Famlies and School Working Together

College of Education Instruction & Curriculum Leadership

Writing Assignment 1: Historical Reflections. You have been requested by the Professional Development Academy for Teachers in your school district to make a presentation on the history of African American education in the South from the slave period to 1935. This presentation is designed to provide teachers and curriculum developers with a perspective that assist them in understanding the antecedents of 21st century education for African Americans.

Date Due: Thursday, February 6 Requirements: Content. Your paper should address the following questions or points: 1. What was education like for African Americans up to 1880, including the slave period? 2. Describe the Hampton-Tuskegee model of normal school industrial education from 1868 to 1915. Who were the developers and supporters of the model, their philosophy and beliefs, and the primary purposes of the model? Are there residual evidences of this model in 21st century schooling for African American students? 3. What were normal schools and county training schools? How were they influential in training teachers of African American children from 1900 to 1935? 4. How was liberal higher education for African Americans viewed by those who wanted to perpetuate the Hampton-Tuskegee model for teacher training as compared to those who supported classical liberal education for African Americans as a means to achieve racial equality in civic and political life? 5. What are your personal reflections regarding the education of African Americans from the slave period up to 1935? How do the events and experiences of this historical past influence the education of African American students enrolled in 21st century classrooms?

Style, format, and length: 1. APA guidelines should be used for all assignments. 2. The body of the paper should be 5 pages in length, typed double-spaced. Include a cover page, an abstract, and reference list. 3. The primary sources for this assignment should be: . Anderson, J. D. (1988). The education of Blacks in the south, 1860-1935. . Du Bois, W. E. B. (1903/1989). The souls of Black folks. . Woodson, C. G. (1933/1992). The mis-education of the Negro. 4. Consult three additional sources for this assignment. 5. Follow the “Essay Scoring Guide” for writing papers included in the course packet. 6. All papers should be stapled, no folders or covers. 2 College of Education Instruction & Curriculum Leadership

Writing Assignment 2: Valued Segregated Schools for African American Children. You have been assigned as chair of the school improvement team at your school, which has a 98% African American population. Your school has been identified as a low-performing school and must show significant gains in academic achievement of the students within the next three years or your school will be restructured (all staff will be transferred to other buildings). The majority of the administrators and teachers in your school are committed to the children in that building and wish to continue teaching there. What can you tell them about valued segregated schools for African American children that will provide some guidance in improving the achievement of children in your building?

Date Due: Thursday, February 27 Requirements: Content. Your paper should address the following questions or points: 1. What is known about the teaching and learning within segregated schools and what evidence exists to verify this schooling produced some successful outcomes for students? 2. What are the major characteristics of these valued segregated schools? As a case in point, describe how Trenholm High School exemplified these characteristics or attributes. 3. How do the characteristics of these valued school compare to the factors that current literature reports that we need to improve outcomes of underachieving African American children in the 21st century? 4. What can we learn from these valued African American school environments that will assist policymakers, educators, parents, and communities in improving the educational outcomes for African American children today?

Style, format, and length: 1. APA guidelines should be used for all assignments. 2. The body of the paper should be 5 pages in length, typed double-spaced. Include a cover page, an abstract, and reference list. 3. The primary sources for this assignment should be: . Morris, V. G. and Morris, C. L. (2000). Creating caring and nurturing educational environments for African American children. . Walker, V. S. (2000). Valued segregated schools for African American children in the south, 1935-1969: A review of common themes and characteristics. Review of Educational Research, 70 (3), 253-285. 4. Consult three additional sources for this assignment. 5. Follow the “Essay Scoring Guide” for writing papers included in the course packet. 6. All papers should be stapled, no folders or covers. 3 College of Education Instruction & Curriculum Leadership

Writing Assignment 3: Impact of Desegregation in the African American Community. You have been invited to participate on a forum, at the local university, designed for teacher education students (70% White, 25% African American) who will soon be teaching in a large urban school district where the majority of the students are African American. Part of your responsibility will be to discuss the impact of school desegregation in the school community and how that impact continues into the 21st century.

Date Due: Thursday, March 27 Requirements: Content. Your paper should address the following questions or points: 1. Briefly summarize the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision (1896) and the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas Supreme Court decision (1954) and the impact that each had on the education of African American children. 2. How did school desegregation (particularly in the South), following the Brown Decision, affect the positions of many African American administrators and teachers? 3. What were the gains for African American children, their families, and communities, and what were the losses? Include in your discussion the impact on school culture, academic achievement, counseling services, school buildings, curriculum, extra curricular activities, and involvement of family and community. 4. Recent studies show a dismantling of desegregation court orders and the increasing resegregation of public schools. In your opinion, what impact will this resegregation process have (or is already having) on the educational outcomes of African American children in your community?

Style, format, and length: 1. APA guidelines should be used for all assignments. 2. The body of the paper should be 5 pages in length, typed double-spaced. Include a cover page, an abstract, and reference list. 3. The primary sources for this assignment should be: . Morris, V. G. and Morris, C. L. (2000). Creating caring and nurturing educational environments for African American children. . Orfield, G., with N. Gordon. (2001). Schools more separate: Consequences of a decade of resegregation. [Online] Available: http://www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights/publications/schoolsseparate. 4. Consult three additional sources for this assignment. 5. Follow the “Essay Scoring Guide” for writing papers included in the course packet. 6. All papers should be stapled, no folders or covers. 4 College of Education Instruction & Curriculum Leadership

Writing Assignment 4: Succesful Teachers of African American Children. As a master veteran teacher, you have been given released time to mentor two novice teachers (one African American and one White) at your school building which enrolls 100% African American children with 80% qualifying for free or reduced lunches. You have the responsibility for assisting them in becoming successful teachers of the children in your building. What have your learned about teaching African American children that will enable you to be an effective mentor for these two new teachers?

Date Due: Thursday, April 10 Requirements: Content. Your paper should address the following questions or points: 1. Who are the successful teachers of African American students? What do they do? What can we learn from them? 2. Communicate to your mentees how the following items relate to their success with African American students: . Beliefs about students . Content and materials . Classroom management skills . Instructional approach . Educational setting . Teacher education . Relationships with families and community

Style, format, and length: 1. APA guidelines should be used for all assignments. 2. The body of the paper should be 5 pages in length, typed double-spaced. Include a cover page, an abstract, and reference list. 3. The primary sources for this assignment should be: a. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The Dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. b. Ladson-Billings, G. (2000). Fighting for our lives: Preparing teachers to teach African American students. Journal of Teacher Education, 51 (3), 206-214. c. Foster, M. (1997). Black teachers on teaching. 4. Consult two additional sources for this assignment. 5. Follow the “Essay Scoring Guide” for writing papers included in the course packet. 6. All papers should be stapled, no folders or covers. 5 College of Education Instruction & Curriculum Leadership Department

ICL 8965/7965 Educating African American Children Dr. Vivian Gunn Morris, Professor

Writing Assignment 5: Letter to School Principal. You have been assigned as chair of the school improvement team at your school, which has a 100% African American student population. Your school has been identified as a low-performing school and must show significant gains in academic achievement of the students within the next three years or your school will be taken over by the state. You have the responsibility for writing a letter to your principal indicating what you have learned in the course ICL 8965/7965 Educating African American Children about what needs to be done in your school (and the district) to improve the educational outcomes of African American children. The principal has informed you that your letter will be forwarded to the superintendent of schools in your district to become one of the important documents to be used as a basis for the district’s strategic plan and will very likely appear on the Op Ed page of The Commercial Appeal. Your letter will also be read by the superintendent, the superintendent’s executive staff, and readers of your local newspaper (the community-at-large). So, you will need to consider this wider audience as you draft your letter.

Date Due: Thursday, April 24 Requirements: Content. Your letter should address the following questions or points: 1. As a professional educator and team leader in your school building, communicate your plan for making a difference in educating African American children. 2. What do you want your fellow teachers, principal, superintendent, parents, community, and policymakers to know about educating African American children? 3. Offer suggestions and specific strategies that can be used by each of the identified groups, i.e., teachers, principal, superintendent, parents, community residents, and policymakers that will have a positive impact on the education of African American children. 4. Clearly communicate the rewards and benefits to the entire community of providing a quality education for African American children, as well as all children in your community. Also, communicate the consequences for the community if it refuses to provide a quality education for all of its children. 5. You may want to use the course objectives and readings as resources in formulating the issues you wish to address in your letter.

Style, format, and length: 1. The body of the letter should be addressed to a specific person and should be no more than two pages in length, typed single-spaced. 2. Use course resources and others that may be appropriate to cite in your letter. 3. Follow the “Essay Scoring Guide” for writing papers included in the course packet. 4. All papers should be stapled, no folders or covers.