‘Think tank’ focuses on boosting black achievement
Published: June 1, 2009
CSBA Director-at-Large, Black, Emma Turner chaired a meeting in April that brought representatives from a number of school districts, community organizations and nonprofit groups to CSBA’s West Sacramento office to pinpoint the most effective ways to assist black students in their communities.
Turner said the meeting followed an initial “think tank” gathering several months ago as part of an ongoing effort to bring like-minded individuals and organizations together to help overcome a disconnect between statewide and local efforts to close the academic achievement gap.
“I believe that we need to work together collaboratively in order to make a real difference for African American students’ academic growth,” she said. “The think tank made great progress because we produced a plan of action instead of just continuing to talk about the problem. I look forward to implementing the plan to work on areas of race relations and African American males, and other areas in the future.”
Joined by CSBA President Paula S. Campbell and Director-at-Large, Hispanic, Susan Heredia, the group suggested an initial strategy of developing basic questions to help school boards, superintendents and administrative staff address issues of race and develop effective approaches to ensure equitable access to high-quality instructional materials, resources, teachers, counselors and other personnel.
Recognizing that schools alone cannot eliminate achievement gaps, the group explored ways local districts and county offices could partner with parents and community-based organizations to identify and respond to their children’s needs.
As a next step, the group is exploring collaborative ways to identify and expand successful models and partnerships, perhaps with a competitive grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Race to the Top funds.
As the CSBA representation at the meeting suggests, the initiative is an outgrowth of CSBA’s five Student Issues Conference Groups—networks that bring school board members together to target the unique needs of black, Hispanic, Asian-Pacific Islander and American Indian students, as well as students in juvenile court schools supervised by county offices of education.
Learn more about CSBA’s focus on closing the achievement gap by contacting Jo Ann Yee, senior director for Strategy Development, Achievement, Diversity and Urban Affairs, at jyee@csba.org.