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Increasingly, individual stories have come to light about punitive and subjective zero tolerance policies that contribute to the school to prison pipeline. As we outlined in our recent Better than Zero report and through our work with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Forward Promise grantees we know how powerful stories can be to highlight an issue. This is one of those stories.

In NPR Illinois Public Radio’s series Black and White, education reporter Dusty Rhodes explores racial disparities in school discipline through the lens of student Paris Taborn.  Paris, who was a straight A student athlete in Springfield, IL, was frequently sent home from school as a result of tardiness and dress code violations.  She missed so much class that her grades began to fall.  As a result of this discipline policy, Paris chose to transfer to the Springfield NAACP Back-to-School/Stay-in-School Alternative Education Program, where she graduated in May.

Paris is not alone. According to the article, black students at Franklin House Middle School in Springfield, IL, for example, were five times more likely to get an in school suspension than white students in 2011.  In 2014, the likelihood of black students receiving in school suspensions increased, and black students were nine times more likely than white students to receive an in school suspension.  It is clear that black students in Springfield are being disproportionately disciplined at school, and as a result are at risk of falling behind in their studies.

This story is part of NPR Illinois Public Radio’s six part series Black and White, which was dedicated to exploring racial disparities in school discipline.

This November, ACS president Lori McClung and policy associate Cassie Gaffney, attended the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida to provide technical assistance to 14 state affiliates around NAEYC’s Early Ed for President campaign.

NAEYC’s goal is to make sure that early learning and the early childhood profession is a priority issue for all presidential candidates during the 2016 campaign season.

ACS worked with 14 early primary and battleground states to identify opportunities to develop and enhance their existing electoral advocacy activities.

For nearly ninety years the NAEYC has been the voice of high quality early learning in the United States and around the globe. Among its many accomplishments, NAEYC is known for developing a global standard for early childhood programs and professional development for early childhood providers.

We are pleased to announce that ACS policy associate Cassie Gaffney received the 2015 Excellence in Advocacy by an Up and Coming Practitioner Award at the Professional Women in Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C., for her work as an early childhood education and K-12 policy advocate. This year’s competition had more than 100 nominees.  We are proud to have her on our team!

To see the press release about this award, please click here: Cassie Gaffney Named 2015 Up and Coming Advocate.

To learn more about Professional Women in Advocacy, visit http://womeninadvocacy.com/

We are pleased to announce that Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC (ACS), was honored with a Platinum Award in the Communication Plan category of the MarCom Awards for its two-year strategic communication plan for PRE4CLE, Cleveland’s plan to expand high-quality preschool to all children in the city of Cleveland. An international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communication professionals–this year’s MarCom awards had 6,000 entries from 34 countries. Only 16% of winners across all categories achieve Platinum status. We are honored to take on issues that are close to our hearts, and to be internationally recognized for our work.  See the press release about this award here: marcom awards press release

ACS client, The Ohio 8 Coalition, released their 2015 Year-at-a-Glance Infographic that highlights the accomplishments and activity of Ohio’s eight city school districts. This year-at-a-glance document reflects The Ohio 8 Coalition’s commitment to support the unique educational needs of every student in each of their districts, no matter where they came from, the amount of money their family earns, the languages they speak, or the physical or cognitive challenges they face. One significant highlight is the fact that The Ohio 8 Coalition represents 11% of Ohio’s students attending public schools, nearly 200,000 students.

Other highlights include:

• The graduation rate for students enrolled in The Ohio 8 Coalition districts students is almost 72%.
• Ninety percent of third grade students enrolled in The Ohio 8 Coalition districts represented met the third-grade reading guarantee and were promoted to fourth grade in 2014.
• The Ohio 8 Coalition serves 15% of the state’s disabled student population and 30% of the state’s English Language Learners (ELL).
• The Ohio 8 Coalition represents more than 45% of the state’s multiracial, American Indian, Alaskan, Asian, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander students.
• Last year, The Ohio 8 Coalition invested more than $33 million in preschool opportunities for more than 8,000 children and provided more than 36 million meals to students.

The Ohio 8 Coalition is a strategic alliance composed of the superintendents and teacher union presidents from Ohio’s eight urban school districts – Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown.  The Ohio 8 Coalition’s mission is to work with policymakers to improve academic performance, increase graduation rates, and close the achievement gap for students in Ohio’s urban communities.

See the Year-at-a-Glance Infographic here and visit www.ohio8coalition.org for more information about The Ohio 8 Coalition.

What is the effect on urban neighborhood schools when a critical mass of well-educated, well-off people move in? That’s a topic The Atlantic tackled last week, citing a variety of news articles around the country.

Unfortunately, in many neighborhoods around the country, gentrification, it turns out, usually stops at the schoolhouse door, according to the article “When Neighborhoods Gentrify, Why Aren’t Their Public Schools Improving?” Because newcomers tend to send their kids outside of the local system, often to private or charter schools, gentrification tends to have a neutral or even negative effect on neighborhood schools, at least in the short term, the article states.

When local governments prioritize better-integrated schools for everyone, all students benefit. Hartford, Connecticut, is one example where strong urban magnet schools attract students from outside the city. Nearly half of Hartford’s students now benefit from integrated K-12 education. “How exactly did Hartford do it? The city persuaded patrons to buy in,” the article explains. “It wooed children of diverse backgrounds. And instead of having students learn science through worksheets, the city gave students access to a planetarium, an outdoor garden, a butterfly vivarium, a trout pond, and a LEGO lab.”

ACS understands the value of a high-quality public education for all students. Through our work, we help local communities improve their public K-12 education systems in ways that work for them. ACS strives to support students from all backgrounds so all students can love learning, be inspired to graduate high school, pursue a career, and improve their futures.

Want to know hear about ACS’s K-12 education work? Click on our testimonial from one of our K-12 clients.

 

 

ACS Vice President Scarlett Bouder provided closing comments for the  BUILD Initiative’s national conference in Cleveland, Ohio on October  9th. She provided an outline of best practices when communicating to parents, policymakers and the community about early learning issues as well as perspective on the rapid growth of the early childhood field during the past 30 years. Attendees from 10 states and the District of  Columbia were present. Interested in a similar presentation about early childhood messaging and related history?  Contact Info@advocacyandcommunication.org

Child abuse and neglect is on the rise in Arizona: in 2013, there were more than 22,000 reports of child abuse and neglect in a six-month period of time, up from 16,000 in 2009. Despite this increase, child abuse is completely preventable.  As of June 30, 2015, the backlog of child welfare cases sits at 14,946 and there is estimated to be 52,000 new child welfare cases in the next year.

While other states are investing in prevention programs to address this issue before it starts, Arizona’s system focuses on remediation, with more than 18,000 children in foster care across the state.

That’s why ACS is helping Prevent Child Abuse Arizona (PCA Arizona)  to shift the public conversation about child maltreatment so prevention is prioritized as the lead strategy in the child safety system in Arizona.

As part of this effort, ACS helped PCA Arizona develop resonant messaging to clearly and consistently communicate the value and importance of child abuse prevention. ACS also equipped PCA Arizona with the tools and resources they need to become a key player and trusted source of information to the media on issues of child abuse and neglect, and the impact of child abuse prevention. Just last week the Daily Courier published a Letter to the Editor by PCA Arizona Executive Director Becky Ruffner calling for the state of Arizona to invest in evidence-based prevention programming to reduce the number of cases of child abuse across the state.

Much is at stake; and PCA Arizona’s strong communication effort aims to make a huge impact on child safety.

 

NPR recently highlighted a story out of Akron Public Schools, which is not uncommon to many districts throughout the state of Ohio, particularly Ohio’s urban districts.

Akron, and other urban districts across Ohio have been seeing more and more students who have immigrated with their families as a result of U.S. foreign policy decisions supporting refugees from around the world. As a result, the face of Akron’s student population is changing and Akron Public Schools has embraced this change.

The NPR broadcast, which can be accessed here, highlights the positive impact that this enrollment shift has cause for both the district, the students they serve, and the community.

Today, Akron Public Schools strives to keep up with the unique needs of English as a Second Language (ESL) students who are eager to learn and hungry for knowledge.

In addition to enriching classroom opportunities Akron Public Schools offers athletic opportunities for students. Today the soccer team at North High School, the most diverse high school in the state, is composed of 40 students, mostly refugees, speaking 5 languages. The team made it to the City Series Championship last year and hopes to do it again this school year.