Honoring Black Lives and Contributions During Black History Month
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Resources for Supporting Black students
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February is Black History Month! While we must celebrate the lives of Black people every day, we believe it is important to also take time during Black History Month to recognize the rich and complex history, hard-won triumphs, and persistent challenges faced by Black people.
We especially want to highlight ways to support Black students, who continue to face systemic barriers that prevent them from accessing excellent and equitable schools.
Rooted in the nation's second generation of civil rights almost five decades ago, IDRA has remained committed to achieving excellent, equitable schooling for diverse students in our pioneering style that intersects research, policy, practice and community engagement. We're happy to share news and resources with you as we kick off this special month.
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In this Issue
Understanding and Addressing Racial Trauma and Supporting Black Students in Schools: A special issue brief developed in partnership with the Excellence and Advancement Foundation
IDRA Statement: Police in Schools Harm Students
Culturally-Sustaining Curriculum
A Black Student-Focused Policy Agenda for States
Invitation to Altheria’s Black History Month Read Alouds!
IDRA’s Statement in Support of Black Lives
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New Resource:
Understanding and Addressing Racial Trauma and Supporting Black Students in Schools
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Students, teachers, school staff and families can all experience trauma related to a long history of racial injustice in the United States and our education system. Recent events, including violence against and the mistreatment of Black communities, protests against such violence and mistreatment, and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, can highlight and exacerbate the effects of systemic discrimination.
It is critical for schools to prepare adults to recognize, understand and address racial trauma in a healthy and non-punitive way. Our new resource explains the particular history of racial trauma in the Black community, how this trauma may show up in schools, and how schools must prepare to support all students and adults in their community.
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For more information about training and supports for schools, school districts and other groups contact the IDRA EAC-South.
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New IDRA Statement
Police in Schools Harm Students
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IDRA Condemns Excessive Police Violence in Osceola County, Florida, and Calls for Supporting Black Students in Schools
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Like others, IDRA staff watched in horror and revulsion the video of yet another student experiencing violence at the hands of police, this time in Osceola County, Florida. Unfortunately, these incidents are far too common in schools, and often Black students are on the receiving end of these despicable acts.
IDRA condemns in the strongest possible terms the police actions depicted in the Osceola County video. All officers involved in this incident should be removed from their positions and barred from working with students in the future.
When asked about the student’s well-being by reporters at the news conference about the incident, Osceola County Sherriff Marcos López stated that the “juvenile is fine.” We refuse to believe that this is true, for this student and for all Black students who are brutalized by police at school. Black students are not “fine” when thrown to the ground with their hands behind their back and their heads bouncing off concrete. Black students are not “fine” when witnessing their peers brutalized while they are forced to stand by powerless and watch. Black students are not “fine” when their schools are over-policed and over-surveilled in contrast to schools in non-Black neighborhoods.
None of this can remotely be characterized as “fine.”
Therefore, IDRA calls on education leaders everywhere to prevent these traumatic experiences from occurring by radically shifting the relationship that schools have with law enforcement.
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Culturally-Sustaining Curriculum
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We also testified as the Texas State Board of Education considered (and approved) the first African American Studies course in the state curriculum. IDRA provides training and customized technical assistance that supports educators in offering African American Studies courses in public schools.
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See our video gallery featuring student testimony for African American Studies presented before the Texas State Board of Education.
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Testimony Highlights by Multiple Students
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Testimony by Earl Williams
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Testimony by Quardasha Mitchell
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New Resource:
A Black Student-Focused Policy Agenda for States
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While the policy recommendations in this agenda would certainly be beneficial for all students, they are designed in this brief to focus on the policies and practices that limit or expand opportunities for Black students in particular. See our policy agenda for guidance in the following areas:
- Strategies for Building Safe and Welcoming Schools Free from Harmful Discipline and Policing Practices
- Protecting Funding for Schools During and After COVID-19
- Expanding Access for Emergent Bilingual Students and Bilingual Education
- Building School District Health
- Ensuring Access and Success in College
For more information about implementing these changes, contact Morgan Craven, J.D., IDRA national director of policy, advocacy and community engagement at morgan.craven@idra.org or Terrence Wilson, J.D., IDRA regional director of policy and community engagement at terrence.wilson@idra.org.
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Children and families are welcome to listen as IDRA Education Policy Fellow, Dr. Altheria Caldera will read some of her favorite Black history-related children's books!
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IDRA Statement in Support of Black Lives
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See IDRA's statement released in a special June 2020 issue of Learning Goes On dedicated in support of Black lives ( en Español).
"Amidst the collective demonstrations demanding justice all over the country and the world, IDRA stands in solidarity with all who declare that Black Lives Matter. We express our sympathy for the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and all others who have lost their lives as a result of racialized violence and systemic oppression in the form of police brutality."
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5815 Callaghan Road, Suite 101
San Antonio, Texas 78228
Phone: 210-444-1710
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The Intercultural Development Research Association is an independent, non-profit organization. Our mission is to achieve equal educational opportunity for every child through strong public schools that prepare all students to access and succeed in college. IDRA strengthens and transforms public education by providing dynamic training; useful research, evaluation, and frameworks for action; timely policy analyses; and innovative materials and programs.
IDRA works hand-in-hand with hundreds of thousands of educators and families each year in communities and classrooms around the country. All our work rests on an unwavering commitment to creating self-renewing schools that value and promote the success of students of all backgrounds.
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