understand.
“To date, states haven’t focused on parent needs and, as a result, report cards are difficult to find and use,” said Parton. “As states develop new report cards, they should be sure that parents will have a one-stop-shop that provides information they need about how students and schools in their community are performing.”
ESSA reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the historic civil rights law passed in 1965 and effectively replaced the Bush-era No Child Left Behind Act.
Transparency and parental engagement are integral parts of the new law.
Under ESSA, all schools receiving Title I funds must inform parents of their right to request information about the professional qualifications of their children’s teachers; parents are also encouraged to support their children’s educational experiences by communicating regularly with teachers.
In a post on “The 74,” a nonprofit news site dedicated to education, Rashidah Morgan of the Sweden-based Education First, said that, “Greater transparency about school quality, will ultimately empower parents to make more knowledgeable choices about schools.”
Also, transparency on spending and academic results help the public understand how schools are performing in their communities, said Chad Aldeman, a principal at Bellwether Education Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on changing the outcomes and education life for the underserved.
“Accountability systems only work, if people understand what they’re being held accountable for and have enough information to know how to respond,” Aldeman said, adding that parents need good information to make informed choices about where to send their children. “To make that a reality, parents need information about both their own child’s performance, as well as how similar students are performing in other schools.”
Finally, clear, transparent school and district report cards help families make critical decisions and equip community members and the public to push for needed improvement in schools, said Dr. Lillian Lowery, the vice president of PreK-12 Policy, Research and Practice at The Education Trust, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that promotes high academic achievement for students at all levels, particularly students of color and those of low-income.
“ESSA requires states to report a lot of important information on how schools are doing at preparing all groups of students, including students from low-income families, students of color, English learners and students with disabilities, for post-high school success,” said Lowery. “To maximize the usefulness of this information, state leaders should work with families and education advocates to ensure that report cards are easy to access and understand.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama shocked students at a Washington school Friday by popping in to give them encouragement at the beginning of the new year.
“I do believe that most of the problems we have are going to be solved by you,” Obama told a group of students from McKinley Technology High School, according to an Instagram video posted on his account after his unannounced visit.
In the video, a small group of students can be seen gasping in surprise as Obama walks into a room with a cheery “How’s it going, everybody?”
The former president has made few public appearances since leaving the White House in January.
Obama will be attending a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee on September 27, only the second time he’s publicly raised money for his party since leaving the White House. Obama attended a fundraiser hosted by former Attorney General Eric Holder for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee back in July.
Have you been waiting for President Donald Trump to work with the Republican-controlled Congress and get rolling on a big K-12 education initiative? If so, you might be getting a little bit antsy. But is that unusual during the first 100 days or so of a presidential administration?
Here’s a quick sketch of some of the bigger things the Trump administration has gotten done so far on public school policy after nearly 100 days in office:
SCRANTON — As area students prepare for a second week of state tests, exams next year could look different.
The Every Students Succeeds Act, the federal education law signed by President Barack Obama in late 2015, replaces the No Child Left Behind Act and provides flexibility for states. Pennsylvania must submit its finalized plan to the U.S. Department of Education in September.
“It’s a great opportunity and a great responsibility,” Matthew Stem, the state’s deputy secretary of elementary and secondary education, said during a meeting last week in Scranton.
Each spring, third- through eighth-graders take Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams in English language arts and math. Fourth- and eighth-graders also take the science exams. High school students take Keystone Exams — end-of-course assessments in literature, biology and algebra. The state planned to make Keystone Exams a graduation requirement starting in the 2018-19 academic year, but that could change.
Ideas being reviewed by the state include:
Reducing total PSSA testing time by 20 percent, which could include the elimination of two sections of tests.
Testing students multiple times a year, instead of only in the spring. Some educators worry this would mean the state would dictate the order in which curriculum is taught in schools.
Eliminating double testing for eighth-graders, who take both the algebra Keystone Exam and eighth-grade PSSA.
Giving schools more control over intervention strategies, including allowing mental health and school safety measures as means to increase achievement.
Changing the way school success is measured by moving from School Performance Profile scores to a “Future Ready PA Index.” Along with achievement and growth indicators, schools would be judged by career standards benchmarks, postsecondary transitions and English language proficiency.
The state plans to have a draft of the plan available by early summer.
Assessments could change as early as next spring, with the first identification of schools in the bottom 5 percent — those that must implement intervention strategies — in fall 2018.
Few people attended the meeting in Scranton, held Tuesday evening at the Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County and aimed as a way for the public to provide feedback. CTC employees made up about half of the 10 attendees. Many educators said they were unaware of the meeting, and the Department of Education provided no advance notice to news media because of a “technology snafu,” a spokeswoman said.
The department sent an email invitation to about 400 people, Cheryl Bates-Lee, PDE press secretary, said.
The meeting in Scranton was the final in a series of events statewide for providing an opportunity to the public to learn more about the future of education policy related to ESSA.
Forest City Superintendent Jessica Aquilina, the only superintendent present at the meeting, called ESSA “a step in the right direction.”
Aquilina, who informed all Forest City parents about the meeting, said she appreciates the increased local control and the additional measures for accountability.
“A lot of educators are looking at readiness and what it means to be college and career ready,” she said. “Pennsylvania is taking some steps in the right direction.”
Abington Heights Superintendent Michael Mahon called ESSA a “step forward.”
“We’ve been doing too much testing for years,” Mahon said. “It’s unfair and counterproductive to be losing weeks of time for assessments. … We really do question the need to have a longer exam for the PSSAs than we do for graduate school exams.”