CS² Symposium: Questions, Strategies and Research that Address Minority Student Achievement
October 11, 2006
Doubletree Hotel
Westborough, MA
Purpose
The Massachusetts CS²
network of 9 school districts is
increasingly
focused on promoting
initiatives, programs and community connections that increase the high school graduation rate. In order to support this work, Commonwealth Corporation, the statewide intermediary organization that provides professional development and technical assistance to the CS² network, designed an interactive symposium for the CS² staff (called entrepreneurs), and their school and community partners. The event provided an opportunity for the participants to hear researchers and practitioners discuss issues related to the opportunity/achievement gap and successful school reform strategies in urban education, particularly those that relate to expanding knowledge about cultural proficiency. CS² scheduled the symposium to coincide with the statewide conference “High Schools of the Future Conference II” (sponsored by the Center for Collaborative Education and The Rennie Center) which many CS² staff attended the following day.
The CS² symposium included a panel of three speakers (see below for background information on each presenter and their PowerPoints) who brought a state and national perspective, grounded by both research and practice.
Desired Outcomes for CS² Symposium
Discover and discuss new strategic directions and opportunities regarding issues of cultural proficiency and minority student achievement, for both individuals and school communities and the CS² network as a whole.
Develop a greater understanding of the achievement /opportunity gap research (both on a state and national level) so that CS² sites and other leaders can develop programming and build community connections that are research-based and culturally responsive.
Essential Question
What piece of the puzzle do we each hold to provide increased opportunity for youth existing on the academic margins in our schools and communities?
CS² staff (entrepreneurs), CS² Site Leads and Superintendents & other key CS² school and community partners
All CYDE staff, CommCorp Board members and select key leadership staff at CommCorp Staff from Center for Collaborative Education and the Rennie Center
Statewide leaders from the Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development, Department of Education and Department of Youth Services, members of the Massachusetts Cultural Competence Steering Committee.
Opening Activity
Participants at the symposium worked in small groups at their respective tables
on a warm up activity that was designed to both assess the prior knowledge within the group and to indicate
what new information they would like to acquire throughout the day from the panelists. Using the Chalk
Talk protocol (see protocol instructions below), small groups processed and answered three questions
releated to Minority Student Achievement:
What do we think we know about Minority Student Achievement?
What assumptions may be embedded in our prior knowledge?
What do we want to learn more about with regard to Minority Student Achievement?
Participants documented their answers and thoughts on a giant graphic recorder template that was drawn on newsprint, which covered the entire tabletop.
Photographs
To view photographs taken at the October Symposium, click here.
Panel
Dr. Ann Levett has served as a professional educator for nearly 30 years. She serves as Executive Director of the School Development Program (SDP), a national school reform program at the world-renowned Child Study Center at Yale University. In addition to managing this national program that serves over 400 schools in 35 school districts in mainland USA, she oversees the programís university partnerships and its projects in Puerto Rico and Dublin, Ireland. For more background on Dr. Levett and to view her PowerPoint presentation, click here.
Dr. Jere Hochman has served as Superintendent of Amherst Regional Publics Schools in Amherst, MA since 2003. Before coming to Amherst, Dr. Hochman was with the Parkway School District in Chesterfield, Missouri as a teacher of English and Unified Studies and department head, assistant principal, principal; principal of the Wydown Middle School in Clayton, MO; and returned to Parkway School District as area superintendent in the district before becoming superintendent in 1996. Dr. Hochman played a central role in promoting dialogue on racism and itsí impact on educational opportunities for all youth in the district. He was also a leader in the St. Louis voluntary desegregation program. For more information on Dr. Hochman and to view his PowerPoint presentation, click here.
Mr. Bret Cormier (M. Ed) currently serves as Assistant Principal at Stony Point High School, within the Round Rock Independent School District (ISD), a outlying district of Austin, TX. Round Rock Independent School District is widely known as one of the top performing school districts in the state of Texas. Before Stony Point, Mr. Cormier managed the RGK Foundation grant for "Putting Research Into Practice: Identifying Explicit and Effective Strategies for Reducing Achievement Gaps" for Austin ISD's African-American students. For more background on Mr. Cormier and to view his PowerPoint presentation, click here.
Panel Format
The panel format was informed by a protocol (a professional development tool used in many educational circles) that was adapted from a book, The Power of Protocols, by Joseph P. McDonald, Nancy Mohr, Allen Dichter, and Elizabeth Carroll McDonald.
Commonwealth Corporation implemented a small planning team to coordinate this symposium. This planning team model was adapted from the Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) trainings on facilitative leadership, where design teams are created for colleagues to work collaboratively on a pathway to action. For more information on the trainings and resources provided by IISC, click here.
