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.

CFK Reports From: Oversight Hearing on Suicide Prevention Programs and their Application in Indian Country
Event: Hearing
Organized By: Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Where/When: 485 Russell Senate Office Building; May 17, 2006

The statistics are grim: American Indian youth have the highest suicide rate among all ethnic groups, a rate that is almost twice the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To address this issue, youth suicide prevention programs have been created to better serve the community. Two panels presented written testimony about their experiences, findings, and goals on suicide prevention programs to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

The dearth of women—especially minority women from low-income families—in the fields of engineering, science and technology is long-standing, and hard to solve. A tightly-focused summer program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology is trying to make a difference, girl by girl.

Innovative Approaches in Civil Rights and Education: The Link Between Data-driven Decisionmaking and Promising Practices is presented by the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Civil Rights Working Group.

This national meeting will examine key policy issues related to accelerated learning options, such as Advanced Placement, dual/concurrent enrollment, early college high schools, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

In every state, African American and Native American children are disproportionately represented in the child welfare population. This report from the Michigan Department of Human Services examines the data on racial disproportionality in the state’s foster care system, and outlines steps to correct this situation. Among the recommendations for the state: identify services and funding to help keep children safely with their birth families; pursue a waiver to allow more flexibility in the use of federal funds; ensure culturally proficient practices; and make sure resources are appropriate to address families’ needs. In addition, the report recommends increasing monitoring and accountability.

Schools wherein Hispanic students make up at least 25 percent of undergraduate enrollment account for only about 6 percent of colleges and universities in the United States, but they enroll almost half of Latino college students. This new report by Excelencia in Education offers background, history, and context, and examines what it means that a small (albeit growing) number of schools teaches so many of our nation's Latino students. Short fact sheets are also available.

One in ten non-Hispanic black children in first through third grade has repeated a grade, compared with 1 percent of Asian or Pacific Islander children, 4 percent of non-Hispanic white children, and 6 percent of Hispanic children of the same age. Other new data points include an analysis of receipt of special education services by gender (boys are more than twice as likely as girls in K-3rd grade to get services through an Individualized Education Plan), and the impact of neighborhood poverty on Head Start attendance.

The Mission of Zink the Zebra is to promote the understanding and acceptance of human differences though specially created character education programs that help children and adults realize the necessity to respect and show compassion toward others.

With new attention and resources going into addressing the achievement gaps between different ethnic and racial groups, a new effort to measure the academic performance of American Indian and Alaska Native students is particularly timely. Rob Capriccioso reports.