1010thth Annual Education Summit Annual Education Summit

) )

A Decade Rooted in Raising Achievement and Closing the Gap!!!

The Journey Continues…

September 13, 2008

Dr. Forrest D. Toms, Sr., Associate Professor

Leadership Studies Program

NC A&T State University

) )

• HOW THE JOURNEY STARTED

AND

WHERE WE HAVE BEEN

Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005

Community Change ProcessCommunity Change Process“Tracks”“Tracks”

NAACP Issues

RetreatPriorities

> Education

June ‘97

Focus

“The Call”

Leadership Academy

June ‘98

Education Summit

June 99

Quantitative Data

Education Achievement

“Close the Gap”

Core Group“Movers and Shakers” > Educators > Parent > Faith community > Business > Elected OfficialsTransitioned

T.V. Interviews

Campaign speeches

Quantitative Process (Data)

Meeting of the Minds with Leadership

To Concerned

Citizens

Groups

Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005

Community Change ProcessCommunity Change Process“The Junction”“The Junction”

Educated Core Group &

Community

QuantitativeProcess

Group Core

Closing the Gap Forums

Black Male & Female Forums

Interviews

March - April 2000

Public Awareness

Community Process

Superintendents Engaged

Commissioner Engaged > Data Presentation

> Leveraged Political Environment

Meeting of the minds >Commissioner Representatives

> School Boards & Superintendents

Closing the Gap Planning Committee

Within Community Between Communities

Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005

Community Change ProcessCommunity Change Process

Close the Gap Planning Committee

“Additional Engines”

(CIS Universities, Public Schools, Parents, Business, NAACP…

Summit 2000

Published Report

Actions Plans

Created Activities

Planned Feedback Process

Developed Goals

Gathering of the Village

- Partnerships

- Advocacy

- Commitment Process

Memorandum of Understanding

- Feedback via Written Reports & Presentations

- Movement Validated

- Benchmarks

December 2000

Gap Group

Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005

Closing The Gap: Then & Now

COREGROUP

Closing The

Committee

Set and achieved 2005goal

s

.

Educational Summits

Memorandum of Understanding

•AA M/F Forums•Mentoring

•Afterschool•Youth Summit

•A Gathering of the Village•DistinguishedImage Awards•Leadership Academies

Closing The Gap Initiative

Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005Forrest D. Toms, PhD., June, 2005

Closing The Gap: TomorrowOrganizational

FunctioningAlignment of Alignment of Human and Human and

Social CapitalSocial Capital

LeveragingCommitment & Resources

•Work /Study Teams•Shared Responsibility of Work Loads

.

Tactical Use of Talent•Core Group Members•Leadership Graduates•Community Organizations•Move Leadership from one stage to another

•Development of Financial Vehicles•Effective Utilization of Resources•Connect programs to resources

Capacity to generate andimplement newInitiatives based on data & experiences

) )

Where Are We Going?

What Will It Take (What Must We Do Different) To Get There?

What Will It Require of You?

RACG COMMISSION, 2008RACG COMMISSION, 2008

• A rising tide will lift all boats but their physical relationship to each other will not change without some additional intervention.

• We must create new traditions in this case and go beyond the routine . . . and in some cases, beyond our comforts if we are to succeed in this endeavor.

LeadershipLeadership

• "Leadership is the energetic process of getting people fully and willingly committed to a new and sustainable course of action, to meet commonly agreed objectives whilst having commonly held values"

•

Leadership and ReflectionLeadership and Reflection

•Reflection is the process of stepping back from an experience to ponder, carefully and persistently, its meaning to the self through the development of inferences;

• Learning is the creation of that meaning from the past or current event(s) that are used to guide our future behavior

LeadershipLeadership and and ReflectionReflection

•Reflection is a form or mental processing that we use to fulfill a purpose or to achieve a anticipated outcomes applied to relatively complicated or unstructured ideas for which there are no obvious solutions

RACG COMMISSION, 2008RACG COMMISSION, 2008

) )

Acknowledging the problem and doing something about it are two different things.

What assumptions do we start with about What assumptions do we start with about why certain conditions exist, and why?why certain conditions exist, and why?

Worsley, J. D. & Zhu, T. (2008) Worsley, J. D. & Zhu, T. (2008)

• “You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results”

• What does the data suggest about secondary indicators of closing the gap?– AIG– Dropout– Low numbers of minority teachers/personnel

What assumptions do we start with about What assumptions do we start with about why certain conditions exist, and why?why certain conditions exist, and why?

• “We have to dig deeper and wider to get better at addressing historical underperforming and underrepresented area”

• Is the leadership recognizable and consistent around closing the gap at the:

• Board level• School administration• School–level• Community LevelIf not, what other voices need to heard to have a greater impact

Is there a planned program involving the overall community stakeholders.

Is the Board of Education Policies, Practices and Leadership aligned with Closing the Gap efforts?

Is the Closing the Gap’s Committees’ goals and practices aligned with the data, information and evidence ?

Are individual school based plans and practices aligned with system-wide goals; with the school board and with the Closing the Gap Committee’s findings?

) )

Alignment of Resources and Alignment of Resources and EffortEffort

RACG COMMISSION, 2008RACG COMMISSION, 2008

) )

While coming to grips with our failures in this area and

searching for an acceptable approach to dealing with the

challenge, it is helpful to recognize that the issue is not

really so much about the gaps that exist as it is about the undeveloped academic potential of thousands of young people who are present for instruction in classrooms across the state.

And disproportionately, they are minorities. We can no longer afford to avoid the discomfort often associated with recognizing that ethnic culture (race) is somehow associated with this failure.

) )

What will we have to do differently to create the change we want?

•Planning Committee

•School Board

•System-wide & School-based Leadership

•Community StakeholdersCommunity Organizations