HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

Celebrating African-American History All Year
In 1926, Carter G. Woodson launched “Negro History Week” during the second week in February--as it encompassed both Frederick Douglass’ birthday on February 14 and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12. Since its inception, part of the discussion of Black History Month has been the need to teach African American History year-round. Read this archived speech from 2003, given by then-MSAN Scholar Ariel Rogers, who asked, "Why stop the [Black History] celebration?", and check out these daily resources from PBS Black Culture Connection, BlackHistoryDaily.com and BlackFacts.com. 

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ANNUAL FOCUS AREA: ADVANCED LEARNING
RESEARCH YOU CAN USE

Three studies on Diverse Teachers and African American Students in Gifted Education Programs
Over the past few years, Vanderbilt researcher Jason Grissom has published several studies on correlations between teacher race and identification of students of color for gifted programs. Check out the articles below; each links to the full text of a different study.

• From the IU Newsroom: Black students more likely to be identified as gifted if teachers are black
• From The Atlantic: A teacher's race...can affect how many African American students are assigned to gifted classes 
• From The Washington Post: How does a teacher's race affect which students get to be identified as "gifted?"

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EQUITY IN ACTION

Open Conversations About Being Black in America's Public Schools
The Education Post recently invited more than 40 parents, teachers, and students to share the joys and frustrations of being Black in America’s public schools. Conversations were moderated by education advocates from around the country, and have been archived in print and video online at the Education Post website, organized into five main themes: The Belief Gap, Finding the Right School, Role Models, Black Teachers, School Discipline, and Parent Responsibility.Do you have similar dialogues happening in your community? How might you use such recordings and text in your educational equity work? Take a moment to let us know! msan@wcer.wisc.edu

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EQUITY-FOCUSED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center Calendar of Events
Our partners at the Midwest & Plains Equity Assistance Center, a technical assistance and research center located at Indiana University-Purdue University, have released their 2018 calendar of events. Check it out here!

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LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT

JoAnne Brown, Madison Metropolitan School District (WI)
JoAnne Brown, Multicultural Services Coordinator at Memorial High School in Madison, WI, is a longtime friend of MSAN. An MSAN Student Conference chaperone in one of our larger member districts, Ms. Brown often acts as point person for all of the Madison chaperones. This month, she was both recognized in the Capitol City Hues Urban League Young Professionals Spotlight, and awarded the 2018 Heart & Soul Community Impact Award by theMadison Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.,--the world's largest African-American Greek-lettered organization. Congratulations, Ms. Brown, and thank you for your leadership! 

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REMINDER: 2018 MSAN INSTITUTE

The 2018 MSAN Institute will be held April 26-27 in Madison, Wisconsin.
The MSAN Institute is MSAN’s annual conference on ending the effects of racism on schools. Open to MSAN members as well as to the wider community, Institute keynotes and breakout sessions highlight practices for classroom teachers, building- or district-level decision makers, and family engagement leaders--outlining current initiatives and informing future research. Visit the Institute website to register by March 23!

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REMINDER: 2018 MSAN STUDENT CONFERENCE

The 2018 MSAN Student Conference will be held October 24-27, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. Thank you to our hosts, the Public Schools of Brookline.