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The (CBMA) is a national membership network that seeks to ensure the growth, sustainability, and impact of leaders and organizations committed to improving the life outcomes of Black men and boys. CBMA is a growing member network that currently includes more than 4,703 leaders representing nearly 2,555 organizations and programs across the country. https://www.blackmaleachievement.org/ Region: N
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White Lies, Black Incarceration, and the Promise of Reading in Prison
“The curiosity that may be deemed a sign of genius in a white male child is viewed as trouble making when expressed by black boys,” observes bell hooks in Chapter 3 of her We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity.
The book’s title echoes the wonderful and precise poem by Gwendolyn Brooks, which also in its powerful concision offers a portrait of the dire consequences of toxic masculinity for Black men.
The documentary features Richie Reseda who, while incarcerated, began seminars on the patriarchy and toxic masculinity grounded in the writings of bell hooks.
hooks begins Chapter 3 with “More than any other group of men in our society black males are perceived as lacking in intellectual skills,” a claim both represented and refuted by the men who animate the documentary through personal reflections and candid filming of them investigating the texts written by hooks and then navigating prison seminars that rival and even surpass the sorts of college classrooms these men have been systematically denied.
Among the worst policy ideas of the past decades, we have to count third grade reading retention laws. These laws can sometimes give schools a brief bump in test scores, but the consequences for actual human students are not good. And some folks in Tennessee have decided that more of a bad idea would be super.
Why tell a eight or nine year old child that they failed third grade, even though they did passing work on everything but the reading test? The theory is that third grade reading ability correlates with later academic success, and since too many policy makers don't know the difference between correlation and causation, well, let's just hold them back. If you are cynical, you might also notice that this keeps the bad test-takers out of fourth grade, where the more high stakes testing occurs ("Look! Our fourth graders now read better than ever!").
Time to get to work, you little slackers
The policy also latches onto the idea that punishment, threats and fear are the best motivators. Maybe it's the teachers who have been holding back, or maybe it's those little eight year old slackers, but if we threaten them all with some tough consequences, maybe they'll try a little harder and the teachers will really teach and the students will try to learn, because that's probably the most likely explanation for why the third grade test scores are low.
In Memphis, school leaders have decided that's still going to easy on the little punks.
Proposed last spring, the district has now implemented a failure rule for second graders.
The policy comes courtesy of chief academic officer Antonio Burt, who is steeped in reformia, from his time with TNTP to his stint improving TVAAS scores to his time with the Achievement School District to his work as Director of School Transformation in Pinellas County, Florida.
News: Big REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) Exits the Charter Real Estate Sector
Carol Burris writes about the latest news from the charter industry. This is the same company that Valerie Strauss wrote about, called “Entertainment Properties Trust.” It’s CEO, Dennis Brain, told an interviewer that charter schools were a sound investment, had long waiting lists, and were guaranteed government revenues.
But that rosy picture has dimmed. The long waiting lists are fictional. Charters are likely to close down suddenly. In some states, charter enrollment is declining. The REIT lost confidence in the future of charter schools and liquidated its charter school holdings.
Burris writes:
EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is a triple net lease real estate investment trust (REIT). What that means is that it buys properties and then rents them with the tenant picking up costs like insurance, improvements, and all utilities. Therefore, every dollar EPR makes off the lease is profit.
EPR had a special relationship with Imagine Charter Schools. School House Finance, Imagine’s related organization, would buy the property. It would sell it to EPR. EPR would lease it back to School House, which would then lease it to one of Imagine’s charter schools at very high rates.
An additional layer to Bloomberg’s money-toss into Louisiana school board elections includes Bloomberg’s connection to Louisiana state superintendent, John White.
During Bloomberg’s time as NYC mayor, White was a deputy chancellor of education immediately prior to his arrival in Louisiana, and immediately prior to his rapid ascent from Recovery School District (RSD) superintendent to Louisiana state superintendent.
That rapid ascent required a favorable 2011 state ed (BESE) board– which Bloomberg helped to purchase.
Retaining White also required a favorable 2015 BESE– which Bloomberg also helped purchase.
Below is a comprehensive listing of Bloomberg’s donations to influence Louisiana elections to date, totaling over $1.6M:
To Prevent Bullying of Students with Autism, Training is Key
Bullying is no longer accepted as a “kids will be kids” rite of passage and educators are dedicated to stopping it in all its forms, especially when the target is a student with a disability like autism. But the battle against bullying continues.
A study by the Interactive Autism Network found that 63 percent of 1,167 children with autism aged 6-15 had been bullied at some point in their lives. “Sadly,” the report states, “one group that was frequently bullied was children with ASD who wanted to interact with other children but had a hard time making friends. The advocacy group Autism Speaks has many resources on how we can help address bullying of students with autism and make their schools lives healthier, happier and more productive.
Thomas Frazier, Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer, is a clinical psychologist and autism researcher whose son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was two years old. NEA Today spoke with Frazier about this troubling trend and what we can do about it.
What characteristics do students with disabilities share that make them targets for bullying?
Thomas Frazier: Many children with disability have an innocent or passive demeanor that makes them non-threatening to a bully. The last thing a bully wants is to have someone call them on their bullying. So they tend to choose people who are easier targets and who are less likely to assert or defend themselves. Also, some people with disability have trouble reading intentions, and because the person with disability may only interpret the situation as funny (in general) and not specifically as making fun of them, the bully may find it easier to make fun of them.
Do kids target other students with autism more than they would a student who is perhaps in a wheelchair or has other differing abilities?
Four of us—three university professors and a high school English teacher—were talking enthusiastically right through the last call in an ale house across from the Baltimore Convention Center hosting the 2019 National Council of Teachers of English annual conference.
Fulfilling stereotypes of those who would attend such a convention, we were hotly debating the place of racial slurs in academic spaces. One of the university professors argued for the distinction between using a racial slur (the n-word) and voicing a racial slur included in an instructional text.
He believes voicing that word in context is not only acceptable, but necessary.
The other three of us, notably all teaching in the South, were leaning strongly toward never voicing the n-word—especially as a usage but even when reading a text aloud.
While some white people still want to argue that if Black people can say the n-word, then white people should be allowed as well. I think in schools and colleges, this flawed reasoning is fairly universally rejected, and using the n-word is not allowed by white people and possibly banned entirely across campuses (zero-tolerance policies).
However, what has increasingly become an issue is challenges to voicing of the n-word as well as referencing to the use of the n-word.
Yes, I know that in the 10 years I have had this blog, I have had cartoons on technology with kids, in schools, in the workplace, and at home. For this month’s cartoons, I have selected new ones that I have not run before. Enjoy!
