Getting to Good Schools
NAACP’s Education Agenda
Our Goals

Attack institutional racism in education with a
national campaign for Excellence & Equity
A campaign is a sustained plan for change using
strategies that impact our issues.


Identify issues in agenda

Identify promising strategies

Apply known tactics to each strategy
Target our campaign to turnaround schools
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Turnaround Schools

Bottom 5% of a state’s schools, ranked by test scores

Includes dropout factory high schools

Annual federal School Improvement Grants given to reform

States choose which districts get funds to help low performing
schools
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Turnaround Models

Schools must either:

Fire and rehire staff, change instructional program,

Be turned over to a charter management organization

Be closed and students are dispersed elsewhere

Fire principal, change instructional program in specific ways (
extended learning time, community services);
• only ½ schools eligible

Potential Implications:

Staff shortages worsen; shuffle among low performing schools

Growth in number of charters outpaces capacity

Overcrowding at recipient schools, achievement suffers
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Our request – Each unit/branch picks one

Participate in the Campaign for Equity &
Excellence by:

Adopting (at least) one issue area in education

Committing to (at least) one strategy

Targeting turnaround schools

Applying tactics that fit your community

Working to perfect our education organizing capacity
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Our Issue Agenda
 Increasing

Target funds to neediest kids
 Ensuring

Resource Equity
College & Career Readiness
Path to success after graduation
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Our Issue Agenda
 Improving
Teaching
Grow our own great teachers now
 Improving
Discipline
Eliminate zero tolerance; keep kids in school
* All applied to turnaround schools
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FOCUS ON TEACHING
FOCUS ON TEACHING
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Teachers who close the achievement gap
1.
fully prepared when they entered
teaching,
2.
had taught for more than two years,
3.
certified in field &/or by National Board
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Strategies to improve teaching

Strategies:

Stronger, More Diverse Pipeline (preparation)
• Tactics: ID future teachers, TEACH grants, residencies

More Mentoring & Coaching (slows turnover)
• Tactics: Lead Teacher, mentoring, new teacher supports

More teachers with Advanced
Certification (certification)
• Tactics: Support for National certification, changes to state
licensing
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Local tactics by function & engagement
Communications Education
(Promote)
(Sensitize,
inform)
Medium
1:1 meetings
Engagement with journalists,
newsletter
articles, feature
issue in a blog
post
Workshops, town
halls, testing,
monitoring data,
conducting
internal research
and surveys
Advocacy
Direct Action
(Influence
(Grassroots
decisionMobilization)
makers/policy)
Group calls and
meetings with
individuals,
speak @ school
and board of
education
meetings;
advisory
boards
Hearings,
panels,
candidate
surveys &
scorecards
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Putting it all together – medium engagement

Branches with a medium interest in advanced
certification

Arrange a local media profile (communications)

Conduct & share a survey of teachers(education)

Form an advisory board (advocacy)

Hold a scorecard rally(grassroots)
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Putting it all together – escalating tactics

Branches interested in strengthening & diversifying the
teacher pipeline could:

Distribute information about TEACH grants (low,
education)

Appeal to the school board for incentives (med,
advocacy)

Raise funds & challenge board to supplement
TEACH grants (high, direct action)
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Strategies to improve discipline

School Leader Intervention – make aware of impacts


Education Tactics?
Racial Disparities Report – highlights disparate impact
in school/district


Advocacy Tactic?
Cross School Policies Review – review school/district
policy & compare to more beneficial models

Direct Action Tactic?
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Putting it all together: discipline policy review

With a medium level of member interest, a branch
might choose:

A tale of two students (communication)

Town hall for parents (education)

Group meets with district administrator
(advocacy)

Petition the school board for policy change (direct
action)
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It takes a whole village (branch or unit)…

The Political Action Committee can




help keep units informed of laws, rules and budget decisions impacting
schools
advocate for more favorable laws, rules and budget decisions impacting
schools
Legal Redress can:



attend school board meetings in support of education committee
members
help evaluate and prepare legal claims, Title VI complaints, requests to
join lawsuits or file friend of the court briefs.
help interpret and describe constitutional and civil rights dimensions of
education issues
Membership? Young Adult?
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Q&A

Whole Group:



Name, from, query
Table specific:

What are the most pressing issues in your community?

What do you consider your greatest success?

What do you consider your greatest challenge?
Sharing what’s in common
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Thanks for participating!
tbethglenn@naacpnet.org
410-580-5104 (direct)
410-358-3385 (fax)