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GET OUT! Black Male Suspensions in California Public Schools

3/13/2018

This February, a fascinating new report presenting analyses of publicly available statewide data on the suspension of Black males in California’s public schools was released. This report is a joint publication of the Black Minds Project (an initiative of the Community College Equity Assessment Lab (CCEAL) at San Diego State University (SDSU) and the Black Male Institute at the University of California, Los-Angeles (UCLA).

Did you know?

The highest suspension disparity by grade level occurs in early childhood education (Grades K through 3) where Black boys are 5.6 times more likely to be suspended than the state average.

Black male students who are classified as “foster youth” are suspended at noticeably high rates, at 27.4%. Across all analyses, Black males who were foster youth in seventh and eighth grade represented the subgroup that had the highest percentage of Black male suspensions, at 41.0%.
The highest total suspensions occurred in large urban counties, such as Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Contra Costa County. In fact, these five counties alone account for 61% of Black male suspensions.

Read the full report here.

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School Highlight: Lodestar

3/5/2018

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No better way to start the week than viewing an artifact that lives up to Lodestar's school vision: Where Oakland Shines!

View this video for some of the highlights students have been working on this year!

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MTSS Implementation at Lodestar

3/2/2018

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There are many different ways we collaborate with our school partners with the goal of influencing transformational change. This year, one of my favorite collaborations is providing leadership consultation for the development and implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) at Lodestar, a Lighthouse Community Public School. Each quarter we meet to essentially identify and build out the next best steps toward gradual and meaningful change. For example, some of the work we have focused on includes:

Systematizing early screening for students who may be on track for being at-risk for retention (initiating pro-active intervention supports using data, so as not to rely solely on teacher referrals).
Understanding key instructional delivery components of Tier 2 reading intervention and aligning reading intervention curricula across tiers.
Integration of service providers in into the school community.
Developing a vision for inclusion and pioneering this work.
Leveraging resources and envisioning roles for the coming school year.

That’s part of the magic of the consultation model- meeting schools exactly where they are in the developmental process of establishing systems for student support. Through an adaptive leadership lens, this would be described as “meaningful evolution in real time” (Cambridge Leadership Associates).

In our most recent meeting I asked team members to reflect on what they have enjoyed most about our consultation time together so far and here’s what they said:

Making space in our school community for “J” (one of our students with more moderate to severe needs)
Listening to what’s underneath what people are saying
Being included among the powerhouses!
Planning and focusing on things that are really important; it’s really validating
Getting to the heart of the work
Expertise and relationships

Where is your school in the developmental process of establishing systems for student support? Do any of these seem like the next best step for your school or program? Please tell us how MTSS implementation is going at your school site or share any experience you’ve had with adaptive leadership through consultation and its impact on students and families!

Blog Post Written by:
Dr. Tamarah Tilos, Assistant Director of Implementation

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Parents as Collaborative Partners

3/2/2018

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As a professional in the field of education, specifically as a School Psychologist and Director of Special Education, I’ve participated in my fair share of student planning meetings. In fact, I’d say that I am well versed in the student planning process as an educational professional. I’ve spent hours of my time facilitating and guiding teams through a process of action steps to support students in improving their academic, behavioral and emotional performance in the classroom and overall school environment. With all that being said, even with all my expertise, nothing quite prepared me for the experience of being the parent on the other side of the table so to speak. In fact, even with all my knowledge, familiarity with the process, and skills, the experience of the parent caught me off guard. The experience was jarring not because I lacked knowledge and/or understanding of the process, but it was the lack of equity. I wasn’t treated as a partner or team member.

In the field of school psychology, we are trained to invite parents and families into the process as true contributors. It is the position of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), that parents and families be collaborative partners, in what NASP refers to “home-school collaboration”, in the promotion of positive academic and social-emotional functioning. Further, NASP promotes active parent and family involvement with a belief that working together toward shared goals with shared power is essential to the effective home-school collaboration and student success. Likewise, Seneca and the All-In program hold similar sentiments regarding parents and families and seek to work with schools, networks, and other community-based organizations that are committed to “pursuing the unbounded potential of each child and family.”

While this type of partnership can be challenging, due to differing expectations, goals, and communication patterns, it is essential to student success. When there are differences and those differences aren’t addressed in a meaningful way, a lack of communication is likely to ensue which further divides these two important entities. While parents hold a responsibility to work with schools in the promotion of problem-solving approaches to ensure positive student outcomes, schools must also take ownership of their role and engage in reflective practices to improve their approach with parents and families.

My recent experiences have made me greatly reflect on my past interactions with parents and families as a provider. It caused me to think through how I’d want to interact with parents and families moving forward so that my approach takes these practices into consideration. I want to work to think through my approach so that the work I do with parents and families allows for equity. That means thinking about the language I use and the messages I provide to parents and families. With that being said, below are some tips or considerations for supporting parents and families. Additional resources are provided in links below.

Listen to the parent and the strategies/interventions that have been successful for them at home and in other settings.
Check in with previous teachers or adults that experienced successful relationships with the child previously. Add them to your student planning team.
Build a strong trust-based relationship with the child and parent.
Positive communication is KEY! If a child is experiencing daily challenges, make sure to develop a system for sharing ALL the great things that child too. Communication with parents shouldn’t only report difficulties.
Be strategic and thoughtful in your messaging. While a child may be experiencing a difficult or challenging time it’s not always pathological, a child may simply be going through several major transitions and just need love and support.

Here is a link to the El Dorado SELPA’s page on parent resources.
NASP’s position statement on Home-School Collaboration.

Blog Post Written by:
Meka Tull, Director of School Partnerships

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GET OUT! Black Male Suspensions in California Public Schools

School Highlight: Lodestar

MTSS Implementation at Lodestar

Parents as Collaborative Partners

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