Transcript Document

The 2006
Summit on
Leading
Diversity
April, 2006
National Institute for Urban School Improvement
Educational Disparity in the US; How
Corporate America can Respond
Purpose
The National Institute for Urban School
Improvement (NIUSI) connects powerful
networks of urban local education agencies and
schools that embrace and implement data-based,
continuous improvement cycles to achieve
Education for All.
NIUSI Goals
Education for ALL
1. Increase knowledge and understanding of inclusive
practices
2. Synthesize and expand research-based practices
3. Leverage existing networks
4. Engage national discourse to improve educational
outcomes for ALL urban students.
The role of the corporate world in inclusive school
reform…..
• Creating connections between business and schools
• Understanding the role of the business community in
ensuring equity and diversity
• Developing pathways for mentoring and developing
diverse potential employees
“A successful company cannot
exist in a failed society.”
Miguel Martí, Vice-President for Communication at Nueva Group
… inclusive ways of knowing and living
offer us the only true way to
emancipate ourselves from the
divisions that limit our minds and
imaginations. bell hooks
Of Every 100 White
Kindergartners
Source: US Bureau of
Census, Current
Population Reports,
Educational Attainment
in the United States;
March 1998 (p 20-513)
Detailed Tables No. 2
8 8 Gra d u a te fro m High
Sch o o l
5 9 Co m p le te a t Le a s t So m e
Co lle ge
2 6 Ob ta in a t Le a s t a
Ba ch e lo r’s De gre e
(24 Year Olds)
Of Every 100 African
American Kindergartners
Source: US Bureau of
Census, Current
Population Reports,
Educational Attainment in
the United States;
March 1998 (p 20-513)
Detailed Tables No. 2
8 2 Gra d u a te fro m High Sch o o l
4 5 Co m p le te a t Le a s t So m e
Co lle ge
1 1 Ob ta in a t Le a s t a
Ba ch e lo r’s De gre e
(24 Year Olds)
Of Every 100 Latino
Kindergartners
6 3 Grad u ate fro m High Sch o o l
Source: US Bureau of
Census, Current
Population Reports,
Educational Attainment in
the United States;
March 1998 (p 20-513)
Detailed Tables No. 2
3 5 Co m p le te at Le ast So m e
Co lle ge
8 Ob tain at Le ast a
Bach e lo r’s De gre e
(24 Year Olds)
Of Every 100 Native
American Kindergartners
5 8 Gra d u a te fro m High
Sch o o l
7 Ob ta in a t le a s t a
Ba ch e lo r’s De gre e
(24 Year Olds)
Of Every 100 Students in
Special Education
5 0 Gra d u a te fro m High
Sch o o l
7 Ob ta in a t le a s t a
Ba ch e lo r’s De gre e
(24 Year Olds)
“Kids coming into an institution from
different backgrounds bring a different
perspective—it’s like bringing fresh eyes to
an old problem.”
—Ray Haynes, Ph.D.,
Northrup Grumman Corp.
Why is this the case?
Equity
Access
Participation
Why Does Culture Matter?
As a nation, we are
committed to ensuring
that all children can
learn and achieve to the
best of their ability.
Personal
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Individuals value cultural diversity as well as cultural similarities,
holding respect for the unique characteristics of each individual, and
acknowledging the similarities we all share as well.
Individuals believe in the relevance of learning about and valuing
customs, traditions and beliefs he or she is unfamiliar with, in order to
understand and appreciate cultural diversity better.
Individuals see themselves as agents of change, assuming the role and
responsibility of providing students with empowering instruction, being
committed with the political nature of their work.
Individuals are aware of the influence cultural knowledge that children
bring to school has in their way of thinking, behaving, being and
learning.
Individuals are interested in knowing about the lives of their students,
getting to know more about student’s experiences outside school.
Practice
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Values individual’s cultural and linguistic knowledge and skills, using
them as resources for moving ahead, instead of focusing on differences
or deficiencies
Holds high professional and personal expectations for others
Treats others as competent, assuming their success.
Encourages others to develop a broader and critical consciousness about
social inequalities and the status quo.
Facilitates going beyond the constrained ways of knowing, and a single
version of truth.
Builds bridges between everyday experiences and new ideas
Encourages individuals to apply cultural knowledge in their work
Supports professional learning so that it becomes a contextualized and
meaningful experience.
Leads in multidimensional ways that surface beliefs, feelings and factual
information in teaching practices.
Organizational
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Provide organization members with opportunities to consume and create
new knowledge, by embracing a “culture of inquiry”.
Promote a collaborative environment, by providing time for teams to
share read and think together about what they are doing and how it
improves cultural practice
Encourage and organize the use of staff resources to gather and develop
knowledge about culturally responsive practices, inside and outside the
organization.
Make effective use of everyone’s time, responsibilities and materials to
provide learning opportunities about culturally responsive practices in
daily work.
Embrace organizational values, beliefs and norms that support culturally
responsive professional communities.
Adopt leadership styles that allow collaborative work at the different
administrative levels.
Every sphere of human endeavor in education, culture,
science, government, business and economics will
either guarantee and foster human rights or come to a
dead end.
John Dewey
Barriers
Systems of Privilege and Power
» Race/Ethnicity
» Social Class
» Gender
» Ability
» Religion
Awareness
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Do people know who you are?
What you do?
What jobs/opportunities exist?
What skills/education is needed?
Mentoring
WHAT IS IT?
Mentoring--from the Greek word meaning enduring--is
defined as a sustained relationship between a youth
and an adult. Through continued involvement, the
adult offers support, guidance, and assistance.
• Educational or academic mentoring helps
mentored youth improve their overall academic
achievement.
• Career mentoring helps mentored youth develop the
necessary skills to enter or continue on a career path.
Effects of the Career Beginnings program on college attendance:
Cave and Quint (1990) found participants in various mentoring
programs had higher levels of college enrollment and higher
educational aspirations than nonparticipants receiving comparable
amounts of education and job-related services.
Internships
• Locally, specific to corporation
• Nationally, specific to field
At the School/District Level
• Adopt-a-School Programs
• Inspire, mobilize, and reward those on the
front lines (from parents to educators) to
remake their local schools
A Different Kind of Venture Capital
At best, our education system does not encourage risktaking; at worst, it penalizes it. If change is going to
occur at the school level, we need to help educators
buck the system. Business should fund
experimentation that holds out the promise of directly
improving student performance and producing
measurable results. It should help spread the word
about what works so that the best ideas can be
replicated.
With corporate America demanding top talent,
institutions must hike enrollment of diverse students
Corporate programs should
prime the pipeline for
diverse students in higher education.
Shifting Demographics
In 2003
• 60 percent of the student population at U.S. elementary and
high schools was Caucasian, down from 79 percent in 1970.
• The African- American population increased from 14 percent
in 1970 to 16 percent,
• the percentage of Latinos tripled from 6 percent to 18 percent
and
• the number of Asian Americans rose from 1 percent to 4
percent.
October 2003 Current Population Survey
University
Institutions are working on ways to boost
enrollment of diverse students because
corporate America is demanding it. Businesses
recognize that an inclusive workforce can
better serve and understand an increasingly
diverse customer base. And as the
demographics in the United States continue to
shift, corporations need women and employees
of color, whom they often recruit from
colleges and universities.
University
Admission is merely the first step
Financial constraints often keep students from diverse
backgrounds out of the college classroom and corporate
leadership positions
Lack of diversity in curricula limits engagement
I need to see myself in your organization--•
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PR
Advertising
Success Stories
People like me, visible at all levels of the company
Organizing for Partnerships-
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Colleges and Universities
Community Agencies
Advocacy Groups
Professional Organizations
Technical Assistance Centers
Develop Leadership in-house
What opportunities exist for current employees to
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Continue their education
Develop leadership skills
Learn about new career opportunities
Be mentored
Creating a Groundswell for Change
As employers of millions of people, business is
uniquely capable of mobilizing parents as a
considerable force for change.
• Show parents that you value their involvement in
children's education by giving them leave time to
attend parent-teacher conferences.
• Teach them how to become "school-smart" citizens.
• Encourage and reward them for taking active roles in
their community's schools.
No one should make the claim of being educated
until he or she has learned to live in harmony
with people who are different—A. H. Wilson
It is not our differences that divide us. It is our
inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those
differences
... Audre Lorde
www.urbanschools.org
www.nccrest.org
[email protected]