District Administration - July/August 2011 - (Page 48)

After YeArs, ethnic studies still controversiAl World Liberation Front, and their allies in the Black Panthers saw ethnic studies as part of a campaign for broad reform of the university, including open admissions for minority students and courses that would “serve as a counter to white value and white attitudinal courses.” SFSU hurriedly set up a division of ethnic studies, offering black, Chicano, Asian and Native American studies, and so many other colleges followed suit that the University of Denver’s chancellor, Maurice B. Mitchell, observed, “It is difficult to underestimate the intensity with which courses in Negro and Spanish-American history are being … added to the curriculum at all levels in this part of the country.” Encyclopaedia Britannica published a 1,400-page, three-volume set on The Negro in American History, and by 1970 the NASSP Bulletin from the National Association of Secondary School Principals was boasting that “New York City high schools have responded greatly to the pressing need for the inclusion of black studies in their social studies curriculum.” 50 In 1969, Columbia University students stand by the hooded statue of the Alma Mater after a rally in front of the low library in New York. About 500 students amassed quietly to support the student Afro-American society’s demands, in part concerning a black studies program. ham Lincoln’s birthday—during which white students at Middletown High School in Ohio tried to walk out of a seminar on black history. (Black students confronted them, and a racially charged “pitched battle” broke out, the newspaper stated.) Florida schools have taken a more peaceful, albeit slower, route toward teaching minority groups’ histories and cultures without sinking into culture wars. Backlash—and Acceptance There were signs of white backlash from the start. In The Spokesman-Review, based in Washington state, for example, a columnist listed new courses in “black philosophy, black literature, ‘third world’ studies, Swahili, and black music,” in Eastern High School in Washington, D.C., complaining that “the neglect of the Negro in history … stands to be replaced by overemphasis.” The columnist stated this was the trend in American high schools and colleges, and that paying so much attention to this was not the best use of classroom time. Newspapers published accounts of incidents like the one reported in the Youngstown Vindicator in Ohio on February 14, 1970—ironically, Feb. 14 is Abra48 July/August 2011 By contrast, Florida schools today have taken a more peaceful, albeit slower, route toward teaching minority groups’ histories and cultures without sinking into culture wars. In 1994, the state passed a law requiring more content on AfricanAmerican history, Latino history and the Holocaust in its core social studies classes, and the Task Force on African American History was formed to train teachers statewide, offer resources to districts, and monitor progress in the courses. Today the task force describes eight of the largest districts in the state as “exemplary”—that is, in full compliance with the 1994 law—and chair Bernadette Kelley says that although the mandate has yet to be fully achieved statewide, most districts are complying to some extent. Not only do Florida schools teach from culturally inclusive core curricula, but elective ethnic studies courses are thriving in some districts. Gloria Crutchfield, director of secondary curriculum for the School District of Palm Beach County, notes that 22 of the county’s 23 high schools offer African and/or African-American history courses; some also offer courses in the history of Latinos, Vietnam, women and the Holocaust. “We live in an interconnected world, so it’s important for kids to learn each other’s histories,” she says. Raising the Bar Across Curriculum Kelley raises another issue—one that’s not easy to prove—that wasn’t part of the 1960s debate: “If we teach students about where they come from, reading and math scores increase. … Every group and every student must feel part of the education process … to reduce suspension rates and increase the graduation rates of all students, particularly African-American males.” Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho adds that his district’s “commitment to instilling pride in every child’s identity” is in part the reason why it’s the highestDistrict Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July/August 2011

District Administration - July/August 2011
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Facilities News
Inside the Law
District Profile
Administrator Profile
The Social Media Dilemma
Is Year-Round Schooling on Track?
After 50 Years, Ethnic Studies Still Controversial
Finding the Right Purchasing Solution
Look, Listen, Learn
Research Center
Supervisor’s Opinion
Going Mobile
Superintendent’s Insight
Books
Product Focus
New Products
Online Edge

District Administration - July/August 2011