With the high school graduation rate hovering at 50% for African American and Hispanic students, I'm always on the lookout for innovative ways that communities are addressing this crisis. A school in Baltimore has the 'Principal on Wheels' - a principal whose office is the school hallways. In the San Jose, CA area, there's the Flame Keepers:
From Dana Hull of Mercury News.com:
"About every six weeks, each black student at Milpitas High School takes home something no white, Asian or Latino student receives: The Letter.
They get it simply because of the color of their skin.
At Milpitas High, the reaction has largely been positive, partly because African-American parents and a black principal are at the heart of the effort. The Flame Keepers has even inspired a similar program called Horizontes to address the needs of Latino students."
The article goes on to state that for this effort to work, you must have buy-in from the parents and that the race of the school adminstrators and teachers delivering the message is key. The program assigns struggling students a teacher who acts as a mentor, and Saturday activities are provided.
The article also highlights an African American mother, who met with the school's principal about her son's bad report card. Principal Gary told her his biggest challenge was getting black parents to attend school activities (*FYI, Milpitas High is majority Asian American with a black principal). The mother stated in the article, "I started going to the PTA meetings, and I was shocked. It was all mostly white moms," said Morris, who saw her son's schoolwork improve as she spent more time on campus. "A lot of parents want to help their children but they don't know how."
Short and to the point, The Letter mixes no-nonsense encouragement with updates about each student's grade-point average - whether it has gone up, held steady or dropped. All 114 letters are personally signed by principal Chuck Gary and Demetress Morris, head of a groundbreaking African-American community group known as the Flame Keepers.
The letters are part of an unprecedented effort to raise expectations and achievement for black students, who make up just 4 percent of Milpitas High and who as a group are woefully behind in academic performance. The disparity is part of a deeply entrenched phenomenon dubbed the "racial achievement gap" - the scholastic chasm that separates black and Latino students from their white and Asian-American peers.
The letters are part of an unprecedented effort to raise expectations and achievement for black students, who make up just 4 percent of Milpitas High and who as a group are woefully behind in academic performance. The disparity is part of a deeply entrenched phenomenon dubbed the "racial achievement gap" - the scholastic chasm that separates black and Latino students from their white and Asian-American peers.
With state educators showing a new urgency to tackle the gap, programs such as the Flame Keepers are getting more attention - and more pressure to succeed. But is it a good idea to target students by race? And are the programs working?
Three years after the Flame Keepers started, there are signs of progress. In 2002, just 14 percent of black students at Milpitas High were proficient on the math portion of the state's high school exit exam. By 2007, that had jumped to 44 percent.
"The letters say that someone cares," said principal Gary (in photo above), an African-American who says individual attention is key at a school with nearly 3,000 students.
Three years after the Flame Keepers started, there are signs of progress. In 2002, just 14 percent of black students at Milpitas High were proficient on the math portion of the state's high school exit exam. By 2007, that had jumped to 44 percent.
"The letters say that someone cares," said principal Gary (in photo above), an African-American who says individual attention is key at a school with nearly 3,000 students.
At Milpitas High, the reaction has largely been positive, partly because African-American parents and a black principal are at the heart of the effort. The Flame Keepers has even inspired a similar program called Horizontes to address the needs of Latino students."
The article goes on to state that for this effort to work, you must have buy-in from the parents and that the race of the school adminstrators and teachers delivering the message is key. The program assigns struggling students a teacher who acts as a mentor, and Saturday activities are provided.
The article also highlights an African American mother, who met with the school's principal about her son's bad report card. Principal Gary told her his biggest challenge was getting black parents to attend school activities (*FYI, Milpitas High is majority Asian American with a black principal). The mother stated in the article, "I started going to the PTA meetings, and I was shocked. It was all mostly white moms," said Morris, who saw her son's schoolwork improve as she spent more time on campus. "A lot of parents want to help their children but they don't know how."
Source and photo: MercuryNews.com
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