MSAN is now accepting applications for membership - 2 Openings!

Applying for Membership in MSAN

The following information provides an overview of how a district goes about applying for membership in the Minority Student Achievement Network.

Background | Characteristics of MSAN Districts | Selection Factors
Application Process | MSAN Member Expectations & Obligations

Background

Following years of debate about growing the number of districts in the Network from the original 15, the Governing Board decided to open membership to a limited number of new districts in 2003. Eventually they decided to limit membership to 25 districts, the number of districts currently a part of MSAN. Current member districts include:

• Alexandria City Public Schools - Alexandria, VA
• Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools - Amherst, MA*
• Ann Arbor Public Schools - Ann Arbor, MI*
• Arlington Public Schools - Arlington, VA*
• Bedford Central School District - Mount Kisco, NY
• Brookline Public Schools - Brookline, MA
• Cambridge Public Schools - Cambridge, MA*
• Champaign Unit 4 School District - Champaign, IL
• Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools - Chapel Hill, NC*
• Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District-University Heights, OH*
• Columbia Public Schools - Columbia, MO
• Evanston Township High School District 202 - Evanston, IL*
• Evanston/Skokie Elementary School District 65 - Evanston, IL*
• Farmington Public Schools - Farmington, MI
• Green Bay Area Public School District - Green Bay, WI
• Madison Metropolitan School District - Madison, WI*
• Montclair Public Schools - Montclair, NJ*
• Oak Park & River Forest High School District 200 - Oak Park, IL*
• Oak Park Elementary School District 97 - Oak Park, IL*
• Paradise Valley Unified School District - Phoenix, AZ
• Princeton Regional Schools - Princeton, NJ
• Shaker Heights City School District - Shaker Heights, OH*
• South Orange & Maplewood School District - Maplewood, NJ
• Windsor Public Schools - Windsor, CT
  (*denotes founding district)

As the Network has grown the Governing Board has expressed concern that the member districts represent regions of the country. Concern was expressed that MSAN districts were concentrated in the midwest and east coast. In terms of membership consideration MSAN actively seeks to add districts with a greater geographical representation. The Governing Board has also expressed concern that with local district turnover in superintendents, few of the districts were represented by an African American or Latino superintendent or by a female superintendent.

Characteristics of MSAN Districts

MSAN districts share the following characteristics:

• Location - MSAN districts are most often well established first ring suburbs or small/mid-size cities.
• Size of District - Districts are large enough to have staff capacity to support MSAN efforts, small enough to be manageable and similar to other MSAN districts. MSAN districts range in size from 3,000 to 32,000.
• Free/Reduced Lunch Rate - Free and/or Reduced lunch rate is an approximate indicator of the wealth of a community. Many MSAN districts have greater than 20% Free/Reduced lunch rate indicating economic diversity.
• Student Demographics - Many MSAN districts are majority White but with substantial African American and/or Latino populations. Most MSAN districts have a combined minority population of at least 15% and have served populations of African American and Latino students for generations.
• Academic Achievement - MSAN districts have a history of overall high student achievement as measured by state and national tests.
• School Funding - MSAN districts have higher than state average per pupil spending
• Research - MSAN districts have typically had significant relationships with major research university or other research institution.
• Other - MSAN districts have had a history of addressing achievement gaps and disaggregating data by different demographic indicators.

Selection Factors

The Governing Board considers several factors as new districts are selected. None of these are stated as absolutes but are considered guiding factors in review and selection.

• Districts should have student populations between approximately 3,000 and 32,000 to reflect current Network district enrollments. The size of the district should be large enough to have staff capacity to support MSAN efforts, small enough to be manageable and similar to other MSAN districts.
• Districts must have diverse student populations with a significant percentage of African American and/or Latino students. (Current Network districts range from 20% - 75% African American and Latino students.) It is expected that Network districts will have a commitment to integrated education.
• Districts must commit to participate in selected research activities, compilation of information on promising programs, and other activities to be determined by the Governing Board.
• Districts must be willing to make disaggregated achievement data public.
• Districts must demonstrate the capacity to fulfill Network Member Expectations & Obligations.
• In the selection process, consideration will be given to building greater regional distribution of Network districts.

Application Process

To be considered for membership in the Minority Student Achievement Network, interested districts are asked to prepare a 3-5 page application which includes:

• current demographic information about their districts,
• what their district has done and is currently doing regarding minority student achievement, and
• how membership in the Minority Student Achievement Network will assist their district's efforts to raise student achievement for students of color.
  

Typically, the superintendent of a school district initiates the MSAN membership application process. Information on the MSAN website provides a description of the characteristics of member districts, membership expectations and obligations, benefits of membership, current projects, reports from conferences and meetings, and other helpful information.

To request an application for membership the superintendent should contact the Executive Director of MSAN at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research - (608) 262-1665. Applications are accepted throughout the year; however, membership is limited to 25 school districts at any given time. Once an application is received, the Executive Director forwards the application to the Executive Committee for preliminary review. The Executive Committee then makes a recommendation for new membership to the larger Governing Board at the June Governing Board meeting for discussion and a formal vote. The Governing Board makes all final membership decisions. The following information provides a guide for membership determination:

• Accept - Yes, please join the Network. Active membership should begin within 9 months.
• Deny - Application does not support membership in the Network at this time.
• Acceptance on Hold - While there are no open slots for membership at this time, your district will be automatically accepted into the Network if an opening becomes available within the next 12 months.

Annual Membership Fee

A membership fee is invoiced annually in August. The fiscal year is July 1 through June 30. The current membership fee of $12,500 per district was adopted by the Governing Board in February, 2005. Prompt payment of the annual fee is appreciated since MSAN uses these funds for current year expenses, which include: participation in on-going MSAN research and development projects, registration for 8 educators (teachers, administrators, or school board members) at the annual conference, registration for 8 students and 2 chaperones at the student conference, access to and information from mini-conferences held regionally throughout the year, and costs associated with business meetings held 3 times per year for the Governing Board and Research Practitioner Council.

MSAN is able to collaborate with individual or groups of member districts to seek federal and/or foundation grants to support specialized projects related to issues of the achievement gap. Individual donors from local districts have also been generous in their support of MSAN. Since it was organized, MSAN has generated more than $1 million dollars in foundation, grant, and local district funds to explore issues influencing the achievement gap.

Membership Inactivity

Active participation by Governing Board and RPC members in Network activities is an expectation of membership. If representatives from a district are not able to participate in primary Network activities for more than 24 months (including Governing Board meetings, RPC meetings, the Annual Conference, or the Student Conference), the district will be considered inactive and reconsideration of membership will be initiated. The success of a network such as ours is the active participation of all members.

For more information about member expectations and obligations please click here .