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| In Illinois, Only 4% of Black Students Are Ready for College | | | 
Three of four state grads not ready for college, ACT scores show BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter
August 16, 2011 More than three-quarters of Illinois high school graduates aren't completely ready for college, based on their ACT scores, state results of the college-admission test released Wednesday show. Only 23 percent of Illinois' 2011 high school graduating class - public and private - met college readiness standards in all four ACT subjects tested: English, reading, math and science.
The biggest drag on preparedness, data showed, was college-readiness in science. There, only 28 percent of the 2011 Illinois graduating class scored high enough to predict they will probably land a C or better in the typical college freshmen science course in biology, the ACT report indicated.
Among the state's African-American students, only 6 percent met that same college-ready science bar. For Illinois, the science results are frustrating but also a call to action, said Gabrielle Lyon, founder of Project Exploration, a program that brings out-of-school science to Chicago public school students in grades six to 12.
Two national laboratories - Fermi and Argonne - lie within 40 miles of Chicago, Lyon noted. The six-county area is home to Baxter, Abbott and Bell laboratories.
"This is a science-rich environment with no shortage of really great things going on,'' Lyon said. "Illinois has what it takes to turn those scores around. Professional scientists of every stripe - we have to bridge that gap.''
Among the good news in the report was that Illinois' overall composite score on the 36-point ACT rose to 20.9 in 2011, up from 20.7 the year before.
And although Illinois is one of only four states that require all public high school students to take the ACT, its composite is not that far from the national average of 21.1, noted Mary Fergus, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education.
Plus, Illinois' average ACT score of 20.9 beat that of the three other states that mandate the ACT - Colorado (20.7), Michigan (20.0) and Kentucky (19.6).
ACT developed its readiness benchmarks by looking at the grades students racked up in their first-year college courses in English, social studies, algebra and biology, and then "back-mapping" those grades to the scores those same students posted in high school on the ACT, said ACT spokesman Ed Colby.
To eventually earn at least a C in a typical college freshmen biology class, ACT predicts, high school students need at least a 24 on the ACT science subtest - the highest of all the benchmark levels. Other college readiness benchmarks are: a 22 in ACT math to be ready for college algebra; a 21 in ACT reading to be prepared for college social science, and an 18 in ACT English to be prepared for a college English composition class.
Several experts blamed Illinois' poor science showing on the increased marginalization science has seen in schools worried about facing No Child Left Behind sanctions tied to reading and math results.
"I work with [Chicago public] elementary schools where teachers will tell you very explicitly that they are told not to spend time in science,'' said Northwestern University professor Steven McGee, who oversees a Northwestern program offering a new "teacher leadership'' credential in science.
"Some schools do a rotating schedule, where they spend five weeks on science and five weeks on social studies. But they have math and reading every day.''
And, McGee noted, in elementary school, Illinois only tests fourth and seventh graders in science, while reading and math are tested in every grade, third through eighth.
"If you wait until high school to focus on [science], your kids are already way behind,'' McGee said.
Science can be an especially challenging subject, Project Exploration's Lyon said, because science taps reading, writing and math skills. As a result, "the gaps you see in science are a magnified version of what's happening in education generally,'' Lyon said.
"Illinois doesn't have a great record of investing in education, and the results in science magnify that.''
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College Ready Overall Percent of 2011 ACT-tested Illinois high school graduates that passed ACT college readiness benchmarks in all four tested subjects - English, reading, math and science. All students - 23%African American - 4% White - 33% Hispanic - 9% Asian - 44% Source: 2011 Illinois ACT Profile Report Reflects public, private and parochial school students. |
| Million Father March Brings Out Top Men in Nebraska to Welcome Students Back to School | | | Omaha Public Schools' students welcomed Omaha Public School superintendant John Mackiel, left, , Douglas County Treasurer John Ewing, Alfonzo Robinson, with the NAACP, Johnny Rodgers, Dr. Richard Brown and Carl Tyler greet students on the first day of school. The Million Father March was held at Mount View Elementary School in Omaha on Monday.
(Photo by JAMES R. BURNETT/THE WORLD-HERALD) By Jonathon Braden
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Omaha Public Schools started the new school year today, with school officials reporting few issues on the district's opening day.
"We had couple buses running late but nothing major this morning," said Luanne Nelson, OPS spokeswoman. "We would expect all the glitches to be taken care of by the end of the week."
OPS, the largest district in Nebraska, expects to have an enrollment of more than 49,000 students. The district won't have official attendance numbers until the end of next month.
At Mount View Elementary School, Superintendent John Mackiel and other officials welcomed back students. The school was the site of the Million Father March in Omaha, an effort sponsored by the Black Star Project to get dads more involved with their kids' education.
"My one wish for the 2011-12 students: read," Mackiel said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The organizer for the Omaha Million Father March was Willie Hamilton, CEO of Black Men United in Omaha, Nebraska. Anyone who wants to learn how to design and implement an outstanding Million Father March should call Mr. Hamilton for his technical support at 402.707.3115. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 2011 Million Father March is managed by The Black Star Project, U.S.A., sponsored by the Open Society Foundation's Campaign for Black Male Achievement. Please visit our website at www.blackstarproject.org to bring the Million Father March to your city or for complete information about the march. You may also email blackstar1000@ameritech.net or call 773.285.9600 for more information or to join the March. |
| In Pennsylvania, When Schools Cheat, Students Lose! | | Pennsylvania Teacher Cheating Investigation Proceeds To State Level By Joy Resmovits August 16, 2011  Pennsylvania is one step closer to finding out just how much teacher cheating occurred on its 2009 standardized tests as cities nationwide try to make sense of the phenomenon.
On Monday, the state reported that it had received 83 percent of districts' internal probes into schools suspected of cheating. The Pennsylvania Department of Education is now conducting its own analysis of the data and earlier forensic reviews to assess which schools had teachers who were cheating. The continuing investigation comes in response to the release of a report that flagged 90 Pennsylvania schools for testing irregularities -- whether by statistically suspicious score gains or a high number of answers erased from wrong to right -- on 2009 exams.
"The school districts addressed the flags in schools they were flagged for and basically said this is why we believe it isn't indicative of the problem," Timothy Eller, a PDE spokesperson, told The Huffington Post.
In Philadelphia, 28 schools were initially flagged. Philadelphia's internal analysis found no hard proof of cheating. The district concluded that 13 of 28 schools flagged for testing irregularities warranted further investigation with the state's help, according to Shana Kemp, a spokesperson for the school district.
"The way DRC's report flags schools make them look strange, but it's really not," Kemp said of the testing company that issued the forensic analysis. "Students tend to have more erasures in schools where there's a population of students that have not done well on testing. Low-performing students tend to erase more."
State officials say that many of the flagged schools will probably be cleared eventually. A high percentage of erasures is not a conclusive indicator of cheating. In the past, school districts have apologized to schools cleared of cheating accusations after its scores had been canceled because of an erasure analysis.
"Most of the schools -- or a good number of the schools -- where they were flagged one time in one grade did not repeatedly show up throughout the report, had reasonable explanations of why they were flagged," Eller said. "It could be anything from changing a curriculum or a shift in the population of the students that could have brought a flag on for the district."
While this may be the case, there has recently been an uptick in the number of reported cheating cases across the country, a fact that has not been lost on critics of education policies that increasingly take high-stakes test results into account when determining school funding and teacher evaluations.
Shortly after Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) released an explosive report detailing widespread teacher cheating in Atlanta's public schools, the blog Philadelphia Public Schools Notebook published a forensic report -- compiled two years ago -- that the state conducted on its 2009 standardized test scores.
That report flagged 89 schools statewide with suspicious gains or erasure marks on standardized exams. "The odds that the wrong-to-right erasure patterns that showed up on Roosevelt [Middle School]'s 7th grade reading response sheets occurred purely by chance were slightly less than 1 in 100 trillion," the blog reported.
Eller said his office only became aware of the report after the blog had requested it. "We're now at the first stage of an investigation process," he said. "We're having the districts named look into it and explain it to the department within 30 days. The reports that come back will be reviewed by the DOE." Eller added that Pennsylvania teachers fired for cheating lose their teaching certification.
The federal government has noticed the spate of cheating cases. "Folks are really paying attention to this," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan previously told The Huffington Post in response to the Atlanta and Pennsylvania revelations. "There's a greater awareness of the issues and trying to do things the right way. We put out guidance to states on this. You've got to take the state tests very seriously. You can't cheat children. You can't hurt children. That's exactly what you're doing."
Philadelphia's school officials said they were not aware of the report until the Notebook published its findings in July.
In all 13 of its schools flagged for both erasure and performance, Philadelphia found that analysis of performance at the grade level had "an insufficient amount of data to explain aberrance of data flagged in the forensic report," according to a slideshow prepared by the district.
Both Philadelphia and Pennsylvania are not releasing the names of schools that have been deemed as needing a deeper probe. While this prevents the stigmatizing of schools based on unconfirmed facts, it also leaves, for now, a black mark on schools flagged for cheating where teachers may have, in fact, been innocent. |
| Charlotte, North Carolina Joins the Million Father March | | | 
Rally set for Million Father March Observer Staff ReportsWednesday, Aug. 17, 2011 Organizers of the Charlotte area's participation in the annual national Million Father March will hold a rally Thursday evening in hopes of helping accomplish the goal of the march -- getting more fathers involved in their children's education.
The Million Father March, which started in 2004 with involvement in a handful of cities, has spread to more than 500 cities across the United States, according to its sponsors.
The event is aimed at increasing the involvement of African American fathers in their children's education, but organizers hope it will spur all fathers to get involved. The goal is to start by having fathers take their children to school on the first day of classes -- which, for most area children, is next Thursday, Aug. 25.
The rally Thursday evening is planned for 6:30 p.m. at Newell Elementary School, 8901 Old Concord Road in northeast Charlotte.
Winners Plus Agency is the Charlotte sponsor of the Million Father March, which is sponsored nationally by the Black Star Project.
Organizers say a 2004 study by the Parent Institute shows scores on standardized reading tests are 50 percent higher and math scores 40 percent higher in schools where parents are heavily involved in their children's education.
In addition to taking children to school on the first day, fathers are asked to follow the news (or attend) school board meetings, attend PTA meetings and become involved with the PTA, and attend parent-teacher conferences.
Blanche Penn, a key organizer of Thursday evening's rally, said participants include fathers, grandfathers, foster fathers, stepfathers, uncles, cousins, big brothers, significant male caregivers, and other friends of the family.
"Strong family structures produce children who are more centered, academically proficient and socially developed, and are a valuable asset to their communities," Penn said. All are invited to Thursday evening's rally.
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The 2011 Million Father March is managed by The Black Star Project, U.S.A., sponsored by the Open Society Foundation's Campaign for Black Male Achievement. Please visit our website at www.blackstarproject.org to bring the Million Father March to your city or for complete information about the march. You may also email blackstar1000@ameritech.net or call 773.285.9600 for more information or to join the March. |
| Are Black Fraternities Part of the Solution or the Problem? | | Black Fraternities at 100: Are They Fulfilling Their Legacy? By Rodney T. Cohen Posted by UPTOWN on July 15, 2011 As the men of Alpha Phi Alpha were concluding their centennial celebration in 2006, thousands of men in crimson and cream and purple and gold were gearing up for theirs in 2011. By the end of July 2011, two other historically black fraternities, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi, would have hosted their centennial conclaves celebrating 100 years of achievement, manhood, scholarship and uplift.
While turning 100 is a significant milestone for any organization, it is particularly sweet for these two fraternities born out of a climate of racism, resistance and ostracism. And while the accomplishments of Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi, along with Alpha Phi Alpha and Phi Beta Sigma, have been undeniably profound much of its recent history associated with hazing, abuse, misogyny and buffoonery, has threatened to taint their rich histories and legacies.
What has happened in black Greekdom in recent decades propelling them into quasi-gangs?  During the centennial conclaves you will witness a host of celebratory activities including elaborate public programs, step shows, galas, boat rides, comedy shows and displays. But, what you will not see is an agenda of round tables, lectures or presentations pertaining to "what next." After 100 years of pounding our chest about the great men and programs we have produced, little is being discussed about the dire situation of young black men in America.
These are the young black men that are entering Kappa, Omega, Alpha and Sigma every day. Many argue that, outside of the national organization, grand chapters and some graduate chapters, the image of black fraternities has become the complete antithesis of what their founders and early members were seeking to create. Born out of adversity, these organizations were created to fight against injustice, racism and ostracism.
Alpha Phi Alpha's inception took place on an Ivy League campus (Cornell University) not long after the seminal work of W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903) and the creation of the Niagara Movement (1905).
When one of the founders of Kappa Alpha Psi discovered that some bigoted whites referred to the Kappas as the Kappa Alpha "Nigs" the fraternity took a bold move in 1914 to officially change its name from Kappa Alpha Nu to Kappa Alpha Psi in 1915.  The early inception of Omega was unique in that it would be the first black fraternity actually founded on a black college campus. This unique trend would help open the doors for other organizations at black colleges that were perceived as antithetical to the social order at black colleges usually overseen by predominately white administrators. This bold move of perseverance and uplift laid a foundation for future Omega men to follow. Early in their development, these frat men were interested in seeking out the best talent possible to build a brotherhood and serve the race. Alpha Phi Alpha led the charge by establishing nine (9) chapters from 1907 through 1910, at Howard, Virginia Union, Toronto, Michigan, Yale, Columbia, U. Chicago, Syracuse and Ohio State. Following the establishment of Kappa Alpha Nu and Omega Psi Phi, they too, followed a pattern of identifying the best of the best and established chapters early on at Meharry, Columbia, Illinois, Lincoln, Northwestern and Penn State.
One hundred years later, these black fraternities have established over 3,000 chapters and initiated close to one million men. Today's agenda appears to be quite different from that of 1906, 1911 or 1914.
Or is it? The issue today is not the "man" or the "system" it is us. At the turn of the century, W.E.B. DuBois professed that the problem of the twentieth century would be that of the 'color line.' I profess that the problem of the twenty first century will be "the problem of the cultural line."
 One of the biggest problems associated with black fraternities today is that of culture.
In the first half century of these organizations, they were noted for providing cultured events in the community and on college campuses alike. The also provided a sense of manly preparation and guidance for the future leaders of the race. In fact, in one of the fraternity's early mantras it states that in addition to providing a brotherhood, it is also intended to "preserve the sanctity of the home" and protect the "chastity of woman."
With the onslaught of popular culture that has high jacked the black community, it has been a challenge for these national organizations to restore the rich cultural legacy of these groups. Any Google or YouTube search will reveal images that would be repulsive to the likes of Martin Luther King, Ernest Everett Just or Elder Watson Diggs and others who represented the long line of fraternal dignity and manhood.
So what has happened? Prior to the release of the book, The Divine Nine (2000), very little was done outside of individual fraternal histories and dissertations on the collective history, legacy, traditions and expectations of black fraternities or sororities. Since, an onslaught of notable publications such as Black Greek 101; Black Haze: Violence, Sacrifice, and Manhood in Black Greek-Letter Fraternities; African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision and Black Greek-letter Organizations in the Twenty-First Century: Our Fight Has Just Begun; have shed a scholastic light on some of the many ills which plague our organizations.
Of all our black organizations, fraternities arguably seem to raise the eyebrows. The fraternity's official mottos, aims and principles, like scholarship, manhood, achievement and culture seem to be a bit of an oxymoron when coupled with the overriding image and practice of these frats.
On one hand, we have the Omegas who state that their fraternity's principles are "manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift" but we see the constant reference to the use of the 'dog' moniker as a form of identity. The Alphas once known by their tagline, "the men of distinction" have recently embraced an 'ape' moniker.
These terms, once relegated to the final stages of pledging before one became an "Alpha Man" or "Omega Man", have now become a reality for fraternal identity.
Each of the five fraternities of the Divine Nine is victims of this degradation. None are immune to the ill effects of the societal norms that have afflicted positive images of black manhood. In the name of gaining respect, garnering favor and representing, what was once a harmless acts during pledging or stepping has now come to identify black fraternities. So much so, that we now see frat men in their 30s and 40s acting out the antics of brothers 20 years their junior.
One hundred years later, there is a hue and cry in many circles to take back the fraternities and reclaim the respectable position this frats once held in our communities. Fraternal officers and representatives usually argue, when under attack, "black fraternities do a lot of work and service in the community." There is no denying that. In fact on the national level, all aspects of Alpha, Kappa, Omega, Sigma and Iota are of a positive nature: the countless amount of philanthropic donations, the countless amount of hours spent mentoring and the number of scholarships distributed to young people.
However, when we look at what the new civil rights issue is for black America, it points not to race or racism but to the development of young black men. With the number of black boys continuing to lag behind academically, with high school dropout rates ranging in the 70% range, our focus has to revert back to these fraternity's legacy, "the school for the better making of men" period.
C.C. Poindexter, one of the early members of the Alpha Phi Alpha society before it became a fraternity, decided not to continue with the group if it was to become a "fraternity" for he believed that after observing the actions of fraternities, black folk needed something much different. Maybe Poindexter was prophetic, the fraternal idea has now morphed into more frivolity and buffoonery by and large than exercises of intellect, high cultural and respect for women.
In the 'Age of Obama' what will it mean to be a Man of Sigma, Omega, Kappa or Alpha?
Have black fraternities lost their cultural luster and become a victim of the street creed? Will they be able to persevere, transcend the ills of pop-culture and follow the legacy of W.E.B. DuBois (Alpha), Kwame Nkrumah (Sigma), Langston Hughes (Omega) and Arthur Ashe (Kappa)?
I am not convinced that we will be able to really turn the corner. It is time for all frat brothers (financial and non-financial) to stop turning a blind eye and a deaf ear and realize that the black frat has gone the way of the black male. Young boys are raising themselves, creating a culture instead of learning one, it was once said that, "the youngster looks to the father for guidance, now the father is looking to the youngster."
We must restore eldership in our community and teach young initiates the true spirit of fraternity. Do not continue to blame or expect your national President, Polemarch or Basileus to solve the problem. Black men in these frats will have to buck the trend, similar to that of your founders in 1906 and 1911 and take a different route. If not, black frats will definitely go the way of the dinosaur and we will buffoon our way out of business.
In the religious world, Christians often ask WWJD, "what would Jesus do?" It is now time for black fraternities to ask WWFD "what would the founders do?"
By some accounts, the second 100 years is arguably more critical than the first 100, so as Kappa Alpha Psi concludes their centennial season and the Omegas gear up for theirs (July 27-31) this should be a serious time of reflection regarding the "real" future of black fraternities.
Now is the time to put down the ignorance and start a new tradition of excellence, onward and upward.
Rodney T. Cohen is an Assistant Dean at Yale and director of the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale University. He frequently lectures on the history, culture and traditions of blacks in higher education and HBCUs. He is the author of The Black Colleges of Atlanta and Fisk University. He is a 2nd-generation graduate of Clark College in Atlanta. |
| "In Chicago and other major American cities, the violent acts committed by youth are usually individual and random. The youth violence in London has become collective and focused, but the underlying causes are precisely the same for both, and as soon as American youth figure that out, we're in trouble!" Phillip Jackson The Black Star Project | |    | | Picture provided by The Black Star Project |
By Lee-Anne Goodman, The Canadian Press August 10, 2011 WASHINGTON - Americans have watched in astonishment, along with the rest of the world, at the violence that's erupted in England as young, disaffected Britons take to the streets to vent their rage. But could it happen in the United States as it grapples with a 25 per cent youth unemployment rate and a double-dip recession potentially in the offing? The current bleak landscape in the United States is littered with all the same disturbing elements at play in the U.K. _ racial tensions, high unemployment, a growing income gap between rich and poor, a gloomy economic outlook and a feeling of hopelessness among youth. Recent statistics reveal that 39.2 per cent of black teens and 36.2 per cent of Hispanic youth are jobless. In New York City, black and Hispanic youths are twice as likely to drop out of school as their peers, have a poverty rate that is 50 per cent higher than other ethnicities, experience an unemployment rate that is 60 per cent higher, and make up more than 90 per cent of young murder victims and perpetrators. Although the biggest riots in the United States have involved race and civil rights, some observers think throwing a Great Depression-esque economic situation into the mix could spur America's youth to rise up too. "There is a direct correlation between the violence here in Chicago, which is off the charts right now, and the lack of investment in inner cities and inner-city youth," Phillip Jackson, founder of the Million Father March, said in an interview on Wednesday. "In Chicago and other major American cities, the violent acts are singular and random. The violence in London has become collective and focused, but the underlying causes are precisely the same, and as soon as American kids figure that out, we're in trouble." But others point out that America has evolved in a far different direction than the country it broke away from in the 18th century. Class divisions are not as pronounced as they are in the U.K., they point out, and America's lower classes generally don't regard the upper classes with the seething contempt that their British counterparts do. "In the U.S., if you're born into a lower socioeconomic class, there is still the perceived possibility of transcending that, of achieving wealth," said Sean Snaith, the director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness. "The upper classes, the celebrity class, the wealthy _ to the average American, they're what royalty is to the British. Americans consider that something to be admired and held in esteem and awe. So that's a pretty good anesthesia in a lot of ways." Youth might also be nervous taking to the streets given the tendency of American law enforcement agencies to respond to force with even greater force. |
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