Dear Parents of African American children,
I hope that the school year is off to a good start for you and your children. The Achievement Gap Project is now in its third year. While data collection is still underway, the school district has moved forward with efforts to move from "the problem space" to "the solution space." In that vein, one of the recommendations of the 18-month project report was for the district to develop a Task Force focused on maximizing the achievement potential of African American students and low-income students in the district. In doing so, the achievement potential of all students will be maximized. The Task Force is underway and working diligently. There is a link on the District website for the Achievement Gap Task Force. Please check it out!
My work as a consultant to the district continues as I assist with Task Force initiatives and continue collecting data for the district. It is very important that student voices are captured and integrated into any initiatives related to the achievement gap. Last spring, a survey was administered to all students at the high school about their schooling experiences. This data is still being analyzed (there are approximately 800 surveys), but I suspect that results will illuminate some interesting themes about how students perceive their schooling experiences in the district and at the high school. I plan to administer a similar survey in January to students at the middle school and possibly at Glencairn and Whitehills.
While I have given you a brief update on what's going on right now, I'd like to solicit your help with allowing your children to participate in student focus groups this year. For many of you, I already have consent forms for your children to participate in focus groups. If you need a consent form for your child, or you know a parent who does, please have them to contact me ASAP at dcarter@msu.edu. It is very important that I interview African American students across achievement levels (low, average, high) to provide a robust perspective of the district). I will be conducting initial student focus groups for this school year on the following dates. Please email Carleen Cary at carleen.carey@gmail.com to sign your child(ren) up for one of the focus groups. Please note the age groups for each date below. All focus groups are being held on the Timberlane Campus (the district office) in Conference Room A.
Thursday, October 28th (grades 7-12)Thursday, November 11th (grades 7-12)Thursday, November 18th (grades 4-6)
-- Dorinda J. Carter Andrews, Ed.D.Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Teacher Education358 Erickson HallEast Lansing, MI 48824(517) 432-2070 (office)(517) 432-5092 (fax)
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