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The Change Agent States for Diversity and Engagement project (http://www.ediversitycenter.net/casde/index.php), initiated by Cooperative Extension, is a consortium of land grant institutions in fourteen states (including Washington) bringing the needed technical skills and training to each of the member states. Through this multi-state approach, the consortium is developing successful models and systemic change strategies to support greater diversity and welcoming climates throughout the land-grant system.

The goals off the project are:

to build the capacity of the Land Grant system to function inclusively and effectively in a multicultral world; and
to set standards and implement a vision for supporting healthy, thriving, culturally diverse communities through Extension, research and academic programs.
Please consider submitting a proposal and encouraging the change agents that you know to submit proposals to showcase diversity leadership in our system. Thank you for your support and for sharing this call for proposals with your colleagues.

Elizabeth B. Kozleski has been appointed as Professor of Special Education at Arizona State University (ASU) in the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education. She joins Alfredo Artiles as a member of the Curriculum and Instruction faculty. At ASU, Elizabeth will continue to direct the work of both NIUSI and NCCRESt, traveling between Tempe and Denver, weekly. ASU is developing space for NIUSI and NCCRESt, and NIUSI’s newest companion project, the NIUSI-Principal Leadership Academies Network, funded by OSEP that will launch in January of 2007. ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton College of Education is ranked 35 in the nation and its Curriculum and Instruction Division is ranked number 11. ASU’s resources and active community partnerships will enhance the work that NIUSI and NCCRESt have been doing. Our Denver staff is preparing to make the move to Tempe which we anticipate will be completed by Fall of 2007.

Sonia Nieto is Professor Emerita of Language, Literacy, and Culture, School of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she attended the New York City public schools and, later, St. John’s University, where she received a B.S. in Elementary Education. She then attended the New York University Graduate Program in Spain where she was awarded an M.A. in Spanish and Hispanic Literature.

By Jean Anyon

Jean Anyon's groundbreaking new book reveals the influence of federal and metropolitan policies and practices on the poverty that plagues schools and communities in American cities and segregated, low-income suburbs. Public policies...such as those regulating the minimum wage, job availability, tax rates, federal transit, and affordable housing...all create conditions in urban areas that no education policy as currently conceived can transcend. In this first book since her best-selling Ghetto Schooling,

Disproportionate Representation of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in Special Education: Measuring the Problem
By Martha Countinho, East Tennessee State University
Donald Oswald, Virginia Commonwealth University

In this practitioner brief the authors trace the history of litigation regarding disproportionate representation, discuss regulations that target disproportionate representation, and describe the three most common ways of calculating disproportionality. They note that increased attention is now focused on racial/ethnic differences in the rate at which students are placed in relatively more restrictive settings. They finish with suggestions for re-defining the problem.

To download this Practitioner Brief go to www.nccrest.org, click on resources and publications, then Practitioner Briefs or follow this link.

ONPOINT

The School Improvement Process

By the National Institute for Urban School Improvement, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, The Colorado Department of Education, Peak Parent Center, and The Silc Road

The School Improvement Process can help school communities to develop an information system to guide the improvement of services to all students and their families. This process engages families and students in new roles as active participants and leaders in the process. Each page of this guide focuses on a different part of the School Improvement Process.

To download this document please visit our website at www.urbanschools.org then click on ‘publications’ then ‘OnPoints’ or follow this link.

With the new school year upon us, the Center is expanding the work of the “National Initiative: New Directions for Student Support” to include a Call to Action for student support staff to move in new directions through greater involvement in school improvement planning and decision making.

Critical to this effort, of course, is for leaders concerned with enhancing student/learning supports to mobilize their constituencies. Thus, as an exploratory step, we hosted a Leadership Summit in July in D.C. on: Student Support Staff: Moving in New Directions through School Improvement. It was well attended, and from the discussion, it seems clear that it will take a concerted effort to overcome conflicting agenda and vested interests. But, it is essential to do so if efforts to address barriers to learning and teaching are to move from the margins in schools to become a fully integrated component of school improvement.

Please disseminate the report found at the URL below to anyone who may be interested. http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/summit2002/calltoactionreport.pdf

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor directly. (Howard’s email is: adelman@psych.ucla.edu or phone 310/825-1225 or; Linda’s email is: ltaylor@ucla.edu or phone 310/825-3634.)

Louisiana’s Department of Education has targeted 10 school districts for evaluating and revising, policies, practices, and procedures that contribute to disproportionality in school systems. Each district is forming a disproportionality team that includes the superintendent and/or an assistant superintendent, curriculum/instructional coordinators, principals and/or assistants, teachers, pupil appraisal coordinator and related personnel, child welfare and attendance officers, and family representation. The district team will complete the NCCREST rubric, “Looking at District Practices” to identify areas that need improvement and develop a district disproportionality action plan.

Staff from the National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI) spent two days in August with Memphis City Schools conducting training for 10 elementary Building Leadership Teams around inclusive school practices. Each BLT developed an action plan that would create more opportunities for special education students to access the regular education curriculum. The BLT training was followed up with a district-wide presentation to all district principals of the Memphis City Schools in September with a brief overview of inclusive schooling practices and collaborative teaching. During the principal training, four district principals passionately shared their positive experiences with inclusive practices, encouraging their peers to join them in the journey.

Visit this site to learn more about the AIGM’s new progect, The Star Quilt Project. The star quilt is often given in recognition or as an honor. The American Indian Genocide Museum and Students and Teachers Against Racism are calling for the honoring of all of the millions of American Indians whose lives have been changed by colonization and the many who have suffered and died in countless massacres, wars and removals over the last 500 years. AIGM and Students and Teachers Against Racism will issue ongoing national press releases to bring attention to the quilt and all that it represents. Photographs of each patch will be promoted to local communities as they arrive. The goal is to create a national excitement and anticipation of the completion of the quilt.

Pass this on to your cultural committees and elders!!

Here is a link to an article about the project
http://www.aigenom.com/IndianEducationToday.html

This is an educational tool that can change history!!!


*TABLE OF CONTENTS* UPDATE NOTICE SPOTLIGHT PEOPLE IN THE NEWS RECOMMENDED READINGS TOOLS YOU CAN USE RESEARCH BASED PRODUCTS FEATURED STATE WORK FEATURED DISTRICT WORK QUOTE OF THE MONTH FEATURED WEBSITE DID YOU KNOW … UPCOMING EVENTS
UPDATE This eNEWS is sent formatted in HTML. If the graphics do not display properly, please go to: www.nccrest.org or www.urbanschools.org to view the eNEWS online. Back issues of the eNEWS are also available there. Be sure to check out the updated job opening sections... http://www.nccrest.org/about/job_ops.html or http://www.urbanschools.org/about_us/job_openings.html
NOTICE 2007 NATIONAL DIVERSITY CONFERENCE CALL FOR PROPOSAL- DUE NOVEMBER 1 The Change Agent States for Diversity and Engagement project (http://www.ediversitycenter.net/casde/index.php), initiated by Cooperative Extension, is a consortium of land grant institutions in fourteen states (including Washington) bringing the needed technical skills and training to each of the member states. Through this multi-state approach, the consortium is developing successful models and systemic change strategies to support greater diversity and welcoming climates throughout the land-grant system. The goals off the project are: to build the capacity of the Land Grant system to function inclusively and effectively in a multicultral world; and to set standards and implement a vision for supporting healthy, thriving, culturally diverse communities through Extension, research and academic programs. Please consider submitting a proposal and encouraging the change agents that you know to submit proposals to showcase diversity leadership in our system. Thank you for your support and for sharing this call for proposals with your colleagues.
SPOTLIGHT *ELIZABETH KOZLESKI JOINS ASU* Elizabeth B. Kozleski has been appointed as Professor of Special Education at Arizona State University (ASU) in the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education. She joins Alfredo Artiles as a member of the Curriculum and Instruction faculty. At ASU, Elizabeth will continue to direct the work of both NIUSI and NCCRESt, traveling between Tempe and Denver, weekly. ASU is developing space for NIUSI and NCCRESt, and NIUSI’s newest companion project, the NIUSI-Principal Leadership Academies Network, funded by OSEP that will launch in January of 2007. ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton College of Education is ranked 35 in the nation and its Curriculum and Instruction Division is ranked number 11. ASU’s resources and active community partnerships will enhance the work that NIUSI and NCCRESt have been doing. Our Denver staff is preparing to make the move to Tempe which we anticipate will be completed by Fall of 2007.

	PEOPLE IN THE NEWS *SONIA NIETO* Sonia Nieto is Professor Emerita of Language, Literacy, and Culture, School of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she attended the New York City public schools and, later, St. John’s University, where she received a B.S. in Elementary Education. She then attended the New York University Graduate Program in Spain where she was awarded an M.A. in Spanish and Hispanic Literature.
	A junior high school teacher of English and Spanish in Ocean Hill Brownsville, Brooklyn, she then became a fourth grade teacher at P.S. 25 in the Bronx, the first completely bilingual school in the Northeast and one of the first in the country to be funded by the new Title VII Program. Her first position in higher education was as an instructor in the Puerto Rican Studies Department at Brooklyn College, where she worked in a joint program with the School of Education in bilingual education. Moving to Massachusetts with her family to pursue a doctoral degree in 1975, she received her Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts, with specializations in curriculum studies and multicultural and bilingual education. Dr. Nieto’s scholarly work has focused on multicultural and bilingual education, curriculum reform, teacher education, Puerto Rican children’s literature, and the education of Latinos, immigrants, and other culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. She has written numerous book chapters and articles on these themes, and her articles have appeared in such journals as Educational Leadership, The New Educator, The Harvard Educational Review, and Multicultural Education. Her first book, Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education (1992), soon to be in its fifth edition (2008), is used widely in multicultural education and professional development courses. Other books include The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities (1999), and What Keeps Teachers Going? (2003), both from Teachers College Press. Edited books include Puerto Rican Students in U.S. Schools (Erlbaum, 2000), and Why We Teach (Teachers College Press, 2005). Dr. Nieto has served on many local, regional, national, and international commissions, panels, and advisory boards that focus on educational equity for all students. Among these are the Massachusetts Advocacy Center, and the National Advisory Boards of both Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO) and Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR). She has received many awards for her research and advocacy, including the Human and Civil Rights Award from the Massachusetts Teachers Association (1989), the Teacher of the Year Award from the Hispanic Educators Association of Massachusetts (1996), the Educator of the Year Award from NAME, the National Association for Multicultural Education (1997), the Excellence in Education Award from Boricua College, the 2003 Críticas Journal Hall of Fame Spanish-Language Community Advocate of the Year Award, the 2005 Outstanding Educator from the National Council of Teachers of English and, most recently, the 2006 Enrique T. Trueba Lifetime Achievement Award for Scholarship, Mentorship, and Service, as well as two awards from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) at the 2006 annual meeting: the Distinguished Career Award from the Committee on Scholars of Color in Education, and the Senior Scholar Award for Research on the Social Context of Education from Division G. She has received two honorary doctorates, one in Humane Letters from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1999), and the other in Intercultural Relations from Bridgewater State College, Massachusetts (2004). She was an Annenberg Institute Senior Fellow from 1998-2000 and was awarded a month-long residency at the Bellagio Center in Italy in 2000.

RECOMMENDED READINGS *RADICAL POSSIBILITIES: PUBLIC POLICY, URBAN EDUCATION, AND A NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENT* By Jean Anyon Jean Anyon's groundbreaking new book reveals the influence of federal and metropolitan policies and practices on the poverty that plagues schools and communities in American cities and segregated, low-income suburbs. Public policies...such as those regulating the minimum wage, job availability, tax rates, federal transit, and affordable housing...all create conditions in urban areas that no education policy as currently conceived can transcend. In this first book since her best-selling Ghetto Schooling,
Jean Anyon argues that we must replace these federal and metro-area policies with more equitable ones so that urban school reform can have positive life consequences for students. Anyon provides a much-needed new paradigm for understanding and combating educational injustice. Radical Possibilities reminds us that historically, equitable public policies have been typically created as a result of the political pressure brought to bear by social movements. Basing her analysis on new research in civil rights history and social movement theory, Anyon skillfully explains how the current moment offers serious possibilities for the creation of such a force. The book powerfully describes five social movements already under way in U.S. cities, and offers readers interested in building this new social movement a set of practical and theoretical insights into securing economic and educational justice for the many millions of America's poor families and students.
TOOLS YOU CAN USE PRACTITIONER BRIEF Disproportionate Representation of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in Special Education: Measuring the Problem By Martha Countinho, East Tennessee State University Donald Oswald, Virginia Commonwealth University In this practitioner brief the authors trace the history of litigation regarding disproportionate representation, discuss regulations that target disproportionate representation, and describe the three most common ways of calculating disproportionality. They note that increased attention is now focused on racial/ethnic differences in the rate at which students are placed in relatively more restrictive settings. They finish with suggestions for re-defining the problem. To download this Practitioner Brief go to www.nccrest.org, click on resources and publications, then Practitioner Briefs or follow this link. *ONPOINT* The School Improvement Process By the National Institute for Urban School Improvement, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, The Colorado Department of Education, Peak Parent Center, and The Silc Road The School Improvement Process can help school communities to develop an information system to guide the improvement of services to all students and their families. This process engages families and students in new roles as active participants and leaders in the process. Each page of this guide focuses on a different part of the School Improvement Process. To download this document please visit our website at www.urbanschools.org then click on ‘publications’ then ‘OnPoints’ or follow this link.
RESEARCH BASED PRODUCTS *CALL TO ACTION* With the new school year upon us, the Center is expanding the work of the “National Initiative: New Directions for Student Support” to include a Call to Action for student support staff to move in new directions through greater involvement in school improvement planning and decision making. Critical to this effort, of course, is for leaders concerned with enhancing student/learning supports to mobilize their constituencies. Thus, as an exploratory step, we hosted a Leadership Summit in July in D.C. on: Student Support Staff: Moving in New Directions through School Improvement. It was well attended, and from the discussion, it seems clear that it will take a concerted effort to overcome conflicting agenda and vested interests. But, it is essential to do so if efforts to address barriers to learning and teaching are to move from the margins in schools to become a fully integrated component of school improvement. Please disseminate the report found at the URL below to anyone who may be interested. http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/summit2002/calltoactionreport.pdf If you have any questions please feel free to contact Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor directly. (Howard’s email is: adelman@psych.ucla.edu or phone 310/825-1225 or; Linda’s email is: ltaylor@ucla.edu or phone 310/825-3634.)
FEATURED STATE WORK *LOUISIANA* Louisiana’s Department of Education has targeted 10 school districts for evaluating and revising, policies, practices, and procedures that contribute to disproportionality in school systems. Each district is forming a disproportionality team that includes the superintendent and/or an assistant superintendent, curriculum/instructional coordinators, principals and/or assistants, teachers, pupil appraisal coordinator and related personnel, child welfare and attendance officers, and family representation. The district team will complete the NCCREST rubric, “Looking at District Practices” to identify areas that need improvement and develop a district disproportionality action plan.
FEATURED DISTRICT WORK *MEMPHIS* Staff from the National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI) spent two days in August with Memphis City Schools conducting training for 10 elementary Building Leadership Teams around inclusive school practices. Each BLT developed an action plan that would create more opportunities for special education students to access the regular education curriculum. The BLT training was followed up with a district-wide presentation to all district principals of the Memphis City Schools in September with a brief overview of inclusive schooling practices and collaborative teaching. During the principal training, four district principals passionately shared their positive experiences with inclusive practices, encouraging their peers to join them in the journey.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”” -Albert Einstein
FEATURED WEBSITE WWW.AIGMSTARQUILT.COM AMERICAN INDIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM STAR QUILT PROJECT Visit this site to learn more about the AIGM’s new progect, The Star Quilt Project. The star quilt is often given in recognition or as an honor. The American Indian Genocide Museum and Students and Teachers Against Racism are calling for the honoring of all of the millions of American Indians whose lives have been changed by colonization and the many who have suffered and died in countless massacres, wars and removals over the last 500 years. AIGM and Students and Teachers Against Racism will issue ongoing national press releases to bring attention to the quilt and all that it represents. Photographs of each patch will be promoted to local communities as they arrive. The goal is to create a national excitement and anticipation of the completion of the quilt. Pass this on to your cultural committees and elders!! Here is a link to an article about the project http://www.aigenom.com/IndianEducationToday.html This is an educational tool that can change history!!!
DID YOU KNOW …that every school year, asthma accounts for an estimated 14 million missed school days by students and staff. Research reports suggest that students attending schools in poor condition score 11 percent lower on standardized tests than students attending schools in good condition. Mold, re-circulation of contaminated air, restricted fresh air intake, and pest infestation can create poor indoor air quality. Exposure to contaminants can trigger asthma and allergic sensitivities among students and staff. In 1995, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced the Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) Program to help schools recognize the importance of managing school facilities to maintain a healthy indoor environment. IAQ TfS is a nationwide initiative to help school officials assess, resolve, and prevent IAQ problems and reduce exposure to asthma triggers and other harmful pollutants in school facilities. The IAQ TfS Symposium highlights efforts schools can take to implement IAQ TfS and maintain a healthy school environment. EPA will host its 7th Annual IAQ TfS National Symposium on December 7-9, 2006 in Washington, D.C. at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. There will be innovative sessions addressing various topics associated with implementing an IAQ program in a school setting, including communicating IAQ issues among stakeholders in the local community, designing, building, and maintaining healthy schools, school commissioning, mold and moisture, IAQ litigation, sustaining IAQ practices, materials selection and maintenance, asthma management, and more. School board officials, school decision makers, school administrators, architects, school nurses, teachers, facility managers, school and health association members, parents, and others interested in maintaining good indoor air quality will all be in attendance. For registration and additional information, please go to www.iaqsymposium.com.
UPCOMING EVENTS 2ND ANNUAL NATIONAL FORUM: LEADERSHIP FOR EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE: TRANSFORMING EDUCATION Brought to you by the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt) Denver, CO, February 7-9, 2007 http://www.nccrest.org/events/events/national_forum_2.html 22ND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON YOUNG CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND THEIR FAMILIES Brought to you by the Division of Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children Little Rock, AR, October 20-21, 2006 http://www.dec-sped.org/conference_05/about_the_conference.html CADRE FOURTH NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM Washington DC, December 7-9, 2006 http://www.directionservice.org/cadre/ 6TH ANNUAL NATIN Washington DC, January 29-30, 2007 http://www.nativefamilynetwork.com NATIONAL DIVERSITY CONFERENCE Seattle, WA April 25-27, 2007 http://www.ediversitycenter.net/casde/index.php CONFERENCE ON EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATION The Richard Stockton College Pomona, New Jersey, April 28, 2007 http://talon.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm

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