Black Student Achievement
Information and resources for local educational agencies (LEAs) and educational partners to support academic achievement for Black/African American students.Previous Task Force Recommendations | Literacy | Alternatives to Suspension and Expulsion | Teacher Recruitment and Retention | Press Releases
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced during a virtual press conference on Thursday, October 14, 2021, a new effort to support and improve Black student achievement in the state of California with the creation of a task force.
In order to advance this goal, the task force will consist of various stakeholders, such as practitioners, advocates, researchers, foundation partners, thought leaders, students, parents, and other experts. They will propose key strategies for implementation based on their expertise and evidence of effectiveness. The California Department of Education (CDE) is currently planning a schedule of meetings and the topics that will be addressed by the task force. More information will be provided once it is available.
"I am committed to the success of all six million of our students, but we feel we are in a moment where we need to be explicit in calling out the opportunity to support Black student achievement,” said Superintendent Thurmond. “This is not a new question. This is a conversation that we have had in every state in this nation for quite some time, yet this achievement and opportunity gap has persisted, and this is our opportunity to be intentional and to do important work about it. We have more than two dozen schools that have some of the highest rates of racial segregation and poverty in our state. These experiences call out for us to make change. We have to overcome environmental injustices, overcome health disparities, overcome racism and all these barriers that have impacted our students."
The Black Student Achievement Task Force is scheduled to reconvene September 2024.
Previous Task Force Recommendations
Teacher Diversity Working Group Recommendations
- Regional Professional Learning Networks
- Funds grants for county office of education, other LEAs and higher education institutions to fund Regional Professional learning networks.
- Teacher Credentialing Update
- Continue allowance for alternative requirements for teaching (California Basic Educational Skills Test, California Subject Examinations for Teachers, etc.) & modifying/shortening the credential process (4-year program).
- Ethnic Studies/Anti-Bias Training
- Incorporate ethnic studies/anti-bias training for teacher credentialing and LEA grants for teacher professional development.
Academic Achievement Working Group Recommendations
- Dedicated Funding for Black Students
- Reintroduce Assembly Bill 2635 (Weber 2018), which would update the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) to provide dedicated funding for black students.
- Black Student Roadmap
- Create a black student road map much like the roadmap created for English learners.
Housing, Homelessness, and Foster Youth Working Group Recommendations
- Long Beach Promise Statewide Scale Up
- Fulfill the academic potential of all youth by offering guidance and continuous
support along every step of the student experience, from pre-K through college
and onto career and life.
- Fulfill the academic potential of all youth by offering guidance and continuous
support along every step of the student experience, from pre-K through college
and onto career and life.
- Transitional Housing Funding
- Provided dedicated ongoing funding for transitional housing.
- Housing System Navigators
- Provide grant funding for LEAs and community organizations for housing navigators for housing insecure youth.
- Universal Basic Income
- Statewide scale up universal basic income, similar to efforts in Stockton, Oakland, & Los Angeles.
School to Prison Pipeline Working Group Recommendations
- School Resource Officer (SRO) Removal Transition Plan
- Require LEAs by 2023–24 to develop transition plan for removing SROs from campuses and utilizing those funds to support the well-being of the whole child.
- Reimaging Investments Towards Career and Community Networks and
Programs
- Create opportunities for students and families to gain income and employment opportunities, and social, housing, mental and health resources through school.
- School Suspension Reporting
- For the purposes of LCFF, prevent a school district or charter school from counting a suspended student as a day of attendance.
- Teacher Cultural Competency Requirement
- Authorization for cultural competence as part of teacher requirement, to combat implicit bias.
Mental Health Working Group Recommendations
- Improve School Climate and Culture Practices
- Scale evidence-based and community defined practices that are proven to work.
- Provide trauma informed training for educators.
- Improve the Stigma re: Mental Health in the Black Community
- Conduct culturally and linguistically appropriate campaigns to educate the public and raise behavioral health literacy
- Scale up Dr. Ginwright’s Healing-Centered Engagement Certification Program focused on shifting trauma-informed practice to become assets-based through culture, agency, relationships, meaning, and aspirations.
- Raise awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress.
- Ensure Equitable Access to Mental Health Resources for Vulnerable Student
Populations
- Expand equitable access, with no wrong door for children, youth, and families:
- Build an accessible behavioral health services platform.
- Make school-linked and school based behavioral health services available for all.
- Involve health plans including commercial plans in improving behavioral health services and supports for children and youth.
- Expand equitable access, with no wrong door for children, youth, and families:
Literacy
Improve Literacy Skills and Unlock Potential with Freedom Schools® Webinar (Dated 14-Sep-2023)
Letter to County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators regarding the Improve Literacy Skills and Unlock Potential with Freedom Schools® webinar.
Improve Literacy Skills and Unlock Potential with Freedom Schools® (Dated 02-Aug-2023)
Letter to County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators regarding Freedom Schools®.
Webinar to Help Students Read by Third Grade and to Support the Achievement of Black Students (Dated 14-Mar-2023)
Letter to County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators regarding the CDE webinar to help students read by third grade and to support the achievement of black students.
Alternatives to Suspension and Expulsion
Combating Excessive Suspensions in Schools | Taylor’s Market’s Message on Mental Health and Addiction | Outstanding Women Leaders
(Dated 20-Mar-2023)
Capital Public Radio recording on combating excessive suspensions in K-12 schools and Taylor Market's message on mental health and outstanding women leaders.
Reducing Disproportionate Discipline in Schools (Dated 21-Feb-2023)
Letter to County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators regarding reducing disproportionate discipline in schools.
Teacher Recruitment and Retention
Golden State Teacher Grant Program
California Student Aid Commission Golden State Teacher Grant (GSTG) Program awards up to $20,000 to students currently enrolled in a professional preparation program approved by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) and working towards earning their preliminary teaching or pupil personnel services credential.