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NCSD members Mohammed Choudhury (Office of Transformation and Innovation at the Dallas Independent School District), and Monique Lin-Luse (NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund) engage with other distinguished panelists at "Taking Action on School Diversity," sponsored by The Century Foundation. Prior to this panel was the keynote discussion between Research Advisory Panel member Richard Kahlenberg (Century Foundation) and Secretary of Education John King focused on the critical importance of racial and socioeconomic school integration. Research Advisory Panel member Amy Stuart Wells also presented at the event. |
School Integration in the 2016 "i3" Funding Competition!
The Department of Education has, for the first time, included school diversity as one of four priority funding areas in its 2016 funding notice for the Investing in Innovation Program. The April 25 funding notice offers a strong statement of support for school integration as a positive educational intervention. Incorporating school integration as one of the i3 program's goals and eligible funding areas has been a consistent theme of NCSD's advocacy (we submitted formal letters on this issue in 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015). The inclusion of diversity in the i3 notice, in conjunction with other recent initiatives, demonstrates the Department's growing commitment to embedding school integration into its reform strategies.
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NCSD Advocating for Stronger Together and Increased Magnet Schools Assistance Program Funds
In February, the President unveiled his proposed Department of Education budget for FY 2017. The budget request includes an increase in Magnet School Assistance Program funding and requests $120 million to launch "Stronger Together," a new grant competition what would support community-led socioeconomic integration efforts.
Alongside efforts to raise public awareness about these budget proposals, the NCSD is engaged in a formal lobbying effort on the Hill. In addition to a series of in-person meetings, the NCSD recently sent letters to legislators in the House and the Senate supporting the pro-integration moves in the President's budget. The goals of our effort are twofold:
- We are specifically advocating for Stronger Together and Magnet Schools Assistance Program funding; and
- More generally, we are working to raise awareness among federal legislators about the many benefits associated with diverse, integrated classrooms.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
This new fact sheet outlines three ways you can get involved in these advocacy efforts at the local level. You can also email us at school-diversity@prrac.org for more information. |
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Submit Comments Re: Using Socioeconomic Integration as a School Improvement Turnaround Strategy by April 29th
On March 29th, the Department of Education sought comments regarding the potential use of socioeconomic diversity strategies for school turnaround. Specifically, the Department asked for input on the following:
- The use of SIG funds to support district-wide socioeconomic diversity strategies aimed at increasing academic outcomes for students in lowest performing schools.
- Current SIG requirements for states and districts that may restrict the use SIG funds to increase the socioeconomic diversity of schools, if any.
- Other policies or conditions that need to be in place for districts to successfully implement a comprehensive socioeconomic diversity plan that increase academic outcomes for students in its lowest performing schools.
- Methods and measures states and districts could use to demonstrate progress in implementing a comprehensive socioeconomic diversity plan.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
The comment deadline has been extended to April 29th. We encourage you to weigh in! See comments from the NCSD here, and comments from the NEA here.
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Call for Manuscripts for
Race, Population Studies, and America's Public Schools:
A Critical Demography Perspective
The roles of race and racism in public schools in America are complex and varied. Critical demography provides a critical paradigm which facilitates the development and application of ideas, theories and methods that do not fit within the confines of mainstream scholarship. The critical demography paradigm articulates the manner in which the social structure differentiates dominant and subordinate populations, and necessitates explicit discussions and examinations of the nature of power and how it perpetuates the existing social order.
Manuscripts are due by June 15. For additional information and questions, see this document
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Struggle and Success in Loudoun County Rezoning
- The Poverty & Race Research Action Council submitted a letter in opposition.
- Professor Derek Black published a blog post, available here.
- The Century Foundation Senior Fellow Richard Kahlenberg published a piece in the Washington Post, available here.
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Call for Reviewers: Magnet School Assistance Program Applications
The U.S. Department of Education encourages individuals from various backgrounds and professions with content expertise to apply to be a peer reviewer for the FY 2016 Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) Competition.
Those interested in serving as a peer reviewer for the FY 2016 MSAP Competition should look over the Call for Peer Reviewers document, which describes the necessary qualifications. If you meet the necessary qualifications, please complete and submit the Peer Reviewer Information Checklist along with either your resume or curriculum vitae to msap.team@ed.gov no later than Friday, April 29, 2016.
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Two NCSD Presentations at Magnet Schools of America's national conference, "Riding the Wave: The Future is Now"
In early May the Magnet Schools of America national conference will take place in Miami, FL, where hundreds of magnet school educators, administrators, parents, students, researchers and policy makers will be in attendance. NCSD members will also be there, presenting two panels:
- "21st Century School Integration: Diversity, Belonging, and Racial Equity" featuring a new multimedia presentation with Gina Chirichigno; and
- "Walking on Tightropes: What Role Can Magnets Play in Effecting Systemic Change? (A Dialogue)" featuring Elaine Gross, Yvonne Brandon, and Doreen Marvin.
Additionally, NCSD will be staffing an information booth for the duration of the conference. If you are in attendance, feel free to swing by, say hello, and pick up some of our most recent research and policy materials!
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New York Appleseed is Hiring!
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Wayne County Community College District Integration Program Turns 12
Update from: Wayne County Community College District
The Middle College Multicultural High School Educational Exchange Program at Wayne County Community College District in Detroit entered its 12th year this year. This unique integration program, the only of its kind in Michigan, is free to high school juniors and seniors in Detroit and its suburbs, and allows students to earn fully transferable college credit for the class. The program also enables students to earn two-year Associates degrees at no cost to students via Wayne County Community College District.
Campaign for Education Equity at Columbia University Teachers College Puts on a Show
Update from: Campaign for Education Equity
The Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College recently teamed with Epic Theatre Ensemble to put on "10467," an inspiring, research-backed play written and performed by public school students. Through the partnership with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, students at Epic learned about educational rights under New York State law. Combining these lessons with their own life experiences, the students developed 10467, which they have performed for audiences throughout New York State and in Washington, DC. Read more here...
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Last year, a widely publicized altercation between a Park Slope Collegiate student and NYPD school safety agents and other officers triggered backlash from parents and students, giving rise to petitions, protests, and classroom-level discussions regarding the use of metal detectors in schools, which is often more prevalent in schools attended by high percentages of students of color.
In response to the continued presence of metal detectors at Brooklyn's John Jay Educational Campus, students involved with IntegrateNYC4me have been busy designing and painting a mural at the school, to be unveiled in May. Read about the project here, and enjoy a photojournalism piece here.
Watch the highlight reel from "10467" by clicking the graphic above.
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Research Advisory Panel Member Updates
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- University of North Carolina at Charlotte Professor Roslyn Arlin Mickelson is spending the spring as a Visiting Scholar in the sociology department at the University of Ghent, Belgium. She is working with colleagues there who investigate the consequences of ethnic segregation and tracking in Flemish schools for cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes among secondary students.
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Erica Frankenberg, associate professor of education and demography and co-director of the Center for Education and Civil Rights at Pennsylvania State University, is one of three editors of a new book titled School Integration Matters: Research-Based Strategies to Advance Equity. NCSD contributors to the volume include Research Advisory Panel members Erica Frankenberg and Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, as well as Michael Hilton and Philip Tegeler from the Poverty & Race Research Action Council.
- Place your order by May 15, 2016 with coupon code MCES2016 and receive a 20% discount.
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School Integration in the News
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Aaron Loewenberg from New America, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute, highlight's the proposed "Stronger Together" socioeconomic integration program, which would double the Department of Education's current investment in fostering integrated schools. Loewenberg also notes that recent changes to the composition of the Supreme Court may alter the types of integration plans that can be implemented in the future, potentially re-opening the door to plans that focus on racial integration.
By Joseph Williams
takepart (April 22)
Former White House correspondent Joseph Williams covers the "Taking Action on School Diversity" event held by The Century Foundation last week. Williams highlights the importance of Secretary King's support for integration, and the recent research briefs published by The Century Foundation examining the benefits of diversity and recent expansion of diversity-conscious schools.
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MPR News (March 22)
This past March an administrative law judge rejected the Minnesota Department of Education's proposed rules for integrating schools. According to University of Minnesota law professor and NCSD member Myron Orfield, the rules "basically abandoned all efforts to integrate schools. They created a really vague rule that had no standards, and no definitions and no consequences."
By Kimberly Quick
The Century Foundation (March 23)
Kimberly Quick, a policy associate at The Century Foundation, recently authored a piece debunking the idea of "natural" neighborhood boundaries, which often result in segregated school attendance zones. Quick notes that concentrated poverty and racial segregation in housing, which are mirrored in neighborhood schools, are not naturally occurring but the products of decades of destructive policy choices.
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Upcoming Events of Interest
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National Coalition on School Diversity
 c/o Poverty and Race Research Action CouncilWebsite: school-diversity.org
Email: school-diversity@prrac.org
Mailing Address: 1200 18th St. NW #200 Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-544-5066
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