Research shows students of color who have at least one teacher of color by third grade are more likely to graduate from high school and enroll in college.
Yet, due to implicit bias, students of color, even in preschool, are nearly four times as likely to be suspended as white students, putting them at greater risk of falling behind and getting caught up in the juvenile justice system. Students of color and students with disabilities are more likely to be subjected to exclusionary discipline measures than their same age peers - especially when it’s a student of color with a disability. When a child is pushed out of school, they lose instructional time and are more likely to become involved with the juvenile and adult justice systems.
We must:
- Engage with the community to create a sense of system- and community-urgency to aggressively do “whatever it takes” for every student to achieve success in school.
- Address disciplinary practices in schools that disproportionately affect our students of color and/or with disabilities.
- Strengthen our curriculum and school activities THROUGHOUT THE YEAR to reflect our diverse student population, including integrating local history about people of color.
- Find new ways to recruit, hire, and retain teachers and school administrators of color. Ensure these teachers are appropriately placed in ALL subjects/grades and provided leadership opportunities.
- Establish a stronger system to assess, report, and communicate the academic performance of all students. This includes securing publicly accessible monthly statics of the demographics behind student discipline referrals, citations, and arrests, along with absenteeism.
- Increase access to English as a Second Language instruction. Incorporate the student's background into lessons for increased engagement.
- Ensure AACPS policies on bullying and biased behavior are properly enforced.
