At the request of the Nellie Mae Foundation (NMEF), AISR staff examined the growing body of literature on community organizing to understand how this strategy fits into systemic education reform. The research shows that community organizing for school reform has the potential to create equitable changes in schools and districts, develop innovative education solutions that … Continued
Analysis Finds Dramatic Spike in NYC Suspensions: Black Children and Students with Special Needs Most Affected January 27, 2011 — The number of student suspensions in New York City public schools spiked dramatically over the past decade while the length of suspensions grew longer – a phenomenon disproportionally affecting black students and students with disabilities, … Continued
For Immediate Release: January, 25, 2011 Contact: Billy Easton, AQE 518-461-9171 Nikki Jones, AQE 315-416-9393 AQE Releases Report Unequal Opportunity = Unequal Results Warns Governor Cuomo that Large Cuts to Education would Increase Inequity Joined in Reaction by State Legislators, CFE, NYS Assoc. of Small City School Districts, Citizen Action of NY, NYSUT, UFT, Coalition … Continued
No one disputes the critical need for action to improve low-performing schools. There is no question that thousands of schools across the country can and should do better—that both internal and external obstacles get in the way of delivering what we have always promised to all our nation’s young people: a free and excellent public … Continued
For many years, parent and community-based organizations have led the way in calling for dramatic action to improve low-performing public schools. The Department of Education, through its “Blueprint” for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and the already-implemented Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants (SIG) programs, has also called for … Continued
Yes We Can: The 2010 Schott 50 State Report on Black Males in Public Education, reveals that there are indeed communities, school districts and even states doing relatively well in their efforts to systemically enhance the opportunity to learn and raise the achievement levels for Black male students. However, Yes We Can also highlights that … Continued
Tools you can use: These Talking Points can help you frame the education debates/discussions in your community—to focus on systemic solutions that ensure all children have a fair and substantive opportunity to learn, rather than the lottery-driven options that haven’t been proven and aren’t scalable.
Addressing Resource Inequities To help address longstanding resource inequities that exists nationwide, the civil rights framework calls for a pairing of the common standards movement with efforts to define common resource standards that support important priorities, such as access to early education, highly effective teachers, college-bound curricula and equitable instructional resources. The civil rights leaders … Continued
The study found that high school drop-out rates among students in programs for English Learners almost doubled and that the proportion of English Learners in middle school who dropped out more than tripled in those three years. Finally, although there have been some gains for English Learners in both ELA and math MCAS pass rates … Continued
