What About Me?
Format
Poster Presentation
Location
Harborside Center
Strand #1
Academic Achievement & School Leadership
Strand #2
Family & Community
Relevance
This proposal addresses the strand of Academic Achievement and School Leadership because it examines practical ways to improve the achievement gap in schools that serve impoverished children. The proposal will also provide leaders with the tools needed to implement programs to bridge the gap and expose impoverished students to talent trajectory programs.
Brief Program Description
The impoverished child is the guinea pig of education reform. While impoverished students may face different obstacles than their non-impoverished peers, they deserve optimal academic opportunities and educational consistency. Many companies such as College Board, Success for All Foundation, and Scholastic have packaged and sold millions of dollars in curriculum to urban and impoverished school districts under the guise that their product will improve reading and close the achievement gaps. What about Me? is a session that will examine current attempts at closing achievement gaps and propose practical solutions such as early literacy and academic exposure, community involvement and talent trajectory programs to close the achievement gap and promote learning for students in high poverty situations.
Summary
In Langston Hughes’s poem, “I Continue to Dream”, he questions if the reader understands his dreams and later concludes his thoughts by stating “either way it doesn’t matter/ I continue to dream.” Although Hughes wrote from a different perspective, his sentiment reflects that of the impoverished child in today’s schools. Educators and companies continue to produce materials and curricula that they believe will benefit the impoverished, underprivileged child, but despite their costly efforts, the achievement gap continues to widen, yet these students continue to dream. Sapolsky posits, “poverty is a source of ongoing stress and a threat that leads to malnutrition, social deprivation and educational disadvantage” (2005). If this statement holds true, impoverished children face obstacles that educators only read about or see on television. Unfortunately, many educators who work with impoverished children don’t understand the struggles they face and consequently impede their dreams by limiting their educational progress. Instead of throwing curriculum at students and hoping it “sticks”, practitioners should take more practical approaches in closing achievement gaps such as early literacy and academic exposure, community engagement, and talent development trajectory. While the aforementioned solutions may seem commonplace, they have and still continue to work in closing the achievement gap for underprivileged children. This discussion will be focused on current research based on a collaborative effort of four Doctoral graduates from Clark Atlanta University’s School of Education/Ed Leadership Program. The group has developed a focused topic on a critical issue facing impoverished students all over the nation.
Evidence
This proposal will examine the idea of talent development and internships for high school students and how this will help to close the achievement gaps. In my current school system, we are implementing talent development programs and internships and these programs have helped students to do well academically in school and build connections with their communities.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Quail Arnold
Dr. Quail Arnold currently serves as a High School Support Teacher for Gifted Education. This position allows her the opportunity to support teachers and students through professional, curricular, and strategic development. While in this role, Dr. Arnold has coordinated and facilitated several academic enrichment opportunities for gifted high school students such as Georgia Academic Decathlon, The Mary Frasier STEM Conference at the University of Georgia, and XANADU Arts & Sciences Academy. She has also been provided with the opportunity to train teachers who are seeking to become gifted-endorsed in the state of Georgia. Additionally, she has been instrumental in redesigning the high school gifted delivery model offerings in her school district, proving that gifted students need more than just Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate to meet their social, emotional, and academic needs.
Throughout her 11-year career, Dr. Arnold has served in several roles such as curriculum writer, test developer, trainer, instructor, and department chair. She is an advocate for Advanced Academics and believes that all students should have exposure to advanced learning opportunities despite whatever outside challenges they may face. It is this belief that drives her work in gifted education. Dr. Arnold is a 2012 graduate of Clark Atlanta University where she earned her Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership. She earned her Master of Education at Mercer University and her Bachelor of Science in English Education at Georgia Southern University.
Dr. Melissa Eades
Dr. Melissa D. Eades is an educational consultant, keynote speaker and workshop presenter. She currently serves as a High School Administrator in Detroit, MI where she has earned the reputation of being student centered. Dr. Eades has a heart for education and works diligently to provide students with a quality and equitable education. In her current position she is responsible for coordinating curriculum, instruction, assessment and implementing research-based professional development opportunities for teachers. Dr. Eades believes that students will rise to the expectations that teachers set for them. Students need to be challenged in order to grow academically, and socially.
Dr. Eades has made a commitment to her personal professional growth and attended the New and Aspiring School Leaders (ASL) institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Academically, she completed her Bachelors of Arts degree in psychology from Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte, NC. She holds a Masters of Arts in Counseling from Michigan State University located in East Lansing, MI and an earned Doctorate in Educational leadership from Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Nicole Gibbs
Dr. Nicole Gibbs currently serves as Vice Provost for Access and Enrollment Services at the University of the Virgin Islands. She provides oversight for the offices of the
Registrar, Admissions, Financial Aid, and Recruitment. She has worked in a variety of settings and draws on her prior experiences with student affairs and student support services to work across the university to integrate the recruitment efforts throughout the institution. Dr. Gibbs established collaborative relationships, which have made recruitment and retention a University-wide priority. She believes retention and the nurturing of students is everyone’s job. Since her arrival at the University of the Virgin Islands, new freshman enrollment has increased by a record 14 % for Fall 2014. Overall, student enrollment has stabilized, where it had been decreasing for the past three years, prior to her arrival. Dr. Gibbs attributes this success to the development of a strategic recruitment plan, a university-wide implementation approach, and a sincere commitment to enhancing recruitment and retention efforts at the University.
Dr. Gibbs has over 12 years of experience in higher education. Previously, she served as the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Broward College, in South Florida. Dr. Gibbs earned her Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Clark Atlanta University, a Masters of Education from Columbus State University, and a Bachelors of Science from Georgia Southern University.
Dr. Edward Williams
Dr. Edward Williams has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Master’s degree in Behavior Disorders, Specialist degree in Educational Leadership as well as a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership, all from Clark Atlanta University.
Currently, Dr. Edward Williams serves as an Assistant Principal at Cascade Elementary School located in Atlanta Georgia. Dr. Williams is currently in his 17th year in education. During his tenure, he has taught as a Severe Emotional Behavior Disorders (SEBD) teacher as well as an Interrelated Special Education Teacher. Dr. Williams also serves on the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators Leadership Advisory Committee for Educational Testing Service (ETS).
Dr. Williams is also the founding partner of the E.A.S.E. Project L.L.C. (Educational Administrators for Strategic Enrichment). Through this consortium it is his desire to travel the globe educating building administrators with current and relevant educational practices.
Keyword Descriptors
talent trajectory, community involvement, impoverished children, closing the gap
Presentation Year
2016
Start Date
3-8-2016 4:00 PM
End Date
3-8-2016 5:30 PM
Recommended Citation
Arnold, Quail T.; Williams, Edward Jr.; Eades, Melissa D.; and Gibbs, Lakisha N., "What About Me?" (2016). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 78.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2016/2016/78
What About Me?
Harborside Center
The impoverished child is the guinea pig of education reform. While impoverished students may face different obstacles than their non-impoverished peers, they deserve optimal academic opportunities and educational consistency. Many companies such as College Board, Success for All Foundation, and Scholastic have packaged and sold millions of dollars in curriculum to urban and impoverished school districts under the guise that their product will improve reading and close the achievement gaps. What about Me? is a session that will examine current attempts at closing achievement gaps and propose practical solutions such as early literacy and academic exposure, community involvement and talent trajectory programs to close the achievement gap and promote learning for students in high poverty situations.
