EDUCATION

The overall goal of the NAACP National Education Department is to ensure that all students have access to an equal and high-quality public education by eliminating all education related racial and ethnic disparities.

 

KEY EDUCATIONAL DISPARITIES

 

Ensuring School Resource Equity: Quality public education for African American and Latino students is persistently threatened as a direct result of inequitable school funding. Generally, wealthy school districts have higher per pupil expenditures than high poverty districts. The NAACP is committed to working with local education agencies to reduce resource disparities by 50%.

 

Increasing Teacher Quality: Schools with heavy concentrations of minority students have an average of 78% of math teachers teaching outside of their subject area. The NAACP is committed not only to ensuring that minority children are taught by qualified teachers, but we are also committed to ensuring that teachers receive the supports necessary to do their jobs effectively.

 

Promoting Parent and Family Engagement: Research has established that sustained parental involvement is critical to the educational success of children. Unfortunately, black families are less likely to manage the amount of time their children spend reading, doing homework or watching TV. The NAACP is committed to helping parents become more directly engaged in the education of their children.

 

Enhancing Early Childhood and Literacy Initiatives: Early childhood education has been shown to be an important predictor of future academic and emotional success for children. Still, far too many minority children start kindergarten performing far below their potential as a result of their inability to access quality early childhood education programs. The NAACP is committed to enhancing early learning opportunities for all students.

 

Policy Pillars 2013 and Reading List Template
Attention: Ed Committee & Ed Chairs – Please reference the links below to find the updated Education Policy Pillars for the MS NAACP and the reading list template that were passed out at the branch leadership training session January 26, 2013.  The Education Policy Pillars should be used in your local communities to share the education focus of the state conference.  They can also serve as points that guide inquiries into your local school district’s efforts to improve academic outcomes for children, to lower the dropout rate, to increase the graduation rate, to recruit/retain quality staff, and to engage parents/community as partners in the district.

 

The template for making recommendations to the K-12 reading list comes as a  result of a suggestion that was made at the state convention.  Accordingly, I am requesting the Education Chairs to work with their committees and other community resource individuals to identify books that have significant information about African American history, the African American experience and authorship.  The recommendations that you provide will be used to create a K-12 reading list that may be used to inform school districts of literature that will enrich their/our children’s school experience.

 

You may email your recommendations to me or mail them to the state conference office by Friday, March 8th.  Thanks for your assistance and cooperation.  You are greatly appreciated.

 

Policy Pillars 2013 and Reading List Template Links:

Education Pillars Revised 2013

Reading List Mississippi State Conference NAACP

 

Related Links:

Mississippi Department of Education
Mississippi Association of Educators
National Education Association
Alliance for Excellent Education

 

Charter Schools in Mississippi

2014/11/03 – What makes a student “gifted”? This study says we’re getting it wrong

2014/02/04 – The Student-Led Backlash Against New Orleans’s Charter Schools

2014/01/27 – MS Charter School Board Receives 31 Letters of Intent; Waits for Action in State Legislature and AG Opinions

2013/11/30 – Charter School Debate Plays Out In Mississippi Delta: Communities Torn Over Future Of Education

2013/09/06 – New Infographic: Welcome to CharterLand!

2013/06/08 – 2013 Charter School Bill with Index of Provisions and Outline of Provisions

2013/05/31 – Charters Aren’t Causing Newark’s School Budget Woes: Opinion

2013/04/01 – Miss. Senate Agrees to House Charter School Deal Before Deadline

2013/03/26 – House Deals Blow to Gov. Bryant’s Education Reform Bill

2013/03/25 – Reeves Goes to Representatives on Charter Schools Bill

2013/03/24 – Philadelphia Lawmaker Release Harsh Report on Charter Schools

2013/03/19 – Charter and Cyber Charter School Reform Update and Comprehensive Reform Legislation

2013/01/27 – HB 369 Comparison to SB 2189

2013/01/27 – HB 369 Fact Sheet

2013/01/27 – The Realities of Charter Schools

2011/06/01 – Testimony Prepared for June 1, 2011 hearing of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce 

 

Related Articles:

2014/11/14 – How to save teachers from burning out, dropping out and other hazards of experience

2014/10/14 – Poverty the Strongest Factor in Whether High School Graduates Go to College

2014/10/09 – With 188K Signatures, Fair Funding Initiative Goes on the MS Ballot

2014/10/08 – Hood Asks Judge to Throw Out School Funding Suit

2014/10/07 – Education Funding Petition Receives 122,000 Certified Signatures

2014/10/07 – Literacy is an Important Part of Education

2014/10/07 – Education Funding-Initiative Gets Enough Petitions to Make 2015 Ballot

2014/10/07 – Signatures Secured for School Funding Vote

2014/10/06 – Caledonia and Gulfport Schools Win Blue Ribbons

2014/10/06 – Food for Thought…Are We Spending Enough Time Teaching Our Children How to Learn: Better Ways to Learn

2014/10/06 – School Funding Amendment Backers Say Enough Voters Have Signed

2014/10/06 – School Funding Headed to November ’15 Ballot

2014/10/01 – New Federal Guidelines Aim to Rid Schools of Racial Inequality

2014/09/27 – Deadline Nearing to Get Mississippi Education Funding Amendment on 2015 Ballot

2014/09/23 – Denver Area Students Walk Out of School in Protest

2014/09/15 – Imagining Successful Schools

2014/09/03 – MS Department of Education Lays Off About 30 Employees

2014/08/29 – 14 School Districts Sue State for Underfunding Mississippi Adequate Educational Program

2014/08/21 – ‘Third Grade Gate’ Targeting Poor School Students

2014/08/13 – Racism Suspected in Jones County Schools

2014/08/12 – MDE Releases the New 2014 Accountability Standards – Will Schools Fall Short?

2014/08/09 – Racial, Ethnic Look at US Public School Students

2014/08/08 – How Would You Score On A Third-Grade Common Core Math Test?

2014/07/25 – District Eyes Suit to Fund MAEP

2014/07/23 – State Will Require Additional $312M to Fully Fund MAEP

2014/07/23 – Mississippi School Leaders Seek Full Funding For Education

2014/07/23 – Mississippi Cuts $1.3 Billion From Schools, Gives 1.3 Billion to Nissan

2014/07/19 – Brumfield: Amendment Only Way to Correct School Funding

2014/07/18 – State College Aid Failing Minority Students

2014/07/18 – Deconcentrating Poverty is Routine to Quality Schools

2014/07/16 – Senate Turns Down Charter School Expansion

2014/07/11 – Parents Seek Ballot Initiative to Fully Fund Public Education

2014/07/11 – “Better Schools, Better Jobs” Working to Get More MAEP Education Funding

2014/07/11 – Can Voters Force Mississippi to Cough Up Cash and Fund Schools?

2014/07/07 – QUIZ: Are You Smart Enough to Get Into Private Kindergarten?

2014/06/12 – Announcement: Mississippi Teacher Fellowship on Civil Rights Movement and Labor History

2014/06/01 – Middle School Teacher Suspended for Showing Video About White Actors Wearing Blackface

2014/05/07 – Fully Funding Education for All Children in Mississippi: A ballot Initiative to Make Public Education a State Priority

2014/05/03 – Ballot Initiative Would Bolster MAEP Funding

2014/04/18 – Mississippi Reworks School Ratings to Emphasize Graduation

2014/04/09 – Mississippi Group Proposes Initiative to Guarantee Adequate School Funding

2014/03/20 – What are Restorative Practices? An Educator’s Guide to Fostering Positive School Climate & Culture

2014/03/19 – Plugging the School-to-Prison Pipeline

2014/03/13 – State’s Teacher Incentives System Undermines Poor School Districts

2014/02/10 – Gabe Sonnier Was a Janitor for 27 Years. Now He’s the Principal

2014/01/27 – MPE News on Education Legislation

2014/01/08 – U.S. Departments of Education and Justice Release Guidance on School Discipline

2014/01/08 – Applications Now Accepted for Students Who Wish to Study Abroad in 2014-15

2014/01/08 – Graduating High School Seniors can Win Full Scholarship to a Black College 

2014/01/08 – U.S. Departments of Education and Justice Release Guidance on School Discipline 

2014/01/07 – Teach for America: A Return to the Evidence

2014/01/06 – Top 10 Scholarships for African American Students with Deadlines in January 2014

2013/12/16 – Update: Bryant Issues Order Re[garding] Common Core Debate

2013/10/23 – Post-Katrina, the Great New Orleans Charter Tryout

2013/10/15 – What Kentucky Can Teach the Rest of the U.S. about the Common Core

2013/08/27 – Common Core Opponents Don’t Want Change

2013/07/19 – The Effects of Early Education

2013/07/16 – Watch What You Say—to Yourself

2013/07/16 – Reports Focus on Closing Achievement Gap

2013/07/11 – Fixing The Miseducation of Black Children

2013/07/10 – The Tragedy of Black Education

2013/07/04 – ‘Income Achievement Gap’ Almost Double Black-White Performance Gap, Report Shows

2013/06/26 – Crooked Path Made Straight: The Rise and Fall of the Southern Governors’ Plan to Educate Black Physicians

2013/06/20 – Student Engagement More Complex, Changeable Than Thought

2013/06/18 – Stop Penalizing Boys for Not Being Able to Sit Still at School

2013/06/03 – New Data Shows School “Reformers” Are Full Of It

2013/05/31 – States Spending the Most vs. Least on Education on Public Education: MS 5th Lowest in the Nation

2013/05/28 – Student Voice Improves Instruction Lee County, FL

2013/05/28 – Want to Improve Teaching? Listen to Students

2013/05/28 – Ed School Dean: Urban School Reform is Really About Land Development (Not Kids)

2013/05/15 – Updated: Some Miss. Schools’ Accountability Ratings Inflated

2013/03/12 – Study Finds School Breakfast is a  Key to Future Success

2013/03/09 – The Literacy Crisis: Searching for Solutions in Mississippi

2013/02/27 – Study Finds School Breakfast is a Key to Future Success

2013/01/25 – Education Department Says Schools Must Provide Sports for the Disabled

2012/12/12 – Former Gov. Winter: Mississippi Education Reform Momentum Has Been Lost

2012/12/01 – Why the Educational Reforms in New Orleans Have Failed and Will Never Work 

2012/12/01 – New Orleans Charter Schools: What is the Problem?

2012/11/30 – Louisiana Judge Rules Funding System for Vouchers Unconstitutional, Appeal Expected

2012/11/21 – How Charter Schools Fleece Taxpayers

 

Educational Resources:

MDE LitBasedPromAct Quick Reference Guide

Study Blue

Bright Storm

Importance of Early Learning

Condition of Education 2013

Ending Child Hunger: A Social Impact Analysis

A Survey of Hiring Practices Across Industries

Middle Skills Jobs & Growing Importance of Post-Secondary Education

Stopping Out-of-School Suspensions: A Guide for State Policy

Common Core State Standards Initiative, Parent Handbook Grades K-9

Press Release

MS NAACP opposes NCAA Tournament Hosted at Ole Miss

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