explicit goals for African American males in the district Local Control and Accountability Plan . These goals are tied to specific expenditures , categories and funding sources . Other unified school districts , including Riverside , Long Beach , Santa Ana , Napa and San Diego , have garnered attention for their efforts to improve Black and Latino students ’ A-G course completion rates .
As a research and policy organization , the Education Trust-West ( west . edtrust . org ) has been a tireless champion of equity for California ’ s underserved students . Their policy analysts have produced several reports examining the LCFF ’ s equity implications and highlighting districts that are making a difference . To provide technical support , the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence ( ccee-ca . org ) offers statewide workshops on LCFF fundamentals and on how to craft LCAPs that focus on equity .
In closing , it should be said that popular leadership models ( e . g ., transformational , organizational , instructional , change ), school reforms ( e . g ., PBIS ), and instructional innovations ( e . g ., Common Core State Standards , project-based learning ) are largely incapable of fixing the problems males of color face in schools , as this is not what they were designed to do . Though Common Core , for example , may ultimately help us elevate all students ’ reading and writing abilities and better prepare them for college , the reality is that content and skill standards “ cannot close achievement gaps , any more than the same icing will transform different cakes ” ( Kornhaber , Griffith and Tyler , 2014 , p . 20 ). Such reforms must be coupled with a culturally responsive focus and intent .
Black and Latino boys in California desperately need school leaders and teachers with equity mindsets . It is not hyperbolic to say that their futures depend on it .
Resources
• Boneshefski , M . J . and Runge , T . J . ( 2014 ). “ Addressing Disproportionate Discipline Practices Within a School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Framework : A Practical Guide for Calculating and Using Disproportionality Rates .” Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions , 16 ( 3 ), 149-158 .
• Clark-Louque , A ., Greer , W ., Clay , A . and Balogun , A . ( 2017 , April ). “ Doing well in spite of school : African American students and California ’ s Local Control Funding Formula .” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association , San Antonio , TX .
• Corprew , C . S ., and Cunningham , M . ( 2012 ). “ Educating tomorrow ’ s men : Perceived school support , negative youth experiences , and bravado attitudes in African- American adolescent males .” Education and Urban Society , 44 ( 5 ), 571-589 .
• Education Trust-West . ( 2016 ). “ The steep road to resource equity in California education : The Local Control Funding Formula after three years .” Oakland , CA : Author . west . edtrust . org .
• Emdin , C . ( 2016 ). “ For White folks who teach in the hood … and the rest of y ’ all too : Reality pedagogy and urban education .” Boston , MA : Beacon Press .
• Evans , A . E . ( 2007 ). “ School leaders and their sense-making about race and demographic change .” Educational Administration Quarterly , 43 ( 2 ), 159-188 .
• Gregory , A ., Cornell , D . and Fan , X . ( 2011 ). “ The relationship of school structure and support to suspension rates for Black and White high school students .” American Educational Research Journal , 48 ( 4 ), 904- 934 .
• Harper , S . R . ( 2012 ). “ Black male student success in higher education : A report from the National Black Male College Achievement Study .” Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania , Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education .
• Harper , S . R . ( 2015 ). “ Success in the schools ? Visual counter-narratives of young men of color and urban high schools they attend .” Urban Education , 50 ( 2 ), 139-169 .
• Howard , T . C . ( 2008 ). “ Who really cares ? The disenfranchisement of African American males in pre-K-12 schools : A Critical Race Theory perspective .” Teachers College Record , 110 ( 5 ), 954-985 .
• Howard , T . C . ( 2013 ). “ How does it feel to be a problem ? Black male students , schools , and learning in enhancing the knowledge base to disrupt deficit frameworks .” Review of Research in Education , 37 , 54-86 .
• Khalifa , M . A ., Gooden , M . A . and Davis , J . E . ( 2016 ). “ Culturally responsive school leadership : A synthesis of the literature .” Review of Educational Research , 86 ( 4 ), 1272-1311 .
• Kornhaber , M . L ., Griffith , K . and Tyler , A . ( 2014 ). “ It ’ s not education by zip code anymore – but what is it ? Conceptions of equity under the Common Core .” Education Policy Analysis Archives , 22 ( 4 ), 1-26 .
• McMahon , B . ( 2007 ). “ Educational administrators ’ conceptions of whiteness , antiracism and social justice .” Journal of Educational Administration , 45 ( 6 ), 684-696 .
• Milner , H . R . and Laughter , J . ( 2015 ). “ But good intentions are not enough : Preparing teachers to center race and poverty .” The Urban Review 47 ( 2 ), 341-363 .
• Perez II , D . and Saenz , V . B . ( 2017 ). “ Thriving Latino males in selective predominantly White institutions .” Journal of Hispanic Higher Education , 16 ( 2 ) 162-186 .
• Singleton , G . E . ( 2015 ). “ Courageous Conversations about Race : A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools ( 2nd Ed .).” Thousand Oaks , CA : Corwin Press .
• Skiba , R . J ., Horner , R . H ., Chung , C ., Rausch , M . K ., May , S . L . and Tobin , T . ( 2011 ). “ Race is not neutral : A national investigation of African American and Latino disproportionality in school discipline .” School Psychology Review , 40 ( 1 ), 85-107 .
• Smith , C . A . ( 2005 ). “ School factors that contribute to the underachievement of students of color and what culturally competent school leaders can do .” Educational Leadership and Administration : Teaching and Program Development , 17 , 21-32 .
• Vincent , C . G ., Randall , C ., Cartledge , G ., Tobin , T . J . and Swain-Bradway , J . ( 2011 ). “ Toward a conceptual integration of cultural responsiveness and schoolwide positive behavior support .” Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions , 13 ( 4 ), 219-229 .
Wil Greer , Ph . D . is an assistant professor in Educational Leadership and Technology at CSU San Bernardino . Tyrone Howard , Ph . D . is a professor of education at UCLA in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies , Urban Schooling Division .
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