Equity and Diversity

The GE Fund today released a new study that documents obstacles and solutions for improving minority and female student performance in pursuing careers in science, engineering, and technology (SET). Upping the Numbers, co-authored by EDC and Campbell-Kibler Associates, is one of the first studies to gather data on what really works to increase under-represented students’ interest and success in these fields.

Eugene Collins, Director of Natural Sciences and Math at Fisk University, credits a high school teacher with encouraging him to study science. So does Arthur Washington, who today serves as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Florida A&M University. Both share a concern, however, about where the high school science teachers for the next generation of African American students will come from.

EDC is searching the country for middle schools that feature “academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, and social equity.” Would some of those same schools also earn high marks for inclusive practices?

At the heart of Project ASSIST is the action reflection process, a carefully structured, time-limited discussion format that focuses on the work of three students chosen by their classroom teacher to represent the range of students in his or her class.

Poor and minority students are disproportionately placed in special education programs, driving up district costs and holding back many children from a quality education.

This past summer, a group of science teachers from northern Illinois spent six weeks poring over student work from Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic, and six other countries. As part of an EDC online workshop, the Illinois teachers logged on to a website to review student work and accompanying commentary from teachers.

How do we know that a new approach works, adding to a practitioner’s knowledge, effectiveness, and ability? And if it does work, how can we use the model to reach more practitioners? These questions are central to two of EDC’s latest experiments with online professional development.

In the summer of 1960, reverend Solomon B Caulker, an African college administrator from Sierra Leone, travelled to Israel to attend an international conference on improving science education in developing countries. After listening to several papers on nuclear power, Caulker stood up to address the group.

Toward the end of the Live Talk discussion program that opened EDC’s recent violence prevention summit, the audience of 200 people grew silent as Sha-King Graham, 17, spoke about the police officer who had killed his sister.

Today, thanks to the efforts of EDC, 20 Latina mothers from Waltham, Massachusetts, are enrolled in a class that offers them not only English language instruction but also lessons in job readiness, social skills, community action, health, and self-esteem.