Dear MSAN Colleagues!

In this November 2018 MSAN Minute, we highlight our recent annual MSAN Student Conference, preview an upcoming research presentation on our new focus area, share an exciting research-practice partnership for developing bilingual/bicultural teachers, and include resources from our friends at Teaching Tolerance on teaching about violent hate crimes, such as the recent Pittsburgh synagogue attack.

Thank you, MSAN Colleagues, for your leadership. Happy Autumn!

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2018 MSAN STUDENT CONFERENCE

Thank you to The Public Schools of Brookline for an incredible event!
The Public Schools of Brookline district hosted the MSAN Student Conference in Boston. This year’s conference theme was “Deeper the Roots, Stronger the Tree.” High school scholars from across our network gathered in Boston to hear from speakers, hone their equity leadership skills, create action plans for change in their districts, and visit college campuses. Check out the conference video at this link, and think about how you will support your district’s MSAN Scholars in implementing the action plan that they created at the conference!

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EQUITY IN ACTION

Resources for Teaching About Violent Hate Crimes
A shooting at a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, synagogue has left 11 people dead. Although we’ve witnessed hate-fueled moments many times before, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about them when they occur. If we don’t, it means we’ve normalized them. Check out these resources from our friends at Teaching Tolerance.

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PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities
Webinar and Conference
To close out our 2017-2018 focus area work, we will convene a webinar with Dr. Joy Lawson-Davis, author of Bright, Talented & Black: A Guide for Families of African American Gifted Learners to discuss advocacy tools and insights for African American and Latinx family engagement in advanced learning. The webinar will take place November 8, 2018 at 4 PM. Click here for details on how to participate.

Also, MSAN is a proud partner with Sankofa Educational Leadership United on two upcoming Moving Past Failed Student Outcomes Into Models of Success conferences November 2-4 in Madison, WI and February 1-3 in Minneapolis, MN. MSAN Members receive a 50% discount on individual or group tickets by using the discount code: Partners. Attendees can also arrange to receive 1.5 CEU’s and 2 graduate credits for participating.

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ANNUAL FOCUS AREA

The role of teacher mindsets in decreasing racial discipline disparities
In response to the Guiding Questions posed by Governing Board and RPC members and outlined in our 2018-19 Focus Area: Discipline Disparities R&D Scope of Work, Dr. Jason Okonofua will be presenting at the MSAN fall retreat for Governing Board and Research Practitioners Council on the role of teacher mindsets in decreasing racial discipline disparities. Specifically, he will be sharing the results of current research on a brief intervention aimed at encouraging an empathic mindset about discipline, which halved student suspension rates over an academic year.

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RESEARCH YOU CAN USE

Bridging Research and Practice: The Oregon Bilingual Teacher Pipeline Collaborative
Like many school districts, Portland Public Schools struggles to recruit highly skilled bilingual teachers to meet the demand of dual-language programs. To address this need, the school district and Portland State University have created a research-practice partnership to recruit, develop, and retain bilingual teachers, with an emphasis on biliterate and bicultural teachers. Known as the Oregon Bilingual Teacher Pipeline Collaborative, this partnership is working with REL Northwest to collect data and support the collaborative’s efforts to optimize the Portland Dual Language Teacher Fellows Program, the alternative licensure program the district and university offer. Check out this Ed Week article that describes the partnership.

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LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT

Boston Change Leaders of Color at MSAN Student Conference
This year’s MSAN Student Conference included a panel discussion with a group of individuals doing racial justice work in the Boston area. The panel represented a range of ethnic and religious diversity, including Jewish, Muslim, Christian, African American, East Indian, Chinese, Honduran, and Dominican heritages. Click here to view and download the bios of the panelists. And thank you to the panel for an incredible discussion!