The ETS Addressing Achievement Gaps Symposium

Hosted by CDF and ETS (Educational Testing Services) the “Middle School Matters: Improving the Life Course of Black Boys” symposium is devoted to the challenges faced by our nation’s 1.5 million Black boys between the ages of 9–13. During the middle school years (fourth–eighth grade), children are experiencing a period of significant academic and developmental transition. For the first time in their lives, middle school students are expected to take responsibility for their own studies and school experiences. Many Black boys, however, enter these school years facing additional developmental and social challenges. The goals of this symposium are to explore the ways we can create a positive school environment for young Black boys, address the social challenges they face and enable them to flourish during these critical developmental years. Building on what works from A Strong Start: Positioning Young Black Boys for Educational Success, our second ETS Addressing the Achievement Gap Symposium Middle School Matters: Improving the Life Course of Black Boys will explore how to bridge the achievement chasm of educational inequity that divert our young Black boys from the pathway to success.

Opening Session

Welcome and Why the Middle School Years Matter

This opening session will explore the connections between the achievement gap and later life outcomes for Black boys and young men in the United States, and focus in particular on the critical middle school years for Black boys between the ages of 9 - 13. Teachers, school administrators, community members and policy makers all must play active roles in addressing the achievement gap. The panelists will provide a holistic understanding of why the middle school years matter so much in the educational and life trajectories of young Black boys, and lay a foundation for the symposium’s subsequent discussions.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Dr. Michael Nettles, Sr. Vice President & Edmund W. Gordon Chair, ETS Policy Evaluation & Research Center
• Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children’s Defense Fund 
• Geoffrey Canada, President & CEO, Harlem’s Children Zone, and Chair, CDF Board of Directors 
• Dr. Ronald Mason, Jr., President, Southern University System 
• The Rev. Dr. Robert Michael Franklin, President, Morehouse College

Session 1

Challenges Facing Middle School Black Boys in the United States

The middle school years can be a turbulent developmental time for young people. Between the ages of 9–13, preadolescent children experience an explosion of development across physical, cognitive, social and emotional domains. The preadolescent years mark the stage of development when young people develop their self-identity and begin to assert their independence. They may start to take on greater responsibility or to care about their appearance. Academically, the middle school years can either be filled with pitfalls or opportunities to reach academic success.

For many Black boys, however, these normal developmental changes occur within a broader racial and cultural context in which other people begin to view them as “Black men,” with all that label implies. Academically, Black boys find themselves significantly behind their White peers: persistent achievement gaps in reading and math have been documented in both fourth and eighth grades.

This session will explore the physical and emotional development of young Black boys and the challenges they must navigate on the road to educational success. It will provide a holistic understanding of the urgent needs and challenges facing young Black boys and lay a foundation for the symposium’s subsequent discussions.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Dr. Mia Smith-Bynum, Associate Professor, Department of Family Science University of Maryland 
• Dr. David Wall Rice, Associate Professor of Psychology, Morehouse College 
• James Roland, Director of Community Outreach & Engaged Scholarship, Barkley Forum at Emory University

Session 2

Reading Their Way to Life Long Success

The famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Despite the incredible strides our country has made since Douglass fought to end slavery, he would likely be profoundly troubled to see the gaps in the reading performance of Black children compared to their White counterparts. The NAEP 2011 Reading assessment shows that just 13 percent of Black boys in fourth-grade are proficient in reading compared to 40 percent of their White peers. In eighth grade, just 11 percent of Black male students are proficient in reading, compared to 37 percent of their White peers.

This is the age when young people move from learning to read to reading to learn. Reading is essential for students to function in school, in society and in the professional world. What tools and strategies can be used to enable young men to want to be readers and to be stronger readers? Whether the inspiration is the Declaration of Independence or Harry Potter, how do we — teachers, educators and parents — improve the ability of Black boys to read, while making reading exciting?

This panel presentation will offer an overview of current research associated with reading. Panelists will explore the implications of this research on young Black male academic achievement and describe initiatives that are using research to guide effective programming.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Dr. Sharon Washington, Executive Director, National Writing Project
• Sen. Eric Kearney, Minority Leader of the Ohio Senate 
• Dr. Arnetha Ball, Professor and Director of The Program in African and African American Studies, Stanford University

Session 3

Delivering a Culturally Competent Education for Middle School Black Boys

Research suggests that having a great teacher may be the single most important in-school factor affecting whether students succeed. In fact, recent findings indicate that an effective teacher can increase the lifetime earnings of a classroom by $250,000. But the social and academic needs of Black boys in middle school are unique. At a time when children are experiencing major physical and emotional changes, many Black boys are often faced with additional challenges, such as poverty, family instability, community violence and cultural misconceptions about their ability to succeed in school. Given these extra hurdles, how can teachers most effectively connect with middle school Black boys to ensure academic success, and what can educators do to provide a culturally competent school experience for this vulnerable population? This session will examine these questions and related issues pertinent to the needs of Black boys in middle school, including academic expectations, classroom management, school climate and the need for a diverse teaching workforce that includes more Black male teachers.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Dr. Tyrone Howard, Professor, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, and Director, Center X and Black Male Institute, UCLA
• LaMont Geddis, Principal, Maya Angelou Public Charter School MS/HS, and Freedom School Alum

Session 4

School Leaders Who Steer the Course for Success for Young Black Males

U.S. President John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” Across the county, there are thousands of school districts with leaders at multiple levels — from the principal at the local school up to the superintendent. Principals are the local leaders. With the dawn of each new school day, they set the tone for how students, teachers, staff, parents and citizens engage with their school community. Superintendents, on the other hand, have a range of responsibilities — from business to operational to educational. They are tasked with developing a vision for the district and promoting it to the citizenry of their district.

All of these leaders face tough questions: What school strategies will best ensure that all students — regardless of race, ethnicity, English-language ability or disability status — are learning in my school? How can we provide an excellent education to the most vulnerable students, including middle school Black boys? What decisions do principals and superintendents grapple with concerning school staffing and professional development activities, and how do these decisions affect children?

This panel session will highlight the work of principals and superintendents from several school districts who are actively engaged in the multitude of issues affecting the educational experience of Black boys, including school discipline, teacher recruitment, curriculum development, parent engagement and more.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Dr. Kriner Cash, Superintendent, Memphis City Schools
• Dr. Meria Carstarphen, Superintendent, Austin (TX) Independent School District
• Dr. Jerry Weast, Founder & CEO, Partnership for Deliberate Excellence, LLC.