A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS TRANSFORMING THE CULTURE OF MARYLAND’S SCHOOLS FOR BLACK BOYS Task Force on Achieving Academic Equity and Excellence for Black Boys MARYLAND STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION Acknowledgments ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Task Force wishes to thank all those who offered their time, energy, and talent to support this great work on behalf of Black boys and young men in Maryland’s schools. We send our sincere thanks to the expert authors and speakers whose presentations provided unique perspectives to our research. You gifted us with your knowledge and expertise because of your own passion to see our Black boys and young men succeed. Ron Walker, Founder/Executive Director Melinda Johnson, Ph.D. Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC) Principal, J.P. Ryon ES (Charles County) Dr. Deidre Farmbry, Timothy Jones, Kamau Ptah, Jamila Sams Denise Eides COSEBOC staff Founder/CEO Logic of English Leonard Sax, MD, Ph.D. Philip J. Leaf, Ph.D. Psychologist, Author Executive Director, Johns Hopkins Community Trauma Response Jawanza Kunjufu, Ph.D. Scholar, Author, Educational Consultant We are especially grateful to the Maryland State Department of Education personnel who have assisted us. The work could not have been done without your support. Miya T. Simpson, Ph.D. Samira Brinson Executive Director, Office of the Maryland State Board of Education Executive Associate, Office of Finance and Administration Dara Shaw, Ph.D. Amy Horan Director, Office of Research Senior Graphic Designer, Office of Communications Charlene Necessary Administrator & Regulations Coordinator, Office of the Maryland State Board of Education TASK FORCE ON ACHIEVING ACADEMIC EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK BOYS Clarence C. Crawford President, Maryland State Board of Education Jean Halle Vice President, Maryland State Board of Education Vermelle D. Greene, Ph.D. Task Force Chair / Maryland State Board of Education Gail Bates Task Force Co-Chair / Maryland State Board of Education Joan Mele-McCarthy, D.A. CCC-SLP Task Force Co-Chair / Maryland State Board of Education Marcia Sprankle, Ed.D. Task Force Co-Chair / Assistant State Superintendent, Division of Curriculum, Instructional Improvement, and Professional Learning Karen B. Salmon, Ph.D. State Superintendent of Schools The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, national origin, religion, disability, or sexual orientation in matters affecting employment or in providing access to programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. For inquiries related to departmental policy, please contact: Equity Assurance and Compliance Office, Maryland State Department of Education, 200 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21201-2595, 410-767-0433 (voice) 410-767-0431 (fax) 410-333-6442 (TTY/TDD). v1 John E. Howard, Ed.D. Vermelle D. Greene, Ph.D. International Baccalaureate Coordinator, Chair, Maryland State Board of Education Montgomery County Public Schools Gail Bates Phillip Johnson Co-Chair, Maryland State Board of Education Teacher, Howard County Public Schools Joan Mele-McCarthy, D.A. Dwayne Jones Co-Chair, Maryland State Board of Education Retired Principal, Prince George’s County Marcia Sprankle, Ph.D. Public Schools Co-Chair, Assistant State Superintendent, Andrea Kane, Ph.D. TASK FORCE MEMBERS Maryland State Department of Education Superintendent, Queen Anne’s County Karen B. Salmon, Ph.D. Public Schools Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Alysia Lee Inez Claggett Educator Program Supervisor, Fine Arts Education, President, Calvert County Board of Education Maryland State Department of Education Hampton E. Conway, III Jocelyn Potts Instructional Technology Specialist, Teacher, Anne Arundel County Public Schools Prince George’s County Public Schools Diane Roberts Tracy Cottman, LCSW Facilitator, Study Group 3 / Principal, Supervisor of Student Services, Charles County Public Schools Somerset County Public Schools Desmond Williams Julius Davis, Ed.D. President/CEO, Nylinka School Solutions Director, Center for Research and Mentoring Juan Wilder of Black Male Students and Teachers / Senior Pastor, Impact One Church Bowie State University Nicole Fisher Supervisor of Alternate Programs, Caroline County Public Schools Ramon Goings, Ph.D. Facilitator: Study Group 2 / Assistant Professor, University of Maryland Baltimore County Theo Holt, Ph.D. Co-Teacher and Case Manager, Montgomery County Public Schools Daryl Howard, Ph.D. Facilitator: Study Group 3 / Equity Instructional Specialist, Montgomery County Public Schools 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 2 TASK FORCE MEMBERS | 4 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR | 6 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | 8 II. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE | 10 III. THE CHARGE | 13 IV. THE PROCESS | 14 STUDY GROUP 1: SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS | 17 Recommendation 1.1 | 19 Recommendation 1.2 | 20 Recommendation 1.3 | 22 Recommendation 1.4 | 26 STUDY GROUP 2: RECRUITING AND TRAINING SKILLED, COMPETENT | 34 TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS Recommendation 2.1 | 36 Recommendation 2.2 | 37 Recommendation 2.3 | 38 Recommendation 2.4 | 41 Recommendation 2.5 | 42 STUDY GROUP 3: CURRICULA AND INSTRUCTION | 50 Recommendation 3.1 | 51 Recommendation 3.2 | 53 Recommendation 3.3 | 56 Recommendation 3.4 | 58 Recommendation 3.5 | 59 Recommendation 3.6 | 60 Recommendation 3.7 | 62 V. NEXT STEPS | 72 TASK FORCE MEMBERS | 80 REFERENCES | 88 ENDNOTES | 92 5 A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR So, why the focus on Black boys? Other student groups need help, too. In response, I offer the metaphor of the fire engine responding to an alarm. It races through the neighborhood, bypassing many homes, to help the house engulfed in flames. The crisis with our Black boys and young men can be compared to that blazing inferno, and they urgently need our help. Fighting the fire with garden-hose solutions -- spraying well-intended but ineffectual, inconsistent, or half-hearted efforts -- will only endanger the other homes (students) or destroy the entire neighborhood (school). For the three years that I have served on the Maryland State Board of Education, I have reviewed and expressed my concerns about data that have consistently shown the underperformance of boys, specifically Black boys. Unfortunately, this is not just a three-year old problem – as a closer look at trend data over many years reveals a long history of lower academic performance and graduation rates. On the other hand, dropout rates and incidents of exclusionary disciplinary practices, e.g., suspension and expulsion, are much higher when compared to their peers. These inequities have a detrimental impact and, as research has shown, contribute to the conditions that lead to the school-to-prison pipeline for our Black young men. 6 The continued failure of so many young men not only increases the likelihood that they’ll end up in prison, permanently unemployed, or dead at an early age but [their continued failure increases the likelihood] that our society will accept such conditions as normal. “As that begins to occur, all of us are endangered. Dr. Pedro A. Noguera Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education, UCLA The Task Force on Achieving Academic Equity and Excellence for state education system we -- either through ignorance or neglect – fail Black Boys was convened to explore these inequities and develop a to educate them in ways that affirm their learning differences, attend set of evidence-based recommendations and strategies to improve the to their social-emotional needs, appreciate their culture, set high educational experiences and outcomes for Black boys in Maryland’s expectations, and respect them as unique individuals. schools. The recommendations are intended to be practical, If the education system of Maryland is sincerely committed to equity feasible, meaningful, reasonable, justifiable, and actionable. They will also require engagement of multiple stakeholders – and excellence for ALL students, then the mis-education of Black boys students, parents, teachers, administrators, schools and and young men can no longer be tolerated. The time has arrived school districts, legislators, citizens at-large as well as -- and is long past due -- to rectify the hindrances that have prevented them from reaching their God-given potential. business, community, and religious leaders. Moreover, there must be consistent monitoring and accountability to ensure that the recommendations are implemented with fidelity and lead to more positive outcomes. If our Black boys are in trouble, The recommendations are not intended to be a “one-size fits all” then so are we all. approach; nor is it our expectation that all districts will adopt every recommendation presented in this report, as student needs and experiences will differ. However, we believe that there are strategies that can be explored, adopted, and/or modified for every school community. With the passage of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, our State is able to financially support new initiatives that increase equity and Vermelle D. Greene, Ph.D. excellence for students. It would be ill-advised not to direct portions Chair, Task Force on Achieving Academic Equity and Excellence of this available funding towards creating social-emotional programs for Black Boys, Maryland State Board of Education and academic supports for our Black boys and young men. For many of them, a lack of educational equity may cause their future in Maryland to be