CFK Reports From: Paths to Success: A Forum on Young African-American Men
Event: Forum
Organized By: Kaiser Family Foundation , The Washington Post and Harvard University
Where/When: Barbara Jordan Conference Center; July 18, 2006

Comedian Bill Cosby, armed with sunglasses and a tell-it-like-it is approach, joined a 16-member panel made up of politicians, educators, activists, and young men to discuss the issues and challenges facing young black men, and the strategies to help overcome the obstacles.

Founded by a 1960's-era Chicano activist, Escuela Tlatelolco continues to put social justice and respect for children's cultural roots at the center of its approach to teaching and learning. Robert Ebisch profiles a school that seems light-years away from the national obsession with raising test scores--yet successfully sends most of its low-income, predominantly minority students on to college.

It would take a lot more than the 28 days of February to explore the new Web-based teaching tool on African-American migration from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rob Capriccioso reports on the recently unveiled “In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience.”

The notion of a dedicated time for black history instruction dates from 1926, when educator Carter Godwin Woodson created Negro History Week in a bid to promote a better understanding of the contributions of blacks. In 1976, Congress changed the week into a full month. Educators are now debating whether such lessons should be confined to one month or, instead, incorporated into class work all year long. Writer E. Jeanne Harnois reports on arguments that weaving black history, along with other minority contributions, into lessons throughout the year is better for all students.

In a society that prides itself on opportunity and equal access to education, the soaring costs of college are out of reach for many -- particularly among the 40 percent of students who are non-white.

Not everyone celebrates the same holidays. Here are some ideas for teachers
who want to make holiday time a time to celebrate different cultures and
their traditions.

The newest, and presumably last, museum to win space on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. opens this week with much expected fanfare. Once the celebration is over, museum leaders hope to get down to the serious business of overcoming stereotypes and teaching kids about the American Indian past, present and future.

Federal and state officials are pursuing tougher accountability and other reforms to address the stubborn achievement gap between black and white students. But education analyst Richard Rothstein says that by focusing reforms at the school-level, policymakers are neglecting a vital area: social class differences in health care quality and access, nutrition, childrearing styles and even exposure to environmental toxins that affect how well children learn. Cost: $17.95.

By developing programs for youth grounded in American Indian tribal cultures, the National Indian Youth Leadership project is helping cultivate a new generation of strong leaders. Rob Capriccioso takes a look at the New Mexico-based organization.

Fifty Years after Brown v. Board, MDC Inc., a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, says that poorly resourced high schools in the South are not preparing the region's growing numbers of African-American and Latino students for the increasingly prosperous Southern economy, with higher-skilled employment needs. Despite decades of gains in improving race relations and equity for students of color, the region has been backsliding since the 1990s into greater inequality. The report warns that if the South allows its children to grow up and go to school isolated by race and income, its communities will suffer anew.