School Leaders Wanted for KIPP Schools

KIPP is searching for a high school leader in the Bay Area, an elementary school leader in Columbus, Ohio and elementary assistant school leaders in Jacksonville, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri. Please see below for more info on each role. If interested, please reach out to Maggie Raible, Manager, National Recruitment for the KIPP Foundation at 215-740-4863 or mraible@kipp.org .
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KIPP Bay Area Schools is searching for a successor leader of KIPP King Collegiate High School. KIPP King Collegiate is ranked in the top two percent of all public high schools and #11 of public high schools in California, according to US News and World Report. With over 28 languages spoken, KIPP King Collegiate truly embodies the diversity of the Bay Area. We are looking for a school leader with proven success in a high school setting serving a low-income and culturally diverse school population. Outstanding candidates will have previous experience coaching, developing and managing new and veteran staff to provide college-focused instruction to students at all levels. 

KIPP Columbus is seeking an experienced school leader for KIPP Columbus Elementary! We're building a better tomorrow for every student in a state-of-the-art facility on one of the most unique campuses in the country. With the support of a strong leadership team and engaged community, the elementary school leader will expand the number of elementary students served from 200 in this it's first year to nearly 1,000 by the end of the decade; building a strong foundation for KIPPsters to climb the mountain to and through for years to come. 

KIPP Jacksonville is looking for an Assistant School Leader to join our dynamic Elementary leadership team and help us continue to put students on a path to and through college. As an Elementary Assistant School Leader, you will be equipped with a supportive team, receive regular coaching, and have a clear vision for growth. The Elementary ASL directly coaches teachers to greater student achievement, runs school-wide initiatives, designs and leads professional development, and collaborates with families. Come thrive both personally and professionally in a region that is easy to call home and rich with opportunity and advancement. 

KIPP St. Louis seeks an Assistant Elementary School Leader grounded in the belief that kids deserve a nurturing, challenging, joyful environment in which to learn, grow and achieve at the highest levels. We will work to ensure that our scholars understand who they are as a person and where they are academically to inform their movement towards their best self. Our scholars will be empowered to see themselves as a person that matters to the world and will be able to voice their needs, thoughts and academic knowledge in a scholarly way. Our mission is to nurture our scholars’ academic knowledge, skills, and character strengths so that our scholars have what they need to excel in post-primary school and college, and build a better tomorrow for themselves and us all. 

States with Most K-12 Black Student Graduates

National Center for Education Statistics new study shows that my home state, Georgia, is not among the top states with the most K-12 student graduates who are African-American/Black. Unfortunately, this is no shocker to me, but I do hope for the days where Georgia can proudly make this this. Here are those states that are above the national average of African-American/Black graduates.

National average: 69% graduation rate for African-American/Black students compared to 73% for Hispanic students, 86% for white students, and 88% for Asian students.

In reverse order, according to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

10. South Carolina and Arizona (71%)

9. Vermont and Maine (72%)

8. Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts and Missouri (73%)

7. Iowa, Delaware, Nebraska, West Virginia (74%)

6. Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia (75%)

5. North Dakota, New Hampshire, Hawaii (76%)

4. Maryland (77%)

3. Arkansas (78%)

2. Montana and Tennessee (79%)

1. Texas (84%)

See 2011-2012 data from Governing.com.

U.S. Department of Education orders districts to fix funding disparities

In an official "Dear Colleague Letter" released this week, the U.S. Department of Education basically instructed school districts to have similar academic course offerings for its students, regardless of race, color, origin, etc. The Letter is issued by the Office of Civil Rights, which enforces Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin, in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance).

Chronic and widespread racial disparities in access to rigorous courses, academic programs, and extracurricular activities; stable workforces of effective teachers, leaders, and support staff; safe and appropriate school buildings and facilities; and modern technology and high-quality instructional materials further hinder the education of
students of color today. (Page 2).  

 As concrete examples, the letter cites:

But schools serving more students of color are less likely to offer advanced courses and gifted and talented programs than schools serving mostly white populations, and students of color are less likely than their white peers to be enrolled in those courses and programs within schools that have those offerings. For example, almost one in five black high school students attend a high school that does not offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses, a higher proportion than any other racial group. Students with limited-English-proficiency (English language learners) are also underrepresented in AP courses according to data from the 2011-12 school year. In that year, English language learners represented five percent of high school students, but only two percent of the students enrolled in an AP course.11 Similarly, of the high schools serving the most black and Latino students in the 2011-12 school year, only 74 percent offered Algebra II and only 66 percent offered chemistry. Comparable high-level opportunities were provided much more often in schools serving the fewest black and Latino students, where 83 percent offered Algebra II courses and 78 percent offered chemistry. (Page 3.)

On the facilities of schools:

The physical spaces where our children are educated are also important resources that influence the learning and development of all students, yet many of our Nation’s schools have fallen into disrepair. Too often, school districts with higher enrollments of students of color invest thousands of dollars less per student in their facilities than those districts with predominantly white enrollments. (Page 4.)

On teacher pay within the same school district:

. . . [D]isparities may be indicative of broader discriminatory policies or practices that, even if facially neutral, disadvantage students of color. For example, teachers in high schools serving the highest percentage of black and Latino students during the 2011-12 school year were paid on average $1,913 less per year than their colleagues in other schools within the same district that serve the lowest percentage of black and Latino students. (Page 5.)

The Letter also recognizes that snap-shot data may not tell the whole story.

The provision of equal opportunities may require more or less funding depending on the location of the school, the condition of existing facilities, and the particular needs of students such as English language learners and students with disabilities. For example, older facilities generally require more money for annual maintenance than do newer facilities. Similarly, greater annual per-pupil library expenditures for one school may reflect an effort to correct years of underfunding of a library collection. Funding disparities that benefit students of a particular race, color, or national origin may also permissibly occur when districts are attempting to remedy past discrimination. (Page 10.)

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I encourage you to read more to find your own gems.

-e

Code much?

What if schools taught students to code?.

Click the link, watch the video.

Contest for High School Students -- Law Day Art Contest

Law Day Art Contest for U.S. Students Grades 9 through 12
Group and individual entries welcome.

2013 Theme: Realizing the Dream: Equality for All.

Submission: Students should create an art piece that can be represented in two dimensions (including, but not limited to, drawings, paintings, films, photographs, graphic novels, comics etc.) that highlights the theme “Realizing the Dream: Equality for All.” The submission must comply with the terms of the Law Day Art Contest Rules which may be found on the contest website (www.ambar.org/lawday). 

Eligibility: All U.S. students grades 9 through 12.

Entry Deadline: April 1, 2013

Recognition and Awards: Four prizes will be awarded.  Runners-up for both the individual and team categories will receive prizes with a value not to exceed $250 and winners for both the individual and team categories will receive prizes with a value not to exceed $750 in addition to a party hosted by the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division in the winners’ hometowns. 

For a flyer, see here: Law Day Art Contest Flyer

For questions, contact:
Public Service Team Lead, Leslie Need or ABA YLD Office Administrator, Tara Blasingame at Tara.Blasingame@americanbar.org.