Free Webinar: Casualties of War: Reading Science Denial and Racism’s Impact on African American Children
Webinar Date & Time: Wednesday, January 29 | 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Strong reading skills are the foundation of all academic success, yet African American students as a group score lower on most standardized tests than white students. In spite of the 2000 National Reading Panel’s conclusions that students need direct, explicit instruction that teaches phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, educational institutions are failing to implement the Reading Panel’s findings. University training has been inadequate, forcing K-12 systems to fill classrooms with under-prepared teachers who then receive little support, training, or aligned materials.
African American students suffer disproportionately when not taught to read using evidence-based practices that leverage research. During this provocative hour-long webinar, Kareem Weaver, Member of the NAACP Oakland Branch’s Education Committee, will discuss how:
- The debate over reading philosophy has left key pillars of reading acquisition, especially critical for African-Americans, untaught
- Expectations of African American students impact the timing and tenor of interventions that could prevent reading problems
- Perceptions of intellectual capacity create a lens through which learning differences are interpreted by educator
- Racism and bias within school systems influence policy and practices and create a tolerance for failure
It is critical that schools provide African American children the same opportunities to achieve academic success as other children. This webinar will provide insights into how to address the persistent issues that create the achievement gap, particularly the lack of quality, evidence-based reading instruction.
Can’t make the live webinar? No problem! Go ahead and register and we’ll send you an email the day after the webinar with a link to the recording.
2019-20 Webinar Series
Enhance your practice with CORE’s 2019-20 free professional learning webinars. From evidence-based practices to help ELs succeed to deep dives into assessing dyslexia and teaching math, it’s a convenient and free way to build your skills. Please share these webinars with your team. Everyone is welcome!
On-Demand Webinar: Assessment and Intervention in Light of Understanding the Nature of Reading Difficulties
Understanding how word-level reading develops and why some students struggle are valuable starting points for planning reading instruction and interventions. Knowing this puts educators in a good position to determine what aspect(s) of the reading process may be creating difficulties for children. This in turn, enables educators to provide intervention that is highly effective to minimize or eliminate the reading difficulty.
On-Demand Webinar: The Challenges of Language and Reading for Low Income African American Children Who Speak Dialect
While the impacts of poverty on academic achievement are widely known, dialect also plays a significant and unrecognized role in the reading achievement of millions of children. Just like students whose native language is Spanish or Amharic, students who speak the dialect known as African-American English (AAE) face obstacles to becoming proficient readers.
Watch this on-demand webinar with Dr. Julie A. Washington to learn the:
- Characteristics of AAE
- Impact of poverty on language
- Relationship of dialect to growth of reading
- Variables that influence reading outcomes for poor children
- Implications for the classroom
On-Demand Webinar: Growth Culture – A New Approach to School Improvement
Far too many schools struggle with unhealthy and uninspiring cultures for both students and educators. Teachers and administrators often feel overwhelmed and unsupported in their professional growth. If we’re serious about attracting, retaining and developing skillful and passionate educators, we must cultivate the type of culture in our schools where everyone is supported to grow. Join this hour-long webinar to hear how Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD) is building just such a culture.
