Achievement, Career and Post-Secondary
Closing Achievement and Opportunity Gap by Eliminating Racial Disparities in Education and the Workforce.
The Achievement, Career, and Post-Secondary Initiative will primarily focus on educational goals and monitor progress from 0-24, including:
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Support all students and educators to develop anti-racist practices informed by implicit bias and stereotype threat, engage, affirm, and empower African American students and families and eradicate the School to Prison Pipeline and Opportunity Gap in Colorado.
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Coordinate comprehensive wraparound supports to guarantee African American student readiness to learn.
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Ensure that African American students receive culturally responsive, rigorous instruction.
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Build relational trust with African American students and families and create conditions to prepare them for life, work, and study beyond their secondary school years.
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Create a pathway, incentives, and support for Black teachers in Colorado.
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Develop partnerships with the government. The private and nonprofit sector's students in high school and who enroll in higher education are immediately connected with employers through jobs, internships, apprenticeships, or service-learning programs. Helping create a pipeline for our youth earlier to build more of a diverse workforce for Colorado. (Shared Goal with Economic Empowerment Initiative)
Key Activities
TRANSFORMING MINDSETS
ACPSI will partner with MSU Denver, UNCO, and CU Denver to deliver professional development modules that work to improve the quality of teacher-student relationships. ACPSI will create a Learning Academy for administrators that lead them by building relationships with their African American students and families and developing a clear Theory of Action Plan.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
This objective will be accomplished by creating a statewide African American Parent Advisory Council (CO-AAPAC), which will provide a platform for families to share their needs and concerns, promote parent advocacy on changing public policy, and inform families of district resources and educational strategies.
Another resource will be to create an alliance with Black Student Unions: ACPSI will work with partnering “districts, colleges, and universities to support and coordinate BSU’s to develop goals and programming, and to support projects including college tours, STEM career exposure field trips, Black History Month events, and boys’ and girls’ affinity groups” (AAALI, 2019), i.e., The Brotherhood and Sisterhood.
WRAPAROUND SUPPORT
Coordinate comprehensive wraparound supports to guarantee African American student readiness to learn. The purpose is to develop and support elementary, middle, and high schools in coordinating academic mentoring programs like The Brotherhood & Sisterhood, Young Men’s of Purpose, Black Women’s Leadership, etc. that include case management and curriculum designed to increase the educational capacity and cultural self-esteem of African American boys and girls. ACPSI will also connect existing organizations and events like the Black Male Initiative and Black Fraternities and Sororities.
RESPONSIVE AND RIGOROUS INSTRUCTION
Establish policy and coordinate CDE and local unions, school boards, and other community organizations and professionals to ensure African American students receive culturally responsive, rigorous instruction in every school.