NCSD member John Brittain discusses strategies for contemporary desegregation challenges with Robert Kim (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and Outreach, DOE Office for Civil Rights) and Willis Hawley (Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland) at the Magnet Schools Assistance Program's annual Project Directors Meeting in Washington, DC (October 2014). NCSD Research Advisory Panel member Genevieve Siegel-Hawley also participated in this panel, but is not pictured above.
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Socioeconomic Integration Pilot Program in New York State
New York State's DOE recently announced a new $10 million pilot program that will utilize federal Title I School Improvement Grant funds to promote socioeconomic integration. Up to 25 Title I Focus or Priority schools will be funded during the pilot period. The Socioeconomic Integration Pilot Program will provide funding to implement choice and educational models designed to support the achievement of low-SES students and to deconcentrate poverty. Districts may apply for grant funds using three models: 1) Individual Magnet School Model; 2) Coordinated Grants Model; and 3) Community Innovation Model.
Eligibility Requirements: - Only Title I Focus Districts with poverty rates of at least 60% and at least ten (10) schools in their district are eligible to apply for pilot funding. These districts are: New York CIty, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, Syracuse, Schenectady, Mount Vernon, Albany, Utica, Newburgh, Binghamton, and Hempstead.
- Only Title I Focus or Priority Schools with a poverty rate of at least 70% are eligible for this program.
Deadline for applications is February 13, 2015. See Education Week's coverage, quoting NCSD's Phil Tegeler.
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NCSD's "Tools for Teachers" Webinar Available Online
![](https://thumbnail.constantcontact.com/remoting/v1/vthumb/YOUTUBE/bac8de3b48ec4354b5a17060f22cf97f) |
View related resources here.
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Over 150 people participated in NCSD's first webinar, Tools for Teachers: Strategies for Addressing Racial Dynamics in the Classroom, on December 15th. Rachel Godsil (Seton Hall University School of Law) and Linda Tropp (UMass Amherst) discussed their new report from the Perception Institute
(coauthored with john powell and Phillip Goff), focusing on findings related to implicit bias, racial anxiety, and stereotype threat in education.
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Proposals for ESEA Reauthorization Introduced
On January 12, Senator Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee released a 400 page draft reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which has not been revised since No Child Left Behind was enacted in 2001.
Senator Alexander's proposal includes multiple testing options allowing local districts to implement alternatives to state standards, as well as provisions that would allow Title I funding to follow students to their public school of choice.
Senator Patty Murray has also outlined her priorities for the law's reauthorization, which include new funding for early childhood education programs.
In his Washington Post op-ed, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan expressed apprehension about relaxed testing standards and changes to Title I funding.
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MEMBER ORGANIZATION UPDATES
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- January 5, 2015: NCSD submitted comments on new regulations for the Charter Schools Program.
- On a similar note, the NEA submitted thoughtful comments on the new CSP regulations, citing the recent Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Shadow Report submitted to the United Nations' CERD Committee by several NCSD members.
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SCHOOL DIVERSITY IN THE NEWS
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Earlier this month, the Department of Education and Department of Justice released joint guidance to ensure English Learners (ELs) have equal access to high quality education. In addition to the guidance, DOE/DOJ released fact sheets regarding schools' legal obligations to EL students and their parents/guardians and a toolkit to help districts identify EL students.
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Feb. 4-6, 2015 Washington, DC
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Policy Training Conference: Promoting Opportunity and Excellence
Magnet Schools of America | Feb. 26-28, 2015 San Diego, CA
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National Conference: Celebrate Public Education in America
American Association of School Administrators | Mar. 14-17, 2015 Washington, DC
| Annual Legislative Conference Council of Great City Schools |
April 16-20, 2015
| Annual Conference: "Toward Justice: Culture, Language, and Heritage in Education Research and Praxis" American Educational Research Association
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"Sixty years after the Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, far too many of our students remain trapped in lower-performing schools as a result of their socioeconomic status....The Court in Brown found that 'separate educational facilities are inherently unequal' - yet more than half a century later, we still see tremendous disparities in our schools along socioeconomic lines. New York will reach its full potential only when all students have equal access to exceptional schools."
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National Coalition on School Diversity
c/o Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC)
Website: www.school-diversity.org
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202-544-5066
Mailing Address: 1200 18th St. NW #200 Washington, DC 20036
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