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For Students

Behind Every Promise Discussion Guide

Behind Every Promise This guide is adapted from the Behind Every Promise Discussion Guide, which was created by Active Voice. ABOUT THIS GUIDE Being a teenager in school is hard enough. In addition to peer pressure to "fit in," students face tremendous pressure from parents and teachers to do well and succeed. But for young black men, the challenges are even greater, as they are faced with teachers and school systems ill-equipped to help them manage the emotional impact and real-life repercussions of the unintentional biases and stereotypes they face daily. This guide is designed to support productive conversations among young black men around Behind Every Promise, a half-hour video adapted from the documentary film American Promise, by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster. With direct testimonials from Idris Brewster and Seun Summers, interwoven with scenes from the feature-length documentary, Behind Every Promise gives viewers intimate access to the perspectives of two young black men as they come of age in the American school system. Watch Behind Every Promise: Young leaders, youth serving organizations, educators, guidance counselors and/or church leaders can use Behind Every Promise and this guide to inspire young black men to: ABOUT BEHIND EVERY PROMISE Behind Every Promise takes a behind-the-scenes look at the award-winning documentary American Promise, which explores the very personal journeys of two families preparing their sons for success. Supplementing select scenes from the film with newly shot video testimonials from Idris Brewster and Seun Summers, this retrospective offers viewers a chance to walk in the shoes of the two young men as they navigate the emotional ups and downs of school, friendship and family. From one scene to the next, they dig into what it's like to grow up black in America—from Idris getting criticized for "talking like a white boy" when he is not among peers at the predominantly white Dalton School in New York's Upper East Side, to Seun dropping out to attend the predominantly black Benjamin Banneker Academy in Brooklyn. In this thought-provoking video, Idris and Seun tell the American Promise story in their own words. To learn more, visit: www.americanpromise.org OVERVIEW This discussion guide is intended to help young black men (between the ages of 14 and 22) use Behind Every Promiseas a springboard for exploring issues around identity and life experience, ultimately inspiring a sense of agency toward developing support systems for success. Whether you are a young and motivated to prompt discussion among your peers, or if you are an adult mentor who wants to motivate young people, this video can help you realize your goals. GETTING STARTED Behind Every Promise can be used in a variety of contexts, from a small group dialogue to a large public event. Consider using it: Whatever you do, be sure to plan ahead. Here are the basics you should keep in mind: FACILITATION TIPS By providing first-hand perspectives of two young black men growing up in America, Behind Every Promise raises themes related to structural injustice, implicit bias and other forms of systemic inequity. Be prepared to facilitate a conversation that helps participants make those connections and avoids placing the burden of responsibility for success solely on young black men. Discussions around Behind Every Promise may raise some personal sensitivities and even potential conflict or disagreement among participants. People process information and relate it to their own experiences differently, so be prepared for emotionally charged conversations. The following section provides some broad guidelines to help you host a productive conversation. SETTING GUIDELINES Before delving into intimate conversations, it is important to establish guidelines and create a "safe space" where participants trust each other enough to share their experiences. Consider some of the following guidelines:
Family Photo
ENSURING PARTICIPATION Even if you've never facilitated a conversation before, there are some easy things you can do to help everyone feel comfortable participating in the conversation: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Feel free to pick and choose the questions that are most interesting and relevant to you and your group. No matter what, it's a good idea to open up the conversation with "Getting the Conversation Started," to allow for viewers to get warmed up for discussion. "Getting Into It" helps participants make the connection between key moments in the video and their personal experiences. "Connecting the Dots" should be used to help participants make connection to related issues not directly addressed in the video. There are also "Bonus Questions" that add new information to deepen the discussion. GETTING THE CONVERSATION STARTED GETTING INTO IT
  1. Idris and Seun both began their educational experiences at Dalton, an predominantly white school. In one scene, Seun talks about being one of the very few black students at the school and what it is like to be seen as a stereotypical black kid. "People treated me different," he explains. Do you relate to that experience? Please explain.
  2. What kinds of things did Idris and Seun each do to deal with their feelings of being treated differently from others? Have you ever felt like people treated you differently from other people and if so, what did you do about it?
  3. Idris and Seun were under many social pressures, some of which mad eSeun feel like he wasn't "smart enough." Do you ever feel that way? If so, what kinds of pressures are you under that lead you to feel inadequate? What strategies do you use to address these feelings in a productive?
  4. In one scene, Idris worries it will be embarrassing to play on the junior varsity basketball team after playing on the varsity team. It is especially hard for him because he thinks basketball is one of the only things he's good at. Why do you think he feels this way? When he says he is "expected to be good at sports," who do you think expects it?
  5. Idris reflects on how long it sometimes takes for him and his friends to catch a cab. How does Idris make sense of the experience? Have you ever had a hard time figuring out if a difficult experience you had was because of your race or if it was something else? Please explain.
  6. Seun talks about the valuable lessons he learned from his karate instructor. Do you have any mentors or someone in your life whom you look up to? Who is it and what valuable advice have you learned from him/her? Please explain.
  7. In one scene, Seun's younger brother dies in an accident. After that he starts to slip at school and in general. What kind of support did Seun receive that helped him get through this difficult time? Have you ever lost someone close to you? How did you work through that experience? Who or where did you turn to for support?
  8. Idris describes kids at Dalton who "in theory had everything." But he says he values his family more because they don't simply "throw money at him." Why do you think this is important to him? Please explain.
  9. Idris and Seun both have younger siblings. Seun explains that, for him, he feels he "has a responsibility as an older brother." What do you think he means? Do you feel like you have a responsibility to your family? To your community? Why or why not? Please explain.
  10. Looking back on his high school journey, Seun says he had a tough time. But sometimes, he continues, he was the one who made it tough for himself. What do you think he means? In what ways is your school experience tough for reasons you can't control and in what ways is it tough for reasons that you can control? Please explain.
  11. Idris and Seun have been through a lot, but we see each of them coming into themselves as they navigate different challenges. What experiences have helped you to come to understand yourself better? What have you learned through the process? In one scene, Seun says that when people believe in you, it makes you think you can succeed too. Who seems to believe in Seun? What or who in your life helps you to feel like you can succeed? How do they do it?
  12. In one scene, Seun says that when people believe in you, it makes you think you can succeed too. Who seems to believe in Seun? What or who in your life helps you to feel like you can succeed? How do they do it?
  13. Idris and Seun's parents seem to be hard on them sometimes. In one scene, Idris' dad says he's not being aggressive enough on the basketball court. What do you think his dad's afraid of? Do you have adults in your life who are hard on you? If so, what do you think their reasons are for putting pressure on you?
  14. At the end of the video, Seun shares his feelings on the importance of selecting "real friends." What do you think he means by "real friends"? How can you tell if someone is a "real friend" to you or not? Please explain.
  15. Why does Idris feel good about going to Occidental College, even though it wasn't his first choice? What life lessons did he learn from the experience? Do you think that Idris has matured by the end of the video? If so, in what ways and based on what experiences? What skills or life lessons do you think you are carrying into adulthood? What experiences are they based on? Please explain.
Seun in class
TAKE ACTION You can maintain the momentum of the screening discussion by taking steps to foster a support system for you and your peers that can lead to your collective success. Here are some ideas: RESOURCES About Black Male Achievement Achievement Gap Initiative (AGI) is a university-wide effort initiated by the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) to focus academic research, public education and innovative outreach activities toward eliminating achievement gaps. To learn more, visit: www.agi.harvard.edu. NAACP's National Education Program works to assure an equitable start for all Americans through advocacy training, policy development and guidance, building collaborative networks and direct action. To learn more, visit: www.naacp.org/programs/entry/education-programs. Open Society Foundations' Campaign for Black Male Achievement aims to address the exclusion of large numbers of black men and boys from economic, social, educational and political life in the United States. To learn more, visit: www.opensocietyfoundations.org/topics/black-male-achievement. National Education Association published a report that summarizes the current research about black male students. To learn more, visit: www.nea.org/assets/docs/educatingblackboys11rev.pdf. Academic Support National Urban League's Project Ready helps students in grades 8–12 make academic progress, benefit from cultural enrichment opportunities and develop important skills, attitudes and aptitudes that will aid in their transition from high school and position them for post-secondary success. To find an affiliate near you, visit: www.iamempowered.com/programs/project-ready/ urban-league-affiliates. United Negro College Fund plays a critical role in enabling more than 60,000 students each year to attend college and get the education they need and that the nation needs them to have. To learn more about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Scholarships, internships and more, visit: www.uncf.org. Teaching Tolerance is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and supporting equitable school experiences for our nation's children. Teaching Tolerance created an American Promise Educator's Guide. Let your teacher know. To learn more, visit: www.americanpromise.org/educators. Tavis Smiley Foundation programs focus on helping young people identify the skills, strengths and talents that make them a unique leader and how to apply those skills to become catalysts for positive social change. To learn more about academics, scholarships and activism, visit: www.youthtoleaders.org/teen_issues.html. Community Action Black Youth Project efforts are based on three basic concepts: knowledge, voice and action. To find out how you can take action against inequality and injustice, visit: action.blackyouthproject.com. Laundromat Project brings art, artists and arts programming into laundromats and other everyday spaces, amplifying the creativity that already exists within communities to build networks, solve problems and enhance our sense of ownership in the places where we live, work and grow. To learn more, visit: www.laundromatproject.org. Mentorship Mentoring Brothers in Action is a movement led by Big Brothers Big Sisters and the nation's three largest African American fraternities Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi to engage more African American men in fraternal, social, faith- based and professional organizations to get involved in one-to-one mentoring to change the odds for African American boys. To learn more, visit: www.MentoringBrothers.org. 100 Black Men of America's programs are based on a simple principle: through sustained mentoring programs young people realize their potential. To learn more or to find a chapter near you, visit: www.100blackmen.org. Logistics Checklist Use this checklist to help you think through the basic technical logistics for your screening. Not every piece will be relevant to you, but be sure to look through it to get a sense of the planning process. Preliminary Planning 4-6 weeks prior Optional: Social Media Outreach 2-3 weeks prior Final Planning several days prior At the Event Itself Required Supplies Optional Supplies ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Behind Every Promise is adapted from the documentary film American Promise by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, and was produced in association with Active Voice. Funding for Behind Every Promise was provided by Andrus Family Fund Active Voice Staff Shaady Salehi, Executive Director Sahar Driver, Program Manager Jillian Garcia, Technology & Operations Manager Rada Film Group Michèle Stephenson, Producer/Director Joe Brewster, Producer/Director Fritz Archer, Editor Jordan Fong, Editor Gregory S. Jones, Projects Manager Guide Reviewers Kelly Williams, Big Brothers Big Sisters' Mentoring Brothers in Action Khaleaph Luis, Rada Rilm Group Special Thanks Ri-Karlo Handy of Handyman Pictures, Consulting Producer Errol Weber, Interviewer/Cinematographer RYSE Center in Richmond, CA Youth Uprising in Oakland, CA Active Voice logoActive Voice tackles social issues through the creative use of film. We believe that real progress requires real connection, and that film has a unique power to bring people together in meaningful ways. Every day Active Voice helps filmmakers, funders and communities start the conversations and relationships that lead to lasting, measurable change. Since our inception in 2001, Active Voice has influenced local, regional and national dialogue on issues including immigration, criminal justice, healthcare and education. www.activevoice.net Rada Film GroupRada Film Group is a Brooklyn-based media production house operated by husband and wife team, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson. Brewster and Stephenson are award winning filmmakers whose work has been shown on television, cable and in theatrical release on six continents. www.radafilm.com.

For Parents

Promises To Keep: The Promise Club Handbook

promise-club-handbook-icon.jpg Promise him that you will help his teacher customize his educational experience to his learning needs, that you will communicate your high expectations both to him and to his teachers, that you will help him understand that he must learn no matter what anyone else may think of him, and that you will respond quickly to ensure he obtains appropriate help if you, a teacher or other member of his Village notices possible symptoms of a learning or developmental difference or disability. – excerpt from Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys to Succeed in School and in Life How can we help our sons navigate a complicated world that is oftentimes unfair and unforgiving? The answer is to be by their side as much as we physically, emotionally, mentally, and lovingly can. Helping them become successful, compassionate, and intelligent, men starts when they are young—from the time they're toddling in front of us, entering their kindergarten classroom, climbing the bus to middle and high school, and driving off to college. The more actively involved we parents are, the better the child will perform in school and in life. Brewster and StephensonIn 1999, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, middle class African-American parents living in Brooklyn, NY, turned their cameras on their son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, as they entered kindergarten at The Dalton School in Manhattan, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country, and began filming the documentary American Promise. Spanning 13 years— until the boys graduated high school—the provocative, intimate, and touching film reveals the complicated truths about America's struggle on issues of race, class, and opportunity. Now American Promise is a movement, spurring an organization of the same name, a book, as well as a national campaign to get the dialogue going and our children achieving. Joe and Michèle have now begun an initiative for parents to create their own "Promise Clubs" in their communities, or at their child's school. The idea of creating Promise Clubs actually came to Joe and Michèle after attending Harvard University Achievement Gap Initiative or AGI (a university-wide effort that focuses on academic research, public education, and innovative outreach activities toward eliminating achievement gaps) summit a few years ago, which was led by Ron Ferguson, economist, Harvard University education and public policy professor and AGI co- chair. At the summit, the couple met a group of parents who had started meeting regularly to support each other and demand more for their kids after feeling that their children were not getting the optimal educational experience. "They became an extended family and we thought their system worked, at least was working in that community. It was an example of motivated parents becoming active if not only for their kids, but for their immediate small community," says Joe. "Groups like this are forming organically in many different places," says Michèle. "The idea is that the Promise Club could help provide some form of structure to what's already happening on an ad hoc basis." So what exactly can a Promise Club do? It can empower parents so that they can empower their own children to achieve success—academically, socially, and emotionally. The purpose of this guide is to show you why you should start a Promise Club and provide you with tools and tips on how to start the club. By the way, a group like this can also be extremely helpful for single parents who might need the communal reinforcement, support, and fellowship that a Promise Club could offer. Also, you don't have to be a parent in the traditionally sense to create a Promise Club. Grandparents, godparents, aunts and uncles, or other caregivers can start a club as well. Alright, let's begin. Why the Promise Club Concept is Necessary and Effective Yes, you're busy, and maybe the thought of forming this type of club might seem overwhelming, but gathering other parents and starting these complicated conversations so that you can be a driving force behind your child's educational career is extremely necessary. From an academic standpoint, here's why: When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more. That's according to A New Wave of Evidence, a report from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (2002). The report, a synthesis of research on parent involvement over the past decade, also found that, regardless of family income or background, students with involved parents are more likely to: Ron Ferguson and AGI have also researched and reported some interesting facts on the middle class gap in America. According to AGI, compared to whites, significant gaps for African- American and Hispanic students are evident in virtually every measure of achievement: National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) math and reading test scores, high school completion rates, college enrollment and college completion rates. In addition, there is wide variability across states in educational investment and outcomes. Ferguson also participated in the Council of the Great City Schools study of the widening gap between white and black boys, which found that 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys were proficient in reading on a national test, compared with 38 percent of whites. Let's take a look at more disturbing statistics: According to a 2010 study from the Schott Foundation, only 47 percent of black male students entering high school in 2003 graduated in 2008, compared to 78 percent of white male students. The academic achievement gap is a harsh reality—all the more reason our sons need us to have their back (and to be on their backs) when it comes to their education. A Promise Club can help you do just that. From a social and emotional standpoint, here's why a Promise Club is necessary: Sources: The Schott Foundation. "National Opportunity to Learn Campaign. Federal Recommendations." schottfoundation.org/otl/otl-federal-recommendations-final.pdf and The New York Times. "Black Students face more Discipline, Data Suggests." March 6, 2012 (data is from the Department of Education) Of course you can help your son achieve educational and social success by yourself, but the adage "It takes a village to raise a child" is more than true. Having sincere, trusting relationships with other parents and a support group where you can get great advice, helpful tips, and basically "group therapy" can be even more effective and helpful. You don't have to do it all by yourself. "The empowerment and the engagement to make changes from the ground up as a group, as opposed to waiting for someone else to make that change is amazing," says Gina Parker Collins, founder of RIISE, a membership-based organization committed to bridging the gaps between families of color and private independent schools. "As a group, you're making changes in your household among other like-minded families who are very concerned about the welfare and power of their young men." Starting Your Own Club You've read why the Promise Club is necessary. So now it's your turn to be an active force in helping your son achieve academic and social greatness. Ready? OK, let's go. Get the Word Out Ideally, the smaller and more intimate the group, the better—especially since personal information and sensitive, candid anecdotes will be shared at these meetings. Plus, from a psychosocial standpoint, people tend to be more comfortable with a smaller group. 15 members at the maximum is a decent size that can still be effective and productive, while keeping the group close-knit and familial. Another thing: your Promise Club does not have to be limited to a particular race or gender. As long as folks are comfortable dealing with touchy issues of race and discrimination, they can certainly be part of the group. Here's how to look for your members: Decide Meeting Times and Locations Consider how often you'd like the Promise Club to meet. Remember that people are just as busy (or even more) as you. "Adding another weekly meeting to their already extraordinarily packed calendars might be a challenge, so it depends on the stage of life everyone's in," says Cheli English-Figaro co-founder and President Emerita of Mocha Moms. "Ascertain the pulse of the group before you determine how often you meet." Perhaps start off with just monthly meetings, but have weekly "check-ins" or updates via social media or text messages. The First Meeting OK, you have the meeting place and time secured. You've got RSVPs from the parents and friends who want to become involved in the Promise Club. But how will you run the pivotal first meeting? Here's a sample agenda: Welcome and Introductions Promise Club Purpose Promise Club Goals Open Discussion about Children and Schools Promise Club Topic Suggestions Logistics Call for Volunteers Meeting Adjourned Recommended Topics So now you know how to run the first meeting, but what matters will you discuss at your meetings? Here are some suggested topics with discussion points: Be More Visible at Your Son's School – It is important for you to be an active presence at your child's school and for your child to see you at his school. That will show him that you are a willing participant in helping him have the most rewarding school experience as possible. At least eight times a year it's extremely important for teachers and administration to see your face. They need to know who you are. And you need to know who they are. "You have to know who's with your kids. You have to know the feel of the school. Casual observation can teach you a lot and just walking through the halls teaches you a lot," says English-Figaro. Back-to-School Night and Parent-Teacher Meetings and Follow-ups – Frequent conversations and contact with the teachers is the key to a successful academic career for your child. Attending all back-to-school events and having meetings with the teacher on a regular basis is extremely important. Exchange contact information with the teacher so that if a face-to-face meeting cannot happen as often as you like, emails or phone calls can be exchanged. Monitoring Home Work and School Work – Have the group give suggestions on what they think is an adequate time to spend reviewing homework and the child's school work. Staying abreast of what your son is working on is definitely a must; however, in terms of how long to spend checking his work really depends on the child. "An intrinsically motivated child can have work glanced over, while the parent gleans information for supplemental education to push the child further," says Worokya T. Duncan, B.A., M.T.S., M.A.Ed., Ed.D., a member of Mocha Moms. "An extrinsically motivated child needs more focused attention, and may need to be monitored while doing homework. If a child cannot be monitored while doing homework, there should be a daily routine for reviewing homework before the night is over." Who Are Your Child's Teachers? – Discuss who is with your child all day and do they have your son's best interest at heart. How well do you know this person? Does your child like his teacher? Does the teacher like him? What type of relationship does this person have with your child? What is the person's teaching style? Have the group discuss what they like about past and current teachers and previous experiences with their son's teachers. Achievement Gap and Educational Disparities – There's no question that these gaps and disparities exist. Talk about them at length and come up with strategies in dealing with these issues throughout your son's schooling. Present the club with startling statistics and discuss historical cases and facts. Who is Your Child Hanging With or Not Hanging With? – Talk about the importance of knowing who your child's friends are and who their friends' parents are. Your child's friends have an overwhelming influence over them so it's vital to know who they're associating with. Also discuss bullying and cyber-bullying, which has been the hot topic as of late amongst teachers, administrators, parents, and legislators (thankfully so). Have a frank discussion about whether your child is the bully or being bullied and ways you can handle the situation. If Your Child is Doing Poorly – Discuss tutoring programs. Be involved, have patience, and understanding. Talk about ways to investigate why the student is not doing well. "Do not get on the 'blame train,'" suggests Dr. Chris Hickey, Sr., executive director of Each One-Teach One Alliance for Academic Access. "That is, do not immediately start looking for problems with the teacher, the instructions, or your child's friends. Investigate what the expectations are and where the disconnect is occurring." Joining PTA/PTO – Converse about the benefits of joining your son's PTA/PTO. You won't be able to be an active voice in budgetary decisions, happenings at the school, or what the school needs and does not need if you're not a member or not attending these meetings. "When a child sees that home activities and school activities are consistently important to the parent, it become consistently important to the child," says Dr. Hickey. Have parents who are part of PTA/PTO discuss their experiences. Extracurricular Activities – Discuss the benefits of children participating in these activities and ways to fit it into school schedules and the schedules of busy parents. The Importance of Community Service – Not only does volunteering with your child strengthen your community, but it also brings the family closer. A socially responsible child grows up to be a socially responsible adult. "Children learn to take ownership of their communities when they are involved in activities within their communities. They learn that home is more than just their apartment or house. They learn that they can play a role in the betterment of the neighborhood and they learn to network with those around them," says English-Figaro. Suggest different ways families can volunteer together. Visit http://www.voa.org/Get-Involved/Volunteer for suggestions. Getting More Parents Involved (And Grandparents Too!) – Share ways to get more parents in the community involved in the Promise Club and grandparents too, who have been stepping up to the plate and becoming very active in their grandchildren's academic and social endeavors as well. American Promise Mobile App American Promise has created the Promise Tracker, a comprehensive, enjoyable interactive mobile app for parents and caregivers of African-American boys to serve as a support device that contains information and habits that you can adopt and customize to encourage your son's academic success. Backed by in-depth research, the app covers a variety of topics including: Each topic will feature tips and goals to help families navigate these sometimes complex matters. The Promise Club members can download the app to their smart phones or tablets to assist them between meetings. An entire meeting can be dedicated to examining and discussing the app's exciting features and incorporating it as action steps for the club. "American Promise" Book Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys to Succeed in School and in Life – Lessons Learned from the 12-Year American Promise Project (Random House, 2013) by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson with Hilary Beard, will be published at the end of 2013 and serve as the companion book to the American Promise documentary. The book is a groundbreaking practical guide, essential for parents, caregivers, educators, and others concerned about the fate of black boys in America. Where the film American Promise raises provocative questions, Promises Kept delivers answers, combining insights Michèle and Joe derived from their own experiences with the latest research on closing the black male achievement gap and providing readers with an unprecedented toolkit full of practical strategies from infancy through the teenaged years. Promise Club members should be encouraged to purchase the book and dedicate a meeting to discussing their thoughts on the book and ways the book can serve as an essential tool and resource for later meetings. Each chapter can also be used as a topic for discussion at subsequent meetings. "American Promise" Film Screening As another step in starting your Promise Club, we recommend you plan a screening of the film. Community screenings of the documentary across the country have sparked deep and meaningful conversations with parents nationwide. Visit www.americanpromise.org or email info@americanpromise.org for details on how you can host a screening of American Promise in your community, bring the filmmakers to visit, or bring the film to your local movie theater. Other Helpful Resources You can incorporate these books and resources into your Promise Club meetings to generate thought-provoking, candid, and exciting conversations and debates. Examples of Successful Parent Group Models Parents have traditionally leaned on one another for support and advice. But over the last few decades, formal and semi-formal parent groups and organizations have become increasingly popular and very necessary. Already established organizations have created parent groups to address the growing academic and social needs of our children. These groups are effectively breaking ground when it comes to rallying behind our kids. When starting your own Promise Club you can turn to these organizations for excellent tips and resources, and motivation. Club 2012 In 2005, the parents of 15 boys, including every African American male at Eagle Ridge Middle School in Virginia's Loudon County, banded together for six years to encourage and aggressively propel their sons to achieve academic success. Their strategy was to get parents more involved, set high expectations for their sons, and encourage positive peer pressure amongst the boys. The group organized twice-weekly homework clubs at school and monthly meetings at parents' homes, tracking their sons' grades, test scores, conducting social or community service activities with their children, or discussing at length the causes and effects of the infamous achievement gap. They also visited college campuses (even before the boys entered high school) and actively engaged their sons' teachers and administrators. The group's hard work paid off. The boys had 100 percent graduation rate, were accepted to 76 percent of the universities they applied to; they averaged at least three offers for admission each; most of them took at least three advanced placement classes; and their average grade point average was 3.7. Excellent Options The founders of Club 2012 also created the nonprofit organization Excellent Options in 2006 with a mission to see that all African American male students from high school in their designated year, on time, in excellence and are equipped to successfully pursue any academic, professional or technological option that they desire. The mission was expanded to include girls in 2008 and all age groups. According to the organization's website: "We will train young men and women, parents, teachers and other significant persons to interact with those students in such a manner as to promote a culture of learning and achievement. A community/village approach, we believe, will yield the best possibility for these young people to graduate from high school in their designated school year 'in excellence and with options." Excellent Options believes every child must have a parent or a parent figure in their life, committed to their excellence; positive peer pressure; and great expectations. http://www.excellent-options.org/index.html Each One-Teach One Alliance for Academic Access Headed by Dr. Chris Hickey, Sr., executive director, the organization's philosophy is that children of color, just as all children, are driven to and committed to the expectations they feel around them. "We feel that children are motivated by the connection they feel to their surroundings. In essence, it is our feelings that children do not automatically assimilate with their environment. Rather, they are either drowned in, or reject, based on their own feeling about how they are connected or not to their environment/surroundings," says Dr. Hickey. Mocha Moms, Inc. Mocha Moms, Inc., a nationwide support group for mothers of color who have chosen to significantly alter their careers paths in order to be more available to their families, believes that education is the key to the success for children of color, and is the only thing that can prevent the black community from slipping into a cycle of poverty. "We, as parents, have to continue to make strides forward for our children," says Cheli English-Figaro, co-founder and President Emerita. "We have structured our whole organization around paying attention to our children, making sure that they're doing everything they can to achieve everything that they can. We have required that our local chapters sponsor annual educational summits, and we encourage the exchange of information between the parents in terms of how to help their children succeed." This fall, the organization is launching their Occupy SchoolsTM Movement, an initiative to help close the minority achievement gap in the United States, as well as encourage to promote and foster parent involvement and engagement in the academic lives of their children, and encourage parents to be strong advocates for the education of their children, in addition to other children in their communities. According to Mocha Moms, children are far less likely to receive unfair treatment at the hands of teachers and school administration if their parents are an active voice and presence at their children's school. http://www.mochamoms.org/ RIISE Founded by Gina Parker Collins in 2009, RIISE, which stands for "Resource in Independent School Education," is a membership based organization committed to bridging the gaps between families of color and private independent schools. They support the recruitment and well-balanced retention of a private independent education with resources and research delivered through events and digital/social media. The organization's vision is to continue to create legacies amongst families of color. "We feel that a standard of excellence in education can help to do that. In particular, an independent school education," says Parker Collins. "So we support families with awareness and navigation of independent school education. And we do this by empowering families of color through the, recruitment and well-balanced retention of an independent school education, while making sure that our children recognize their cultural capital, the legacy that's already been created for them, and the legacy they're creating now, for the future." Annually, RIISE holds a Parent Power Conference full of empowerment workshops and seminars for parents and students. www.4riise.org Parent University Various schools districts across the country have formed Parent Universities. With the philosophy that parents are learners too, Parent Universities offer seminars and workshops that provide professional development opportunities and information for parents to help their children be successful in school. The Parent University sessions focus on child development, what children are learning in schools, advocacy, parent leadership and effective parenting skills. Boston Public Schools offers three day- long Saturday learning sessions during the academic year: one each in October, January, and May, with additional sessions throughout the year at schools, libraries and community centers. The BPS also has a "graduation" for parents at the end of the school year for parents who have completed a set of learning sessions. http://www.bpsfamilies.org/parentuniversity Looking Forward Creating your own Promise Club does not have to be difficult. With motivation, commitment, and time it can be an exhilarating, positive journey for you and your child. Do it and see for yourself. Do it for your son! Also, tell him why you're doing this. Hug him and tell him that you're creating a Promise Club because you are his biggest fan and his most enthusiastic advocate. Tell him that you're doing this because you love him and promise him that you always will! Be sure to watch the film "American Promise" when it premieres on PBS in early 2014 and visit our website (www.AmericanPromise.org). Also, join the conversation that American Promise is setting in motion by liking our Facebook page and following us on Twitter at @PromiseFilm. Please feel free to contact us at info@americanpromise.org if you have any questions or need additional guidance on starting your own Promise Club. Good luck! We promise you that education empowers and will open doors for your children. Why create a Promise Club? Because there is an amazing result at the end of the road that will benefit black boys in a tangible way. They will achieve to their potential and will be proud and excited to do so. They will build and uplift not only themselves, but their communities as well. They will have the tools to confidently navigate and excel in a world and system where the odds are stacked against them. We have given you the roadmap and now it 's time for you and your son to embark on the journey. – Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson

Classroom Identities

Professional Development PDF

Fulfilling The American Promise: Classroom Identities

This is a self-paced presentation for individuals, easily modified for a group. Getting Started: You need: In his 1903 classic, The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote: Take a moment to reread the passage. How do you think self-identity and diversity in your classroom affect student performance? Understandings and Goals Essential Questions
  1. How do perceptions about black masculinity, particularly the ways in which race intersects with gender and class, shape how African-American male students are taught?
  2. What role does the idea of belonging or not belonging play in determining the opportunities available to different groups?
We hope this presentation builds a collective consciousness among school faculty about how race, gender and class assumptions influence the educational experiences of all students, particularly African-American males. First Reflection How can my assumptions and prejudices about race and gender influence pedagogy, classroom instruction and student learning? How can Idris and Seun's experiences help me develop a classroom culture where all students are treated fairly and given equal opportunities to succeed? How was Idris and Seun's individual development shaped by historical stereotypes about African Americans? If you are working with a cohort, share your ideas as a whole group. Take a few minutes for this task: Positive and Negative Identities, Step #1 Put a plus (+) or a minus (-) next to each identity trait you listed: + for those you feel are viewed positively by society. - for those that you feel are seen as negative. Good to know: There are no right or wrong answers. Positive and Negative Identities, Step #2 Take five minutes to reflect on your lists. Think about your reasons for each rating. Identify gaps or areas that might affect how you engage with the multiple identities present in your classroom. The Dalton Decision View this selection from American Promise, in which Michèle and Stacey describe their sons and part of the rationale behind sending them to Dalton: Second Reflection Analyze your list and reflections. Partner or group: Compare your lists and work through the questions together. The Link Between Language and Racial Discourse Historian George Fredrickson suggests: Perhaps closer attention to language will prove helpful in understanding how Americans, both white and black, established modes of discourse based on racial assumptions that then had an enduring effect on the world because of the extent to which they predetermined the very categories or forms that we use to think about the world. — The Black Image in the White Mind: Debate on Afro-American Character and Destiny 1817-1914 The Power of Language Our identities are shaped by self-perceptions, how we are perceived by others and how others treat us. The language we use to refer to ourselves and others also shape identity. Think about the ways identity and the selection of the words we use to refer to ourselves and others shape classroom conversations and teacher-student interactions. Consider: 1. How does the language we use to refer to ourselves and others shape the identity of each participant in an interpersonal exchange? 2. How does the language others use to refer to them influence Idris and Seun's self-perceptions, behavior, personal development and academic performance? Black Boys in a White School Now, you'll see some clips from American Promise. As you watch, record the language used by others to refer to Idris. Third Reflection Spend five minutes reviewing what you recorded. How did being seen as a "black male" appear to affect Idris and Seun's Dalton experience? How did the language used to refer to each student influence his sense of place at Dalton and, importantly, his ability to learn? In a group? Do this with a partner. Forging Connections Think about students you have taught and compare them to Idris and Seun. Were you able to develop a strong relationship with these students? Why or why not? Do you think your assumptions or perceptions about race, gender, class, sexuality and other identity markers affect your instructional approaches and student outcomes? Application What challenges did Idris and Seun face inside and outside of Dalton? How did their developing identity as black males shape these challenges? Fourth Reflection Thinking about the students you teach currently, select one who seems similar to Idris and Seun, and another who is different. Think of specific examples of how you engage with each of these students as you consider these questions: 1. Do I feel a connection or a disconnect? 2. Is there a difference between how the student relates to me and his peers? 3. What changes -- academic, social and behavioral, positive or negative -- have I seen over the course of the school year? Identity, Culture, and Improving Instructional Practice In this final activity you'll write a plan of action to address the issues you have identified as areas of improvement. You'll develop goals that you can achieve within a realistic time frame and identify benchmarks to hold yourself accountable. You may want to share your goals with a peer or school leader who will support you. Groups: Plan to share progress and challenges during future professional developments and staff meetings. What's Next? Final Reflection Watch The Culture of Students, from Teaching Tolerance. Reflect on these questions: Closing Next, we'll examine how classrooms shaped by white and middle-class cultural norms attempt to assimilate different identities into American society. We hope you'll join us for part two of Fulfilling the American Promise: Assimilation. Teaching Tolerance Teaching Tolerance designed this professional development series to help school faculty become more aware of the ways schools do and don't work well for African-American male students.

Exploring Assimilation

Professional Development PDF

Exploring Assimilation in American Promise

Getting Started: You need: Understandings and Goals: Essential Questions Create a triple-column document. Label the columns with these headings: Take 3-5 minutes to respond to each prompt. Background Experience: Step 1: Generate a list of authors, scientists, mathematicians, musicians, scholars, leaders, politicians and theorists you learned about and learned from during your high school years. Step 2: Circle the names of the individuals who share your racial identity. Independent Activity Step 1: Examine your list closely, noting what other aspects of identity, like gender, ethnicity, and educational level, are present. Step 2: Determine what common identities appear most often, and make a list. Step 3: Take 10 minutes to write in response to these prompts: Extended Activity Working in a group? Discuss aspects of your written response with others. Jot down new ideas or questions that emerge. Working independently? Commit to keeping a log for one week of the voices of senior leadership and high-ranking authority you encounter in your institution. Note their educational standing, gender, race and other characteristics. After one week, review the list for patterns. Reflect: If you see racialized patterns, how might these patterns unconsciously shape a student's perception about race? Acquisition of Knowledge: To access success, youth of color must make choices and compromises some conscious, others unconscious, about what parts of themselves to bring into the intellectual experience and which to leave behind. Acknowledging this reality allows students to understand and articulate how and why their crucial decisions affect their learning and shape their humanity. Acknowledging this reality allows educators to interrogate how educational institutions consciously or unconsciously affect the lives and choices of youth and their parents. Choices View this selection from American Promise. As you watch, consider the choices Seun and Idris make. Reflection: At what points do Seun and Idris make choices about who and what comes with them into the Dalton experience? How and when do you see Seun and Idris choosing to leave a person, idea, belief, or value behind? What are some of the specific results of these choices? Activity Create two timelines. Each boy should be the focus of one timeline. On each timeline, highlight specific decisions Idris and Seun made about fitting into the dominant culture at Dalton. Include at least two instances when each boy's parents expressed concerns about the way race was shaping their son's learning experiences. In a group? Work with a partner on this activity. Reflection Does the decision to attend a school like Dalton requires families of color to suspend their cultural world-view in exchange for the educational opportunity and the school's longstanding prestige? Students and families understand their culture will not be placed at the center of the independent school learning experience. Think about the scene where Idris asks his parents if Dalton would be easier if he were white. What specific situation prompts this important question? After Idris poses the question, his parents' silence provides an answer. How does the silence inform Idris, the family, and you about African-American racial identity? How does the silence inform Idris, the family and you about white racial identity? Activity Return to the triple-column document you created earlier. Add new thoughts, considerations or questions. Apply View these clips, noting the statements made by Libby Hixon, Daryl Rock and Debbie Almontaser. Reflection In what different ways does each educator talk about Seun, his progress, his learning potential and his educational success? How does each educator facilitate Seun's educational success? Closing Reflect on these three questions: 1. To attend Dalton, both families must commit to making sacrifices, noticeable changes and radical shifts to assimilate and navigate the institution. Both families examine and reshape their familial, racial, cultural and economic identities as well as their educational philosophies. Meanwhile, schools like Dalton stand on traditions, reputations and histories that ensure permanence. Dalton makes some adjustments for the boys, but the institutions structures and missions do not shift. As a result, the task of assimilating falls on the families and the students. In a short journal entry, reflect on this reality and the demands it puts on students. 2. What messages does your institution send to students and families about race-based assimilation? In what ways do you see students either attempting to assimilate or rejecting and resisting assimilation? 3. Assimilating is both necessary and problematic for African-Americans. How do Seun and Idris's experiences reflect that dichotomy? This is the second in a four-part series. Next in the series is Fulfilling the American Promise: Rethinking Achievement. Teaching Tolerance The second in a series designed by Teaching Tolerance of four self-paced presentations for individuals, easily modified for a group.

Rethinking Achievement

Professional Development PDF

Fulfilling the American Promise: Rethinking Achievement

Getting Started: You need: Understandings and Goals Essential Questions Learn Let's explore Claude Steele's ideas about stereotype threat. Carefully read the essay "How Stereotypes Undermine Test Scores. Next, watch minutes 7:47 to 19:45 of this video where Claude Steele describes stereotype threat. Finally, read this overview to deepen your understanding of the theory. Apply Just as specific behaviors are attributed to the stereotype of the 'absentminded professor,' a long list of behaviors – real or perceived – can inform or interrupt our expectations of academic excellence for students of color. Take a few minutes for this task: Step 1 -- List behaviors and beliefs that accompany the Asian- Pacific Islander stereotype of academic superiority. Step 2 -- List behaviors and beliefs that often accompany the stereotype of African-American academic inferiority. Step 3 -- List comments you have heard that uphold the stereotype that girls and women are not as good as men and boys at math and science. Step 4 -- List academic and non-academic spaces and experiences that reinforce some, or all, of these stereotypes. In a group?: Work in pairs! Go Deeper According to Claude Steele, "...stereotype threat is the pervasive fear of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype or the fear of inadvertently doing something that would confirm that stereotype." Research shows that stereotype threat noticeably impacts all levels of African-American achievement including, but not limited to, classroom performance, standardized test scores, social interaction and school completion. In what ways do both families in American Promise recognize that Seun's and Idris' academic achievement may be influenced by stereotype threat? African-American youth sometimes find their behaviors are labeled as 'acting white.' How might a label like 'acting white' uphold race-based stereotypes of both inferiority and superiority? Reflect Despite the reality that a host of issues create academic disparities, a belief persists that African-American children are intellectually inferior and embody deficits that need constant remedying, fixing, repair, and intervention. Reflect on the ways both Dalton and Banneker specifically address the myth of African-American inferiority and the idea that black children suffer from deficits. In a group? Work in pairs to document and compare ideas. Learn Seun and Idris face an extended narrative about achievement, one that references their relatives and even President Barack Obama. Scholars suggest that academic achievement is more than mastering content and should also include: Go Deeper Rewatch the clips where Seun is tested for his martial arts certification, Joe talks with Idris about the family's history of success, struggle and access, and Bannerker's principal talks about the ethos of the school. How do both families reiterate this multi-pronged, cultured, meaning of achievement? How do both boys attempt to embody this understanding of success? Can you think of other moments in the film that illustrate this wider understanding of achievement? Apply Write about how Banneker and Dalton align with, and consequentially support, a holistic understanding of success. Seun and Idris' learning differences create internalized narratives about their ability to achieve and succeed in academic spaces. What is each boy's narrative about his own ability to achieve and succeed? Consider selecting specific examples from the middle and high school years to support your response. In a group? Discuss the questions with a partner. Apply Consider this longer-term task. Conduct a small group interview with students to explore their beliefs about their ability to succeed. Sample questions: What do you believe about your ability to achieve success? What are your plans? What can you do if you feel your pathway is blocked by others who have more power than you do? Explore the messages students hear about achievement. Sample questions: What messages have you heard about success? What guarantees success? Where and how have those messages been reinforced? Explore the guidance students have been given about pathways to achievement. Sample questions: What specific instructions have you received about pathways to achievement? When you're done, compare your earlier list of stereotypes with the information gathered in the group interview. Reflect on both sets of data and use the information to shape, reframe, or design professional development in your institution or agency. Learn and Reflect In recent years, much has been written about the school-to-prison pipeline, in which children are disproportionately pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system. For many families, schools like Dalton are a welcome alternative to the interconnected systems that make the pipeline possible. Interestingly, independent schools report similar 'gaps' in achievement, similar amounts of discipline and academic probation, similar suspension disparities, and similar special education referral rates as public schools throughout the nation. How, and to what extent, does this national pattern appear in American Promise? How might these outcomes be connected to both stereotype threat and black student achievement? The next series of questions and activities can be completed individually or with a group. As both boys work to achieve academic success they also find degrees of success in athletic and extracurricular endeavors. Juxtapose their out-of-classroom experiences. To what extent does each boy's experience support his holistic growth? Learn View this 6-minute interview of Claude Steele discussing stereotype threat. What questions do you have related to the topics in the video? List them. Academic achievement is almost always measured by assessment. While some assessments are formal and standardized, others, often labeled broadly as 'alternative assessments,' are less so. While broadening the scope of assessment is relevant and necessary, the misuse and overuse of alternative assessments warrants consideration. Too often, believing that black and brown children are 'oral and literal' and have different learning styles, educators design assessments especially to support these children. These come in the form of creating rap songs, designing collages, or 'acting it out.' While such assignments may have some merit, their overuse can undermine learning and uphold the deficit model stereotype by normalizing low expectations. Apply What are some of the specific ways the overuse of alternative assessments can impact students, educators and learning institutions? Compile a list of the learning and thinking assessments used in your classroom or institution. Work either individually or with colleagues to create a system to evaluate classroom assessment methods to ensure they are balanced and do not inadvertently uphold, reflect, or perpetuate stereotypes. Academic achievement most often occurs when families support students; have safe, affirming living environments; practice positive, affirming behaviors; and can see that hard work is rewarded. With that in mind:
  1. How can schools provide the varying supports a student will need to succeed?
  2. How can your school improve?
This is the third in a four-part series. Next in the series is "Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within. Resources Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, Asa Hilliard III. Young Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African American Students. Boston: Beacon Press, 2003. Articles Jenny Anderson. "Admitted, but Left Out," The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2012. Video Marian Wright Edelman."Losing the Children Early and Often." The Crisis Nov-Dec. 2006: Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. "Claude Steele on Stereotype Threat." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvwvvbiwRkg 2011, Oct. Additional sources Lisa Delpit.Other People's Children. New York: New Press, 2006. Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 1970. Bell Hooks. Teaching to Trangress. New York: Routledge, 1994. Virginia Lea and July Helfand.Identifying Race and Transforming Whiteness in the Classroom. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2006. Peggy Macintosh. "Interactive Phases of Curricular and Personal Re-Vision with Regard to Race," Working Paper #219. Wellesley Center for Research on Women, 1990. Mab Segrest. Born to Belonging. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2003. This is the third in a four-part series. Next in the series is Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within. Teaching Tolerance The third in a series of four self-paced presentations designed by Teaching Tolerance, easily modified for groups.

The Education System, Outside and Within

Professional Development PDF

Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within

Getting Started: You need: Lessons Learn In his classic history of southern blacks and American education, James D. Anderson writes:
It is critical for an understanding of American educational history... to recognize that within American democracy there have been classes of oppressed people and that there have been essential relationships between popular education and the politics of oppression. Both schooling for democratic citizenship and schooling for second-class citizenship have been basic traditions in American education.
Take a moment to reread the passage. How do you think race, gender, class and other identity markers shape our school system, particularly through the relationships developed within the teaching and learning process? Take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts. In a group? Share your thoughts with the person sitting next to you. Understandings and Goals Essential Questions
  1. What are the connections among systems, individuals and educational instruction?
  2. How do instructional practices that reflect the dominant culture leave out some students?
Apply Take a few minutes for this task: Step 1—Without using a dictionary, record your definition of a "system." Step 2—Based on your definition, is there a system at your school? Step 3—List examples of how the system functions in your school. Step 4—Elaborate about the system you identified. What are the pros and cons for students? Who created the system? Who benefits from its implementation? Learn View this clip from American Promise. How do students benefit from systems, and how can they be harmed? Reflect American Promise uses the experiences of two black males to illuminate how the educational system is molded to the needs of a population that is predominately white and middle-class. Early in the film, both sets of African-American parents express concerns about sending their sons to a predominantly white school. Despite reservations, Idris' and Seun's parents enroll them at Dalton because they believe that the educational benefits and the academic opportunities outweigh the school's lack of racial diversity. Go Deeper Consider these questions as you view the scenes that follow. Learn Reflect Take a few minutes to record your thoughts about the connection between Idris' and Seun's experiences in Dalton's education system and their personal development. Learn School Leadership and Student Learning: View the following clips and compare the leadership at Dalton and Banneker. Both schools are part of the larger educational system, but their instructional approaches differ greatly. What explains the divergent pedagogies? Dalton's High Expectations and Banneker's Nurturing Learning Culture Banneker's principal, Dr. Daryl Rock, challenges the white, middle-class assumptions that are central to how children are educated in the United States. Martha Edleson articulates Dalton's expectations for its students. Reflect Apply Analyze and evaluate your school's system and its impact on the children and adults within it. With your colleagues, share instructional strategies and brainstorm new ways of measuring student achievement and learning while maintaining rigor. If possible, devise ways of collaborating that will help create a system between classrooms in your school where teachers can openly share successful approaches that ensure the learning of all students. Continued Learning: Facilitating Faculty Discourse via Social Media After sharing your observations, start a formal conversation among the staff about ways to improve the learning culture. Creating a private Facebook group accessible only to school faculty is one way to facilitate these discussions in a confidential and easy manner. A Facebook group also allows staff to communicate about students during the school day, as most smartphones have an application for the social media site. Group Option—Look at Your Department Gather with instructional staff in your subject area to discuss your classroom routines and pedagogical approaches. When you finish, share your observations with colleagues from other departments. Go Deeper Teacher Swap With the consent of school leadership, devise a plan to observe other instructors or co-teach with a colleague to learn new practices that may improve your classroom routines. You may also ask your supervisor to observe your instructional practices before and after you swap classrooms, and invite him or her to participate in the planning and teaching of your activities. This is the last in the four-part series examining American Promise and the education of black boys in the American educational system. Resources Anderson, James D. The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935. University of North Carolina Press, 1988, p. 1. Teaching Tolerance The last in a series of four self-paced presentations designed by Teaching Tolerance, easily modified for groups." ["post_title"]=> string(53) "American Promise Toolkits and Workshops: For Students" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(220) "This guide is designed to support productive conversations among young black men around Behind Every Promise, a half-hour video adapted from the documentary film American Promise, by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster." 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For Students

Behind Every Promise Discussion Guide

Behind Every Promise This guide is adapted from the Behind Every Promise Discussion Guide, which was created by Active Voice. ABOUT THIS GUIDE Being a teenager in school is hard enough. In addition to peer pressure to "fit in," students face tremendous pressure from parents and teachers to do well and succeed. But for young black men, the challenges are even greater, as they are faced with teachers and school systems ill-equipped to help them manage the emotional impact and real-life repercussions of the unintentional biases and stereotypes they face daily. This guide is designed to support productive conversations among young black men around Behind Every Promise, a half-hour video adapted from the documentary film American Promise, by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster. With direct testimonials from Idris Brewster and Seun Summers, interwoven with scenes from the feature-length documentary, Behind Every Promise gives viewers intimate access to the perspectives of two young black men as they come of age in the American school system. Watch Behind Every Promise: Young leaders, youth serving organizations, educators, guidance counselors and/or church leaders can use Behind Every Promise and this guide to inspire young black men to: ABOUT BEHIND EVERY PROMISE Behind Every Promise takes a behind-the-scenes look at the award-winning documentary American Promise, which explores the very personal journeys of two families preparing their sons for success. Supplementing select scenes from the film with newly shot video testimonials from Idris Brewster and Seun Summers, this retrospective offers viewers a chance to walk in the shoes of the two young men as they navigate the emotional ups and downs of school, friendship and family. From one scene to the next, they dig into what it's like to grow up black in America—from Idris getting criticized for "talking like a white boy" when he is not among peers at the predominantly white Dalton School in New York's Upper East Side, to Seun dropping out to attend the predominantly black Benjamin Banneker Academy in Brooklyn. In this thought-provoking video, Idris and Seun tell the American Promise story in their own words. To learn more, visit: www.americanpromise.org OVERVIEW This discussion guide is intended to help young black men (between the ages of 14 and 22) use Behind Every Promiseas a springboard for exploring issues around identity and life experience, ultimately inspiring a sense of agency toward developing support systems for success. Whether you are a young and motivated to prompt discussion among your peers, or if you are an adult mentor who wants to motivate young people, this video can help you realize your goals. GETTING STARTED Behind Every Promise can be used in a variety of contexts, from a small group dialogue to a large public event. Consider using it: Whatever you do, be sure to plan ahead. Here are the basics you should keep in mind: FACILITATION TIPS By providing first-hand perspectives of two young black men growing up in America, Behind Every Promise raises themes related to structural injustice, implicit bias and other forms of systemic inequity. Be prepared to facilitate a conversation that helps participants make those connections and avoids placing the burden of responsibility for success solely on young black men. Discussions around Behind Every Promise may raise some personal sensitivities and even potential conflict or disagreement among participants. People process information and relate it to their own experiences differently, so be prepared for emotionally charged conversations. The following section provides some broad guidelines to help you host a productive conversation. SETTING GUIDELINES Before delving into intimate conversations, it is important to establish guidelines and create a "safe space" where participants trust each other enough to share their experiences. Consider some of the following guidelines:
Family Photo
ENSURING PARTICIPATION Even if you've never facilitated a conversation before, there are some easy things you can do to help everyone feel comfortable participating in the conversation: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Feel free to pick and choose the questions that are most interesting and relevant to you and your group. No matter what, it's a good idea to open up the conversation with "Getting the Conversation Started," to allow for viewers to get warmed up for discussion. "Getting Into It" helps participants make the connection between key moments in the video and their personal experiences. "Connecting the Dots" should be used to help participants make connection to related issues not directly addressed in the video. There are also "Bonus Questions" that add new information to deepen the discussion. GETTING THE CONVERSATION STARTED GETTING INTO IT
  1. Idris and Seun both began their educational experiences at Dalton, an predominantly white school. In one scene, Seun talks about being one of the very few black students at the school and what it is like to be seen as a stereotypical black kid. "People treated me different," he explains. Do you relate to that experience? Please explain.
  2. What kinds of things did Idris and Seun each do to deal with their feelings of being treated differently from others? Have you ever felt like people treated you differently from other people and if so, what did you do about it?
  3. Idris and Seun were under many social pressures, some of which mad eSeun feel like he wasn't "smart enough." Do you ever feel that way? If so, what kinds of pressures are you under that lead you to feel inadequate? What strategies do you use to address these feelings in a productive?
  4. In one scene, Idris worries it will be embarrassing to play on the junior varsity basketball team after playing on the varsity team. It is especially hard for him because he thinks basketball is one of the only things he's good at. Why do you think he feels this way? When he says he is "expected to be good at sports," who do you think expects it?
  5. Idris reflects on how long it sometimes takes for him and his friends to catch a cab. How does Idris make sense of the experience? Have you ever had a hard time figuring out if a difficult experience you had was because of your race or if it was something else? Please explain.
  6. Seun talks about the valuable lessons he learned from his karate instructor. Do you have any mentors or someone in your life whom you look up to? Who is it and what valuable advice have you learned from him/her? Please explain.
  7. In one scene, Seun's younger brother dies in an accident. After that he starts to slip at school and in general. What kind of support did Seun receive that helped him get through this difficult time? Have you ever lost someone close to you? How did you work through that experience? Who or where did you turn to for support?
  8. Idris describes kids at Dalton who "in theory had everything." But he says he values his family more because they don't simply "throw money at him." Why do you think this is important to him? Please explain.
  9. Idris and Seun both have younger siblings. Seun explains that, for him, he feels he "has a responsibility as an older brother." What do you think he means? Do you feel like you have a responsibility to your family? To your community? Why or why not? Please explain.
  10. Looking back on his high school journey, Seun says he had a tough time. But sometimes, he continues, he was the one who made it tough for himself. What do you think he means? In what ways is your school experience tough for reasons you can't control and in what ways is it tough for reasons that you can control? Please explain.
  11. Idris and Seun have been through a lot, but we see each of them coming into themselves as they navigate different challenges. What experiences have helped you to come to understand yourself better? What have you learned through the process? In one scene, Seun says that when people believe in you, it makes you think you can succeed too. Who seems to believe in Seun? What or who in your life helps you to feel like you can succeed? How do they do it?
  12. In one scene, Seun says that when people believe in you, it makes you think you can succeed too. Who seems to believe in Seun? What or who in your life helps you to feel like you can succeed? How do they do it?
  13. Idris and Seun's parents seem to be hard on them sometimes. In one scene, Idris' dad says he's not being aggressive enough on the basketball court. What do you think his dad's afraid of? Do you have adults in your life who are hard on you? If so, what do you think their reasons are for putting pressure on you?
  14. At the end of the video, Seun shares his feelings on the importance of selecting "real friends." What do you think he means by "real friends"? How can you tell if someone is a "real friend" to you or not? Please explain.
  15. Why does Idris feel good about going to Occidental College, even though it wasn't his first choice? What life lessons did he learn from the experience? Do you think that Idris has matured by the end of the video? If so, in what ways and based on what experiences? What skills or life lessons do you think you are carrying into adulthood? What experiences are they based on? Please explain.
Seun in class
TAKE ACTION You can maintain the momentum of the screening discussion by taking steps to foster a support system for you and your peers that can lead to your collective success. Here are some ideas: RESOURCES About Black Male Achievement Achievement Gap Initiative (AGI) is a university-wide effort initiated by the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) to focus academic research, public education and innovative outreach activities toward eliminating achievement gaps. To learn more, visit: www.agi.harvard.edu. NAACP's National Education Program works to assure an equitable start for all Americans through advocacy training, policy development and guidance, building collaborative networks and direct action. To learn more, visit: www.naacp.org/programs/entry/education-programs. Open Society Foundations' Campaign for Black Male Achievement aims to address the exclusion of large numbers of black men and boys from economic, social, educational and political life in the United States. To learn more, visit: www.opensocietyfoundations.org/topics/black-male-achievement. National Education Association published a report that summarizes the current research about black male students. To learn more, visit: www.nea.org/assets/docs/educatingblackboys11rev.pdf. Academic Support National Urban League's Project Ready helps students in grades 8–12 make academic progress, benefit from cultural enrichment opportunities and develop important skills, attitudes and aptitudes that will aid in their transition from high school and position them for post-secondary success. To find an affiliate near you, visit: www.iamempowered.com/programs/project-ready/ urban-league-affiliates. United Negro College Fund plays a critical role in enabling more than 60,000 students each year to attend college and get the education they need and that the nation needs them to have. To learn more about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Scholarships, internships and more, visit: www.uncf.org. Teaching Tolerance is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and supporting equitable school experiences for our nation's children. Teaching Tolerance created an American Promise Educator's Guide. Let your teacher know. To learn more, visit: www.americanpromise.org/educators. Tavis Smiley Foundation programs focus on helping young people identify the skills, strengths and talents that make them a unique leader and how to apply those skills to become catalysts for positive social change. To learn more about academics, scholarships and activism, visit: www.youthtoleaders.org/teen_issues.html. Community Action Black Youth Project efforts are based on three basic concepts: knowledge, voice and action. To find out how you can take action against inequality and injustice, visit: action.blackyouthproject.com. Laundromat Project brings art, artists and arts programming into laundromats and other everyday spaces, amplifying the creativity that already exists within communities to build networks, solve problems and enhance our sense of ownership in the places where we live, work and grow. To learn more, visit: www.laundromatproject.org. Mentorship Mentoring Brothers in Action is a movement led by Big Brothers Big Sisters and the nation's three largest African American fraternities Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi to engage more African American men in fraternal, social, faith- based and professional organizations to get involved in one-to-one mentoring to change the odds for African American boys. To learn more, visit: www.MentoringBrothers.org. 100 Black Men of America's programs are based on a simple principle: through sustained mentoring programs young people realize their potential. To learn more or to find a chapter near you, visit: www.100blackmen.org. Logistics Checklist Use this checklist to help you think through the basic technical logistics for your screening. Not every piece will be relevant to you, but be sure to look through it to get a sense of the planning process. Preliminary Planning 4-6 weeks prior Optional: Social Media Outreach 2-3 weeks prior Final Planning several days prior At the Event Itself Required Supplies Optional Supplies ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Behind Every Promise is adapted from the documentary film American Promise by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, and was produced in association with Active Voice. Funding for Behind Every Promise was provided by Andrus Family Fund Active Voice Staff Shaady Salehi, Executive Director Sahar Driver, Program Manager Jillian Garcia, Technology & Operations Manager Rada Film Group Michèle Stephenson, Producer/Director Joe Brewster, Producer/Director Fritz Archer, Editor Jordan Fong, Editor Gregory S. Jones, Projects Manager Guide Reviewers Kelly Williams, Big Brothers Big Sisters' Mentoring Brothers in Action Khaleaph Luis, Rada Rilm Group Special Thanks Ri-Karlo Handy of Handyman Pictures, Consulting Producer Errol Weber, Interviewer/Cinematographer RYSE Center in Richmond, CA Youth Uprising in Oakland, CA Active Voice logoActive Voice tackles social issues through the creative use of film. We believe that real progress requires real connection, and that film has a unique power to bring people together in meaningful ways. Every day Active Voice helps filmmakers, funders and communities start the conversations and relationships that lead to lasting, measurable change. Since our inception in 2001, Active Voice has influenced local, regional and national dialogue on issues including immigration, criminal justice, healthcare and education. www.activevoice.net Rada Film GroupRada Film Group is a Brooklyn-based media production house operated by husband and wife team, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson. Brewster and Stephenson are award winning filmmakers whose work has been shown on television, cable and in theatrical release on six continents. www.radafilm.com.

For Parents

Promises To Keep: The Promise Club Handbook

promise-club-handbook-icon.jpg Promise him that you will help his teacher customize his educational experience to his learning needs, that you will communicate your high expectations both to him and to his teachers, that you will help him understand that he must learn no matter what anyone else may think of him, and that you will respond quickly to ensure he obtains appropriate help if you, a teacher or other member of his Village notices possible symptoms of a learning or developmental difference or disability. – excerpt from Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys to Succeed in School and in Life How can we help our sons navigate a complicated world that is oftentimes unfair and unforgiving? The answer is to be by their side as much as we physically, emotionally, mentally, and lovingly can. Helping them become successful, compassionate, and intelligent, men starts when they are young—from the time they're toddling in front of us, entering their kindergarten classroom, climbing the bus to middle and high school, and driving off to college. The more actively involved we parents are, the better the child will perform in school and in life. Brewster and StephensonIn 1999, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, middle class African-American parents living in Brooklyn, NY, turned their cameras on their son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, as they entered kindergarten at The Dalton School in Manhattan, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country, and began filming the documentary American Promise. Spanning 13 years— until the boys graduated high school—the provocative, intimate, and touching film reveals the complicated truths about America's struggle on issues of race, class, and opportunity. Now American Promise is a movement, spurring an organization of the same name, a book, as well as a national campaign to get the dialogue going and our children achieving. Joe and Michèle have now begun an initiative for parents to create their own "Promise Clubs" in their communities, or at their child's school. The idea of creating Promise Clubs actually came to Joe and Michèle after attending Harvard University Achievement Gap Initiative or AGI (a university-wide effort that focuses on academic research, public education, and innovative outreach activities toward eliminating achievement gaps) summit a few years ago, which was led by Ron Ferguson, economist, Harvard University education and public policy professor and AGI co- chair. At the summit, the couple met a group of parents who had started meeting regularly to support each other and demand more for their kids after feeling that their children were not getting the optimal educational experience. "They became an extended family and we thought their system worked, at least was working in that community. It was an example of motivated parents becoming active if not only for their kids, but for their immediate small community," says Joe. "Groups like this are forming organically in many different places," says Michèle. "The idea is that the Promise Club could help provide some form of structure to what's already happening on an ad hoc basis." So what exactly can a Promise Club do? It can empower parents so that they can empower their own children to achieve success—academically, socially, and emotionally. The purpose of this guide is to show you why you should start a Promise Club and provide you with tools and tips on how to start the club. By the way, a group like this can also be extremely helpful for single parents who might need the communal reinforcement, support, and fellowship that a Promise Club could offer. Also, you don't have to be a parent in the traditionally sense to create a Promise Club. Grandparents, godparents, aunts and uncles, or other caregivers can start a club as well. Alright, let's begin. Why the Promise Club Concept is Necessary and Effective Yes, you're busy, and maybe the thought of forming this type of club might seem overwhelming, but gathering other parents and starting these complicated conversations so that you can be a driving force behind your child's educational career is extremely necessary. From an academic standpoint, here's why: When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more. That's according to A New Wave of Evidence, a report from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (2002). The report, a synthesis of research on parent involvement over the past decade, also found that, regardless of family income or background, students with involved parents are more likely to: Ron Ferguson and AGI have also researched and reported some interesting facts on the middle class gap in America. According to AGI, compared to whites, significant gaps for African- American and Hispanic students are evident in virtually every measure of achievement: National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) math and reading test scores, high school completion rates, college enrollment and college completion rates. In addition, there is wide variability across states in educational investment and outcomes. Ferguson also participated in the Council of the Great City Schools study of the widening gap between white and black boys, which found that 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys were proficient in reading on a national test, compared with 38 percent of whites. Let's take a look at more disturbing statistics: According to a 2010 study from the Schott Foundation, only 47 percent of black male students entering high school in 2003 graduated in 2008, compared to 78 percent of white male students. The academic achievement gap is a harsh reality—all the more reason our sons need us to have their back (and to be on their backs) when it comes to their education. A Promise Club can help you do just that. From a social and emotional standpoint, here's why a Promise Club is necessary: Sources: The Schott Foundation. "National Opportunity to Learn Campaign. Federal Recommendations." schottfoundation.org/otl/otl-federal-recommendations-final.pdf and The New York Times. "Black Students face more Discipline, Data Suggests." March 6, 2012 (data is from the Department of Education) Of course you can help your son achieve educational and social success by yourself, but the adage "It takes a village to raise a child" is more than true. Having sincere, trusting relationships with other parents and a support group where you can get great advice, helpful tips, and basically "group therapy" can be even more effective and helpful. You don't have to do it all by yourself. "The empowerment and the engagement to make changes from the ground up as a group, as opposed to waiting for someone else to make that change is amazing," says Gina Parker Collins, founder of RIISE, a membership-based organization committed to bridging the gaps between families of color and private independent schools. "As a group, you're making changes in your household among other like-minded families who are very concerned about the welfare and power of their young men." Starting Your Own Club You've read why the Promise Club is necessary. So now it's your turn to be an active force in helping your son achieve academic and social greatness. Ready? OK, let's go. Get the Word Out Ideally, the smaller and more intimate the group, the better—especially since personal information and sensitive, candid anecdotes will be shared at these meetings. Plus, from a psychosocial standpoint, people tend to be more comfortable with a smaller group. 15 members at the maximum is a decent size that can still be effective and productive, while keeping the group close-knit and familial. Another thing: your Promise Club does not have to be limited to a particular race or gender. As long as folks are comfortable dealing with touchy issues of race and discrimination, they can certainly be part of the group. Here's how to look for your members: Decide Meeting Times and Locations Consider how often you'd like the Promise Club to meet. Remember that people are just as busy (or even more) as you. "Adding another weekly meeting to their already extraordinarily packed calendars might be a challenge, so it depends on the stage of life everyone's in," says Cheli English-Figaro co-founder and President Emerita of Mocha Moms. "Ascertain the pulse of the group before you determine how often you meet." Perhaps start off with just monthly meetings, but have weekly "check-ins" or updates via social media or text messages. The First Meeting OK, you have the meeting place and time secured. You've got RSVPs from the parents and friends who want to become involved in the Promise Club. But how will you run the pivotal first meeting? Here's a sample agenda: Welcome and Introductions Promise Club Purpose Promise Club Goals Open Discussion about Children and Schools Promise Club Topic Suggestions Logistics Call for Volunteers Meeting Adjourned Recommended Topics So now you know how to run the first meeting, but what matters will you discuss at your meetings? Here are some suggested topics with discussion points: Be More Visible at Your Son's School – It is important for you to be an active presence at your child's school and for your child to see you at his school. That will show him that you are a willing participant in helping him have the most rewarding school experience as possible. At least eight times a year it's extremely important for teachers and administration to see your face. They need to know who you are. And you need to know who they are. "You have to know who's with your kids. You have to know the feel of the school. Casual observation can teach you a lot and just walking through the halls teaches you a lot," says English-Figaro. Back-to-School Night and Parent-Teacher Meetings and Follow-ups – Frequent conversations and contact with the teachers is the key to a successful academic career for your child. Attending all back-to-school events and having meetings with the teacher on a regular basis is extremely important. Exchange contact information with the teacher so that if a face-to-face meeting cannot happen as often as you like, emails or phone calls can be exchanged. Monitoring Home Work and School Work – Have the group give suggestions on what they think is an adequate time to spend reviewing homework and the child's school work. Staying abreast of what your son is working on is definitely a must; however, in terms of how long to spend checking his work really depends on the child. "An intrinsically motivated child can have work glanced over, while the parent gleans information for supplemental education to push the child further," says Worokya T. Duncan, B.A., M.T.S., M.A.Ed., Ed.D., a member of Mocha Moms. "An extrinsically motivated child needs more focused attention, and may need to be monitored while doing homework. If a child cannot be monitored while doing homework, there should be a daily routine for reviewing homework before the night is over." Who Are Your Child's Teachers? – Discuss who is with your child all day and do they have your son's best interest at heart. How well do you know this person? Does your child like his teacher? Does the teacher like him? What type of relationship does this person have with your child? What is the person's teaching style? Have the group discuss what they like about past and current teachers and previous experiences with their son's teachers. Achievement Gap and Educational Disparities – There's no question that these gaps and disparities exist. Talk about them at length and come up with strategies in dealing with these issues throughout your son's schooling. Present the club with startling statistics and discuss historical cases and facts. Who is Your Child Hanging With or Not Hanging With? – Talk about the importance of knowing who your child's friends are and who their friends' parents are. Your child's friends have an overwhelming influence over them so it's vital to know who they're associating with. Also discuss bullying and cyber-bullying, which has been the hot topic as of late amongst teachers, administrators, parents, and legislators (thankfully so). Have a frank discussion about whether your child is the bully or being bullied and ways you can handle the situation. If Your Child is Doing Poorly – Discuss tutoring programs. Be involved, have patience, and understanding. Talk about ways to investigate why the student is not doing well. "Do not get on the 'blame train,'" suggests Dr. Chris Hickey, Sr., executive director of Each One-Teach One Alliance for Academic Access. "That is, do not immediately start looking for problems with the teacher, the instructions, or your child's friends. Investigate what the expectations are and where the disconnect is occurring." Joining PTA/PTO – Converse about the benefits of joining your son's PTA/PTO. You won't be able to be an active voice in budgetary decisions, happenings at the school, or what the school needs and does not need if you're not a member or not attending these meetings. "When a child sees that home activities and school activities are consistently important to the parent, it become consistently important to the child," says Dr. Hickey. Have parents who are part of PTA/PTO discuss their experiences. Extracurricular Activities – Discuss the benefits of children participating in these activities and ways to fit it into school schedules and the schedules of busy parents. The Importance of Community Service – Not only does volunteering with your child strengthen your community, but it also brings the family closer. A socially responsible child grows up to be a socially responsible adult. "Children learn to take ownership of their communities when they are involved in activities within their communities. They learn that home is more than just their apartment or house. They learn that they can play a role in the betterment of the neighborhood and they learn to network with those around them," says English-Figaro. Suggest different ways families can volunteer together. Visit http://www.voa.org/Get-Involved/Volunteer for suggestions. Getting More Parents Involved (And Grandparents Too!) – Share ways to get more parents in the community involved in the Promise Club and grandparents too, who have been stepping up to the plate and becoming very active in their grandchildren's academic and social endeavors as well. American Promise Mobile App American Promise has created the Promise Tracker, a comprehensive, enjoyable interactive mobile app for parents and caregivers of African-American boys to serve as a support device that contains information and habits that you can adopt and customize to encourage your son's academic success. Backed by in-depth research, the app covers a variety of topics including: Each topic will feature tips and goals to help families navigate these sometimes complex matters. The Promise Club members can download the app to their smart phones or tablets to assist them between meetings. An entire meeting can be dedicated to examining and discussing the app's exciting features and incorporating it as action steps for the club. "American Promise" Book Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys to Succeed in School and in Life – Lessons Learned from the 12-Year American Promise Project (Random House, 2013) by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson with Hilary Beard, will be published at the end of 2013 and serve as the companion book to the American Promise documentary. The book is a groundbreaking practical guide, essential for parents, caregivers, educators, and others concerned about the fate of black boys in America. Where the film American Promise raises provocative questions, Promises Kept delivers answers, combining insights Michèle and Joe derived from their own experiences with the latest research on closing the black male achievement gap and providing readers with an unprecedented toolkit full of practical strategies from infancy through the teenaged years. Promise Club members should be encouraged to purchase the book and dedicate a meeting to discussing their thoughts on the book and ways the book can serve as an essential tool and resource for later meetings. Each chapter can also be used as a topic for discussion at subsequent meetings. "American Promise" Film Screening As another step in starting your Promise Club, we recommend you plan a screening of the film. Community screenings of the documentary across the country have sparked deep and meaningful conversations with parents nationwide. Visit www.americanpromise.org or email info@americanpromise.org for details on how you can host a screening of American Promise in your community, bring the filmmakers to visit, or bring the film to your local movie theater. Other Helpful Resources You can incorporate these books and resources into your Promise Club meetings to generate thought-provoking, candid, and exciting conversations and debates. Examples of Successful Parent Group Models Parents have traditionally leaned on one another for support and advice. But over the last few decades, formal and semi-formal parent groups and organizations have become increasingly popular and very necessary. Already established organizations have created parent groups to address the growing academic and social needs of our children. These groups are effectively breaking ground when it comes to rallying behind our kids. When starting your own Promise Club you can turn to these organizations for excellent tips and resources, and motivation. Club 2012 In 2005, the parents of 15 boys, including every African American male at Eagle Ridge Middle School in Virginia's Loudon County, banded together for six years to encourage and aggressively propel their sons to achieve academic success. Their strategy was to get parents more involved, set high expectations for their sons, and encourage positive peer pressure amongst the boys. The group organized twice-weekly homework clubs at school and monthly meetings at parents' homes, tracking their sons' grades, test scores, conducting social or community service activities with their children, or discussing at length the causes and effects of the infamous achievement gap. They also visited college campuses (even before the boys entered high school) and actively engaged their sons' teachers and administrators. The group's hard work paid off. The boys had 100 percent graduation rate, were accepted to 76 percent of the universities they applied to; they averaged at least three offers for admission each; most of them took at least three advanced placement classes; and their average grade point average was 3.7. Excellent Options The founders of Club 2012 also created the nonprofit organization Excellent Options in 2006 with a mission to see that all African American male students from high school in their designated year, on time, in excellence and are equipped to successfully pursue any academic, professional or technological option that they desire. The mission was expanded to include girls in 2008 and all age groups. According to the organization's website: "We will train young men and women, parents, teachers and other significant persons to interact with those students in such a manner as to promote a culture of learning and achievement. A community/village approach, we believe, will yield the best possibility for these young people to graduate from high school in their designated school year 'in excellence and with options." Excellent Options believes every child must have a parent or a parent figure in their life, committed to their excellence; positive peer pressure; and great expectations. http://www.excellent-options.org/index.html Each One-Teach One Alliance for Academic Access Headed by Dr. Chris Hickey, Sr., executive director, the organization's philosophy is that children of color, just as all children, are driven to and committed to the expectations they feel around them. "We feel that children are motivated by the connection they feel to their surroundings. In essence, it is our feelings that children do not automatically assimilate with their environment. Rather, they are either drowned in, or reject, based on their own feeling about how they are connected or not to their environment/surroundings," says Dr. Hickey. Mocha Moms, Inc. Mocha Moms, Inc., a nationwide support group for mothers of color who have chosen to significantly alter their careers paths in order to be more available to their families, believes that education is the key to the success for children of color, and is the only thing that can prevent the black community from slipping into a cycle of poverty. "We, as parents, have to continue to make strides forward for our children," says Cheli English-Figaro, co-founder and President Emerita. "We have structured our whole organization around paying attention to our children, making sure that they're doing everything they can to achieve everything that they can. We have required that our local chapters sponsor annual educational summits, and we encourage the exchange of information between the parents in terms of how to help their children succeed." This fall, the organization is launching their Occupy SchoolsTM Movement, an initiative to help close the minority achievement gap in the United States, as well as encourage to promote and foster parent involvement and engagement in the academic lives of their children, and encourage parents to be strong advocates for the education of their children, in addition to other children in their communities. According to Mocha Moms, children are far less likely to receive unfair treatment at the hands of teachers and school administration if their parents are an active voice and presence at their children's school. http://www.mochamoms.org/ RIISE Founded by Gina Parker Collins in 2009, RIISE, which stands for "Resource in Independent School Education," is a membership based organization committed to bridging the gaps between families of color and private independent schools. They support the recruitment and well-balanced retention of a private independent education with resources and research delivered through events and digital/social media. The organization's vision is to continue to create legacies amongst families of color. "We feel that a standard of excellence in education can help to do that. In particular, an independent school education," says Parker Collins. "So we support families with awareness and navigation of independent school education. And we do this by empowering families of color through the, recruitment and well-balanced retention of an independent school education, while making sure that our children recognize their cultural capital, the legacy that's already been created for them, and the legacy they're creating now, for the future." Annually, RIISE holds a Parent Power Conference full of empowerment workshops and seminars for parents and students. www.4riise.org Parent University Various schools districts across the country have formed Parent Universities. With the philosophy that parents are learners too, Parent Universities offer seminars and workshops that provide professional development opportunities and information for parents to help their children be successful in school. The Parent University sessions focus on child development, what children are learning in schools, advocacy, parent leadership and effective parenting skills. Boston Public Schools offers three day- long Saturday learning sessions during the academic year: one each in October, January, and May, with additional sessions throughout the year at schools, libraries and community centers. The BPS also has a "graduation" for parents at the end of the school year for parents who have completed a set of learning sessions. http://www.bpsfamilies.org/parentuniversity Looking Forward Creating your own Promise Club does not have to be difficult. With motivation, commitment, and time it can be an exhilarating, positive journey for you and your child. Do it and see for yourself. Do it for your son! Also, tell him why you're doing this. Hug him and tell him that you're creating a Promise Club because you are his biggest fan and his most enthusiastic advocate. Tell him that you're doing this because you love him and promise him that you always will! Be sure to watch the film "American Promise" when it premieres on PBS in early 2014 and visit our website (www.AmericanPromise.org). Also, join the conversation that American Promise is setting in motion by liking our Facebook page and following us on Twitter at @PromiseFilm. Please feel free to contact us at info@americanpromise.org if you have any questions or need additional guidance on starting your own Promise Club. Good luck! We promise you that education empowers and will open doors for your children. Why create a Promise Club? Because there is an amazing result at the end of the road that will benefit black boys in a tangible way. They will achieve to their potential and will be proud and excited to do so. They will build and uplift not only themselves, but their communities as well. They will have the tools to confidently navigate and excel in a world and system where the odds are stacked against them. We have given you the roadmap and now it 's time for you and your son to embark on the journey. – Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson

Classroom Identities

Professional Development PDF

Fulfilling The American Promise: Classroom Identities

This is a self-paced presentation for individuals, easily modified for a group. Getting Started: You need: In his 1903 classic, The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote: Take a moment to reread the passage. How do you think self-identity and diversity in your classroom affect student performance? Understandings and Goals Essential Questions
  1. How do perceptions about black masculinity, particularly the ways in which race intersects with gender and class, shape how African-American male students are taught?
  2. What role does the idea of belonging or not belonging play in determining the opportunities available to different groups?
We hope this presentation builds a collective consciousness among school faculty about how race, gender and class assumptions influence the educational experiences of all students, particularly African-American males. First Reflection How can my assumptions and prejudices about race and gender influence pedagogy, classroom instruction and student learning? How can Idris and Seun's experiences help me develop a classroom culture where all students are treated fairly and given equal opportunities to succeed? How was Idris and Seun's individual development shaped by historical stereotypes about African Americans? If you are working with a cohort, share your ideas as a whole group. Take a few minutes for this task: Positive and Negative Identities, Step #1 Put a plus (+) or a minus (-) next to each identity trait you listed: + for those you feel are viewed positively by society. - for those that you feel are seen as negative. Good to know: There are no right or wrong answers. Positive and Negative Identities, Step #2 Take five minutes to reflect on your lists. Think about your reasons for each rating. Identify gaps or areas that might affect how you engage with the multiple identities present in your classroom. The Dalton Decision View this selection from American Promise, in which Michèle and Stacey describe their sons and part of the rationale behind sending them to Dalton: Second Reflection Analyze your list and reflections. Partner or group: Compare your lists and work through the questions together. The Link Between Language and Racial Discourse Historian George Fredrickson suggests: Perhaps closer attention to language will prove helpful in understanding how Americans, both white and black, established modes of discourse based on racial assumptions that then had an enduring effect on the world because of the extent to which they predetermined the very categories or forms that we use to think about the world. — The Black Image in the White Mind: Debate on Afro-American Character and Destiny 1817-1914 The Power of Language Our identities are shaped by self-perceptions, how we are perceived by others and how others treat us. The language we use to refer to ourselves and others also shape identity. Think about the ways identity and the selection of the words we use to refer to ourselves and others shape classroom conversations and teacher-student interactions. Consider: 1. How does the language we use to refer to ourselves and others shape the identity of each participant in an interpersonal exchange? 2. How does the language others use to refer to them influence Idris and Seun's self-perceptions, behavior, personal development and academic performance? Black Boys in a White School Now, you'll see some clips from American Promise. As you watch, record the language used by others to refer to Idris. Third Reflection Spend five minutes reviewing what you recorded. How did being seen as a "black male" appear to affect Idris and Seun's Dalton experience? How did the language used to refer to each student influence his sense of place at Dalton and, importantly, his ability to learn? In a group? Do this with a partner. Forging Connections Think about students you have taught and compare them to Idris and Seun. Were you able to develop a strong relationship with these students? Why or why not? Do you think your assumptions or perceptions about race, gender, class, sexuality and other identity markers affect your instructional approaches and student outcomes? Application What challenges did Idris and Seun face inside and outside of Dalton? How did their developing identity as black males shape these challenges? Fourth Reflection Thinking about the students you teach currently, select one who seems similar to Idris and Seun, and another who is different. Think of specific examples of how you engage with each of these students as you consider these questions: 1. Do I feel a connection or a disconnect? 2. Is there a difference between how the student relates to me and his peers? 3. What changes -- academic, social and behavioral, positive or negative -- have I seen over the course of the school year? Identity, Culture, and Improving Instructional Practice In this final activity you'll write a plan of action to address the issues you have identified as areas of improvement. You'll develop goals that you can achieve within a realistic time frame and identify benchmarks to hold yourself accountable. You may want to share your goals with a peer or school leader who will support you. Groups: Plan to share progress and challenges during future professional developments and staff meetings. What's Next? Final Reflection Watch The Culture of Students, from Teaching Tolerance. Reflect on these questions: Closing Next, we'll examine how classrooms shaped by white and middle-class cultural norms attempt to assimilate different identities into American society. We hope you'll join us for part two of Fulfilling the American Promise: Assimilation. Teaching Tolerance Teaching Tolerance designed this professional development series to help school faculty become more aware of the ways schools do and don't work well for African-American male students.

Exploring Assimilation

Professional Development PDF

Exploring Assimilation in American Promise

Getting Started: You need: Understandings and Goals: Essential Questions Create a triple-column document. Label the columns with these headings: Take 3-5 minutes to respond to each prompt. Background Experience: Step 1: Generate a list of authors, scientists, mathematicians, musicians, scholars, leaders, politicians and theorists you learned about and learned from during your high school years. Step 2: Circle the names of the individuals who share your racial identity. Independent Activity Step 1: Examine your list closely, noting what other aspects of identity, like gender, ethnicity, and educational level, are present. Step 2: Determine what common identities appear most often, and make a list. Step 3: Take 10 minutes to write in response to these prompts: Extended Activity Working in a group? Discuss aspects of your written response with others. Jot down new ideas or questions that emerge. Working independently? Commit to keeping a log for one week of the voices of senior leadership and high-ranking authority you encounter in your institution. Note their educational standing, gender, race and other characteristics. After one week, review the list for patterns. Reflect: If you see racialized patterns, how might these patterns unconsciously shape a student's perception about race? Acquisition of Knowledge: To access success, youth of color must make choices and compromises some conscious, others unconscious, about what parts of themselves to bring into the intellectual experience and which to leave behind. Acknowledging this reality allows students to understand and articulate how and why their crucial decisions affect their learning and shape their humanity. Acknowledging this reality allows educators to interrogate how educational institutions consciously or unconsciously affect the lives and choices of youth and their parents. Choices View this selection from American Promise. As you watch, consider the choices Seun and Idris make. Reflection: At what points do Seun and Idris make choices about who and what comes with them into the Dalton experience? How and when do you see Seun and Idris choosing to leave a person, idea, belief, or value behind? What are some of the specific results of these choices? Activity Create two timelines. Each boy should be the focus of one timeline. On each timeline, highlight specific decisions Idris and Seun made about fitting into the dominant culture at Dalton. Include at least two instances when each boy's parents expressed concerns about the way race was shaping their son's learning experiences. In a group? Work with a partner on this activity. Reflection Does the decision to attend a school like Dalton requires families of color to suspend their cultural world-view in exchange for the educational opportunity and the school's longstanding prestige? Students and families understand their culture will not be placed at the center of the independent school learning experience. Think about the scene where Idris asks his parents if Dalton would be easier if he were white. What specific situation prompts this important question? After Idris poses the question, his parents' silence provides an answer. How does the silence inform Idris, the family, and you about African-American racial identity? How does the silence inform Idris, the family and you about white racial identity? Activity Return to the triple-column document you created earlier. Add new thoughts, considerations or questions. Apply View these clips, noting the statements made by Libby Hixon, Daryl Rock and Debbie Almontaser. Reflection In what different ways does each educator talk about Seun, his progress, his learning potential and his educational success? How does each educator facilitate Seun's educational success? Closing Reflect on these three questions: 1. To attend Dalton, both families must commit to making sacrifices, noticeable changes and radical shifts to assimilate and navigate the institution. Both families examine and reshape their familial, racial, cultural and economic identities as well as their educational philosophies. Meanwhile, schools like Dalton stand on traditions, reputations and histories that ensure permanence. Dalton makes some adjustments for the boys, but the institutions structures and missions do not shift. As a result, the task of assimilating falls on the families and the students. In a short journal entry, reflect on this reality and the demands it puts on students. 2. What messages does your institution send to students and families about race-based assimilation? In what ways do you see students either attempting to assimilate or rejecting and resisting assimilation? 3. Assimilating is both necessary and problematic for African-Americans. How do Seun and Idris's experiences reflect that dichotomy? This is the second in a four-part series. Next in the series is Fulfilling the American Promise: Rethinking Achievement. Teaching Tolerance The second in a series designed by Teaching Tolerance of four self-paced presentations for individuals, easily modified for a group.

Rethinking Achievement

Professional Development PDF

Fulfilling the American Promise: Rethinking Achievement

Getting Started: You need: Understandings and Goals Essential Questions Learn Let's explore Claude Steele's ideas about stereotype threat. Carefully read the essay "How Stereotypes Undermine Test Scores. Next, watch minutes 7:47 to 19:45 of this video where Claude Steele describes stereotype threat. Finally, read this overview to deepen your understanding of the theory. Apply Just as specific behaviors are attributed to the stereotype of the 'absentminded professor,' a long list of behaviors – real or perceived – can inform or interrupt our expectations of academic excellence for students of color. Take a few minutes for this task: Step 1 -- List behaviors and beliefs that accompany the Asian- Pacific Islander stereotype of academic superiority. Step 2 -- List behaviors and beliefs that often accompany the stereotype of African-American academic inferiority. Step 3 -- List comments you have heard that uphold the stereotype that girls and women are not as good as men and boys at math and science. Step 4 -- List academic and non-academic spaces and experiences that reinforce some, or all, of these stereotypes. In a group?: Work in pairs! Go Deeper According to Claude Steele, "...stereotype threat is the pervasive fear of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype or the fear of inadvertently doing something that would confirm that stereotype." Research shows that stereotype threat noticeably impacts all levels of African-American achievement including, but not limited to, classroom performance, standardized test scores, social interaction and school completion. In what ways do both families in American Promise recognize that Seun's and Idris' academic achievement may be influenced by stereotype threat? African-American youth sometimes find their behaviors are labeled as 'acting white.' How might a label like 'acting white' uphold race-based stereotypes of both inferiority and superiority? Reflect Despite the reality that a host of issues create academic disparities, a belief persists that African-American children are intellectually inferior and embody deficits that need constant remedying, fixing, repair, and intervention. Reflect on the ways both Dalton and Banneker specifically address the myth of African-American inferiority and the idea that black children suffer from deficits. In a group? Work in pairs to document and compare ideas. Learn Seun and Idris face an extended narrative about achievement, one that references their relatives and even President Barack Obama. Scholars suggest that academic achievement is more than mastering content and should also include: Go Deeper Rewatch the clips where Seun is tested for his martial arts certification, Joe talks with Idris about the family's history of success, struggle and access, and Bannerker's principal talks about the ethos of the school. How do both families reiterate this multi-pronged, cultured, meaning of achievement? How do both boys attempt to embody this understanding of success? Can you think of other moments in the film that illustrate this wider understanding of achievement? Apply Write about how Banneker and Dalton align with, and consequentially support, a holistic understanding of success. Seun and Idris' learning differences create internalized narratives about their ability to achieve and succeed in academic spaces. What is each boy's narrative about his own ability to achieve and succeed? Consider selecting specific examples from the middle and high school years to support your response. In a group? Discuss the questions with a partner. Apply Consider this longer-term task. Conduct a small group interview with students to explore their beliefs about their ability to succeed. Sample questions: What do you believe about your ability to achieve success? What are your plans? What can you do if you feel your pathway is blocked by others who have more power than you do? Explore the messages students hear about achievement. Sample questions: What messages have you heard about success? What guarantees success? Where and how have those messages been reinforced? Explore the guidance students have been given about pathways to achievement. Sample questions: What specific instructions have you received about pathways to achievement? When you're done, compare your earlier list of stereotypes with the information gathered in the group interview. Reflect on both sets of data and use the information to shape, reframe, or design professional development in your institution or agency. Learn and Reflect In recent years, much has been written about the school-to-prison pipeline, in which children are disproportionately pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system. For many families, schools like Dalton are a welcome alternative to the interconnected systems that make the pipeline possible. Interestingly, independent schools report similar 'gaps' in achievement, similar amounts of discipline and academic probation, similar suspension disparities, and similar special education referral rates as public schools throughout the nation. How, and to what extent, does this national pattern appear in American Promise? How might these outcomes be connected to both stereotype threat and black student achievement? The next series of questions and activities can be completed individually or with a group. As both boys work to achieve academic success they also find degrees of success in athletic and extracurricular endeavors. Juxtapose their out-of-classroom experiences. To what extent does each boy's experience support his holistic growth? Learn View this 6-minute interview of Claude Steele discussing stereotype threat. What questions do you have related to the topics in the video? List them. Academic achievement is almost always measured by assessment. While some assessments are formal and standardized, others, often labeled broadly as 'alternative assessments,' are less so. While broadening the scope of assessment is relevant and necessary, the misuse and overuse of alternative assessments warrants consideration. Too often, believing that black and brown children are 'oral and literal' and have different learning styles, educators design assessments especially to support these children. These come in the form of creating rap songs, designing collages, or 'acting it out.' While such assignments may have some merit, their overuse can undermine learning and uphold the deficit model stereotype by normalizing low expectations. Apply What are some of the specific ways the overuse of alternative assessments can impact students, educators and learning institutions? Compile a list of the learning and thinking assessments used in your classroom or institution. Work either individually or with colleagues to create a system to evaluate classroom assessment methods to ensure they are balanced and do not inadvertently uphold, reflect, or perpetuate stereotypes. Academic achievement most often occurs when families support students; have safe, affirming living environments; practice positive, affirming behaviors; and can see that hard work is rewarded. With that in mind:
  1. How can schools provide the varying supports a student will need to succeed?
  2. How can your school improve?
This is the third in a four-part series. Next in the series is "Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within. Resources Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, Asa Hilliard III. Young Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African American Students. Boston: Beacon Press, 2003. Articles Jenny Anderson. "Admitted, but Left Out," The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2012. Video Marian Wright Edelman."Losing the Children Early and Often." The Crisis Nov-Dec. 2006: Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. "Claude Steele on Stereotype Threat." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvwvvbiwRkg 2011, Oct. Additional sources Lisa Delpit.Other People's Children. New York: New Press, 2006. Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 1970. Bell Hooks. Teaching to Trangress. New York: Routledge, 1994. Virginia Lea and July Helfand.Identifying Race and Transforming Whiteness in the Classroom. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2006. Peggy Macintosh. "Interactive Phases of Curricular and Personal Re-Vision with Regard to Race," Working Paper #219. Wellesley Center for Research on Women, 1990. Mab Segrest. Born to Belonging. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2003. This is the third in a four-part series. Next in the series is Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within. Teaching Tolerance The third in a series of four self-paced presentations designed by Teaching Tolerance, easily modified for groups.

The Education System, Outside and Within

Professional Development PDF

Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within

Getting Started: You need: Lessons Learn In his classic history of southern blacks and American education, James D. Anderson writes:
It is critical for an understanding of American educational history... to recognize that within American democracy there have been classes of oppressed people and that there have been essential relationships between popular education and the politics of oppression. Both schooling for democratic citizenship and schooling for second-class citizenship have been basic traditions in American education.
Take a moment to reread the passage. How do you think race, gender, class and other identity markers shape our school system, particularly through the relationships developed within the teaching and learning process? Take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts. In a group? Share your thoughts with the person sitting next to you. Understandings and Goals Essential Questions
  1. What are the connections among systems, individuals and educational instruction?
  2. How do instructional practices that reflect the dominant culture leave out some students?
Apply Take a few minutes for this task: Step 1—Without using a dictionary, record your definition of a "system." Step 2—Based on your definition, is there a system at your school? Step 3—List examples of how the system functions in your school. Step 4—Elaborate about the system you identified. What are the pros and cons for students? Who created the system? Who benefits from its implementation? Learn View this clip from American Promise. How do students benefit from systems, and how can they be harmed? Reflect American Promise uses the experiences of two black males to illuminate how the educational system is molded to the needs of a population that is predominately white and middle-class. Early in the film, both sets of African-American parents express concerns about sending their sons to a predominantly white school. Despite reservations, Idris' and Seun's parents enroll them at Dalton because they believe that the educational benefits and the academic opportunities outweigh the school's lack of racial diversity. Go Deeper Consider these questions as you view the scenes that follow. Learn Reflect Take a few minutes to record your thoughts about the connection between Idris' and Seun's experiences in Dalton's education system and their personal development. Learn School Leadership and Student Learning: View the following clips and compare the leadership at Dalton and Banneker. Both schools are part of the larger educational system, but their instructional approaches differ greatly. What explains the divergent pedagogies? Dalton's High Expectations and Banneker's Nurturing Learning Culture Banneker's principal, Dr. Daryl Rock, challenges the white, middle-class assumptions that are central to how children are educated in the United States. Martha Edleson articulates Dalton's expectations for its students. Reflect Apply Analyze and evaluate your school's system and its impact on the children and adults within it. With your colleagues, share instructional strategies and brainstorm new ways of measuring student achievement and learning while maintaining rigor. If possible, devise ways of collaborating that will help create a system between classrooms in your school where teachers can openly share successful approaches that ensure the learning of all students. Continued Learning: Facilitating Faculty Discourse via Social Media After sharing your observations, start a formal conversation among the staff about ways to improve the learning culture. Creating a private Facebook group accessible only to school faculty is one way to facilitate these discussions in a confidential and easy manner. A Facebook group also allows staff to communicate about students during the school day, as most smartphones have an application for the social media site. Group Option—Look at Your Department Gather with instructional staff in your subject area to discuss your classroom routines and pedagogical approaches. When you finish, share your observations with colleagues from other departments. Go Deeper Teacher Swap With the consent of school leadership, devise a plan to observe other instructors or co-teach with a colleague to learn new practices that may improve your classroom routines. You may also ask your supervisor to observe your instructional practices before and after you swap classrooms, and invite him or her to participate in the planning and teaching of your activities. This is the last in the four-part series examining American Promise and the education of black boys in the American educational system. Resources Anderson, James D. The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935. University of North Carolina Press, 1988, p. 1. Teaching Tolerance The last in a series of four self-paced presentations designed by Teaching Tolerance, easily modified for groups." ["post_title"]=> string(53) "American Promise Toolkits and Workshops: For Students" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(220) "This guide is designed to support productive conversations among young black men around Behind Every Promise, a half-hour video adapted from the documentary film American Promise, by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster." 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For Students

Behind Every Promise Discussion Guide

Behind Every Promise This guide is adapted from the Behind Every Promise Discussion Guide, which was created by Active Voice. ABOUT THIS GUIDE Being a teenager in school is hard enough. In addition to peer pressure to "fit in," students face tremendous pressure from parents and teachers to do well and succeed. But for young black men, the challenges are even greater, as they are faced with teachers and school systems ill-equipped to help them manage the emotional impact and real-life repercussions of the unintentional biases and stereotypes they face daily. This guide is designed to support productive conversations among young black men around Behind Every Promise, a half-hour video adapted from the documentary film American Promise, by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster. With direct testimonials from Idris Brewster and Seun Summers, interwoven with scenes from the feature-length documentary, Behind Every Promise gives viewers intimate access to the perspectives of two young black men as they come of age in the American school system. Watch Behind Every Promise: Young leaders, youth serving organizations, educators, guidance counselors and/or church leaders can use Behind Every Promise and this guide to inspire young black men to: ABOUT BEHIND EVERY PROMISE Behind Every Promise takes a behind-the-scenes look at the award-winning documentary American Promise, which explores the very personal journeys of two families preparing their sons for success. Supplementing select scenes from the film with newly shot video testimonials from Idris Brewster and Seun Summers, this retrospective offers viewers a chance to walk in the shoes of the two young men as they navigate the emotional ups and downs of school, friendship and family. From one scene to the next, they dig into what it's like to grow up black in America—from Idris getting criticized for "talking like a white boy" when he is not among peers at the predominantly white Dalton School in New York's Upper East Side, to Seun dropping out to attend the predominantly black Benjamin Banneker Academy in Brooklyn. In this thought-provoking video, Idris and Seun tell the American Promise story in their own words. To learn more, visit: www.americanpromise.org OVERVIEW This discussion guide is intended to help young black men (between the ages of 14 and 22) use Behind Every Promiseas a springboard for exploring issues around identity and life experience, ultimately inspiring a sense of agency toward developing support systems for success. Whether you are a young and motivated to prompt discussion among your peers, or if you are an adult mentor who wants to motivate young people, this video can help you realize your goals. GETTING STARTED Behind Every Promise can be used in a variety of contexts, from a small group dialogue to a large public event. Consider using it: Whatever you do, be sure to plan ahead. Here are the basics you should keep in mind: FACILITATION TIPS By providing first-hand perspectives of two young black men growing up in America, Behind Every Promise raises themes related to structural injustice, implicit bias and other forms of systemic inequity. Be prepared to facilitate a conversation that helps participants make those connections and avoids placing the burden of responsibility for success solely on young black men. Discussions around Behind Every Promise may raise some personal sensitivities and even potential conflict or disagreement among participants. People process information and relate it to their own experiences differently, so be prepared for emotionally charged conversations. The following section provides some broad guidelines to help you host a productive conversation. SETTING GUIDELINES Before delving into intimate conversations, it is important to establish guidelines and create a "safe space" where participants trust each other enough to share their experiences. Consider some of the following guidelines:
Family Photo
ENSURING PARTICIPATION Even if you've never facilitated a conversation before, there are some easy things you can do to help everyone feel comfortable participating in the conversation: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Feel free to pick and choose the questions that are most interesting and relevant to you and your group. No matter what, it's a good idea to open up the conversation with "Getting the Conversation Started," to allow for viewers to get warmed up for discussion. "Getting Into It" helps participants make the connection between key moments in the video and their personal experiences. "Connecting the Dots" should be used to help participants make connection to related issues not directly addressed in the video. There are also "Bonus Questions" that add new information to deepen the discussion. GETTING THE CONVERSATION STARTED GETTING INTO IT
  1. Idris and Seun both began their educational experiences at Dalton, an predominantly white school. In one scene, Seun talks about being one of the very few black students at the school and what it is like to be seen as a stereotypical black kid. "People treated me different," he explains. Do you relate to that experience? Please explain.
  2. What kinds of things did Idris and Seun each do to deal with their feelings of being treated differently from others? Have you ever felt like people treated you differently from other people and if so, what did you do about it?
  3. Idris and Seun were under many social pressures, some of which mad eSeun feel like he wasn't "smart enough." Do you ever feel that way? If so, what kinds of pressures are you under that lead you to feel inadequate? What strategies do you use to address these feelings in a productive?
  4. In one scene, Idris worries it will be embarrassing to play on the junior varsity basketball team after playing on the varsity team. It is especially hard for him because he thinks basketball is one of the only things he's good at. Why do you think he feels this way? When he says he is "expected to be good at sports," who do you think expects it?
  5. Idris reflects on how long it sometimes takes for him and his friends to catch a cab. How does Idris make sense of the experience? Have you ever had a hard time figuring out if a difficult experience you had was because of your race or if it was something else? Please explain.
  6. Seun talks about the valuable lessons he learned from his karate instructor. Do you have any mentors or someone in your life whom you look up to? Who is it and what valuable advice have you learned from him/her? Please explain.
  7. In one scene, Seun's younger brother dies in an accident. After that he starts to slip at school and in general. What kind of support did Seun receive that helped him get through this difficult time? Have you ever lost someone close to you? How did you work through that experience? Who or where did you turn to for support?
  8. Idris describes kids at Dalton who "in theory had everything." But he says he values his family more because they don't simply "throw money at him." Why do you think this is important to him? Please explain.
  9. Idris and Seun both have younger siblings. Seun explains that, for him, he feels he "has a responsibility as an older brother." What do you think he means? Do you feel like you have a responsibility to your family? To your community? Why or why not? Please explain.
  10. Looking back on his high school journey, Seun says he had a tough time. But sometimes, he continues, he was the one who made it tough for himself. What do you think he means? In what ways is your school experience tough for reasons you can't control and in what ways is it tough for reasons that you can control? Please explain.
  11. Idris and Seun have been through a lot, but we see each of them coming into themselves as they navigate different challenges. What experiences have helped you to come to understand yourself better? What have you learned through the process? In one scene, Seun says that when people believe in you, it makes you think you can succeed too. Who seems to believe in Seun? What or who in your life helps you to feel like you can succeed? How do they do it?
  12. In one scene, Seun says that when people believe in you, it makes you think you can succeed too. Who seems to believe in Seun? What or who in your life helps you to feel like you can succeed? How do they do it?
  13. Idris and Seun's parents seem to be hard on them sometimes. In one scene, Idris' dad says he's not being aggressive enough on the basketball court. What do you think his dad's afraid of? Do you have adults in your life who are hard on you? If so, what do you think their reasons are for putting pressure on you?
  14. At the end of the video, Seun shares his feelings on the importance of selecting "real friends." What do you think he means by "real friends"? How can you tell if someone is a "real friend" to you or not? Please explain.
  15. Why does Idris feel good about going to Occidental College, even though it wasn't his first choice? What life lessons did he learn from the experience? Do you think that Idris has matured by the end of the video? If so, in what ways and based on what experiences? What skills or life lessons do you think you are carrying into adulthood? What experiences are they based on? Please explain.
Seun in class
TAKE ACTION You can maintain the momentum of the screening discussion by taking steps to foster a support system for you and your peers that can lead to your collective success. Here are some ideas: RESOURCES About Black Male Achievement Achievement Gap Initiative (AGI) is a university-wide effort initiated by the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) to focus academic research, public education and innovative outreach activities toward eliminating achievement gaps. To learn more, visit: www.agi.harvard.edu. NAACP's National Education Program works to assure an equitable start for all Americans through advocacy training, policy development and guidance, building collaborative networks and direct action. To learn more, visit: www.naacp.org/programs/entry/education-programs. Open Society Foundations' Campaign for Black Male Achievement aims to address the exclusion of large numbers of black men and boys from economic, social, educational and political life in the United States. To learn more, visit: www.opensocietyfoundations.org/topics/black-male-achievement. National Education Association published a report that summarizes the current research about black male students. To learn more, visit: www.nea.org/assets/docs/educatingblackboys11rev.pdf. Academic Support National Urban League's Project Ready helps students in grades 8–12 make academic progress, benefit from cultural enrichment opportunities and develop important skills, attitudes and aptitudes that will aid in their transition from high school and position them for post-secondary success. To find an affiliate near you, visit: www.iamempowered.com/programs/project-ready/ urban-league-affiliates. United Negro College Fund plays a critical role in enabling more than 60,000 students each year to attend college and get the education they need and that the nation needs them to have. To learn more about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Scholarships, internships and more, visit: www.uncf.org. Teaching Tolerance is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and supporting equitable school experiences for our nation's children. Teaching Tolerance created an American Promise Educator's Guide. Let your teacher know. To learn more, visit: www.americanpromise.org/educators. Tavis Smiley Foundation programs focus on helping young people identify the skills, strengths and talents that make them a unique leader and how to apply those skills to become catalysts for positive social change. To learn more about academics, scholarships and activism, visit: www.youthtoleaders.org/teen_issues.html. Community Action Black Youth Project efforts are based on three basic concepts: knowledge, voice and action. To find out how you can take action against inequality and injustice, visit: action.blackyouthproject.com. Laundromat Project brings art, artists and arts programming into laundromats and other everyday spaces, amplifying the creativity that already exists within communities to build networks, solve problems and enhance our sense of ownership in the places where we live, work and grow. To learn more, visit: www.laundromatproject.org. Mentorship Mentoring Brothers in Action is a movement led by Big Brothers Big Sisters and the nation's three largest African American fraternities Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi to engage more African American men in fraternal, social, faith- based and professional organizations to get involved in one-to-one mentoring to change the odds for African American boys. To learn more, visit: www.MentoringBrothers.org. 100 Black Men of America's programs are based on a simple principle: through sustained mentoring programs young people realize their potential. To learn more or to find a chapter near you, visit: www.100blackmen.org. Logistics Checklist Use this checklist to help you think through the basic technical logistics for your screening. Not every piece will be relevant to you, but be sure to look through it to get a sense of the planning process. Preliminary Planning 4-6 weeks prior Optional: Social Media Outreach 2-3 weeks prior Final Planning several days prior At the Event Itself Required Supplies Optional Supplies ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Behind Every Promise is adapted from the documentary film American Promise by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, and was produced in association with Active Voice. Funding for Behind Every Promise was provided by Andrus Family Fund Active Voice Staff Shaady Salehi, Executive Director Sahar Driver, Program Manager Jillian Garcia, Technology & Operations Manager Rada Film Group Michèle Stephenson, Producer/Director Joe Brewster, Producer/Director Fritz Archer, Editor Jordan Fong, Editor Gregory S. Jones, Projects Manager Guide Reviewers Kelly Williams, Big Brothers Big Sisters' Mentoring Brothers in Action Khaleaph Luis, Rada Rilm Group Special Thanks Ri-Karlo Handy of Handyman Pictures, Consulting Producer Errol Weber, Interviewer/Cinematographer RYSE Center in Richmond, CA Youth Uprising in Oakland, CA Active Voice logoActive Voice tackles social issues through the creative use of film. We believe that real progress requires real connection, and that film has a unique power to bring people together in meaningful ways. Every day Active Voice helps filmmakers, funders and communities start the conversations and relationships that lead to lasting, measurable change. Since our inception in 2001, Active Voice has influenced local, regional and national dialogue on issues including immigration, criminal justice, healthcare and education. www.activevoice.net Rada Film GroupRada Film Group is a Brooklyn-based media production house operated by husband and wife team, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson. Brewster and Stephenson are award winning filmmakers whose work has been shown on television, cable and in theatrical release on six continents. www.radafilm.com.

For Parents

Promises To Keep: The Promise Club Handbook

promise-club-handbook-icon.jpg Promise him that you will help his teacher customize his educational experience to his learning needs, that you will communicate your high expectations both to him and to his teachers, that you will help him understand that he must learn no matter what anyone else may think of him, and that you will respond quickly to ensure he obtains appropriate help if you, a teacher or other member of his Village notices possible symptoms of a learning or developmental difference or disability. – excerpt from Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys to Succeed in School and in Life How can we help our sons navigate a complicated world that is oftentimes unfair and unforgiving? The answer is to be by their side as much as we physically, emotionally, mentally, and lovingly can. Helping them become successful, compassionate, and intelligent, men starts when they are young—from the time they're toddling in front of us, entering their kindergarten classroom, climbing the bus to middle and high school, and driving off to college. The more actively involved we parents are, the better the child will perform in school and in life. Brewster and StephensonIn 1999, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, middle class African-American parents living in Brooklyn, NY, turned their cameras on their son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, as they entered kindergarten at The Dalton School in Manhattan, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country, and began filming the documentary American Promise. Spanning 13 years— until the boys graduated high school—the provocative, intimate, and touching film reveals the complicated truths about America's struggle on issues of race, class, and opportunity. Now American Promise is a movement, spurring an organization of the same name, a book, as well as a national campaign to get the dialogue going and our children achieving. Joe and Michèle have now begun an initiative for parents to create their own "Promise Clubs" in their communities, or at their child's school. The idea of creating Promise Clubs actually came to Joe and Michèle after attending Harvard University Achievement Gap Initiative or AGI (a university-wide effort that focuses on academic research, public education, and innovative outreach activities toward eliminating achievement gaps) summit a few years ago, which was led by Ron Ferguson, economist, Harvard University education and public policy professor and AGI co- chair. At the summit, the couple met a group of parents who had started meeting regularly to support each other and demand more for their kids after feeling that their children were not getting the optimal educational experience. "They became an extended family and we thought their system worked, at least was working in that community. It was an example of motivated parents becoming active if not only for their kids, but for their immediate small community," says Joe. "Groups like this are forming organically in many different places," says Michèle. "The idea is that the Promise Club could help provide some form of structure to what's already happening on an ad hoc basis." So what exactly can a Promise Club do? It can empower parents so that they can empower their own children to achieve success—academically, socially, and emotionally. The purpose of this guide is to show you why you should start a Promise Club and provide you with tools and tips on how to start the club. By the way, a group like this can also be extremely helpful for single parents who might need the communal reinforcement, support, and fellowship that a Promise Club could offer. Also, you don't have to be a parent in the traditionally sense to create a Promise Club. Grandparents, godparents, aunts and uncles, or other caregivers can start a club as well. Alright, let's begin. Why the Promise Club Concept is Necessary and Effective Yes, you're busy, and maybe the thought of forming this type of club might seem overwhelming, but gathering other parents and starting these complicated conversations so that you can be a driving force behind your child's educational career is extremely necessary. From an academic standpoint, here's why: When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more. That's according to A New Wave of Evidence, a report from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (2002). The report, a synthesis of research on parent involvement over the past decade, also found that, regardless of family income or background, students with involved parents are more likely to: Ron Ferguson and AGI have also researched and reported some interesting facts on the middle class gap in America. According to AGI, compared to whites, significant gaps for African- American and Hispanic students are evident in virtually every measure of achievement: National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) math and reading test scores, high school completion rates, college enrollment and college completion rates. In addition, there is wide variability across states in educational investment and outcomes. Ferguson also participated in the Council of the Great City Schools study of the widening gap between white and black boys, which found that 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys were proficient in reading on a national test, compared with 38 percent of whites. Let's take a look at more disturbing statistics: According to a 2010 study from the Schott Foundation, only 47 percent of black male students entering high school in 2003 graduated in 2008, compared to 78 percent of white male students. The academic achievement gap is a harsh reality—all the more reason our sons need us to have their back (and to be on their backs) when it comes to their education. A Promise Club can help you do just that. From a social and emotional standpoint, here's why a Promise Club is necessary: Sources: The Schott Foundation. "National Opportunity to Learn Campaign. Federal Recommendations." schottfoundation.org/otl/otl-federal-recommendations-final.pdf and The New York Times. "Black Students face more Discipline, Data Suggests." March 6, 2012 (data is from the Department of Education) Of course you can help your son achieve educational and social success by yourself, but the adage "It takes a village to raise a child" is more than true. Having sincere, trusting relationships with other parents and a support group where you can get great advice, helpful tips, and basically "group therapy" can be even more effective and helpful. You don't have to do it all by yourself. "The empowerment and the engagement to make changes from the ground up as a group, as opposed to waiting for someone else to make that change is amazing," says Gina Parker Collins, founder of RIISE, a membership-based organization committed to bridging the gaps between families of color and private independent schools. "As a group, you're making changes in your household among other like-minded families who are very concerned about the welfare and power of their young men." Starting Your Own Club You've read why the Promise Club is necessary. So now it's your turn to be an active force in helping your son achieve academic and social greatness. Ready? OK, let's go. Get the Word Out Ideally, the smaller and more intimate the group, the better—especially since personal information and sensitive, candid anecdotes will be shared at these meetings. Plus, from a psychosocial standpoint, people tend to be more comfortable with a smaller group. 15 members at the maximum is a decent size that can still be effective and productive, while keeping the group close-knit and familial. Another thing: your Promise Club does not have to be limited to a particular race or gender. As long as folks are comfortable dealing with touchy issues of race and discrimination, they can certainly be part of the group. Here's how to look for your members: Decide Meeting Times and Locations Consider how often you'd like the Promise Club to meet. Remember that people are just as busy (or even more) as you. "Adding another weekly meeting to their already extraordinarily packed calendars might be a challenge, so it depends on the stage of life everyone's in," says Cheli English-Figaro co-founder and President Emerita of Mocha Moms. "Ascertain the pulse of the group before you determine how often you meet." Perhaps start off with just monthly meetings, but have weekly "check-ins" or updates via social media or text messages. The First Meeting OK, you have the meeting place and time secured. You've got RSVPs from the parents and friends who want to become involved in the Promise Club. But how will you run the pivotal first meeting? Here's a sample agenda: Welcome and Introductions Promise Club Purpose Promise Club Goals Open Discussion about Children and Schools Promise Club Topic Suggestions Logistics Call for Volunteers Meeting Adjourned Recommended Topics So now you know how to run the first meeting, but what matters will you discuss at your meetings? Here are some suggested topics with discussion points: Be More Visible at Your Son's School – It is important for you to be an active presence at your child's school and for your child to see you at his school. That will show him that you are a willing participant in helping him have the most rewarding school experience as possible. At least eight times a year it's extremely important for teachers and administration to see your face. They need to know who you are. And you need to know who they are. "You have to know who's with your kids. You have to know the feel of the school. Casual observation can teach you a lot and just walking through the halls teaches you a lot," says English-Figaro. Back-to-School Night and Parent-Teacher Meetings and Follow-ups – Frequent conversations and contact with the teachers is the key to a successful academic career for your child. Attending all back-to-school events and having meetings with the teacher on a regular basis is extremely important. Exchange contact information with the teacher so that if a face-to-face meeting cannot happen as often as you like, emails or phone calls can be exchanged. Monitoring Home Work and School Work – Have the group give suggestions on what they think is an adequate time to spend reviewing homework and the child's school work. Staying abreast of what your son is working on is definitely a must; however, in terms of how long to spend checking his work really depends on the child. "An intrinsically motivated child can have work glanced over, while the parent gleans information for supplemental education to push the child further," says Worokya T. Duncan, B.A., M.T.S., M.A.Ed., Ed.D., a member of Mocha Moms. "An extrinsically motivated child needs more focused attention, and may need to be monitored while doing homework. If a child cannot be monitored while doing homework, there should be a daily routine for reviewing homework before the night is over." Who Are Your Child's Teachers? – Discuss who is with your child all day and do they have your son's best interest at heart. How well do you know this person? Does your child like his teacher? Does the teacher like him? What type of relationship does this person have with your child? What is the person's teaching style? Have the group discuss what they like about past and current teachers and previous experiences with their son's teachers. Achievement Gap and Educational Disparities – There's no question that these gaps and disparities exist. Talk about them at length and come up with strategies in dealing with these issues throughout your son's schooling. Present the club with startling statistics and discuss historical cases and facts. Who is Your Child Hanging With or Not Hanging With? – Talk about the importance of knowing who your child's friends are and who their friends' parents are. Your child's friends have an overwhelming influence over them so it's vital to know who they're associating with. Also discuss bullying and cyber-bullying, which has been the hot topic as of late amongst teachers, administrators, parents, and legislators (thankfully so). Have a frank discussion about whether your child is the bully or being bullied and ways you can handle the situation. If Your Child is Doing Poorly – Discuss tutoring programs. Be involved, have patience, and understanding. Talk about ways to investigate why the student is not doing well. "Do not get on the 'blame train,'" suggests Dr. Chris Hickey, Sr., executive director of Each One-Teach One Alliance for Academic Access. "That is, do not immediately start looking for problems with the teacher, the instructions, or your child's friends. Investigate what the expectations are and where the disconnect is occurring." Joining PTA/PTO – Converse about the benefits of joining your son's PTA/PTO. You won't be able to be an active voice in budgetary decisions, happenings at the school, or what the school needs and does not need if you're not a member or not attending these meetings. "When a child sees that home activities and school activities are consistently important to the parent, it become consistently important to the child," says Dr. Hickey. Have parents who are part of PTA/PTO discuss their experiences. Extracurricular Activities – Discuss the benefits of children participating in these activities and ways to fit it into school schedules and the schedules of busy parents. The Importance of Community Service – Not only does volunteering with your child strengthen your community, but it also brings the family closer. A socially responsible child grows up to be a socially responsible adult. "Children learn to take ownership of their communities when they are involved in activities within their communities. They learn that home is more than just their apartment or house. They learn that they can play a role in the betterment of the neighborhood and they learn to network with those around them," says English-Figaro. Suggest different ways families can volunteer together. Visit http://www.voa.org/Get-Involved/Volunteer for suggestions. Getting More Parents Involved (And Grandparents Too!) – Share ways to get more parents in the community involved in the Promise Club and grandparents too, who have been stepping up to the plate and becoming very active in their grandchildren's academic and social endeavors as well. American Promise Mobile App American Promise has created the Promise Tracker, a comprehensive, enjoyable interactive mobile app for parents and caregivers of African-American boys to serve as a support device that contains information and habits that you can adopt and customize to encourage your son's academic success. Backed by in-depth research, the app covers a variety of topics including: Each topic will feature tips and goals to help families navigate these sometimes complex matters. The Promise Club members can download the app to their smart phones or tablets to assist them between meetings. An entire meeting can be dedicated to examining and discussing the app's exciting features and incorporating it as action steps for the club. "American Promise" Book Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys to Succeed in School and in Life – Lessons Learned from the 12-Year American Promise Project (Random House, 2013) by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson with Hilary Beard, will be published at the end of 2013 and serve as the companion book to the American Promise documentary. The book is a groundbreaking practical guide, essential for parents, caregivers, educators, and others concerned about the fate of black boys in America. Where the film American Promise raises provocative questions, Promises Kept delivers answers, combining insights Michèle and Joe derived from their own experiences with the latest research on closing the black male achievement gap and providing readers with an unprecedented toolkit full of practical strategies from infancy through the teenaged years. Promise Club members should be encouraged to purchase the book and dedicate a meeting to discussing their thoughts on the book and ways the book can serve as an essential tool and resource for later meetings. Each chapter can also be used as a topic for discussion at subsequent meetings. "American Promise" Film Screening As another step in starting your Promise Club, we recommend you plan a screening of the film. Community screenings of the documentary across the country have sparked deep and meaningful conversations with parents nationwide. Visit www.americanpromise.org or email info@americanpromise.org for details on how you can host a screening of American Promise in your community, bring the filmmakers to visit, or bring the film to your local movie theater. Other Helpful Resources You can incorporate these books and resources into your Promise Club meetings to generate thought-provoking, candid, and exciting conversations and debates. Examples of Successful Parent Group Models Parents have traditionally leaned on one another for support and advice. But over the last few decades, formal and semi-formal parent groups and organizations have become increasingly popular and very necessary. Already established organizations have created parent groups to address the growing academic and social needs of our children. These groups are effectively breaking ground when it comes to rallying behind our kids. When starting your own Promise Club you can turn to these organizations for excellent tips and resources, and motivation. Club 2012 In 2005, the parents of 15 boys, including every African American male at Eagle Ridge Middle School in Virginia's Loudon County, banded together for six years to encourage and aggressively propel their sons to achieve academic success. Their strategy was to get parents more involved, set high expectations for their sons, and encourage positive peer pressure amongst the boys. The group organized twice-weekly homework clubs at school and monthly meetings at parents' homes, tracking their sons' grades, test scores, conducting social or community service activities with their children, or discussing at length the causes and effects of the infamous achievement gap. They also visited college campuses (even before the boys entered high school) and actively engaged their sons' teachers and administrators. The group's hard work paid off. The boys had 100 percent graduation rate, were accepted to 76 percent of the universities they applied to; they averaged at least three offers for admission each; most of them took at least three advanced placement classes; and their average grade point average was 3.7. Excellent Options The founders of Club 2012 also created the nonprofit organization Excellent Options in 2006 with a mission to see that all African American male students from high school in their designated year, on time, in excellence and are equipped to successfully pursue any academic, professional or technological option that they desire. The mission was expanded to include girls in 2008 and all age groups. According to the organization's website: "We will train young men and women, parents, teachers and other significant persons to interact with those students in such a manner as to promote a culture of learning and achievement. A community/village approach, we believe, will yield the best possibility for these young people to graduate from high school in their designated school year 'in excellence and with options." Excellent Options believes every child must have a parent or a parent figure in their life, committed to their excellence; positive peer pressure; and great expectations. http://www.excellent-options.org/index.html Each One-Teach One Alliance for Academic Access Headed by Dr. Chris Hickey, Sr., executive director, the organization's philosophy is that children of color, just as all children, are driven to and committed to the expectations they feel around them. "We feel that children are motivated by the connection they feel to their surroundings. In essence, it is our feelings that children do not automatically assimilate with their environment. Rather, they are either drowned in, or reject, based on their own feeling about how they are connected or not to their environment/surroundings," says Dr. Hickey. Mocha Moms, Inc. Mocha Moms, Inc., a nationwide support group for mothers of color who have chosen to significantly alter their careers paths in order to be more available to their families, believes that education is the key to the success for children of color, and is the only thing that can prevent the black community from slipping into a cycle of poverty. "We, as parents, have to continue to make strides forward for our children," says Cheli English-Figaro, co-founder and President Emerita. "We have structured our whole organization around paying attention to our children, making sure that they're doing everything they can to achieve everything that they can. We have required that our local chapters sponsor annual educational summits, and we encourage the exchange of information between the parents in terms of how to help their children succeed." This fall, the organization is launching their Occupy SchoolsTM Movement, an initiative to help close the minority achievement gap in the United States, as well as encourage to promote and foster parent involvement and engagement in the academic lives of their children, and encourage parents to be strong advocates for the education of their children, in addition to other children in their communities. According to Mocha Moms, children are far less likely to receive unfair treatment at the hands of teachers and school administration if their parents are an active voice and presence at their children's school. http://www.mochamoms.org/ RIISE Founded by Gina Parker Collins in 2009, RIISE, which stands for "Resource in Independent School Education," is a membership based organization committed to bridging the gaps between families of color and private independent schools. They support the recruitment and well-balanced retention of a private independent education with resources and research delivered through events and digital/social media. The organization's vision is to continue to create legacies amongst families of color. "We feel that a standard of excellence in education can help to do that. In particular, an independent school education," says Parker Collins. "So we support families with awareness and navigation of independent school education. And we do this by empowering families of color through the, recruitment and well-balanced retention of an independent school education, while making sure that our children recognize their cultural capital, the legacy that's already been created for them, and the legacy they're creating now, for the future." Annually, RIISE holds a Parent Power Conference full of empowerment workshops and seminars for parents and students. www.4riise.org Parent University Various schools districts across the country have formed Parent Universities. With the philosophy that parents are learners too, Parent Universities offer seminars and workshops that provide professional development opportunities and information for parents to help their children be successful in school. The Parent University sessions focus on child development, what children are learning in schools, advocacy, parent leadership and effective parenting skills. Boston Public Schools offers three day- long Saturday learning sessions during the academic year: one each in October, January, and May, with additional sessions throughout the year at schools, libraries and community centers. The BPS also has a "graduation" for parents at the end of the school year for parents who have completed a set of learning sessions. http://www.bpsfamilies.org/parentuniversity Looking Forward Creating your own Promise Club does not have to be difficult. With motivation, commitment, and time it can be an exhilarating, positive journey for you and your child. Do it and see for yourself. Do it for your son! Also, tell him why you're doing this. Hug him and tell him that you're creating a Promise Club because you are his biggest fan and his most enthusiastic advocate. Tell him that you're doing this because you love him and promise him that you always will! Be sure to watch the film "American Promise" when it premieres on PBS in early 2014 and visit our website (www.AmericanPromise.org). Also, join the conversation that American Promise is setting in motion by liking our Facebook page and following us on Twitter at @PromiseFilm. Please feel free to contact us at info@americanpromise.org if you have any questions or need additional guidance on starting your own Promise Club. Good luck! We promise you that education empowers and will open doors for your children. Why create a Promise Club? Because there is an amazing result at the end of the road that will benefit black boys in a tangible way. They will achieve to their potential and will be proud and excited to do so. They will build and uplift not only themselves, but their communities as well. They will have the tools to confidently navigate and excel in a world and system where the odds are stacked against them. We have given you the roadmap and now it 's time for you and your son to embark on the journey. – Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson

Classroom Identities

Professional Development PDF

Fulfilling The American Promise: Classroom Identities

This is a self-paced presentation for individuals, easily modified for a group. Getting Started: You need: In his 1903 classic, The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote: Take a moment to reread the passage. How do you think self-identity and diversity in your classroom affect student performance? Understandings and Goals Essential Questions
  1. How do perceptions about black masculinity, particularly the ways in which race intersects with gender and class, shape how African-American male students are taught?
  2. What role does the idea of belonging or not belonging play in determining the opportunities available to different groups?
We hope this presentation builds a collective consciousness among school faculty about how race, gender and class assumptions influence the educational experiences of all students, particularly African-American males. First Reflection How can my assumptions and prejudices about race and gender influence pedagogy, classroom instruction and student learning? How can Idris and Seun's experiences help me develop a classroom culture where all students are treated fairly and given equal opportunities to succeed? How was Idris and Seun's individual development shaped by historical stereotypes about African Americans? If you are working with a cohort, share your ideas as a whole group. Take a few minutes for this task: Positive and Negative Identities, Step #1 Put a plus (+) or a minus (-) next to each identity trait you listed: + for those you feel are viewed positively by society. - for those that you feel are seen as negative. Good to know: There are no right or wrong answers. Positive and Negative Identities, Step #2 Take five minutes to reflect on your lists. Think about your reasons for each rating. Identify gaps or areas that might affect how you engage with the multiple identities present in your classroom. The Dalton Decision View this selection from American Promise, in which Michèle and Stacey describe their sons and part of the rationale behind sending them to Dalton: Second Reflection Analyze your list and reflections. Partner or group: Compare your lists and work through the questions together. The Link Between Language and Racial Discourse Historian George Fredrickson suggests: Perhaps closer attention to language will prove helpful in understanding how Americans, both white and black, established modes of discourse based on racial assumptions that then had an enduring effect on the world because of the extent to which they predetermined the very categories or forms that we use to think about the world. — The Black Image in the White Mind: Debate on Afro-American Character and Destiny 1817-1914 The Power of Language Our identities are shaped by self-perceptions, how we are perceived by others and how others treat us. The language we use to refer to ourselves and others also shape identity. Think about the ways identity and the selection of the words we use to refer to ourselves and others shape classroom conversations and teacher-student interactions. Consider: 1. How does the language we use to refer to ourselves and others shape the identity of each participant in an interpersonal exchange? 2. How does the language others use to refer to them influence Idris and Seun's self-perceptions, behavior, personal development and academic performance? Black Boys in a White School Now, you'll see some clips from American Promise. As you watch, record the language used by others to refer to Idris. Third Reflection Spend five minutes reviewing what you recorded. How did being seen as a "black male" appear to affect Idris and Seun's Dalton experience? How did the language used to refer to each student influence his sense of place at Dalton and, importantly, his ability to learn? In a group? Do this with a partner. Forging Connections Think about students you have taught and compare them to Idris and Seun. Were you able to develop a strong relationship with these students? Why or why not? Do you think your assumptions or perceptions about race, gender, class, sexuality and other identity markers affect your instructional approaches and student outcomes? Application What challenges did Idris and Seun face inside and outside of Dalton? How did their developing identity as black males shape these challenges? Fourth Reflection Thinking about the students you teach currently, select one who seems similar to Idris and Seun, and another who is different. Think of specific examples of how you engage with each of these students as you consider these questions: 1. Do I feel a connection or a disconnect? 2. Is there a difference between how the student relates to me and his peers? 3. What changes -- academic, social and behavioral, positive or negative -- have I seen over the course of the school year? Identity, Culture, and Improving Instructional Practice In this final activity you'll write a plan of action to address the issues you have identified as areas of improvement. You'll develop goals that you can achieve within a realistic time frame and identify benchmarks to hold yourself accountable. You may want to share your goals with a peer or school leader who will support you. Groups: Plan to share progress and challenges during future professional developments and staff meetings. What's Next? Final Reflection Watch The Culture of Students, from Teaching Tolerance. Reflect on these questions: Closing Next, we'll examine how classrooms shaped by white and middle-class cultural norms attempt to assimilate different identities into American society. We hope you'll join us for part two of Fulfilling the American Promise: Assimilation. Teaching Tolerance Teaching Tolerance designed this professional development series to help school faculty become more aware of the ways schools do and don't work well for African-American male students.

Exploring Assimilation

Professional Development PDF

Exploring Assimilation in American Promise

Getting Started: You need: Understandings and Goals: Essential Questions Create a triple-column document. Label the columns with these headings: Take 3-5 minutes to respond to each prompt. Background Experience: Step 1: Generate a list of authors, scientists, mathematicians, musicians, scholars, leaders, politicians and theorists you learned about and learned from during your high school years. Step 2: Circle the names of the individuals who share your racial identity. Independent Activity Step 1: Examine your list closely, noting what other aspects of identity, like gender, ethnicity, and educational level, are present. Step 2: Determine what common identities appear most often, and make a list. Step 3: Take 10 minutes to write in response to these prompts: Extended Activity Working in a group? Discuss aspects of your written response with others. Jot down new ideas or questions that emerge. Working independently? Commit to keeping a log for one week of the voices of senior leadership and high-ranking authority you encounter in your institution. Note their educational standing, gender, race and other characteristics. After one week, review the list for patterns. Reflect: If you see racialized patterns, how might these patterns unconsciously shape a student's perception about race? Acquisition of Knowledge: To access success, youth of color must make choices and compromises some conscious, others unconscious, about what parts of themselves to bring into the intellectual experience and which to leave behind. Acknowledging this reality allows students to understand and articulate how and why their crucial decisions affect their learning and shape their humanity. Acknowledging this reality allows educators to interrogate how educational institutions consciously or unconsciously affect the lives and choices of youth and their parents. Choices View this selection from American Promise. As you watch, consider the choices Seun and Idris make. Reflection: At what points do Seun and Idris make choices about who and what comes with them into the Dalton experience? How and when do you see Seun and Idris choosing to leave a person, idea, belief, or value behind? What are some of the specific results of these choices? Activity Create two timelines. Each boy should be the focus of one timeline. On each timeline, highlight specific decisions Idris and Seun made about fitting into the dominant culture at Dalton. Include at least two instances when each boy's parents expressed concerns about the way race was shaping their son's learning experiences. In a group? Work with a partner on this activity. Reflection Does the decision to attend a school like Dalton requires families of color to suspend their cultural world-view in exchange for the educational opportunity and the school's longstanding prestige? Students and families understand their culture will not be placed at the center of the independent school learning experience. Think about the scene where Idris asks his parents if Dalton would be easier if he were white. What specific situation prompts this important question? After Idris poses the question, his parents' silence provides an answer. How does the silence inform Idris, the family, and you about African-American racial identity? How does the silence inform Idris, the family and you about white racial identity? Activity Return to the triple-column document you created earlier. Add new thoughts, considerations or questions. Apply View these clips, noting the statements made by Libby Hixon, Daryl Rock and Debbie Almontaser. Reflection In what different ways does each educator talk about Seun, his progress, his learning potential and his educational success? How does each educator facilitate Seun's educational success? Closing Reflect on these three questions: 1. To attend Dalton, both families must commit to making sacrifices, noticeable changes and radical shifts to assimilate and navigate the institution. Both families examine and reshape their familial, racial, cultural and economic identities as well as their educational philosophies. Meanwhile, schools like Dalton stand on traditions, reputations and histories that ensure permanence. Dalton makes some adjustments for the boys, but the institutions structures and missions do not shift. As a result, the task of assimilating falls on the families and the students. In a short journal entry, reflect on this reality and the demands it puts on students. 2. What messages does your institution send to students and families about race-based assimilation? In what ways do you see students either attempting to assimilate or rejecting and resisting assimilation? 3. Assimilating is both necessary and problematic for African-Americans. How do Seun and Idris's experiences reflect that dichotomy? This is the second in a four-part series. Next in the series is Fulfilling the American Promise: Rethinking Achievement. Teaching Tolerance The second in a series designed by Teaching Tolerance of four self-paced presentations for individuals, easily modified for a group.

Rethinking Achievement

Professional Development PDF

Fulfilling the American Promise: Rethinking Achievement

Getting Started: You need: Understandings and Goals Essential Questions Learn Let's explore Claude Steele's ideas about stereotype threat. Carefully read the essay "How Stereotypes Undermine Test Scores. Next, watch minutes 7:47 to 19:45 of this video where Claude Steele describes stereotype threat. Finally, read this overview to deepen your understanding of the theory. Apply Just as specific behaviors are attributed to the stereotype of the 'absentminded professor,' a long list of behaviors – real or perceived – can inform or interrupt our expectations of academic excellence for students of color. Take a few minutes for this task: Step 1 -- List behaviors and beliefs that accompany the Asian- Pacific Islander stereotype of academic superiority. Step 2 -- List behaviors and beliefs that often accompany the stereotype of African-American academic inferiority. Step 3 -- List comments you have heard that uphold the stereotype that girls and women are not as good as men and boys at math and science. Step 4 -- List academic and non-academic spaces and experiences that reinforce some, or all, of these stereotypes. In a group?: Work in pairs! Go Deeper According to Claude Steele, "...stereotype threat is the pervasive fear of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype or the fear of inadvertently doing something that would confirm that stereotype." Research shows that stereotype threat noticeably impacts all levels of African-American achievement including, but not limited to, classroom performance, standardized test scores, social interaction and school completion. In what ways do both families in American Promise recognize that Seun's and Idris' academic achievement may be influenced by stereotype threat? African-American youth sometimes find their behaviors are labeled as 'acting white.' How might a label like 'acting white' uphold race-based stereotypes of both inferiority and superiority? Reflect Despite the reality that a host of issues create academic disparities, a belief persists that African-American children are intellectually inferior and embody deficits that need constant remedying, fixing, repair, and intervention. Reflect on the ways both Dalton and Banneker specifically address the myth of African-American inferiority and the idea that black children suffer from deficits. In a group? Work in pairs to document and compare ideas. Learn Seun and Idris face an extended narrative about achievement, one that references their relatives and even President Barack Obama. Scholars suggest that academic achievement is more than mastering content and should also include: Go Deeper Rewatch the clips where Seun is tested for his martial arts certification, Joe talks with Idris about the family's history of success, struggle and access, and Bannerker's principal talks about the ethos of the school. How do both families reiterate this multi-pronged, cultured, meaning of achievement? How do both boys attempt to embody this understanding of success? Can you think of other moments in the film that illustrate this wider understanding of achievement? Apply Write about how Banneker and Dalton align with, and consequentially support, a holistic understanding of success. Seun and Idris' learning differences create internalized narratives about their ability to achieve and succeed in academic spaces. What is each boy's narrative about his own ability to achieve and succeed? Consider selecting specific examples from the middle and high school years to support your response. In a group? Discuss the questions with a partner. Apply Consider this longer-term task. Conduct a small group interview with students to explore their beliefs about their ability to succeed. Sample questions: What do you believe about your ability to achieve success? What are your plans? What can you do if you feel your pathway is blocked by others who have more power than you do? Explore the messages students hear about achievement. Sample questions: What messages have you heard about success? What guarantees success? Where and how have those messages been reinforced? Explore the guidance students have been given about pathways to achievement. Sample questions: What specific instructions have you received about pathways to achievement? When you're done, compare your earlier list of stereotypes with the information gathered in the group interview. Reflect on both sets of data and use the information to shape, reframe, or design professional development in your institution or agency. Learn and Reflect In recent years, much has been written about the school-to-prison pipeline, in which children are disproportionately pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system. For many families, schools like Dalton are a welcome alternative to the interconnected systems that make the pipeline possible. Interestingly, independent schools report similar 'gaps' in achievement, similar amounts of discipline and academic probation, similar suspension disparities, and similar special education referral rates as public schools throughout the nation. How, and to what extent, does this national pattern appear in American Promise? How might these outcomes be connected to both stereotype threat and black student achievement? The next series of questions and activities can be completed individually or with a group. As both boys work to achieve academic success they also find degrees of success in athletic and extracurricular endeavors. Juxtapose their out-of-classroom experiences. To what extent does each boy's experience support his holistic growth? Learn View this 6-minute interview of Claude Steele discussing stereotype threat. What questions do you have related to the topics in the video? List them. Academic achievement is almost always measured by assessment. While some assessments are formal and standardized, others, often labeled broadly as 'alternative assessments,' are less so. While broadening the scope of assessment is relevant and necessary, the misuse and overuse of alternative assessments warrants consideration. Too often, believing that black and brown children are 'oral and literal' and have different learning styles, educators design assessments especially to support these children. These come in the form of creating rap songs, designing collages, or 'acting it out.' While such assignments may have some merit, their overuse can undermine learning and uphold the deficit model stereotype by normalizing low expectations. Apply What are some of the specific ways the overuse of alternative assessments can impact students, educators and learning institutions? Compile a list of the learning and thinking assessments used in your classroom or institution. Work either individually or with colleagues to create a system to evaluate classroom assessment methods to ensure they are balanced and do not inadvertently uphold, reflect, or perpetuate stereotypes. Academic achievement most often occurs when families support students; have safe, affirming living environments; practice positive, affirming behaviors; and can see that hard work is rewarded. With that in mind:
  1. How can schools provide the varying supports a student will need to succeed?
  2. How can your school improve?
This is the third in a four-part series. Next in the series is "Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within. Resources Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, Asa Hilliard III. Young Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African American Students. Boston: Beacon Press, 2003. Articles Jenny Anderson. "Admitted, but Left Out," The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2012. Video Marian Wright Edelman."Losing the Children Early and Often." The Crisis Nov-Dec. 2006: Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. "Claude Steele on Stereotype Threat." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvwvvbiwRkg 2011, Oct. Additional sources Lisa Delpit.Other People's Children. New York: New Press, 2006. Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 1970. Bell Hooks. Teaching to Trangress. New York: Routledge, 1994. Virginia Lea and July Helfand.Identifying Race and Transforming Whiteness in the Classroom. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2006. Peggy Macintosh. "Interactive Phases of Curricular and Personal Re-Vision with Regard to Race," Working Paper #219. Wellesley Center for Research on Women, 1990. Mab Segrest. Born to Belonging. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2003. This is the third in a four-part series. Next in the series is Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within. Teaching Tolerance The third in a series of four self-paced presentations designed by Teaching Tolerance, easily modified for groups.

The Education System, Outside and Within

Professional Development PDF

Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within

Getting Started: You need: Lessons Learn In his classic history of southern blacks and American education, James D. Anderson writes:
It is critical for an understanding of American educational history... to recognize that within American democracy there have been classes of oppressed people and that there have been essential relationships between popular education and the politics of oppression. Both schooling for democratic citizenship and schooling for second-class citizenship have been basic traditions in American education.
Take a moment to reread the passage. How do you think race, gender, class and other identity markers shape our school system, particularly through the relationships developed within the teaching and learning process? Take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts. In a group? Share your thoughts with the person sitting next to you. Understandings and Goals Essential Questions
  1. What are the connections among systems, individuals and educational instruction?
  2. How do instructional practices that reflect the dominant culture leave out some students?
Apply Take a few minutes for this task: Step 1—Without using a dictionary, record your definition of a "system." Step 2—Based on your definition, is there a system at your school? Step 3—List examples of how the system functions in your school. Step 4—Elaborate about the system you identified. What are the pros and cons for students? Who created the system? Who benefits from its implementation? Learn View this clip from American Promise. How do students benefit from systems, and how can they be harmed? Reflect American Promise uses the experiences of two black males to illuminate how the educational system is molded to the needs of a population that is predominately white and middle-class. Early in the film, both sets of African-American parents express concerns about sending their sons to a predominantly white school. Despite reservations, Idris' and Seun's parents enroll them at Dalton because they believe that the educational benefits and the academic opportunities outweigh the school's lack of racial diversity. Go Deeper Consider these questions as you view the scenes that follow. Learn Reflect Take a few minutes to record your thoughts about the connection between Idris' and Seun's experiences in Dalton's education system and their personal development. Learn School Leadership and Student Learning: View the following clips and compare the leadership at Dalton and Banneker. Both schools are part of the larger educational system, but their instructional approaches differ greatly. What explains the divergent pedagogies? Dalton's High Expectations and Banneker's Nurturing Learning Culture Banneker's principal, Dr. Daryl Rock, challenges the white, middle-class assumptions that are central to how children are educated in the United States. Martha Edleson articulates Dalton's expectations for its students. Reflect Apply Analyze and evaluate your school's system and its impact on the children and adults within it. With your colleagues, share instructional strategies and brainstorm new ways of measuring student achievement and learning while maintaining rigor. If possible, devise ways of collaborating that will help create a system between classrooms in your school where teachers can openly share successful approaches that ensure the learning of all students. Continued Learning: Facilitating Faculty Discourse via Social Media After sharing your observations, start a formal conversation among the staff about ways to improve the learning culture. Creating a private Facebook group accessible only to school faculty is one way to facilitate these discussions in a confidential and easy manner. A Facebook group also allows staff to communicate about students during the school day, as most smartphones have an application for the social media site. Group Option—Look at Your Department Gather with instructional staff in your subject area to discuss your classroom routines and pedagogical approaches. When you finish, share your observations with colleagues from other departments. Go Deeper Teacher Swap With the consent of school leadership, devise a plan to observe other instructors or co-teach with a colleague to learn new practices that may improve your classroom routines. You may also ask your supervisor to observe your instructional practices before and after you swap classrooms, and invite him or her to participate in the planning and teaching of your activities. This is the last in the four-part series examining American Promise and the education of black boys in the American educational system. Resources Anderson, James D. The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935. University of North Carolina Press, 1988, p. 1. Teaching Tolerance The last in a series of four self-paced presentations designed by Teaching Tolerance, easily modified for groups." ["post_title"]=> string(53) "American Promise Toolkits and Workshops: For Students" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(220) "This guide is designed to support productive conversations among young black men around Behind Every Promise, a half-hour video adapted from the documentary film American Promise, by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster." 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American Promise Toolkits and Workshops: For Students

POV

For Students

Behind Every Promise Discussion Guide

This guide is adapted from the Behind Every Promise Discussion Guide, which was created by Active Voice.

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

Being a teenager in school is hard enough. In addition to peer pressure to "fit in," students face tremendous pressure from parents and teachers to do well and succeed. But for young black men, the challenges are even greater, as they are faced with teachers and school systems ill-equipped to help them manage the emotional impact and real-life repercussions of the unintentional biases and stereotypes they face daily.

This guide is designed to support productive conversations among young black men around Behind Every Promise, a half-hour video adapted from the documentary film American Promise, by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster. With direct testimonials from Idris Brewster and Seun Summers, interwoven with scenes from the feature-length documentary, Behind Every Promise gives viewers intimate access to the perspectives of two young black men as they come of age in the American school system.

Watch Behind Every Promise:

Young leaders, youth serving organizations, educators, guidance counselors and/or church leaders can use Behind Every Promise and this guide to inspire young black men to:

ABOUT BEHIND EVERY PROMISE

Behind Every Promise takes a behind-the-scenes look at the award-winning documentary American Promise, which explores the very personal journeys of two families preparing their sons for success. Supplementing select scenes from the film with newly shot video testimonials from Idris Brewster and Seun Summers, this retrospective offers viewers a chance to walk in the shoes of the two young men as they navigate the emotional ups and downs of school, friendship and family. From one scene to the next, they dig into what it's like to grow up black in America--from Idris getting criticized for "talking like a white boy" when he is not among peers at the predominantly white Dalton School in New York's Upper East Side, to Seun dropping out to attend the predominantly black Benjamin Banneker Academy in Brooklyn. In this thought-provoking video, Idris and Seun tell the American Promise story in their own words. To learn more, visit: www.americanpromise.org

OVERVIEW

This discussion guide is intended to help young black men (between the ages of 14 and 22) use Behind Every Promiseas a springboard for exploring issues around identity and life experience, ultimately inspiring a sense of agency toward developing support systems for success. Whether you are a young and motivated to prompt discussion among your peers, or if you are an adult mentor who wants to motivate young people, this video can help you realize your goals.

GETTING STARTED

Behind Every Promise can be used in a variety of contexts, from a small group dialogue to a large public event. Consider using it:

Whatever you do, be sure to plan ahead. Here are the basics you should keep in mind:

FACILITATION TIPS

By providing first-hand perspectives of two young black men growing up in America, Behind Every Promise raises themes related to structural injustice, implicit bias and other forms of systemic inequity. Be prepared to facilitate a conversation that helps participants make those connections and avoids placing the burden of responsibility for success solely on young black men.

Discussions around Behind Every Promise may raise some personal sensitivities and even potential conflict or disagreement among participants. People process information and relate it to their own experiences differently, so be prepared for emotionally charged conversations. The following section provides some broad guidelines to help you host a productive conversation.

SETTING GUIDELINES

Before delving into intimate conversations, it is important to establish guidelines and create a "safe space" where participants trust each other enough to share their experiences. Consider some of the following guidelines:

ENSURING PARTICIPATION

Even if you've never facilitated a conversation before, there are some easy things you can do to help everyone feel comfortable participating in the conversation:

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Feel free to pick and choose the questions that are most interesting and relevant to you and your group. No matter what, it's a good idea to open up the conversation with "Getting the Conversation Started," to allow for viewers to get warmed up for discussion. "Getting Into It" helps participants make the connection between key moments in the video and their personal experiences. "Connecting the Dots" should be used to help participants make connection to related issues not directly addressed in the video. There are also "Bonus Questions" that add new information to deepen the discussion.

GETTING THE CONVERSATION STARTED

GETTING INTO IT

  1. Idris and Seun both began their educational experiences at Dalton, an predominantly white school. In one scene, Seun talks about being one of the very few black students at the school and what it is like to be seen as a stereotypical black kid. "People treated me different," he explains. Do you relate to that experience? Please explain.
  2. What kinds of things did Idris and Seun each do to deal with their feelings of being treated differently from others? Have you ever felt like people treated you differently from other people and if so, what did you do about it?
  3. Idris and Seun were under many social pressures, some of which mad eSeun feel like he wasn't "smart enough." Do you ever feel that way? If so, what kinds of pressures are you under that lead you to feel inadequate? What strategies do you use to address these feelings in a productive?
  4. In one scene, Idris worries it will be embarrassing to play on the junior varsity basketball team after playing on the varsity team. It is especially hard for him because he thinks basketball is one of the only things he's good at. Why do you think he feels this way? When he says he is "expected to be good at sports," who do you think expects it?
  5. Idris reflects on how long it sometimes takes for him and his friends to catch a cab. How does Idris make sense of the experience? Have you ever had a hard time figuring out if a difficult experience you had was because of your race or if it was something else? Please explain.
  6. Seun talks about the valuable lessons he learned from his karate instructor. Do you have any mentors or someone in your life whom you look up to? Who is it and what valuable advice have you learned from him/her? Please explain.
  7. In one scene, Seun's younger brother dies in an accident. After that he starts to slip at school and in general. What kind of support did Seun receive that helped him get through this difficult time? Have you ever lost someone close to you? How did you work through that experience? Who or where did you turn to for support?
  8. Idris describes kids at Dalton who "in theory had everything." But he says he values his family more because they don't simply "throw money at him." Why do you think this is important to him? Please explain.
  9. Idris and Seun both have younger siblings. Seun explains that, for him, he feels he "has a responsibility as an older brother." What do you think he means? Do you feel like you have a responsibility to your family? To your community? Why or why not? Please explain.
  10. Looking back on his high school journey, Seun says he had a tough time. But sometimes, he continues, he was the one who made it tough for himself. What do you think he means? In what ways is your school experience tough for reasons you can't control and in what ways is it tough for reasons that you can control? Please explain.
  11. Idris and Seun have been through a lot, but we see each of them coming into themselves as they navigate different challenges. What experiences have helped you to come to understand yourself better? What have you learned through the process? In one scene, Seun says that when people believe in you, it makes you think you can succeed too. Who seems to believe in Seun? What or who in your life helps you to feel like you can succeed? How do they do it?
  12. In one scene, Seun says that when people believe in you, it makes you think you can succeed too. Who seems to believe in Seun? What or who in your life helps you to feel like you can succeed? How do they do it?
  13. Idris and Seun's parents seem to be hard on them sometimes. In one scene, Idris' dad says he's not being aggressive enough on the basketball court. What do you think his dad's afraid of? Do you have adults in your life who are hard on you? If so, what do you think their reasons are for putting pressure on you?
  14. At the end of the video, Seun shares his feelings on the importance of selecting "real friends." What do you think he means by "real friends"? How can you tell if someone is a "real friend" to you or not? Please explain.
  15. Why does Idris feel good about going to Occidental College, even though it wasn't his first choice? What life lessons did he learn from the experience? Do you think that Idris has matured by the end of the video? If so, in what ways and based on what experiences? What skills or life lessons do you think you are carrying into adulthood? What experiences are they based on? Please explain.

TAKE ACTION

You can maintain the momentum of the screening discussion by taking steps to foster a support system for you and your peers that can lead to your collective success. Here are some ideas:

RESOURCES

About Black Male Achievement

Achievement Gap Initiative (AGI) is a university-wide effort initiated by the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) to focus academic research, public education and innovative outreach activities toward eliminating achievement gaps. To learn more, visit: www.agi.harvard.edu.

NAACP's National Education Program works to assure an equitable start for all Americans through advocacy training, policy development and guidance, building collaborative networks and direct action. To learn more, visit: www.naacp.org/programs/entry/education-programs.

Open Society Foundations' Campaign for Black Male Achievement aims to address the exclusion of large numbers of black men and boys from economic, social, educational and political life in the United States. To learn more, visit: www.opensocietyfoundations.org/topics/black-male-achievement.

National Education Association published a report that summarizes the current research about black male students. To learn more, visit: www.nea.org/assets/docs/educatingblackboys11rev.pdf.

Academic Support

National Urban League's Project Ready helps students in grades 8-12 make academic progress, benefit from cultural enrichment opportunities and develop important skills, attitudes and aptitudes that will aid in their transition from high school and position them for post-secondary success. To find an affiliate near you, visit: www.iamempowered.com/programs/project-ready/ urban-league-affiliates.

United Negro College Fund plays a critical role in enabling more than 60,000 students each year to attend college and get the education they need and that the nation needs them to have. To learn more about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Scholarships, internships and more, visit: www.uncf.org.

Teaching Tolerance is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and supporting equitable school experiences for our nation's children. Teaching Tolerance created an American Promise Educator's Guide. Let your teacher know. To learn more, visit: www.americanpromise.org/educators.

Tavis Smiley Foundation programs focus on helping young people identify the skills, strengths and talents that make them a unique leader and how to apply those skills to become catalysts for positive social change. To learn more about academics, scholarships and activism, visit: www.youthtoleaders.org/teen_issues.html.

Community Action

Black Youth Project efforts are based on three basic concepts: knowledge, voice and action. To find out how you can take action against inequality and injustice, visit: action.blackyouthproject.com.

Laundromat Project brings art, artists and arts programming into laundromats and other everyday spaces, amplifying the creativity that already exists within communities to build networks, solve problems and enhance our sense of ownership in the places where we live, work and grow. To learn more, visit: www.laundromatproject.org.

Mentorship

Mentoring Brothers in Action is a movement led by Big Brothers Big Sisters and the nation's three largest African American fraternities Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi to engage more African American men in fraternal, social, faith- based and professional organizations to get involved in one-to-one mentoring to change the odds for African American boys. To learn more, visit: www.MentoringBrothers.org.

100 Black Men of America's programs are based on a simple principle: through sustained mentoring programs young people realize their potential. To learn more or to find a chapter near you, visit: www.100blackmen.org.

Logistics Checklist

Use this checklist to help you think through the basic technical logistics for your screening. Not every piece will be relevant to you, but be sure to look through it to get a sense of the planning process.

Preliminary Planning
4-6 weeks prior

Optional: Social Media Outreach
2-3 weeks prior

Final Planning
several days prior

At the Event Itself

Required Supplies

Optional Supplies

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Behind Every Promise is adapted from the documentary film American Promise by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, and was produced in association with Active Voice.

Funding for Behind Every Promise was provided by
Andrus Family Fund

Active Voice Staff
Shaady Salehi, Executive Director
Sahar Driver, Program Manager
Jillian Garcia, Technology & Operations Manager

Rada Film Group
Michèle Stephenson, Producer/Director Joe Brewster, Producer/Director
Fritz Archer, Editor
Jordan Fong, Editor
Gregory S. Jones, Projects Manager

Guide Reviewers
Kelly Williams, Big Brothers Big Sisters' Mentoring Brothers in Action
Khaleaph Luis, Rada Rilm Group

Special Thanks
Ri-Karlo Handy of Handyman Pictures, Consulting Producer
Errol Weber, Interviewer/Cinematographer
RYSE Center in Richmond, CA
Youth Uprising in Oakland, CA

Active Voice tackles social issues through the creative use of film. We believe that real progress requires real connection,
and that film has a unique power to bring people together in meaningful ways. Every day Active Voice helps filmmakers, funders and communities start the conversations and relationships that lead to lasting, measurable change. Since our inception in 2001, Active Voice has influenced local, regional and national dialogue on issues including immigration, criminal justice, healthcare and education. www.activevoice.net

Rada Film Group is a Brooklyn-based media production house operated by husband and wife team, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson. Brewster and Stephenson are award winning filmmakers whose work has been shown on television, cable and in theatrical release on six continents. www.radafilm.com.

For Parents

Promises To Keep: The Promise Club Handbook

Promise him that you will help his teacher customize his educational experience to his learning needs, that you will communicate your high expectations both to him and to his teachers, that you will help him understand that he must learn no matter what anyone else may think of him, and that you will respond quickly to ensure he obtains appropriate help if you, a teacher or other member of his Village notices possible symptoms of a learning or developmental difference or disability.
- excerpt from Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys to Succeed in School and in Life

How can we help our sons navigate a complicated world that is oftentimes unfair and unforgiving? The answer is to be by their side as much as we physically, emotionally, mentally, and lovingly can. Helping them become successful, compassionate, and intelligent, men starts when they are young--from the time they're toddling in front of us, entering their kindergarten classroom, climbing the bus to middle and high school, and driving off to college. The more actively involved we parents are, the better the child will perform in school and in life.

In 1999, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, middle class African-American parents living in Brooklyn, NY, turned their cameras on their son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, as they entered kindergarten at The Dalton School in Manhattan, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country, and began filming the documentary American Promise. Spanning 13 years-- until the boys graduated high school--the provocative, intimate, and touching film reveals the complicated truths about America's struggle on issues of race, class, and opportunity.

Now American Promise is a movement, spurring an organization of the same name, a book, as well as a national campaign to get the dialogue going and our children achieving. Joe and Michèle have now begun an initiative for parents to create their own "Promise Clubs" in their communities, or at their child's school.

The idea of creating Promise Clubs actually came to Joe and Michèle after attending Harvard University Achievement Gap Initiative or AGI (a university-wide effort that focuses on academic research, public education, and innovative outreach activities toward eliminating achievement gaps) summit a few years ago, which was led by Ron Ferguson, economist, Harvard University education and public policy professor and AGI co- chair. At the summit, the couple met a group of parents who had started meeting regularly to support each other and demand more for their kids after feeling that their children were not getting the optimal educational experience.

"They became an extended family and we thought their system worked, at least was working in that community. It was an example of motivated parents becoming active if not only for their kids, but for their immediate small community," says Joe. "Groups like this are forming organically in many different places," says Michèle. "The idea is that the Promise Club could help provide some form of structure to what's already happening on an ad hoc basis."

So what exactly can a Promise Club do? It can empower parents so that they can empower their own children to achieve success--academically, socially, and emotionally. The purpose of this guide is to show you why you should start a Promise Club and provide you with tools and tips on how to start the club. By the way, a group like this can also be extremely helpful for single parents who might need the communal reinforcement, support, and fellowship that a Promise Club could offer. Also, you don't have to be a parent in the traditionally sense to create a Promise Club. Grandparents, godparents, aunts and uncles, or other caregivers can start a club as well. Alright, let's begin.

Why the Promise Club Concept is Necessary and Effective

Yes, you're busy, and maybe the thought of forming this type of club might seem overwhelming, but gathering other parents and starting these complicated conversations so that you can be a driving force behind your child's educational career is extremely necessary. From an academic standpoint, here's why:

When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more. That's according to A New Wave of Evidence, a report from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (2002). The report, a synthesis of research on parent involvement over the past decade, also found that, regardless of family income or background, students with involved parents are more likely to:

Ron Ferguson and AGI have also researched and reported some interesting facts on the middle class gap in America. According to AGI, compared to whites, significant gaps for African- American and Hispanic students are evident in virtually every measure of achievement: National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) math and reading test scores, high school completion rates, college enrollment and college completion rates. In addition, there is wide variability across states in educational investment and outcomes.

Ferguson also participated in the Council of the Great City Schools study of the widening gap between white and black boys, which found that 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys were proficient in reading on a national test, compared with 38 percent of whites.

Let's take a look at more disturbing statistics: According to a 2010 study from the Schott Foundation, only 47 percent of black male students entering high school in 2003 graduated in 2008, compared to 78 percent of white male students. The academic achievement gap is a harsh reality--all the more reason our sons need us to have their back (and to be on their backs) when it comes to their education. A Promise Club can help you do just that.

From a social and emotional standpoint, here's why a Promise Club is necessary:

Sources: The Schott Foundation. "National Opportunity to Learn Campaign. Federal Recommendations." schottfoundation.org/otl/otl-federal-recommendations-final.pdf and The New York Times. "Black Students face more Discipline, Data Suggests." March 6, 2012 (data is from the Department of Education)

Of course you can help your son achieve educational and social success by yourself, but the adage "It takes a village to raise a child" is more than true. Having sincere, trusting relationships with other parents and a support group where you can get great advice, helpful tips, and basically "group therapy" can be even more effective and helpful. You don't have to do it all by yourself.

"The empowerment and the engagement to make changes from the ground up as a group, as opposed to waiting for someone else to make that change is amazing," says Gina Parker Collins, founder of RIISE, a membership-based organization committed to bridging the gaps between families of color and private independent schools. "As a group, you're making changes in your household among other like-minded families who are very concerned about the welfare and power of their young men."

Starting Your Own Club

You've read why the Promise Club is necessary. So now it's your turn to be an active force in helping your son achieve academic and social greatness. Ready? OK, let's go.

Get the Word Out

Ideally, the smaller and more intimate the group, the better--especially since personal information and sensitive, candid anecdotes will be shared at these meetings. Plus, from a psychosocial standpoint, people tend to be more comfortable with a smaller group. 15 members at the maximum is a decent size that can still be effective and productive, while keeping the group close-knit and familial. Another thing: your Promise Club does not have to be limited to a particular race or gender. As long as folks are comfortable dealing with touchy issues of race and discrimination, they can certainly be part of the group. Here's how to look for your members:

Decide Meeting Times and Locations

Consider how often you'd like the Promise Club to meet. Remember that people are just as busy (or even more) as you. "Adding another weekly meeting to their already extraordinarily packed calendars might be a challenge, so it depends on the stage of life everyone's in," says Cheli English-Figaro co-founder and President Emerita of Mocha Moms. "Ascertain the pulse of the group before you determine how often you meet." Perhaps start off with just monthly meetings, but have weekly "check-ins" or updates via social media or text messages.

The First Meeting

OK, you have the meeting place and time secured. You've got RSVPs from the parents and friends who want to become involved in the Promise Club. But how will you run the pivotal first meeting? Here's a sample agenda:

Welcome and Introductions

Promise Club Purpose

Promise Club Goals

Open Discussion about Children and Schools

Promise Club Topic Suggestions

Logistics

Call for Volunteers

Meeting Adjourned

Recommended Topics

So now you know how to run the first meeting, but what matters will you discuss at your meetings? Here are some suggested topics with discussion points:

Be More Visible at Your Son's School - It is important for you to be an active presence at your child's school and for your child to see you at his school. That will show him that you are a willing participant in helping him have the most rewarding school experience as possible. At least eight times a year it's extremely important for teachers and administration to see your face. They need to know who you are. And you need to know who they are. "You have to know who's with your kids. You have to know the feel of the school. Casual observation can teach you a lot and just walking through the halls teaches you a lot," says English-Figaro.

Back-to-School Night and Parent-Teacher Meetings and Follow-ups - Frequent conversations and contact with the teachers is the key to a successful academic career for your child. Attending all back-to-school events and having meetings with the teacher on a regular basis is extremely important. Exchange contact information with the teacher so that if a face-to-face meeting cannot happen as often as you like, emails or phone calls can be exchanged.

Monitoring Home Work and School Work - Have the group give suggestions on what they think is an adequate time to spend reviewing homework and the child's school work. Staying abreast of what your son is working on is definitely a must; however, in terms of how long to spend checking his work really depends on the child. "An intrinsically motivated child can have work glanced over, while the parent gleans information for supplemental education to push the child further," says Worokya T. Duncan, B.A., M.T.S., M.A.Ed., Ed.D., a member of Mocha Moms. "An extrinsically motivated child needs more focused attention, and may need to be monitored while doing homework. If a child cannot be monitored while doing homework, there should be a daily routine for reviewing homework before the night is over."

Who Are Your Child's Teachers? - Discuss who is with your child all day and do they have your son's best interest at heart. How well do you know this person? Does your child like his teacher? Does the teacher like him? What type of relationship does this person have with your child? What is the person's teaching style? Have the group discuss what they like about past and current teachers and previous experiences with their son's teachers.

Achievement Gap and Educational Disparities - There's no question that these gaps and disparities exist. Talk about them at length and come up with strategies in dealing with these issues throughout your son's schooling. Present the club with startling statistics and discuss historical cases and facts.

Who is Your Child Hanging With or Not Hanging With? - Talk about the importance of knowing who your child's friends are and who their friends' parents are. Your child's friends have an overwhelming influence over them so it's vital to know who they're associating with. Also discuss bullying and cyber-bullying, which has been the hot topic as of late amongst teachers, administrators, parents, and legislators (thankfully so). Have a frank discussion about whether your child is the bully or being bullied and ways you can handle the situation.

If Your Child is Doing Poorly - Discuss tutoring programs. Be involved, have patience, and understanding. Talk about ways to investigate why the student is not doing well. "Do not get on the 'blame train,'" suggests Dr. Chris Hickey, Sr., executive director of Each One-Teach One Alliance for Academic Access. "That is, do not immediately start looking for problems with the teacher, the instructions, or your child's friends. Investigate what the expectations are and where the disconnect is occurring."

Joining PTA/PTO - Converse about the benefits of joining your son's PTA/PTO. You won't be able to be an active voice in budgetary decisions, happenings at the school, or what the school needs and does not need if you're not a member or not attending these meetings. "When a child sees that home activities and school activities are consistently important to the parent, it become consistently important to the child," says Dr. Hickey. Have parents who are part of PTA/PTO discuss their experiences.

Extracurricular Activities - Discuss the benefits of children participating in these activities and ways to fit it into school schedules and the schedules of busy parents.

The Importance of Community Service - Not only does volunteering with your child strengthen your community, but it also brings the family closer. A socially responsible child grows up to be a socially responsible adult. "Children learn to take ownership of their communities when they are involved in activities within their communities. They learn that home is more than just their apartment or house. They learn that they can play a role in the betterment of the neighborhood and they learn to network with those around them," says English-Figaro. Suggest different ways families can volunteer together. Visit http://www.voa.org/Get-Involved/Volunteer for suggestions.

Getting More Parents Involved (And Grandparents Too!) - Share ways to get more parents in the community involved in the Promise Club and grandparents too, who have been stepping up to the plate and becoming very active in their grandchildren's academic and social endeavors as well.

American Promise Mobile App

American Promise has created the Promise Tracker, a comprehensive, enjoyable interactive mobile app for parents and caregivers of African-American boys to serve as a support device that contains information and habits that you can adopt and customize to encourage your son's academic success. Backed by in-depth research, the app covers a variety of topics including:

Each topic will feature tips and goals to help families navigate these sometimes complex matters. The Promise Club members can download the app to their smart phones or tablets to assist them between meetings. An entire meeting can be dedicated to examining and discussing the app's exciting features and incorporating it as action steps for the club.

"American Promise" Book

Promises Kept: Raising Black Boys to Succeed in School and in Life - Lessons Learned from the 12-Year American Promise Project (Random House, 2013) by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson with Hilary Beard, will be published at the end of 2013 and serve as the companion book to the American Promise documentary. The book is a groundbreaking practical guide, essential for parents, caregivers, educators, and others concerned about the fate of black boys in America. Where the film American Promise raises provocative questions, Promises Kept delivers answers, combining insights Michèle and Joe derived from their own experiences with the latest research on closing the black male achievement gap and providing readers with an unprecedented toolkit full of practical strategies from infancy through the teenaged years.

Promise Club members should be encouraged to purchase the book and dedicate a meeting to discussing their thoughts on the book and ways the book can serve as an essential tool and resource for later meetings. Each chapter can also be used as a topic for discussion at subsequent meetings.

"American Promise" Film Screening

As another step in starting your Promise Club, we recommend you plan a screening of the film. Community screenings of the documentary across the country have sparked deep and meaningful conversations with parents nationwide. Visit www.americanpromise.org or email info@americanpromise.org for details on how you can host a screening of American Promise in your community, bring the filmmakers to visit, or bring the film to your local movie theater.

Other Helpful Resources

You can incorporate these books and resources into your Promise Club meetings to generate thought-provoking, candid, and exciting conversations and debates.

Examples of Successful Parent Group Models

Parents have traditionally leaned on one another for support and advice. But over the last few decades, formal and semi-formal parent groups and organizations have become increasingly popular and very necessary. Already established organizations have created parent groups to address the growing academic and social needs of our children. These groups are effectively breaking ground when it comes to rallying behind our kids. When starting your own Promise Club you can turn to these organizations for excellent tips and resources, and motivation.

Club 2012

In 2005, the parents of 15 boys, including every African American male at Eagle Ridge Middle School in Virginia's Loudon County, banded together for six years to encourage and aggressively propel their sons to achieve academic success. Their strategy was to get parents more involved, set high expectations for their sons, and encourage positive peer pressure amongst the boys. The group organized twice-weekly homework clubs at school and monthly meetings at parents' homes, tracking their sons' grades, test scores, conducting social or community service activities with their children, or discussing at length the causes and effects of the infamous achievement gap. They also visited college campuses (even before the boys entered high school) and actively engaged their sons' teachers and administrators. The group's hard work paid off. The boys had 100 percent graduation rate, were accepted to 76 percent of the universities they applied to; they averaged at least three offers for admission each; most of them took at least three advanced placement classes; and their average grade point average was 3.7.

Excellent Options

The founders of Club 2012 also created the nonprofit organization Excellent Options in 2006 with a mission to see that all African American male students from high school in their designated year, on time, in excellence and are equipped to successfully pursue any academic, professional or technological option that they desire. The mission was expanded to include girls in 2008 and all age groups. According to the organization's website: "We will train young men and women, parents, teachers and other significant persons to interact with those students in such a manner as to promote a culture of learning and achievement. A community/village approach, we believe, will yield the best possibility for these young people to graduate from high school in their designated school year 'in excellence and with options." Excellent Options believes every child must have a parent or a parent figure in their life, committed to their excellence; positive peer pressure; and great expectations. http://www.excellent-options.org/index.html

Each One-Teach One Alliance for Academic Access

Headed by Dr. Chris Hickey, Sr., executive director, the organization's philosophy is that children of color, just as all children, are driven to and committed to the expectations they feel around them. "We feel that children are motivated by the connection they feel to their surroundings. In essence, it is our feelings that children do not automatically assimilate with their environment. Rather, they are either drowned in, or reject, based on their own feeling about how they are connected or not to their environment/surroundings," says Dr. Hickey.

Mocha Moms, Inc.

Mocha Moms, Inc., a nationwide support group for mothers of color who have chosen to significantly alter their careers paths in order to be more available to their families, believes that education is the key to the success for children of color, and is the only thing that can prevent the black community from slipping into a cycle of poverty. "We, as parents, have to continue to make strides forward for our children," says Cheli English-Figaro, co-founder and President Emerita. "We have structured our whole organization around paying attention to our children, making sure that they're doing everything they can to achieve everything that they can. We have required that our local chapters sponsor annual educational summits, and we encourage the exchange of information between the parents in terms of how to help their children succeed." This fall, the organization is launching their Occupy SchoolsTM Movement, an initiative to help close the minority achievement gap in the United States, as well as encourage to promote and foster parent involvement and engagement in the academic lives of their children, and encourage parents to be strong advocates for the education of their children, in addition to other children in their communities. According to Mocha Moms, children are far less likely to receive unfair treatment at the hands of teachers and school administration if their parents are an active voice and presence at their children's school. http://www.mochamoms.org/

RIISE

Founded by Gina Parker Collins in 2009, RIISE, which stands for "Resource in Independent School Education," is a membership based organization committed to bridging the gaps between families of color and private independent schools. They support the recruitment and well-balanced retention of a private independent education with resources and research delivered through events and digital/social media. The organization's vision is to continue to create legacies amongst families of color. "We feel that a standard of excellence in education can help to do that. In particular, an independent school education," says Parker Collins. "So we support families with awareness and navigation of independent school education. And we do this by empowering families of color through the, recruitment and well-balanced retention of an independent school education, while making sure that our children recognize their cultural capital, the legacy that's already been created for them, and the legacy they're creating now, for the future." Annually, RIISE holds a Parent Power Conference full of empowerment workshops and seminars for parents and students. www.4riise.org

Parent University

Various schools districts across the country have formed Parent Universities. With the philosophy that parents are learners too, Parent Universities offer seminars and workshops that provide professional development opportunities and information for parents to help their children be successful in school. The Parent University sessions focus on child development, what children are learning in schools, advocacy, parent leadership and effective parenting skills. Boston Public Schools offers three day- long Saturday learning sessions during the academic year: one each in October, January, and May, with additional sessions throughout the year at schools, libraries and community centers. The BPS also has a "graduation" for parents at the end of the school year for parents who have completed a set of learning sessions. http://www.bpsfamilies.org/parentuniversity

Looking Forward

Creating your own Promise Club does not have to be difficult. With motivation, commitment, and time it can be an exhilarating, positive journey for you and your child. Do it and see for yourself. Do it for your son! Also, tell him why you're doing this. Hug him and tell him that you're creating a Promise Club because you are his biggest fan and his most enthusiastic advocate. Tell him that you're doing this because you love him and promise him that you always will!

Be sure to watch the film "American Promise" when it premieres on PBS in early 2014 and visit our website (www.AmericanPromise.org). Also, join the conversation that American Promise is setting in motion by liking our Facebook page and following us on Twitter at @PromiseFilm. Please feel free to contact us at info@americanpromise.org if you have any questions or need additional guidance on starting your own Promise Club.

Good luck!
We promise you that education empowers and will open doors for your children. Why create a Promise Club? Because there is an amazing result at the end of the road that will benefit black boys in a tangible way. They will achieve to their potential and will be proud and excited to do so. They will build and uplift not only themselves, but their communities as well. They will have the tools to confidently navigate and excel in a world and system where the odds are stacked against them. We have given you the roadmap and now it 's time for you and your son to embark on the journey.
- Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson

Classroom Identities

Fulfilling The American Promise: Classroom Identities

This is a self-paced presentation for individuals, easily modified for a group.

Getting Started:
You need:

In his 1903 classic, The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote:

Take a moment to reread the passage.

How do you think self-identity and diversity in your classroom affect student performance?

Understandings and Goals

Essential Questions

  1. How do perceptions about black masculinity, particularly the ways in which race intersects with gender and class, shape how African-American male students are taught?
  2. What role does the idea of belonging or not belonging play in determining the opportunities available to different groups?

We hope this presentation builds a collective consciousness among school faculty about how race, gender and class assumptions influence the educational experiences of all students, particularly African-American males.
First Reflection
How can my assumptions and prejudices about race and gender influence pedagogy, classroom instruction and student learning?

How can Idris and Seun's experiences help me develop a classroom culture where all students are treated fairly and given equal opportunities to succeed?

How was Idris and Seun's individual development shaped by historical stereotypes about African Americans?

If you are working with a cohort, share your ideas as a whole group.

Take a few minutes for this task:

Positive and Negative Identities, Step #1

Put a plus (+) or a minus (-) next to each identity trait you listed:

+ for those you feel are viewed positively by society.

- for those that you feel are seen as negative.

Good to know: There are no right or wrong answers.

Positive and Negative Identities, Step #2

Take five minutes to reflect on your lists.

Think about your reasons for each rating.

Identify gaps or areas that might affect how you engage with the multiple identities present in your classroom.

The Dalton Decision

View this selection from American Promise, in which Michèle and Stacey describe their sons and part of the rationale behind sending them to Dalton:


Second Reflection
Analyze your list and reflections.

Partner or group: Compare your lists and work through the questions together.

The Link Between Language and Racial Discourse

Historian George Fredrickson suggests:

Perhaps closer attention to language will prove helpful in understanding how Americans, both white and black, established modes of discourse based on racial assumptions that then had an enduring effect on the world because of the extent to which they predetermined the very categories or forms that we use to think about the world.

-- The Black Image in the White Mind: Debate on Afro-American Character and Destiny 1817-1914

The Power of Language

Our identities are shaped by self-perceptions, how we are perceived by others and how others treat us. The language we use to refer to ourselves and others also shape identity.

Think about the ways identity and the selection of the words we use to refer to ourselves and others shape classroom conversations and teacher-student interactions.

Consider:

1. How does the language we use to refer to ourselves and others shape the identity of each participant in an interpersonal exchange?

2. How does the language others use to refer to them influence Idris and Seun's self-perceptions, behavior, personal development and academic performance?

Black Boys in a White School

Now, you'll see some clips from American Promise. As you watch, record the language used by others to refer to Idris.


Third Reflection
Spend five minutes reviewing what you recorded.

How did being seen as a "black male" appear to affect Idris and Seun's Dalton experience?

How did the language used to refer to each student influence his sense of place at Dalton and, importantly, his ability to learn?

In a group? Do this with a partner.

Forging Connections

Think about students you have taught and compare them to Idris and Seun.

Were you able to develop a strong relationship with these students? Why or why not?
Do you think your assumptions or perceptions about race, gender, class, sexuality and other identity markers affect your instructional approaches and student outcomes?

Application

What challenges did Idris and Seun face inside and outside of Dalton?

How did their developing identity as black males shape these challenges?
Fourth Reflection
Thinking about the students you teach currently, select one who seems similar to Idris and Seun, and another who is different.

Think of specific examples of how you engage with each of these students as you consider these questions:

1. Do I feel a connection or a disconnect?

2. Is there a difference between how the student relates to me and his peers?

3. What changes -- academic, social and behavioral, positive or negative -- have I seen over the course of the school year?

Identity, Culture, and Improving Instructional Practice

In this final activity you'll write a plan of action to address the issues you have identified as areas of improvement.

You'll develop goals that you can achieve within a realistic time frame and identify benchmarks to hold yourself accountable.

You may want to share your goals with a peer or school leader who will support you.

Groups: Plan to share progress and challenges during future professional developments and staff meetings.

What's Next?

Final Reflection
Watch The Culture of Students, from Teaching Tolerance.

Reflect on these questions:

Closing

Next, we'll examine how classrooms shaped by white and middle-class cultural norms attempt to assimilate different identities into American society.

We hope you'll join us for part two of Fulfilling the American Promise: Assimilation.


Teaching Tolerance designed this professional development series to help school faculty become more aware of the ways schools do and don't work well for African-American male students.

Exploring Assimilation

Exploring Assimilation in American Promise

Getting Started:
You need:

Understandings and Goals:

Essential Questions

Create a triple-column document. Label the columns with these headings:

Take 3-5 minutes to respond to each prompt.
Background Experience:
Step 1: Generate a list of authors, scientists, mathematicians, musicians, scholars, leaders, politicians and theorists you learned about and learned from during your high school years.

Step 2: Circle the names of the individuals who share your racial identity.
Independent Activity
Step 1: Examine your list closely, noting what other aspects of identity, like gender, ethnicity, and educational level, are present.

Step 2: Determine what common identities appear most often, and make a list.

Step 3: Take 10 minutes to write in response to these prompts:

Extended Activity
Working in a group? Discuss aspects of your written response with others. Jot down new ideas or questions that emerge.

Working independently? Commit to keeping a log for one week of the voices of senior leadership and high-ranking authority you encounter in your institution.

Note their educational standing, gender, race and other characteristics.

After one week, review the list for patterns.

Reflect: If you see racialized patterns, how might these patterns unconsciously shape a student's perception about race?

Acquisition of Knowledge:

To access success, youth of color must make choices and compromises some conscious, others unconscious, about what parts of themselves to bring into the intellectual experience and which to leave behind.

Acknowledging this reality allows students to understand and articulate how and why their crucial decisions affect their learning and shape their humanity.

Acknowledging this reality allows educators to interrogate how educational institutions consciously or unconsciously affect the lives and choices of youth and their parents.

Choices

View this selection from American Promise. As you watch, consider the choices Seun and Idris make.

Reflection:

At what points do Seun and Idris make choices about who and what comes with them into the Dalton experience?

How and when do you see Seun and Idris choosing to leave a person, idea, belief, or value behind?

What are some of the specific results of these choices?

Activity

Create two timelines. Each boy should be the focus of one timeline.

On each timeline, highlight specific decisions Idris and Seun made about fitting into the dominant culture at Dalton.

Include at least two instances when each boy's parents expressed concerns about the way race was shaping their son's learning experiences.

In a group? Work with a partner on this activity.

Reflection

Does the decision to attend a school like Dalton requires families of color to suspend their cultural world-view in exchange for the educational opportunity and the school's longstanding prestige? Students and families understand their culture will not be placed at the center of the independent school learning experience.

Think about the scene where Idris asks his parents if Dalton would be easier if he were white.

What specific situation prompts this important question?

After Idris poses the question, his parents' silence provides an answer. How does the silence inform Idris, the family, and you about African-American racial identity?

How does the silence inform Idris, the family and you about white racial identity?

Activity

Return to the triple-column document you created earlier. Add new thoughts, considerations or questions.

Apply

View these clips, noting the statements made by Libby Hixon, Daryl Rock and Debbie Almontaser.

Reflection

In what different ways does each educator talk about Seun, his progress, his learning potential and his educational success?

How does each educator facilitate Seun's educational success?

Closing

Reflect on these three questions:

1. To attend Dalton, both families must commit to making sacrifices, noticeable changes and radical shifts to assimilate and navigate the institution. Both families examine and reshape their familial, racial, cultural and economic identities as well as their educational philosophies. Meanwhile, schools like Dalton stand on traditions, reputations and histories that ensure permanence. Dalton makes some adjustments for the boys, but the institutions structures and missions do not shift. As a result, the task of assimilating falls on the families and the students. In a short journal entry, reflect on this reality and the demands it puts on students.

2. What messages does your institution send to students and families about race-based assimilation? In what ways do you see students either attempting to assimilate or rejecting and resisting assimilation?

3. Assimilating is both necessary and problematic for African-Americans. How do Seun and Idris's experiences reflect that dichotomy?

This is the second in a four-part series. Next in the series is Fulfilling the American Promise: Rethinking Achievement.


The second in a series designed by Teaching Tolerance of four self-paced presentations for individuals, easily modified for a group.

Rethinking Achievement

Fulfilling the American Promise: Rethinking Achievement

Getting Started:
You need:

Understandings and Goals

Essential Questions

Learn
Let's explore Claude Steele's ideas about stereotype threat.

Carefully read the essay "How Stereotypes Undermine Test Scores. Next, watch minutes 7:47 to 19:45 of this video where Claude Steele describes stereotype threat.

Finally, read this overview to deepen your understanding of the theory.

Apply

Just as specific behaviors are attributed to the stereotype of the 'absentminded professor,' a long list of behaviors - real or perceived - can inform or interrupt our expectations of academic excellence for students of color.

Take a few minutes for this task:

Step 1 -- List behaviors and beliefs that accompany the Asian- Pacific Islander stereotype of academic superiority.

Step 2 -- List behaviors and beliefs that often accompany the stereotype of African-American academic inferiority.

Step 3 -- List comments you have heard that uphold the stereotype that girls and women are not as good as men and boys at math and science.

Step 4 -- List academic and non-academic spaces and experiences that reinforce some, or all, of these stereotypes.

In a group?: Work in pairs!

Go Deeper

According to Claude Steele, "...stereotype threat is the pervasive fear of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype or the fear of inadvertently doing something that would confirm that stereotype."

Research shows that stereotype threat noticeably impacts all levels of African-American achievement including, but not limited to, classroom performance, standardized test scores, social interaction and school completion.

In what ways do both families in American Promise recognize that Seun's and Idris' academic achievement may be influenced by stereotype threat?

African-American youth sometimes find their behaviors are labeled as 'acting white.' How might a label like 'acting white' uphold race-based stereotypes of both inferiority and superiority?

Reflect

Despite the reality that a host of issues create academic disparities, a belief persists that African-American children are intellectually inferior and embody deficits that need constant remedying, fixing, repair, and intervention.

Reflect on the ways both Dalton and Banneker specifically address the myth of African-American inferiority and the idea that black children suffer from deficits.

In a group? Work in pairs to document and compare ideas.

Learn

Seun and Idris face an extended narrative about achievement, one that references their relatives and even President Barack Obama. Scholars suggest that academic achievement is more than mastering content and should also include:

Go Deeper

Rewatch the clips where Seun is tested for his martial arts certification, Joe talks with Idris about the family's history of success, struggle and access, and Bannerker's principal talks about the ethos of the school.

How do both families reiterate this multi-pronged, cultured, meaning of achievement?

How do both boys attempt to embody this understanding of success?

Can you think of other moments in the film that illustrate this wider understanding of achievement?

Apply

Write about how Banneker and Dalton align with, and consequentially support, a holistic understanding of success.

Seun and Idris' learning differences create internalized narratives about their ability to achieve and succeed in academic spaces. What is each boy's narrative about his own ability to achieve and succeed? Consider selecting specific examples from the middle and high school years to support your response.

In a group? Discuss the questions with a partner.

Apply

Consider this longer-term task.

Conduct a small group interview with students to explore their beliefs about their ability to succeed.

Sample questions: What do you believe about your ability to achieve success? What are your plans? What can you do if you feel your pathway is blocked by others who have more power than you do?

Explore the messages students hear about achievement.

Sample questions: What messages have you heard about success? What guarantees success? Where and how have those messages been reinforced?

Explore the guidance students have been given about pathways to achievement.

Sample questions: What specific instructions have you received about pathways to achievement?

When you're done, compare your earlier list of stereotypes with the information gathered in the group interview.

Reflect on both sets of data and use the information to shape, reframe, or design professional development in your institution or agency.

Learn and Reflect

In recent years, much has been written about the school-to-prison pipeline, in which children are disproportionately pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system.

For many families, schools like Dalton are a welcome alternative to the interconnected systems that make the pipeline possible. Interestingly, independent schools report similar 'gaps' in achievement, similar amounts of discipline and academic probation, similar suspension disparities, and similar special education referral rates as public schools throughout the nation.

How, and to what extent, does this national pattern appear in American Promise?

How might these outcomes be connected to both stereotype threat and black student achievement?

The next series of questions and activities can be completed individually or with a group.

As both boys work to achieve academic success they also find degrees of success in athletic and extracurricular endeavors. Juxtapose their out-of-classroom experiences. To what extent does each boy's experience support his holistic growth?

Learn

View this 6-minute interview of Claude Steele discussing stereotype threat.

What questions do you have related to the topics in the video? List them.

Academic achievement is almost always measured by assessment. While some assessments are formal and standardized, others, often labeled broadly as 'alternative assessments,' are less so. While broadening the scope of assessment is relevant and necessary, the misuse and overuse of alternative assessments warrants consideration.

Too often, believing that black and brown children are 'oral and literal' and have different learning styles, educators design assessments especially to support these children. These come in the form of creating rap songs, designing collages, or 'acting it out.' While such assignments may have some merit, their overuse can undermine learning and uphold the deficit model stereotype by normalizing low expectations.

Apply

What are some of the specific ways the overuse of alternative assessments can impact students, educators and learning institutions?

Compile a list of the learning and thinking assessments used in your classroom or institution.

Work either individually or with colleagues to create a system to evaluate classroom assessment methods to ensure they are balanced and do not inadvertently uphold, reflect, or perpetuate stereotypes.

Academic achievement most often occurs when families support students; have safe, affirming living environments; practice positive, affirming behaviors; and can see that hard work is rewarded. With that in mind:

  1. How can schools provide the varying supports a student will need to succeed?
  2. How can your school improve?

This is the third in a four-part series. Next in the series is "Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within.
Resources
Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, Asa Hilliard III. Young Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African American Students. Boston: Beacon Press, 2003.

Articles

Jenny Anderson. "Admitted, but Left Out," The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2012. Video

Marian Wright Edelman."Losing the Children Early and Often." The Crisis Nov-Dec. 2006:

Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. "Claude Steele on Stereotype Threat."

Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvwvvbiwRkg 2011, Oct.

Additional sources

Lisa Delpit.Other People's Children. New York: New Press, 2006.

Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 1970.

Bell Hooks. Teaching to Trangress. New York: Routledge, 1994.

Virginia Lea and July Helfand.Identifying Race and Transforming Whiteness in the Classroom. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2006.

Peggy Macintosh. "Interactive Phases of Curricular and Personal Re-Vision with Regard to Race," Working Paper #219. Wellesley Center for Research on Women, 1990.

Mab Segrest. Born to Belonging. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2003.

This is the third in a four-part series. Next in the series is Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within.


The third in a series of four self-paced presentations designed by Teaching Tolerance, easily modified for groups.

The Education System, Outside and Within

Fulfilling the American Promise: The Education System, Outside and Within

Getting Started:
You need:

Lessons

Learn

In his classic history of southern blacks and American education, James D. Anderson writes:

It is critical for an understanding of American educational history... to recognize that within American democracy there have been classes of oppressed people and that there have been essential relationships between popular education and the politics of oppression. Both schooling for democratic citizenship and schooling for second-class citizenship have been basic traditions in American education.

Take a moment to reread the passage.

How do you think race, gender, class and other identity markers shape our school system, particularly through the relationships developed within the teaching and learning process?

Take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts.

In a group? Share your thoughts with the person sitting next to you.

Understandings and Goals

Essential Questions

  1. What are the connections among systems, individuals and educational instruction?
  2. How do instructional practices that reflect the dominant culture leave out some students?

Apply

Take a few minutes for this task:

Step 1--Without using a dictionary, record your definition of a "system."

Step 2--Based on your definition, is there a system at your school?

Step 3--List examples of how the system functions in your school.

Step 4--Elaborate about the system you identified. What are the pros and cons for students? Who created the system? Who benefits from its implementation?

Learn

View this clip from American Promise.

How do students benefit from systems, and how can they be harmed?

Reflect

American Promise uses the experiences of two black males to illuminate how the educational system is molded to the needs of a population that is predominately white and middle-class.

Early in the film, both sets of African-American parents express concerns about sending their sons to a predominantly white school. Despite reservations, Idris' and Seun's parents enroll them at Dalton because they believe that the educational benefits and the academic opportunities outweigh the school's lack of racial diversity.

Go Deeper

Consider these questions as you view the scenes that follow.

Learn

Reflect

Take a few minutes to record your thoughts about the connection between Idris' and Seun's experiences in Dalton's education system and their personal development.

Learn

School Leadership and Student Learning:

View the following clips and compare the leadership at Dalton and Banneker.

Both schools are part of the larger educational system, but their instructional approaches differ greatly. What explains the divergent pedagogies?

Dalton's High Expectations and Banneker's Nurturing Learning Culture

Banneker's principal, Dr. Daryl Rock, challenges the white, middle-class assumptions that are central to how children are educated in the United States. Martha Edleson articulates Dalton's expectations for its students.

Reflect

Apply

Analyze and evaluate your school's system and its impact on the children and adults within it.

With your colleagues, share instructional strategies and brainstorm new ways of measuring student achievement and learning while maintaining rigor. If possible, devise ways of collaborating that will help create a system between classrooms in your school where teachers can openly share successful approaches that ensure the learning of all students.

Continued Learning: Facilitating Faculty Discourse via Social Media

After sharing your observations, start a formal conversation among the staff about ways to improve the learning culture. Creating a private Facebook group accessible only to school faculty is one way to facilitate these discussions in a confidential and easy manner. A Facebook group also allows staff to communicate about students during the school day, as most smartphones have an application for the social media site.

Group Option--Look at Your Department

Gather with instructional staff in your subject area to discuss your classroom routines and pedagogical approaches.

When you finish, share your observations with colleagues from other departments.

Go Deeper

Teacher Swap

With the consent of school leadership, devise a plan to observe other instructors or co-teach with a colleague to learn new practices that may improve your classroom routines.

You may also ask your supervisor to observe your instructional practices before and after you swap classrooms, and invite him or her to participate in the planning and teaching of your activities.

This is the last in the four-part series examining American Promise and the education of black boys in the American educational system.
Resources
Anderson, James D. The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935. University of North Carolina Press, 1988, p. 1.


The last in a series of four self-paced presentations designed by Teaching Tolerance, easily modified for groups.