Campaign for High School Equity Outlines Approach to Common Standards With Students...

Campaign for High School Equity Outlines Approach to Common Standards With
Students of Color in Mind

WASHINGTON, July 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a briefing today, the
Campaign for High School Equity (CHSE) provided recommendations for the
development of common academic standards that take into account the unique
needs of students of color and low-income students to ensure that all
children, regardless of ZIP code, income, race, or ethnicity are taught to the
same high standards.

"Even though our kids represent the fastest-growing segment of public school
students, communities of color are still frequently left out of the process of
defining academic success in our country," said Michael Wotorson, executive
director of CHSE. "Communities of color must be meaningful partners in the
development, implementation, evaluation, and validation phases already under
way in the common standards movement. If the leaders of this process fail to
engage those most at risk, they may actually perpetuate educational inequities
and therefore be complicit in creating a permanent underclass in America."

According to the Alliance for Excellence Education, African American, Latino,
and Native American high school students have at best a six in ten chance of
graduating from high school on time with a regular diploma. And contrary to
the model minority myth, many Asian Americans also face barriers in education.
For example, about half of adult Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans
have less than a high school education.

Setting common academic standards can be a critical step toward closing the
achievement gap if they are implemented effectively and fairly. But standards
that do not take the unique needs of students of color into account will miss
the mark and ultimately do communities across the country a disservice,
according to CHSE. In particular, the federal government, governors, and state
education decision makers need to consider that:

-- standards that do not account for the sovereignty of Native American
tribal communities will face strong opposition;
-- English language learners may need customized standards, both for
learning English and for learning with their peers in other subjects;
-- if standards are not accompanied by strong incentives for states and
districts to align their curricula and assessments, students in
low-performing schools, districts, and states will be at more of a
disadvantage with high standards;
-- the adoption of common standards must include a plan to hold states
accountable for meeting the unique needs of students of color; and

-- states must be held accountable for making sure that a set of common
standards is the starting point and not the "end" for
effective education for students. Students of color can benefit from
rigorous, clear standards that include effective teachers, access to
high-quality supports, and accountability for improved academic
achievement and graduation rates for all students.

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM); Brent A. Wilkes, national executive director of
the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC); Gene Wilhoit, executive
director of the Council of Chief State School Officers; Denise Forte, director
of education policy, House Committee on Education and Labor; and David
Beaulieu, Ph.D., director of the Center for Indian Education at Arizona State
University joined Wotorson at the briefing, advocating for common standards
that set the same expectations for all students, on par with what they need to
be successful in college and the modern work force.

For more information about CHSE's perspective on common standards and its
policy recommendations, visit www.highschoolequity.org.

CHSE is a coalition of leading civil rights organizations representing
communities of color that is focused on high school education reform. Members
include the National Urban League, National Council of La Raza, National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Leadership Conference on
Civil Rights Education Fund, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational
Fund, LULAC, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
Educational Fund, Alliance for Excellent Education, National Indian Education
Association, and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.

CHSE is a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

SOURCE Campaign for High School Equity

Jorge Sanz-Fuertes, +1-202-331-4323, jsanz@vancomm.com, for Campaign for High
School Equity