The Data Center
Independent Analysis for Informed Decisions in Southeast Louisiana
Smart Cities: New Orleans
Students in impoverished schools less likely to have effective teachers, new report states
10 Must-Do’s While in New Orleans for NCTM’s Annual Meeting
10 Must-Do’s While in New Orleans for NCTM’s Annual Meeting
a few new ideas I hadn’t seen before by Jen Medbury of Kickboard
Studies Confirm the Dehumanization of Black Children and the ‘Preschool-to-Prison Pipeline’
Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race
Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race
have heard this sentiment many times before
The 50 Best Books of All Time
key non-fiction titles as curated by Tom Vander Ark
“Teached” film series by Kelly Amis
“Teached” film series by Kelly Amis
I got to meet Kelly Amis last week at a screening of one of her short films (and got to hear Howard Fuller speak!) and have found them to be very engaging and well put together. Please share!
Where you can watch the films for FREE (snagfilms.com): http://www.snagfilms.com/search/?q=teached&show=All
How Mardi Gras Has Stirred the Southern Melting Pot for 400 Years
How Mardi Gras Has Stirred the Southern Melting Pot for 400 Years
Cool history of Mardi Gras from its ancient Roman roots to modern day
Two Economists on School Reform: We Know (A Few) Things That Work
Two Economists on School Reform: We Know (A Few) Things That Work
from the article:
“Rather, they argue, the building blocks of a solution are found in (1) nurturing the Common Core curriculum standards and developing curricula and teacher training to meeting them, (2) providing consistent coaching, training and financial support to teachers and schools with lots of low-income students, (3) creating an atmosphere in which teachers and school leaders have a deep-seated responsibility to their colleagues for educating every student, (4) harnessing the latest research, such as evidence that lousy vocabularies block low-income pupils from understanding textbooks, and (5) outside of school, supporting low-income families with programs like Wisconsin’s New Hope experiment that supplemented paychecks of low-wage workers with cash, health-insurance subsidies and advice.”
Teach For America Launches Special Education and Ability Initiative to Strengthen Corps of Special Education Teachers
This is a good start but I’m wondering how long it will take to get all the way down to the teacher level. We need wayyy more SPED support; I can say here in New Orleans there are probably more TFA teachers teaching students with some SPED label than there are ones who aren’t teaching those students.
Resources on Gentrification
from a member of SURJ about a few cities across the nation
‘Seattle
So there is Seattle Race and Social Justice initiative – in city gov’t – they recently started a roundtable with reps from key sectors – focused on education but housing is in the mix – info should be on the website – and obviously Scott can help you with details. I know Seattle magazine just did a piece on gentrification – haven’t had a chance to read it yet so unsure of the analysis but it may give you some leads of other organizations doing the work in Seattle.
Marisela Gomez – has been doing some great work here in Baltimore – she had a conference up here last year and kept people engaged. Some of the BRJA folks have been involved – Dottye knows her well and helped with the conference – http://www.mariselabgomez.com/ fyi a paperback version of her book is coming out soon . . .
In St. Louis – long time ago – we actually recruited some of the diversity leads at different local companies to go through a dismantling racism six day residential institute – then we gathered the corporate diversity folks together for regular monthly meetings – each of the Institute participants were taking their internal work deeper and they had a new language to share and they helped us by bringing more people to the table – some who ended up going through the institute – and there was some informal peer coaching on how to address different issues within the organization. . . . not major strides but we began to build a community of folks – who applied some peer pressure and triage . . . after I left St. Louis – it just met for about year or so later and most of the core folks went on to greener pastures….
There is a film about gentrification – Columbus OH – mostly gay white males moving into an African American Cmty – it helps to bring up some issues for a discussion.
Here are a few items – haven’t looked at awhile so not sure what will be relevant – some attached
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/09.28.00/paloalto-0039.html
http://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/Separate_and_UnequalDC.pdf
I would check out Right to the city work – here is an overview – http://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/tidesright.pdf
There are resources on RET – Manuel Pastor’s work and Meizhu Liu’s work – look under economic security – and there is a section on housing too
Elaine Gross’ work – EraseRacism – they did some great work on housing – here is their initial report and were able to move the counties on two policies in long island – http://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/erase.pdf
Restorative Approaches Resources
not super complete but I’ve had so much trouble finding some or getting them from orgs that these may be helpful! thanks to pb!
1) http://www.transformingconflict.org/content/restorative-approaches-educational-settings
This site also has a “free resources” tab that I signed up for and you can get more materials/PDs/information regarding how to approach restorative justice circles.
2) http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D581E35E-0F25-4076-AB54-904E2783BEDD/0/restorative.pdf
This British site also has an overview as well as some links to resources and books for purchase at the bottom. My hunch is that the “real deal” information (i.e., steps in the restorative conference, practice guidelines, etc.) are in the books 
“The Mask You Live In” Trailer
on how the expectations of men and boys to “be a man” creates many harmful effects both for men and women.
brought to us by the makers of “Miss Representation” (and you know how I loveeee that film!)
Ban Bossy
love this!
What makes a community healthy?
What makes a community healthy?
Two poor communities have contrasting approaches to healthcare. One takes a collaborative approach to medicine, creating better outcomes for residents receiving treatment.
Bill would allow sale of blighted Lower Ninth Ward lots for $100 apiece
Bill would allow sale of blighted Lower Ninth Ward lots for $100 apiece
I have no idea what kind of impact this would have (positively or negatively) but for some reason it makes me very nervous
Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans
Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans
would love to check this out!
The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary
The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary
This reminds me so much of GOONJ that we visited in Delhi! It’s so amazing how Arunachalam Muruganantham stuck to his passion and generated one awesome solution to this large-scale problem that women in India face.
Gentrification and its Discontents: Notes from New Orleans
Gentrification and its Discontents: Notes from New Orleans
CRAZY graphic of the “white teapot” of post-Katrina gentrification that really blew my mind
from the article:
The frontiers of gentrification are “pioneered” by certain social cohorts who settle sequentially, usually over a period of five to twenty years. The four-phase cycle often begins with—forgive my tongue-in-cheek use of vernacular stereotypes: (1) “gutter punks” (their term), young transients with troubled backgrounds who bitterly reject societal norms and settle, squatter-like, in the roughest neighborhoods bordering bohemian or tourist districts, where they busk or beg in tattered attire.
On their unshod heels come (2) hipsters, who, also fixated upon dissing the mainstream but better educated and obsessively self-aware, see these punk-infused neighborhoods as bastions of coolness.
Their presence generates a certain funky vibe that appeals to the third phase of the gentrification sequence: (3) “bourgeois bohemians,” to use David Brooks’ term. Free-spirited but well-educated and willing to strike a bargain with middle-class normalcy, this group is skillfully employed, buys old houses and lovingly restores them, engages tirelessly in civic affairs, and can reliably be found at the Saturday morning farmers’ market. Usually childless, they often convert doubles to singles, which removes rentable housing stock from the neighborhood even as property values rise and lower-class renters find themselves priced out their own neighborhoods. (Gentrification in New Orleans tends to be more house-based than in northeastern cities, where renovated industrial or commercial buildings dominate the transformation).
After the area attains full-blown “revived” status, the final cohort arrives: (4) bona fide gentry, including lawyers, doctors, moneyed retirees, and alpha-professionals from places like Manhattan or San Francisco. Real estate agents and developers are involved at every phase transition, sometimes leading, sometimes following, always profiting.
Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans
Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans
six month fellowship where you pledge $500 then give it away with your cohort to deserving organizations in our city!
“Dear White America” poem by Danez Smith
Teach For America to Pilot Yearlong Teacher Training, Retention Efforts
Teach For America to Pilot Yearlong Teacher Training, Retention Efforts
I’ll be very interested to see how this goes and the impact it has on applications and effectiveness.
Another article entitled “It Took Teach For America 24 years to figure this out?” : http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/03/11/this-took-teach-for-america-24-years-to-figure-out/
A New SAT Aims to Realign With Schoolwork
A New SAT Aims to Realign With Schoolwork
from the article: “
In addition, Mr. Coleman announced programs to help low-income students, who will now be given fee waivers allowing them to apply to four colleges at no charge. And even before the new exam is introduced, in the spring of 2016, the College Board, in partnership with Khan Academy, will offer free online practice problems and instructional videos showing how to solve them.
The changes are extensive: The SAT’s rarefied vocabulary challenges will be replaced by words that are common in college courses, like “empirical” and “synthesis.” The math questions, now scattered across many topics, will focus more narrowly on linear equations, functions and proportional thinking. The use of a calculator will no longer be allowed on some of the math sections.
The new exam will be available on paper and computer, and the scoring will revert to the old 1,600-point scale — from 2,400 — with top scores of 800 on math and 800 on what will now be called “evidence-based reading and writing.” The optional essay, which strong writers may choose to do, will have a separate score.”
http://www.postsouth.com/article/20140313/NEWS/140319739
http://www.postsouth.com/article/20140313/NEWS/140319739
Plaquemine parish is entering into a service agreement with TFA – interesting; earlier this year they banned To Kill a Mockingbird.
Unusual coalition aims to reduce high prisoner count in Louisiana
Unusual coalition aims to reduce high prisoner count in Louisiana
We need this like woah
Indywood-local theater in the Bywater
Indywood-local theater in the Bywater
I’ve been wanting to check this out!
Celebrating resilience – reframing the narrative around our students
this video has gotten some very positive reviews!
A Letter from Ray Jasper, who is about to be executed
A Letter from Ray Jasper, who is about to be executed
Texas death row inmate Ray Jasper is scheduled to be put to death on March 19. He has written us a letter that, he acknowledges, “could be my final statement on earth.” It is well worth your time.
Ray Jasper was convicted of participating in the 1998 robbery and murder of recording studio owner David Alejandro. A teenager at the time of the crime, Jasper was sentenced to death. He wrote to us once before, as part of our Letters from Death Row series. That letter was remarkable for its calmness, clarity, and insight into life as a prisoner who will never see freedom. We wrote back and invited him to share any other thoughts he might have. Today, we received the letter below. Everyone should read it.
Teach for All Commentary on TFI
Teach for All Commentary on TFI
The author responds to an article questioning the ideology and methods of the non-profit organisation Teach For India. The original article entitled ‘Teach for Who?’ was published in The Scribbler’s current issue and instigated a fiery debate that led to the commissioning of a response piece.
The Big Easy
a blog post suggesting that New York’s mayor should look to New Orleans to learn about true choice in a charter school movement; I have mixed feelings about it since our model is still learning and growing so much that I don’t really think we have it knocked yet.
City’s two public school systems reach landmark agreement
City’s two public school systems reach landmark agreement
From the article:
The two competing school districts that operate side by side in New Orleans reached a landmark deal Thursday aimed at shoring up services for the city’s neediest children and sorting out how to manage the supply of school buildings.
It was a notable agreement in part because the Orleans Parish School Board and the Recovery School District, which took over most of the board’s former schools after Hurricane Katrina, haven’t always managed to find ways to cooperate on citywide initiatives.
The first new step outlined in the agreement would be to shift full responsibility for identifying the youngest students requiring special needs, starting at just 2½ years old.
Another provision of the deal will set aside half of the money that both districts are supposed to get each year from Harrah’s Casino for a variety of services aimed at students with the most difficult challenges. The money would fund an already existing center for combating truancy, a “therapeutic” center for students with severe mental health needs and another office for helping students who have had run-ins with the criminal justice system. The Recovery District would administer those services in the coming school year, but officials will revisit which district is responsible for handling them after that.
Finally, the OPSB agrees to establish a special fund that schools could draw upon to cover extraordinary costs associated with the most severely disabled children, costs that typically aren’t adequately covered by the state’s per-pupil funding scheme.
Renewal rules to change for state-authorized charter schools
Renewal rules to change for state-authorized charter schools
BESE is upping the requirements for charter renewal: 5 points growth or a C letter grade in order to be renewed
Louisiana education board backs overhaul of career-track diploma
Louisiana education board backs overhaul of career-track diploma
I think this is something we really need and I’m excited to see where it goes; our kids need to be prepared for the jobs Louisiana is going to have available in the coming years.
National Common Core test not for Louisiana high schools until 2016 — if at all
National Common Core test not for Louisiana high schools until 2016 — if at all
we’ll be on schedule for next year for PARCC assessments for grades 3-8 but LA is pushing high school tests to 2016
New Common Core Resources
The state Department of Education has released a guide for teachers to help them teach to Common Core standards. These Curricular Resources include instructional guidebooks with unit plans for English and math and recommendations for other published curricula based on how well they align with Common Core. The state emphasized that this is only a guide and that school curriculum remains a local decision.
OPPRC Open Letters
OPPRC released two media statements today. The first was an open letter to Susan Guidry who chairs the Criminal Justice Committee of New Orleans City Council expressing concerns re: ongoing violence in the jail and calling for an immediate response. The second was a statement calling for a conversation about term limits for powerful city offices like Sheriff, as we face runoff elections with “demoralizing choices like whether to re-elect either Charles Foti or Marlin Gusman ” …. “two men who, together, are responsible for 40 years of violence, incompetence and failure in the jail.” Links to both statements are included below.
On gentrification
Children Explain the Meaning of Mardi Gras
Children Explain the Meaning of Mardi Gras
by my friend Sophie Johnson via NeutronsProtons
“I asked ten children to explain the meaning of Mardi Gras to e, and they did a better job than any adult I have ever met. All of them.”
Ennegram Institute
Personality inventory that was pretty fun to take (free version online!)
“Let Me Find Out”
this song cracks me up. definitely a mardi gras 2014 anthem 🙂
TrueSchool Studio
a new company I’m doing some work with this spring about innovation in schools. very exciting!
video pitch by the founder Amy Vreeland in August 2013: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pRM_xRRYCw
I am, I’m asking you to quit
I think the most interesting part of this blog post is the image-it’s a photo of 10 teachers with their faces covered with their future profession written over it; this image came from a pro-TFA post and is now also being used by one against it. so many feelings around TFA!
The Intersection in Baltimore
Elliott Sanchez offered to connect me with the founders; great to see the success they’re making in this after school program
from the website: We transform students from underserved areas into leaders with the skills to go to and through college, to engage in civic action, and to articulate and solve challenges facing themselves and their communities.
Incredible Motivational Video
thanks to Patrick for this one!
Watch: The Whole Gritty City
link to the video by CBS; I think I might have already posted this…but it’s oh so good!
Black History Month Reading List – 30 Titles for Grades K-12
Black History Month Reading List – 30 Titles for Grades K-12
the ones that stick out to me since I’m a high school teacher:
9th grade – 10th grade
At this level, students still want texts they can relate to, but they can also begin to understand deeper stories of race and identity. Introduce them to a variety of texts, including:
- I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. (worksheet)
- I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes (worksheet)
- Hazelwood High Trilogy by Sharon Draper (worksheet)
- Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper (worksheet)
- Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (worksheet)
- Ain’t I a Woman by Sojourner Truth (worksheet)
11th grade – 12th grade
In the upper-levels of high school, teens can start to tackle major historical movements and controversial issues such as racism. This is the time to introduce them to poems, novels and informational texts with deep messages about African-American history and the overall African-American experience. A few selections include:
Black Panther Party Ten Point Plan
Black Panther Party Ten Point Plan
never want to forget #5:
WE WANT DECENT EDUCATION FOR OUR PEOPLE THAT EXPOSES THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS DECADENT AMERICAN SOCIETY. WE WANT EDUCATION THAT TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT-DAY SOCIETY.
- We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of the self. If you do not have knowledge of yourself and your position in the society and in the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.
On Black History Month: Every Month is OUR Month
On Black History Month: Every Month is OUR Month
love strong teacher voices on advocating for teaching this true history in our schools
also led me to this video that I’d love to see: The Black Power Mixtape (http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/the-black-power-mixtape)
Hello New Orleans! 