DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 257 917 UD 024 277

TITLE Children, Families, and Public Schools: BuildingCommunity Alliances for Learning. The NationalEducation Association's Annual Conference on Humanand Civil Rights in Education (23rd, February 22-24,1985). NEA Report.

INSTITUTION National Education Association, Washington, D.C.PUB DATE F 13 85NOTE 24p.PUB TYPE Collected Works - Conference Proceedings (021)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Alienation; Child Abuse; Child Neglect; *Community

Involvement; Community Role; ',Disadvantaged Youth;Prinking; Drug Abuse; Early Childhood Education;Educational Needs; Elementary Secondary Education;Equal Education; Ethnicity; -.ederal Legislation;Hunger; Minority Group Children; MulticulturalEducation; Parent School Relationship; PregnantStudents; Racial Discrimination; Sex Discrimination;*Social Problems; *Student Needs; Suicide; *TeacherResponsibility, Technology; Track System(Education)

IDENTIFIERS *Educator Role; Latchkey Children

ABSTRACTThis conference addressed the problems of children

whose circumstances limit their ability to learn, their access toequal educational opportunity, and their basic civil rights, and therole of National Education Association (NEA) members and theircommunities in solving these proVlems. The keynote address byBlandina Cardenas Ramirez, excerpted here, considered how educationemployees can address the needs of children whose education has beenhampered by discrimination. Summaries of the following seminarsessions are provided: (1) the effects of hunger on children'slearning; (2) child abuse and neglect; (3) overcoming racial,cultural, .and economic alienation; (4) missing childrq.teenage suicides, and pregnant students; (5) children lot_ al,latchkey problems; (6) drug and alcohol abuse; (7) special ofchildren; (8) overcoming the school obstacle course: testing,screening, and tracking; (9) maintaining cultural identity in schoolintegration; (10) bringing families into the teaching-learningprocess; (11) reporting problems and identifying resources forassistance; (12) opening new technology to minorities and women; and(13) early childhood education: a path out of poverty. Excerpts fromspeeches on c'eildren's legislative issues (Marian Wright Edelman) andcommunity and school responses (U.S. Representative George Miller)are given. Examples are provided of specific planning models foranalyzing an issue and setting goals. The concluding speech by NEAVice President Keith Geiger focuses on the need for school employee':and communities to collaborate in improving the education of studentswith difficult circumstances. Lists of relevant resources and ofpanelists accompany each seminar summary. (RDN)

jl

Children, Families, andPublic Schools:Building CommunityAlliances for LearningThe National Education Association'sTwenty-Third Annual Conference onHuman and Civil Rights in Education

February 22-24, 1985

ss-

U S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

Ot u-A I IONAi HI !if fi(If INFT)HMATION(JNIII? if MCI

, 1As rrplmitif114 , 0,1 ho, Ihr. 001011 Ca Ottliltlitilt1011ot.t1111.1t,iI It

M.11 Chills tt.lvt tine,, n,,Ifit! 10 ItYlprOVI,oiptoiltictitin

Wunh, '0 view it npmlunti %tided m thi; (foci,mein do dot net Foinc,eni otfludl NIE

1116.__Pnilloo dr v

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

G- F-TeE11-7-L.

Al aA.: cc cA-4,164 141,c,

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)"

. N

N

National EducationAssociation

Officers

Mary Hatwood FutrellPRESIDENT

Keith GeigerVICE PRESIDENT

Roxanne BradshawSECRETARY TREASURER

Don CameronEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Staff

Ruby KingWilliamsASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORFOR PUBLIC AFFAIR

Charles T. Williamseinicins. HUMAN It CIVILRIGHT 5

Cdror er,(

i I

'

Conference /CoordinationMartha L. WareMarilyn F. JohnstonCarolyn O'NealPaul Putnam

Contemns* Logistic/Lynette B. JohnsonDorothy Byars

Program ASSIStillnCil,Gaye BarkerBoyd BosmaMary Faber'Ron HoustonF.J. JohnsonMarilyn F. JohristorWil LunaRamon Mac FarlanPam Ryan

Dorothy MassieMary SosaBarbara SteinStefanie Weiss

(

MaterialsPaul Putnam 1

Hazel W. Blakey;

Registration end'Technical AselatenceLynette B. Johr,SonDorothy ByarsLauvon Carter iCathy Hough ,

Doris PeaceJanice Pearson

Vanessa RobirronJeanita S. SmithBarbara StulingToni Williams I ,

Martha D. WObb

Program and ReportStefanie Weiss-

,

NEA Committee onHuman RelationsTeasther W.,,Smith, Chair,

MichiganBenny Wilson Amos,

_Oklahoma-Patricia E. Arakaki, UtahTerry Barnes, Illinois011ie Besteiro, Texas

Evan tioldrnan, NewJersey

Roger A Gooden,California

Robert Marley, KansasJohn R. McIntyre, South

DakotaDeborah thurston, Georgia

NEA CoMmittee onCivil RightsPaul 0. LaPlante, Chair,

MassachusettsKdren E, Ellis, Idaho

Susie C, Jablinske,Maryland

JaInf'S I ogan, TennesseeHp r -haul I. Vail, LouisianaDoris M IValson, roxasTriendore Wentz,

PentisylyaniaWaller A Young, Ir ,

Dr levy Ili!

KVIth A i.nek, Micl»gan 3

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

1 INTRODUCTION L

The deeply troubling c ire umstan«s of manychildren's lives limit their ahilitti 10 learn, theiraccess to an equal educational opportunity, andtheir basic e ivil rights. As education employees,National Education Association members mustdeal wit h these soc ietal problems poverty,neglc t, c hill abuse, racism, sexism, drug andalcohol abuse, depression, and teen pregnancybefore any real teaching and learning can takeplace.

I low NEA members and their communities canwork together «) solve (hese prohlems was the sub-jet NEA's 23rd Annual Conference on Humanand Civil Rights in Education--"Children, Fam-ilie.s, and Public Si pools: building CommunityAlliances for Learning."

'here were four major «m Ferenc r objectives:1) to define the problems impeding efforts to

achieve equity and ex( ellnce in education:2) to identify appropriate school, NEA state and

local affiliate, family and community responses tothese problems:

I to establish a commitment to build alliancesthat sill work toward overcoming harriers to equityand ext ellenw: and

to develop back-home plans for cooperativework toward these goals.

lilandina Cardenas Ramirez, director of trainingat the International Development Research Associa-tion and a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Com-mission. opened the conference with her talk onbuilding alliances for equity in education, Othermajor speakers at the conference were Maria!)

111111111111M111111=1111111.ump

.,11fi

4

Wright Edelman, president of the Children'sDefense Fund; Rep. George Miller (T) -Ca. ), chair ofthe I louse Select Committee on (:hildren, Youth,and Families; and Keith Geiger, NEA vice-president.

On the conference's first day, seminar sessionsdealt with the social problems children, families,and schools face: hunger, child abuse and neglect,racial, cultural, and economic alienation, latchkeychildren. drug and alcohol abuse, student testingat(d tracking, runaways, pregnant students, andteenage depression and ruicide.

On the second day, the conference sessionsfocused on community-wide solutions to theseproblems. Topics included maintaining culturalidentity in school integration, bringing familiesinto the teaching-learning process, finding theright resources for assistance, opening new technol-ogy to minorities and women, and early childhoodeducation.

And finally, on the third day, conference partici-pants "moved into action." Grouped by an issue ofinterest, participants worked in small sessions toformulate plans for implementing solutions in theirown communities.

In his concluding remarks, NEA Vice-PresidentGeiger summed up the message of the conference:"Teachers and parents, school employees and corn-MU II it ies--toget her we can make a difference if weextend our vision, if we link ourselves to ever-widening networks of concerned educators, con-cerned parents, concerned school board members,and concerned legislators,"

4

Keynote SessionBlandina Cardenas RamirezBldndind Cdrdenat Ramirez, director 0/drain-ing at the international Development ResearchAllot:at:on, a member of the 1I.S. Call Rit;hisCommiltion, and dn 1V1-.A member, delivered thekeynote ,rdairt it. Ramirez rpoke about howeducation employeet can addretv thr needy ofchildren whose education v are hampered bythe of hillorical discrimination. The fa-lowing are eXtOPIS /morn her speech.

hose of us who grew up knowingdiscrimination, those of us whogrew up knowing the effects ofdist rimination and the effects of

I,. bigotry on our parents, and our

grandparents, always understood that the workthat we did was so the next generation wouldnot have to suffer, would not have to be heldback.... There is no loftier c ivil rights issuethan the issue of the next generation.

It seems to me that the most grievous failureof leadership in contemporary America is the fail-ure to adym ate for children. And when I saylath. re of leadership, I do not restrict myself ex-( lusively to the President of the United States.It is not surprising that a man who took threeYears to meet his grandchild would not advo-t ate for children. But it is surprising that so manypolitical leaders on both sides of the aislewho know betterallow our government to re-duce its advocacy for children

As more and more women get into the workfor«., and as inure and mo;-c mothers of infantsenter the work force. we have developing inour communities hodgepodge alternate care sys-tems, whit h we have little ability to mg': internis olquality, safety, reliability, or excellence.

A new mother in our society (Wife and morefinds herself going hack into the work force at theend of six weeks. We have no idea of the effectof that on bonding, we have no idea whether twomore weeks might make a big different e, or amonth might help that mother get better orga-med. might respond to her emotional needsas well as the child's. There is no advocacy forfamilies, and there is no advocat y for children,and those effects, which poor and minority ( hil-then have suffered lot so very long, are beingfelt How among middle t lass families, also.

Ilw fat I of I he minter is t hat most of the et -

ItqN &it are going forward in attempting tobank forth excellent e in edut anon, suffer notIrons rat ism in the traditional sense; they stifferfrom ignoran«.. They sot kr from ignorancedill of I he 11,1111R- 11 }Hunan dcyrinpnwn I ..,.Whv

Lill't we keep in mind 111 designing thoseagendas tot ex, ell:lite that children have emo-tional needs and IIIM I lle (MUMMA 1111pa( isIlir IIIIHICI ttl,111

6.0

We know that children develop socially.And yet, more and more, the excellence propos-als allow for fewer and fewer options for chil-dren to develop socially, offer less and less sup-port of children in their very difficult task ofsocial development.

I think that if we do a better job in the pur-suit ofexcellence, it will he clear that that re-quires a complete job in the pursuit of equity.The two are indivisible.

I think at the local level and at the state lev-el, the organized teaching profession must bringto the local agenda concerns about the com-prehensive development of children, must advo-cate for the support of families in the compre-hensive development of their children, and musttome up with innovative approaches and sup-port innovative approaches for dealing with someof those very tough problem areas.

Schools and teachers can support at theschool district and at the local level the develop-ment of a spirit of community which supportsthose civil rights policies such as affirmative ac-tion, which can move a ((immunity forward ineradicating th,. effects of past and presentdiscrimination,

Teachers can remind our leadership that weneed to start looking at kids and their families aswhole human beings, and bureaucraciesshould be, first and Ion most , advocates for thosechildren and families. The affairs of politicsarc not ends in themselves, but arc. the means bywhich we can serve the next generation.

t)

Hunger andNutrition in aLand of Plenty1 ittogry (hildren cannotlearn and often are disruptiveenough to stop others fromlearning as well. Panelists tothis session discussed the ex-tent if: hunger in the classroom,thr effeus of hunger onlearning and hehavior, and theile( is of re«.nt hudget cuts

and weakened legislation on at-tempts to solve the problem.Inc hided in the discussion werethese fads:

St:itistil. s released lastYear by the 1;.S. f)rpartment ofHealth ;m(11111111:111 Servi«reseal that as mane as 500,00ulow inc orn.. I hildren .under,the age of six arc suffering tr.Q.m.._malnutrition.

The four hasi«-hild nu-trition programs hullI tint ii, Sc hoot Breakfast,

(..are food, and SummerFOOd Wert redlll ed 29 pur-( cm from fist al sears 1982 to1,985. Funding (Or IIICW pro-

grams has been cut by over $5billion.

As a result of the 1981( tits, the municer ( hildren re-Hying sc hoot lunches fell byabout 2 5 million, The numberof low-in( ome , hildren re-eiving free or redu; ed 1)6( c

Inn( IL, dropped he ( lose to-0),000.

g 'HIM is tgreat oralryiden( r associating undernu-ninon with impaired mentalprformame and there is someevidence thin undrnutri-(ion, independent of other fac-tors, (an he a cause of mentalimpairment.

Research has shown (hatseverely undmurished chil-dren score poorly on percep-tual, cognitive, and psychologi-cal tests. Similar findings arereported for children sufferingfrom mild-to-Moderate un-dernintition; some evidencesuggests that severe, moder-ate, and even mild undernnzri-tion are associated with di-minished verbal abilities.

%we

PANELISTS

1)ehorah CurtisLeg! l'e' A

to Senator Edward Ni. Kennedy(1)-Mass. )Washington, D.C.

Wendy TemproPrliden/Tempt() Asso( Litton, Inc .

Brooklyn, New York

Tom Melantrevor a /Massachusetts Advocacy CenterBoston, Massachusetts

Ed CooneyAlt9rneyFood Research and ActionCenterWashington, D.C.

RESOURCESHunger. tit '. ",e,

;

I 3r,n,

'-f. r

Going Hungry in America.;,..

II ' 1' I i t.

Doing More With Less: In-novative Ideas for ReducingCosts in the School Nutri-tion Programs. f ()( ,cl,c1,1 11,,n ;on!! IF HA(:),I N

1;11,t1Itmf,, 1) ,4)(10,1

I)01)() (,;.1,1f

fm! II) 1.r. ',td),( tip, Af ) too,/

rir

"Food Fight: A Report onTeenagers' Eating Habits andNutritional Status.'

WII IP 10 rItI/Oir-; Policy Coih,1l,11AVVF,1),-;toi `,-;t , #401, Oakland,CdIttornid ),1)12.

Relationships of Hungerand Malnutrition to LearningAbility and Behavior, 1 hr1\11,1t(iti(m (itIC,It1(,11 (.1:11t1'1 11)(1Ihlr I i(qo)d nol,fttint;III of Ctl

ir, 1(f;-II t (; Witt(i't N,Iilitl(If (11iLdil()P

111'11141LI 11(1[1',(`, I hi;',;1,311+ 1)tlivr,f';It

Lit Iorrr,ylvdowIFI1/1/ 1023

Child Abuse andNeglectReports of child abuse haveincreased 100 percent over thelast eight years. The num-bers of child sexual abuse casesand missing children havegreatly increasedas has publicawareness of themin re-cent years. This workshop fo-cused on the role of teachersand local associations in dealingwith these profoundly trou-bling issues.

The Metropolitan Nash-ville Education Association's ef-forts to help educate aboutand prevent child abuse was-

--used-aramexam p le of ft-corn- ----

prehensive community-widetraining and Awareness pro-

en s on-terns Committee, with fund-ing from the Hank SnowInternational Foundation forPrevention of Child Abuse andNeglect, produced a resourcemanual and worked to train one"resource"teacher in every'school, In addition, educationand training was providedfor larger numbers of teachers,principals,, child protectiveservice workers, and parents.

Other topics covered in-cluded: teachers' legal responsi-.bilities in reporting suspect-ed cases of abuse and neglect,

t e relationship betweenfailure to pay child support pay-ments and abuse, the rela-tionship between learning dis-abilities and abuse,legislation with regard to re-porting suspected abuse, fin-gerprinting of education andchild care employees, the re-lationship between teachers andabusive parents, and abuseprevention programs.

PANELISTS

Myrna Peralta.GuevaraDirector, Services to Familiesand Veterans

American e

ChapterWashington, D.C.Louise SmithHeals Occupations TeacherMaplewood High SchoolNashville, Tennessee

Robert HorowitzAssociate DirectorNational Legal Resource CenterFor Child Advocacy andProtectionAmerican Bar AssociationWashington, D.C.Thea HambrightSchool Social WorkerAlexandria Public SchoolsAlexandria, Virginia

_

RESOURCES(he NEA Child Abuse andNeglect Multimedia trainingProgram contains:

(1) books and pamphlets:Child Abuse and Neglect: ATeacher's Handbook for Ontection, Reporting, and Classroom Management, leacherRecommended Resources, In(national Guidelines for Students, Questions Teachers AskAbout Legal Aspects ofReporting,

(2) filmstrips: RecognizingCnili4,Abuse ,Ind Neglect, TheAbusive Parent Lee's Story,and A Victim Remembers,

(31. audiotapes: Profiles ofAbusive 30(1 Neglectful Parents,

Piclessional 1mini, Sup1)( )11 ( jr()Ilos Xi(' Services, The

Administrator's' Perspective, ADragon i, i My Closet, DeborahWore Designer Jeans, TalkingWith the Victim, Setting Up aProgram, and Resource Orga-nizations,. and

14) workshop materials:A Guide and Plan for ConductingSix Workshops on ChildAbuse and Neglect and Workshop Handouts.

Cost to NEA affiliates-$137, to others $199.95. Formore information, write toNEA Professional Library, 120116th St , N.W. Washington,D C. 20036. or call (20218227200

early Misgivings: A Film onChild Abuse, Pror':Aced, directedand written by Leonard Kurt;color, 29 minutes; 16mm and vidno Rental $50, Purchase

16mm, $425; video $300. Distrib-uted by Cinema Guild, 1697Broadway, NeW York, New York10019.

SIECUS (Sex Informationand Education Council of theU.S.) Report. Special ChildSexual Abuse Issue, September1984. Write to 80 Fifth Ave-nue, New York, New York 10011.

Public Concern and Person-al Action: Child Sexual Abuse,Children's Hospital NationalMedical Center, 1980, 111 Michi-gan Ave., N.W., Washington,D.C. 21010.

;r:-. t

Th Rble In thePrevention anu Treatment ofChild Abuse and Neglect,Washington, D,C.: GovernmentPrinting Office, 1984. Write toDocuments Division, Washing-ton, D.C. 20402.

.ma . aawa.... ...ea.1,0.1."0... ay*, a wavaa.,......

t at .1 rm... . n I.......

OvercomingRacial, Cultural,and EconomicAlienationThis session dealt with howsociety's alienating factorsrac-ism, sexism, elitism, fear ofdifferences, and fear of handi-capsaffect not only ourschool systems, but also a groupof youngsters NEA membersrarely discussthe 50,000 chil-dren awaiting adoption to-day. These children are victimsof racial, cultural, and eco-nomic alienation.

It was suggested that ifeach public schoolfaculty_members or students' fam-iliesagreed to try to place one

special needs child, and didit, the majority of waiting chil-dren could have families.Conference participants dis-cussed the problems inherentin this proposal, and also thetragedy of not finding anysolution.

The problem of overcom-ing racial and cultural alien-ation in our schools was dis-cussed. The staff of theMaryland State Departmentof Education, through its Officeof Equal Opportunity,shared with conference partici-pants its professional devel-opment model which trainsteachers and administratorsto deal with such alienation.

3-oiiitions to economic dis-criminationincluding pay

equity, equal pay for equalwork, affirmative action pro-grams, legislation, and col-lective bargainingwere alsoaddressed in this session.

PANELISTS

Roy MaurerNational DirectorNorth American Council onAdoptable Children, Inc.Washington, D.C.Woodrow B. Grant, Jr.Director, Office of EqualOpportunityMaryland State Department ofEducationBaltimore, MarylandStephen M. LevinsonHuman Rights AdministratorOffice Qf..l3umnauBighrs_City of Alexandria, VirginiaAlexandria, Virginia

RESOURCESThe NAACP Preliminary Re-port on Public School Educa-tion: An Update of the 1977NAACP Report on QualityEducation for Black Ameri-cans, An Imperative. NationalAssociation for the Advancemerit of _Colored Peoptn-,--1-9MT186 Rerusen St., BrooklynHeights, New York 11201

Thirty Years After Brown.Natuinai Urban Lcaque, NewYork, Now York, 1984, 6001- ,1,0 find St New Yolk,Now Ynii 1(1(121

Three Citieh That Are Mak-ing Desegregation Work:Thirty Years After Brown.National Education Association,Washington, D.C., 1984, 120.116th St., N.W , Washington,D.C. 20036. _. _

Excellence and Equity,Quality and Inequality: A Re-port on Civil Rights, Educa-tion, and Black Children.National Black Child Development Institute, Inc., 1983, 1463Rhode Island Ave., N.W ,

Washington, D.0 20005.

.. .. ... "i

"Reducing Prejudice in Stu-dents: Theory, Research, andStrategies." In MulticulturalEducation and Race Relations,edited by Kogila Adam Mood-ley, Centre for the Study of Cur-riculum and-Instruct-ton, Facul-ty of Education, The University ofBritish Columbia,'Vancouver,British Columbia, 1985.The Invisible Culture, S.U.Phillips, Longman (Publisher),New York, 1983.Inequality in an Age of De-cline. Paul Blumberg, OxfordUniversity Press, New York,1980.

?

5

..***"..'. "w.w.. ...L.... mebt .0 41.1.41.414 114407:814V e.. 1 MINPIP.I114........,.

The Outcasts:Missing Children,

. Runaways,Teenage Suicides,Pregnant StudentsHere are some soberingstatistics:

The National Center onMissing and Exploited Childrenreports that 1.5 million chil-dren are reported missing eachyear. Of these, one millionarc runaways, an estimated25,000 to 500,000 have beenabducted by noncustodial par-ents, and between 20,000 to50,000 arc cases that have beenunsolved by the end of theyear. Each year, at least 3,000unidentified persons,includ-ing hundreds of children, areburied.

Itulais eau n rry_r hereare more than one million teen-age women with 1.3 million

.

200,000 young women un-der age 18 give birth. About11,000 of those births are togirls under age 15.

Suicide is the secondleading cause of death (after caraccidents) for those between

the ages of 15 and 19. The sui-cide rate for the 15- to 24-year-old age group more thandoubled between 1960 and1980.

Panelists and participantsarthifitgrefftirstthtdd-rliefeisons for these problems, thewarning signs, the tragic results,and most importantly, waysschools and communities canwork together to help thesechildren and to work toward thegoal of prevention.

k,\

PANELISTS

June BucyExecutive DirectorNational Network of Runawayand Youth ServicesWashington, D.C.

-- -Myrialerbett_l_CoordinatorFairfax County Schools SocialWork ServicesFairfax, VirginiaMargaret C. DunkleCo-Director, The EqualityCenterWashington, D.C.

RESOURCESOn the topic of missingchildren.To Whom Do They Belong?'A Profile of America's Run-away and Homeless Youthand the Programs That HelpThem. National Network ofRUnaway and Youth Services905 6th St., S.W Washing-ton, D.0 20034.National Center for Missingand Exploited Children, 1835 KSt , N W , Suite 700, Wash'moon, D C 20006.ACTION Missing and ExWelted Children Prolect, 806 Connecticut Ave , N W , RoomM 1007, Washington, D C.2(7)25

on thts top,,, ttOnacjeprosstOn ,), suu :id'

Coping with Teenage De-pression: A Parent's Guide.

Kathleen McCoy, New Ameri-can Library, 1982.

A Cry for Help. Mary Eliza-beth Griffin and Carol Felsenthal,Doubleday, Garden City, NewJersey, 1983.

Suicide in Children and Ad-olescents. Syed Husain andTrish Vandiver, Special Medi-cal and Scientific Books, 1984.

Teenage Suicide, an infor-mation brochure. National Educa-tion Association, Human and

Washington, D.C.Civtl-fIrghtq, 1701

Handbook describing FairfaxCounty's program dealing withteenage suicide. For comics,write to Myra Herbert, Coordina-tor, School Social Services,Belle Willard Administrative Conter, 10310 Layton Hall Drive,Fairfax, Virginia 22030

On the topic of teenagepregnancies:Schools Must Ease the Im-pact ofteen -Age PregnancyandParenthood. MargaretC. Dunkle and Susan M. Bailey,Education Week, Oct. 24,1984.

The Pregnancy and Parent-ing Provisions of Title IX. Forcopies, write to The EqualityCenter, 2233 Wisconsin ANN.W., Washington, D.C.,20007.

The Children's DefensePd-Adolestent-Pregnancy------

Watch Manual. Children'sDefense Fund,122 C St., N.W.,Washington, D.0 20001.Student Pregnancy: A Pre-vention Handbook ficr SchoolPersonnel. Available Septem-ber, 1985 from the NEA Profes-sional Library, 1201 16th St.,N W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

,V,takrta-,.. .s ,,,,, H.1.44.1.4 e t -wenelvor^M09-4....,........1a.o.........t.

Children LeftAlone: Latchkey

. ProblemsIt is estimated that eight to10 million children youngerthan age 18 are latchkey chil-dren. Workshop panelists dis-citsed the important factorsto consider when making deci-sions about leaving children

" alone, and potential communi-ty and school-basedsolutions.

If we are to help latchkeychildren, speakers said, we must-consider the child's age, thechild's ability to be self-reliant,the child's health status, thechild's preparation for self-care,the availablity and cost of

some supervision, and the roleof the school and communityin supporting child careprograms.

Three types of superYisedchild care solutions were dis-cussed: 1) grassroots answerssuch as family centers, tele-phone hot-lines, Boy Scoutsand Girl Scouts, day care cen-ters, family centers, andneighborhood "block homes;"2) private school iolutionsincluding independent schools,churches, YMCAs andYWCAs; and 3) public schoolsthat can work with commu-nities toprovide after-schoolchild care services.

All the speakers stressedcommunity team workinvolv-ing parents, school person-

nel, medical professionals, busi-nesses, and othersto solvethe problems associated withlatchkey children and after-school child care.

PANELISTS

Georgia L. McMurrayDeputy General DirectorCommunity Service Society ofNew YorkNew York, New York

Roberta NewmanDirector, School Age Child CareProgramFairfax City Office for ChildrtnFairfax, Virginia

Patricia PosarelliAsst, Professor of PediatricsJohns Hopkins MedicalInstitutionBaltimore, Maryland

RESOURCESMateria Is:

Latchkey Children, PatriciaD. Fosarelli, Developmental andBehavioral PAdiatrics, Vol. 5,No_ 4,_August,_1984..For reprints,write to Patricia D. Fosarelli,M.D . The Johns Hopkins Medi-cal Institutions, 601 N. WolfeSt , CMSC 145, Baltimore, Mary-land 21205.

Organizations:School Age Child Care Pro-ject. Wellesley College Center for

10

!Research on Women,Wellesley,Massachusetts 02181.

The Center for Early Ado-lescence, University of NorthCarolina at Chapel Hill, Suite223, Carr Mill Mall, Carrboro,_North Carolina 27510.

Child Care Law Project, 625Market St., Suite 815, San Fran-cisco, California 94105.

American Association ofSchool Administrators(AASA), 1801 North MooreSt., Arlington, Virginia 22209.

7

Drug and AlcoholAbuseDiscussion at this session fo-cused on how to most effective-ly educate young people toavoid drug and alcohol abuse.Suggestions included:

using students co teachether students .

teaching living skills suchas assertiveness, decision -mak-ing, and how to say "no"

educating parents to rec-ognize the signs of abuse

educating parents, educa-tion personnel, .anTiiiidents onways to deal with substarkeabuse when they do recognize it

9 learning not to placeblame

recognizing that students'self-concepts must be strength-ened to avoid problems withdrug and alcohbl abuse

working to make preven-tion popular with students andthe "in" thing to do.

Panelists and participantsagreed on one thing: Drug andalcohol abuse among teensor adults is a community prob-lem in need of a communitysolution. Schools, parents,churches, police, and coni-munity agencies must work to-gether to stop substanceabuse.

PANELISTS

Magda LeonCoordinator, Drug ProgramAndromeda Mental HealthCenter for HispanicsWashington, D.C.

Richard L. TowersDireilorInteragency Alternative andSupplemental ProgramMontgomery County PublicScnoolsRockville, Maryland

.1.

RESOURCESSaying No: Drug AbusePrevention Ideas for the Class-room. National Institute onDrug Abuse, Division of Preven-tion and Treatment Develop-ment, 5600 Fisher's Lane, Rock-ville, Maryland 20857.

Preventing AdolescentDrug Abuse: InterventionStrategies (NIDA ResearchMcnograph 47). National Instituteon Drug Abuse, same addressas above. .

Adolescent Peer Pressure:'Theory Correlates, and Pro-gramImplications forDrug Abuse Prevention. Na

11

tionai Institute on Drug Abuse,address above.

Alcohol Health and Re-search World. Superintendentof Documents, U.S. Govern-ment Printing Office, Washing-ton, D.C. 20402. Subscriptionsto the magazine are $11 a year.Single copies are $5. "Special.Focus: Treatment Services forYouth" was tht topic of themagazine's summer, 1983 issue(Vol. 7, No. 4).

Epidemic: Kids, Drugs, andAlcohol. For more informationabout renting or buying thisfilm, write to Modern Talking Pic-tures, 711 4th St., N.W.,Washington, D.C. 20001.

Special NeedipfChildrenThis session opened with avideotape about the specialnestis, concerns, and feelingsorininority children in the pub-lic schools. Called "SpecialPeople ... Special Needs,- the18.mitiute video was corn-piled from interviews with 11high school students in Ar-lington, Virginia. Arlington's.Wakefield High School waschosen as the filming site be-cause of its diversity its stu-denrs represent over 90 nation=alities and speak 45languages.

The featured studentsBlack, Hispanic, Indian, andAsiangave their opinionson such concerns as languagebarriers, cultural differences,discrimination, and isolationfrom peers, and discussedsuch comforts as friends, teach-ers, after-school activities,and community groups,

After the video wasshown; a pane comprised off

-r

Sc4144447

two students featured in thefilm, a teaErfer, a parent, andan administratorall fromArlingtonwere present to an-swer questions from theaudience.

PANELISTS

Evelyn WilsonDirector of GuidanceWakefield High. SchoolArlington, VirginiaJune BrasseHigh Intensity LanguageTraining TeacherPage Elementary School

urn,

Kim Oahn KooksVice PresidentVietnamese Parents AssociationArlington, VirginiaThel SarSenior, WalafteltfitligtractotylArlington, VirginiaBrandon PennixSenior, Wakefield High SchoolArlington, Virginia

RESOURCESSpecial People ... SpecialNeeds, the videotape shown atthis session, is available forrental or purchase through NEA'sProfessional Library. The rent-al price is $25. Purchase price is$45 for NEA members and $80for non-members. Both Z" and .

tapes are available. Sendinquiries and checks to NEA Pro-fessional Library, 1201 16thSt., N.W., Washington, D.C.20036.

For other resources on thissubject, see Maintaining CulturalIdentity in School Integration

Paneltul are from left to 'right June Brame. The/ Sat. Moderuior dud NP.A Secretaty.Thaturer Roxanne Bradsbaw, Brundou Pennix (alto picturedAwe). and Frelyn Wilson

129

Children'sLegislative IssuesMarian Wright EdelmanMarian Vright Edefman has been president ofthe Children's Defense Fund (CDF) since 1973.1n1983, she urns named-by the Ladies Home Jour-nal as one of the 100 most influential women inAmerica. Edelman spoke about the legislativepriorities of the Reagan administration's 1986 bud-get proposal as they affect children. The follow-ing are excerpt(' from her speech.

10

artin Luther King said in themiddle of the Vietnam war that, "Anation that continues year afteryear to spend more money on mili-tary defense than on programs of

social uplift s approaching spiritual death. ".. , IfPresident Reagan's budget priorities succeed, by1990 every American will be spending 19 percentless on poor children and families, and 86 per-cent mote on defense.

Our leaders dream about a new multi-billion'dollar Star Wars system to make our defenses im-penetrable against enemy missiles.' It would benice if they could dream of a smaller, achievablewar against the internal enemies of child pover-ty--a war that saves and enhances, rather thantakes and threatens human life.

By 1990, 22,000 American babies are goingto die primarily because of low birth weight. Wecan prevent at least one in eight of these infantdeaths, and thousands of handicapping condi-tionssimply by providing their mothers prena-tal care. For seven percentor 25 days of the de-fense budget increase, again just next 'year- -every poor mother and baby could be providedMedicaid, and thus, prenatal care coverage.

If President Reagan's proposed Medicaid cutstake place, an additional 10 million children will beat risk of losing some Medicaid benefits or eligi-bilityand I think we should ask, how many fourpound babies will it take to balance the federalbudget?

In the Reagan decade, we are building 17,000new nuclear weapons, at an estimated cost of $71billion. The new Reagan budget allows onlyenough money to stockpile one month of vacina-tion serum for children. As a result, two millionfewer children will be able to be immunized nextyear over last year, if the Reagan budget requestprevails. And this is at a time when half of all Blackpre-school children are not fully immunizedagainst OPT and polio. 4

The President's budget proposes to take an-other $650 million from child nutrition programs,although $5 billioh has alfeady been cut fromthese programs. That means that several millionadditional children will lose school lunches un-der this proposal, and children in family day carehomes will lose the bulk of their federal childcare food support.

I think we who care about people and decen-cy and fairness have got to say that Congress shouldfirst convince President Reagan, Defense Secre;tary Weinberger and the powerful special interestbeneficiaries of defense and tax largesse to makedefecit reduction their first prioritybefore send-ing 'poor, handicapped, and homeless childrenagain to the front lines of a deficit reduction warthat no one else is fighting.

With the Children's Survival Bill, we're try-ing to take the initiative to say that its time for thenation to undertake a range of specific steps togive young people skills and employment opportu-nities to enable them to contribute to, ratherthan depend on, the community.

We are putting special emphasis on adoles-cent pregnancy prevention. In 1983, 523,000,ba-bies were born to teen mothers; 10,000 of thesewere babies born to girls14 and under. We need todeal with this as a major issue because childrenhaving children is like an engine that is driving newgenerations of poor. children.

The key to the teen pregnancy issue, I amconvinced now after two years of homework, is giv-ing young people hope, is having them have astake in the future, of having a sense that they'regoing somewhere, that there's a job there, thatthey can read, and they can write, and they've gotsome skills, and they feel respected and have abasis for demanding that respect.

Not failure, but low, aim is sin. And I hopethat of all the things that will go on this year, atleast those of us who care at out children willkeep our aim high:lhat is the least we can do forthem.

Ms. Edelman's information comes from a recentChildren's Defense Fund publication called A Chil-dren's Defense Budget: An Analysis of the Presi-dent's FY 1986 Budget and Children. To order a copyof the 300page book, send $15.95 to 122 C St.,N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Attention KathleenEriser. Make checks payable to the Children's De-fense Fund. Postage and handling are included.

13

Community andSchool ResponsesGeorge MillerCongressman George Miller (D-California) isoften called "the leading spokesman for childrenc+, Capitol Hul." in 1983, he became the firstchair of the House Select Committee on Chil-dren, Youth and Families, a committee hehelped to create. Con.gressman Miller spokeabout the role of the federal government inbringing about solutions to social problems. Thefollowing are excerpts from his speech.

s we traveled to Miami and toNew York and to Detroit, and toCleveland and Orange Countyand San Francisco and to Salt LakeCity, what we saw was that in al-

most each and every case, where those communi-ties, that state, that city, that county cared, anumber of the problems that plague politicianscould be dealt with, and they're the very prob-lems that have brought you here this weekend.

We saw teenage pregnancy rates in CentralHigh School in St. Paul drop because the schoolsaid we cannot abandon these children, wehave to counsel them properly prior to their sexu-al experiences. Those, who unfortunately findout they're pregnant, we've got to support them,we've got to provide the resources, we've gotto provide the education, we've got to providethe day care centers so they can continue theireducation.

Pregnancy rates dropped in half, secondtime pregnancies dropped by almost two-thirds.Members Lof Congress] were astounded thatyou can affect teenage pregnancy.

We saw cases where you could prevent birthdefects $25 a month during pregnancy. Youcould reduce infant mortality by half, youcould reduce birth defects by two-thirds by justbringing up the birth weight of that child.

So what we saw was that we could do it.And the question started to become a haunting

onebecause no longer could politicians wan-der in the abstract, and wonder, what can we dofor those teenagers who decide to take theirown lives or who are contemplating it what canwe do for those children who are subject tobirth defects, what can we do for the learning dis-abled children or the handicapped children?

That no longer is the issue. The issue nowfor us as policy makers is what are we willing todo? What are we willing to do in the way of aninvestment in our children? The important thingto learn is that now it's almost malfeasance ofoffice if we don't take action, because we canpoint to examples throughout this countrywhere, with proper resources, the lives of childrenand families are dramatically changed and en-hanced, and in some cases, where death is in factdeterred.

Each and every one of the social programsthe child welfare service; Headstart; the Women,Infant, and Children nutrition program; thematernal and child health program, the commu-nity health centersall of these according toauditsdone by the Reagan administration, havebeen effective in terms of the services they'vedelivered. They've been cost effective, andthey've deferred long term costs to the federalgovernment.

All of them are slated for cuts by this ad-ministration. So you must remove from yourmind the ..ition that this is a campaignagainst waste, fraud and abuse. What you mustunderstand is that they are not willing to makethis investment.

We've got to understand that the issue ofcivil rights that brings you here today is changingand is far more fundamental today, becausethose opportunities that are denied at an earlyage because of a pregnancy that has gonewrong, because of nutrition that was not avail-able in the first six months of life, because ofthe inability of resources of local educationalagencies to provide special education. Becauseof those lost opportunities, very fundamental civ-il rights in this countrythe right to earn aliving, the right to an education that makes youfunctional in our societyare being denied.

You name the issue, and we'll show you adozen places in the country where it's being dealtwith, and in some"cases being eradicated. Insome cases, where politicians can't bring them-selves to say what the problem is we can showthem the solution, not designed in Washington,but designed out there in communities thatcare.

We hope to be able on the Select Commit-tee to continue to produce the evidence that theability is there, should we desire to call uponit. And the returns are so great that if I went toWall Street, and I promised investors a threeto.one return on their money for every dollar theyinvested, they would be lined up around theblock. Now it's about time that we line up to getthat return on the investment-in our children.

1411

12

Overcoming theSchool ObstacleCourse: Testing,Screening,TrackingThis session dealt with thecritical question of how parentsand teachers can best advo-care for -the educational needsand interests of students.The tracking of students intoinappropriate classes andhow such screening affects mi-norities were discussed. Itwas stated that there is a highercorrelation between partici-pation in special education andbeing a Black male, than

there is between special educa-t!on and I.Q. scares.

Panelists and participantsdiscussed common sense sug-gestions for parental andteacher involvement in over-coming education obstacles,including:

urging parents to attendparent/teacher conferences andother school functions

urging parents to visitclassrooms and talk to principals

working with parents tocreate home environments thatcomplement the school

working with parentsand teachers to-tap the capabili-ties students demonstrate innos- academic avenues, build

on them, and relate them toeducational experiences.

PANELISTS

Rims BarberMississippi Project DirectorChildren's Defense fundJacksiin, Mississippi.

Dale VigilDirectorCenter for Hispanic EducationalLeadershipDenver, Colorado

RESOURCESCenter for the Study ofTesting, Boston College, Chest-nut Hill, Massachusetts 02167.

Northwest Regional Educa-tional Laboratory, Center forPerformance Assessment, 300S.W. Sixth Ave,, Portland, Ore-gon 97204.

Center for Teaching andLearning, The University ofNorth Dakota, Grand Forks,North Dakota 58202.

University of Colorado, Lab-

15

oratory of Education Research,2860 Colvey Drive,Boulder, Colorado 80303.

Minnesota Center for So-cial Research, 2122 RiversideAve., Minneapolis, Minnesota55454.

Huron Institute, 123 Mt, Au-burn St., Cambridge, Massachu-setts 02138,

UCLA Graduate School ofEducation, Center for the Studyof Evaluation, Moore Hall, 405Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, Cali-fornia 90024.

11

--

MaintainingCultural Identity inSchoolIntegrationDiscussions of school Integra-tion usually center on how thisprocess relates to gt,,ups oncesegregated from each other bylaw. A difficult and impor-tant new challenge, the subject.of this session, is the effort tointegrate into our school systemthe children of the nation'snew immigrantsfamilies fromSuch countries as Vietnam,Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,China, and those in CentralAmerica.

In Arlington County, Vir-ginia, 20 percent of the stu-dents speak 40 different Ian-guage-S7These-Stiiden tsrepresent 45 courartes, and -a --vast array of cultural back-grounds. Chris Burn m, Ar-lington parent coordinator, andthree parents representingthe new immigrant families,talked with participants inthis session about how the stu-dents, the families, and theschool system are coping withthe urgent and difficultproblems of this new kind ofschool integration.

Burman .plained to par.ticipaiiiS the various levels ofArlington's English forSpeakers of Other Languages(ESOL) and High IntensityLanguage Training (HILT) pro-grams, and the work that theschool system is doing to help

the immigrant students re-tain appreciation for the valuesof their own culturerecog-nizing that until they learn theAmerican language, theywill not be able to share thosevalues with their new class--mates._-Threc-parontleaders of

the new immigrant groupstalked of the problems theyhave faced in adjusting to theirnew country, and in trying tohelp their children become apart of a new and alien wayof life. In expressing his ownconcerns, Tri Khac Pham,who was a teacher in Vietnam,seemed to speak for many:"We are ignorant of the ba-sic principles and structures ofAmerican society, includingthe educational system in thiscountry. We feel guiltyabout our children because weare unable to assist them intheir struggle towards a norm::)development ... they cannotask for help, advice or guidance

RESOURCESMaterials:

Three Cities That Are Mak-ing Desegregation Work 30Years After Brown. NationalEducation Association Forcopies, write to NEA Humanand Civil Rights, 1201 16th St.,N W , Washington, D C20036

Organizations:

Center for Bilingual Multi-cultural Teacher Preparation,George Mason University,44)) University Drive, I air lax,Vinland 72011

National Clearinghouse forBilingual Education, 1300 Wil-son Boulevard, Suite B2-11,Rosslyn, Virginia 22209.

National Committee forSchool Desegregation, 63 Hub-bard Avenue, Cambridge,Massachusetts 02140.

Institute for ResponsiveEducation, 605 CommonwealthAve., Boston, Massachusetts02215,

Division of Civil Rights andIntercultural Relations, 471Education Building Annex,New York State Education Department, Albaniy, New York12234.

16

from their parents as Ameri-can children do when they arein trouble. Our children arealone with their problems., ..As for us, their parents whomthey should be able to relyupon, we feel useless in re-sponse to their crieifiCherp."

The discussion made clearthat the school system alonecannot meet the differingneeds of all of its students, par-ticularly those students forwhom language itself is a barri-er both to education and tobuilding friendships in a newschool environment, Theparents themselves must. be ac-tive participants; and tschool system a.ncl- er com-munity agen-clesthechurches and social service orga-nizationsmust providethesupport that will facilitate suchinvolvement. In Arlington,all of these various agencies areworking together towardtheir mutual goal of qualityintegrated education.

PANELISTS

Chris BurmanParent CoordinatorArlington Public SchoolsArlington, VirginiaTri Khac PhamPresidentVietnamese Parents AssociationArlington, VirginiaNoeuth Uy ChantreaPresidentKhmer Parents AssociationArlington, VirginiaDams GarateBilingual Resource AssistantArlington Public SchoolsCounielor, Arlington CountyMental Health DepartmentArlington, Virginia

13

Bringing FarniiliesintQ the Teaciling._Learnint-Pro'cessThis session focused on thevarious programs the: Home and.School Institute (HSI) hasdeveloped and implemented.These programs havO beenpioneering, practicril programsdesigned to unite the educa-tional forces of the home, theschool, and the communityon behalf of children'slearning.-...the HSI panelists,through audio-visual represen-tations of their p ograms,provided confer nce partici-

. pants with pract cal self-helpand community approaches tothe building of tudent

--aehievement-a d-family lifeHSI bases it 'programs cn

five strain pre ises:

The stereot pical-middlefamily n longer exists in

America; for otter or worse,a new American family is nowin place.

Society r Oust reflect theneeds of pa ents and children innew family arrangements.

A more ffective partner-ship betty en home and schoolmust be f stored. To thisend, scho Is can become facili-tators for/change, for sup-port, and for recognition of the

k I.

,;

Dorothy Rich (at overhead projector) and Valerie G. Neal (standing) show partickankhowthey can work to expand each chiles educational world

strengths and needs of everychild and every

Teachers want-and rivedinservice training and educationfor working with today'sfamilies.

Partnerships among com-munity organizations, privategroups and schools can bebuilt. This cooperative effortcan bring about a greatersensitivity to the needs offamilies.

Among the major topicsof discussion was the joint effortNEA and HSI launched lastyear, the Parent-Teacher Part-

nership Project. This project,now irreffect 2 teh661 dii--tricts, aims to empowerteachers to work in team effortswith families to build stu-dent abilities.

PANELISTS

Dorothy RichFounder and PresidentThe Home and School InstituteWashington, D.C.

Valerie G. NealEducation SpecialistThe Home and School institute,and District of Columbia PublicSchools.

REOURCESMater4ls:Actio Plan for Excellence: ACom rehensive Plan to ImproveOur ation's Schools. Educa-tion ommission of the States1983! 1860 Lincoln St , Suite300, benvei Colorado 80295.

Improving Amerk an Edu-catlion: Roles for Parents.1. Epstein, Washington. D.C.

testimony for the Select Comriiittee on Children, Youth and

U S House of Reprosentatives, H2 385 House An-nex 2, Washington, D.C. 20515.

Work and Family LifeAmong Anglo, Black andMexican American Single-Perent Families: Executive

14

Summary. R. Espinosa,Southwest Educational Develop-ment Laboratory, Austin, Tex-as, 1983. Address below.

Final Report: Parent-SchoolPartnership Project. Home andSchool Institute, Wasing!on,D C., U.S. Deparur.int of Educa-tion. Special Education Set-vic 1983. Address below.

Fo is for Educational Re-form: Building a Home-SchoolInfrastructure. Dorothy Rich,paper presented at the NationalCommission on Execellence inEducation Forum, Indianapolis,Indiana, 1983. Write to HSI,address below.

Children, Youth and Fam-ilies; 1983, A Year End Report.

17

Select Committee on Children,Youth and Families, U.S. Govern-Ment Printing Office, Wash-ington, D.C. 20402, 1984.

Executive Summary: A Sur-vey of Parents Regarding Par-ent Involvement in Schools.D.L. Williams, Southwest Educa-tional Development Laborato-ry, Austin, Texas, 1982. Addressbelow.

Organizations:Home and School Institute,1201 16th St., N.W., Suite 228,Washington, D.C. 20036,(202) 466-3633.

Southwest Educational De-velopment Laboratory, 211 E.7th St., Austin, Texas 78701,(512) 476-6861

Who Can _ReportingProblems andIdentifyingResources forAssistanceSpeakers at this session spokefirst about the most effectiveways to deal with children'sproblems: identify them earlyand get appropriate remedialhelp. For example, a teacher'sconcern about an individualchild can lead to critical help-with a speech or hearingproblem or other learning dis-ability. And, community-

SP

wide concern with equal educa- with students' concerns, to-tiorutEoppormnitics-catT leadto quality early childhood edu- ers, and to permit learningcationthe most effective to take place.way to avoid educational andsocietal problems later on.

Conflicts between teacherswho think a child needs specialhelp and parents who dis-agree were discussed. Partici-pants also raised questionsabout the extent of a teacher'sresponsibility and the in-creased potential for teacherburn-out when dealing withchildren's problems becomes anoverwhelming burden.

All speakers agreed that itis essential for teachers to form/Washington, D.C.links with commutjily and'governmeuLagenbes to deal

PANELISTS

Janet PriceSenior AttorneyAdvocates for Children of NewYork, Inc.Long Island City, New YorkRobert BrownExecutive DirectorSoutheastern Public EducationProgramMacon, Georgia

Noe Medina _Edwation_DirectorChildren's Defense Fund

RESOURCESAdvocates for Children ofNew fork, Inc., 24-16 BridgePlaza South, Long Island City,New York 11101; (2121 729-8866.

National Council of La Raze,20F St., N.W., Washington,D.C. 20001, (2021628 -9600.

The Equality Center, 2233Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Washing-ton, D.C. 20007, (2021 298-7572.

is

Southeastern Public Educa-tion Program, P.O. Box 5742,Macon, Georgia 31208, (9121742-3335.

National Coalition of Advo-cates for Students, 76 SummerSt., Room 350, Boston, Mas-sachusetts 02110, (6171357 -8607.

Children's Defense Fund,122 C St., N.W., Wpshington,D.C. 20001, (2021628 -8787.

15

Improving theOdds: Opening-iNitTechnplegito

,,brities andWomenThe integration of womenand minorities into technologi-cal fields:not only involvestheir economic survival, but iscritical to the well-being ofthe country and its businesses.This session's speakers dis-cussed ways to encourage wom-en and minorities to developtheir interests in science and toimprove their access to andcomfort with computers. Sug-gestions included:

Put on a community-sup-ported "carer fair" to enco r-age interest by junior and senior high school women in

.non-traditional fields.

lltt e science museums

1:turocii

c programs to encouragents into math and sci-

encecareers; invite scientists tospe k in the schools.

lace computers in class..ro ms in which females and mi-no ities don't already havea xiety; for instance, put corn-p tors in English and history

asses, not just in math and Ai-nce classes.

Place computers in theschool library so students haveaccess before or after school.Make sure time is preciselyscheduled.

Make sure computers areavailable in public libraries ormuseums, so that thosewithout home computers canstill have access to computerlearning.

Make sue that all com-.

At,

puter software does not supportor create racial, cultural, orgender stereotypes.

PANELISTS

Shirley MalcomProgram HeadOffice of Opportunities of theAmerica.) Association for theAdvancement of ScienceWashington, D.C.Yolanda GeorgeDirector of DevelopmentAssociation of ScienceTechnology CentersWashington, D.C.Barbara Andreozzi.reacheand Co- PresidentLeague of Women VotersFlathead County, Mon,tanaWhitefish, MontanaDeborah ArrindellSenior SpecialistEducation Fund Social PolicyDivisiopLeaguo of Women VotersWashington, D.C.

RESOURCESMaterials:Inservice training programfor teachers, administrators,and counselers, Write toEquals, Lawrence Hall of Sci-ence, University of Californiaat Berkeley, Berkeley, California94702.

Expanding Your Horizons, apacket on what you can do inyour community to set up aprogram encouraging girls intonontraditional fields. Send $2to Mills College, Math/ScienceResource Center, Oakland,California 94613.

0,n

Organizations:

Ideas for Equitable Comeputer Learning, American Insti-tute for Research, P.O. Box1113, Palo Alto, California 94302.

Project on Equal EducationRights, Nation& Organization forWomen Legal Defense andEducation Fund, 1413 K St.,N.W., Washington, D.C.20005. Write for information andresearch on equity in cOmputer education.

Multiplying Options andSubtracting Bias, Women inMathematics Project, GeorgeMason University, 4400 UniversityDrive, Fairfax, Virginia 22030.

Early ChildhoodEducation: A PathOut of PovertyQuality early childhood edu-cation"can really make a differ-;-ence. According to panelistsat this workshop, pre-schoolpaid off for the students en-rolled and for society. Studentsenrolled in/quality pre-school programs were less likelyto drop out, be enrolled inspecial education classes, orhave delinquency problcrns,and more likely to do morehomework, get bettergrades, and go to college. Ac-cording to one study, societysaves $4000 for every $1000 in-vested in early childhoodeducation.

Richmond, Virginia Pub-lic Schools Follow Through Pro-gram was shown as an exam-ple of a high quality programthat brings home and schooltogether. Parents involved inthis program are trained inteaching methods, and trainedto teach other patents.Teachers then visit homes forconferences and to explainhow classroom lessons can be re-inforced at home.

All panelists agreed on thelack of quality early childhoodprograms for all students,but especially for poor and mi-

'0111%to..,

Pits-

nority students. Legislativeand public policy issues on thissubjectincluding licens-ing, the use of public schoolfacilities for child care, dwin-dling federal financial re-sources, health and safetystandards, and community sup-port for programswerediscussed.

PANELISTS

Carla CurtisPublic Policy AnalystNational Black ChildDevelopment Institute, Inc.Washington, D.C.

Russell M. BuschDirector, Rderal Programs andSpecial EventsRichmond Public SchoolsRichmond, Virginia

Ronald RobertsonPublic Relations and MediaSpecialistFollow Through Program,Richmond, Virginia

Larry SchweinhartDirector, Voice for ChildrenProjectHigh Scope EducationalResearch FoundationYpsilanti, Michigan

1 1,

RESOURCESMaterials:Changed Lives: The Effectsof the Perry Preschool Pro-gram on Youths ThroughAge 19. Berrueta-Clement, J.R.,Schweinhart, L.J., Barnett,W.S., Epstein, A.S., S Weikart,D P., 1984. For copies, sendS15 to the High/Scope Press, 600N River St , Ypsilanti, Michgan 48197. (3131485 2000.

Lasting effects of preschooleducation on children fromlow-income families in theUnited States. Berrueta Clem-ent, J.R , Schweinhart. L.J. 8Weikart, D.P., 1983. This articlecan be found in Preyenting

20

school failure: The relationshipbetween preschool and prima-ry education, International Devel-opment Research Centre, Ot-tawa, Canada.

Organizations:

National Black Child Devel-opment Institute, 1463 RhodeIsland Ave., N.W., Washing-ton, D.C. 20005, (2021387 -1281.

Fairfax County Office for .

Children,. School-A ge ChildCare Project, 10396 Democ-racy Lane, Fairfax, Virginia 22030,17031 691-3175.

Parent Educatior, ResourceCenter Follow Through Pro-gram, Richmond City Hall,301 North 9th St., Richmond, Vir-ginia 23219, '8041 780-5341.

17

,W

t

18

Moving Into Action

After Friday's discussion of problems, andSaturday's talk of possible solutions, by Sunday,participants were ready to make plans for realchange in their own communities. Organizedinto small groups by subject area, participants

, met Sunday morning to analyze an issue, setgoals, and make proposals, complete with ob-jectives,, target audiences, desired products,assigned responsibilities, and timelines.

Although each small group came up withdifferent ideas, all plans had some common ele-ments: coalition building, public relations,community organizing, And raising, legislativeaction, and advocacy within the AssoCiation.Three examples of specific planning modelsfollow.

1) CHILDREN LEFT ALONE:LATCHKEY PROBLEMS

Proposal: A local association will lead actnpaign to bring about a before-and-after-Aool child care program sponsored by theomtr unity but using public and private school

facilities and staff. Efforts will be supported bythe public-schools, but financed by thecommunity.

Plans: Steps toward achieving this grial willinclude: 1) conducting a community needs assess-ment, 2) establishing a community-wide coali-tion for children, 3) lobbying for legislation, and4) training staff.

Each workshop participant will start thischain of events by approaching his or her localassociation with the idea of starting a latchkeyprogram. Each will work to get the association todevelop a policy statement in support of theprogram. Each will ask that a specific committeebe established to coordinate the programeffort. Each committee will work to:

gather relevant databuild community coalitiondiscuss responsibilitiesdevelop specific action plansget support of school board, and locallegislatorsmount education/public relations campaignspread the word about successful product.

2) CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECTProposal: A local association will take the

lead in getting educational personnel trained todeal with victims and perpetrators of childabuse and neglect.

Plans: Specific objectives of training woulrlbe to make educational personnel aware of:

the definition and signs of child abuse andneglect

21

state and local laws andpolicies on child abuse andneglect, legal protections,liabilities, andresponsibilitiescommunity resources avail-able to help with theseissues.

Local activists will contact a

local child abuse agency and/or the NEA for help in settingup and leading the training.Activists will ask their localassociations tabuy one NEAChild Abuse and NeglectMultimedia Training Program tobe used community-wide.

3) THE OUTCASTS

Proposal: A local associa-tion will build a Children's Co-alition Roundtable to: 1) helpincrease self-esteem among localyouth and decrease theirsenseof isolation, and 2) bring com-munity organizations togetherto work on the critical issues ofrunaways, teen depression andsuicide, and teen pregnancy.

Plans.: A local associationwill take the following stepstoward this goal:

establish a study commissionto obtain adequate data onthe crisis issues and developa cooperation plan for localand state agencies

interest community g:oupsin supporting the idea ofand forming a Roundtabledevelop inset-vice trainingfor school personnel basedon local needs

develop individual c C tl

I u m on prevention of chof these problemswork to gain support of lo I

and state legislature a 1

plans and for possiblefunding.

Other conference partici-pants worked on plans to combatdrug and alcohol abuse, toease desegregation and integra-tion efforts, and to fight hun-ger. Keep a lookout in NM Nowand NEA Today for reports onthe progress conference partici-pants made in implementingthese plans.

1'

19

ConclusionsKeith GeigerKeith Geiger, a high school math and scienceteacher, was elected vice president of NEA in1983: He has served as president of the Michi-gan Education Association and the Livonia Edu-cation Association. Geiger spoke about theneed for school employees and communities to

those students who bring life's most difficultproblems into the classroom. The followingare excerpts from the conference's concludingspeech.

ociety's problems, some peoplesay, are none of the school's busi-ness. They say teachers should bedrilling the basics, not dealing withsocial ills. They say schools can't

afford to address social problems. But we knowotherwise. As men and women who teach andstaff our nation's public schools, we know that wecan't afford not to deal with society's prob-lemswith poverty, with neglect, with abuse,with racismwith all the problems that blockour'students' roads to learning.

Ve_want alLafauLstudents to learneachand every one of them. And we know that wecan't teach all the children until we breakdoWn and overcome each and every obstacle tolearning.... As educators, we believe thatpublic schools shouldand musteven up theodds for students who haven't been given aneven chance in life.

We see all of these social problems every dayin our classrooms, and we ignore them at our risk;for if we ignore them, our classrooms cease tobe places of learning, and we cease to be educa-tors. We address these problems because wehave no other choice.

We hold it self-evident that schools cannotsolve society's problems in isolation. To make apositive impact, teachers and other school staffmembers must reach out to parents, reach out totheir communities. Cooperation is the key,understanding is the goal.

Unfortunately, not everyone in our societyshares these assumptions. As many of you knowby now, some of you from first hand experi-ence, there is a vocal group of public school criticsdoing its very best to drive a wedge betweenschools and parents. These people are doing theirbest to frighten parents out of their wits."inspired "if that's the wordby leaderslike Phyllis Schlafly, these extremists portray ournation's classrooms as modern day Sodom andGomorrahs where students are schooled in sexand instructed on how to write suicide notes.

These critics want, in the end, to discreditpublic education by isolating teachers and schoolemployees from parents and their communi-ties. With this and any other group, we need to

20

make ourselves perfectly clear: We will not beisolated. We will reach out to parents; we willreach out to communities; -Nye-will counter fear.and ignorance with patienceand understanding,

But let us understand one VoN importantpoint: All of the outreach in the world won'thelp us unless you and I stand taltand speakout for our convictions. We must river allow theforces of reaction to make us back dawn fromour basic values as socially conscious citizens andas NEA members. I pledge to you todalt thatyour officers will not back down.

We will never back down from our commit-ment to a free, meaningful public educatiotiforevery child in this country. We will never back-down from our commitment to the values of apluralistic societya society that respects andtolerates the differences among us. We will neverback down from our commitment to democra-cy, the Bill of Rights, and the right of all Ameri-cansincluding public school employeestospeak out and to participate in political life. Wewill never back down from our commitment toequal treatment and equal opportunity for everysingle American.

There is so much that needs to be done; weneed to refashion our schools to meet the needsand the challenges that tomorrow will bring.We need to make our schools centers of lifelonglearning.... We need to make mastery of sub-ject matter the yardstick of educational excel-

. We need to give local school facul-ties the teaching freedom now so often abrigatedby centralized school bureaucracies... . Weneed to guarantee all children an education thathelps them thrive in the emerging new infor-mation age which is all around us.

Teachers and parents, school employees,and communitiestogether we can make a dif-ference if we extend our vision, if we link our-selves to ever-widening networks of concernededucators, concerned parents, concernedschool board members, and concerned legislators.

23

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

National Education AssociationHuman and Civil Rights1201 16th Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20036

041111b1

24