EthnicMajority

(Los Angeles Times) A survey of students at 16 California middle schools shows Hispanic kids are more likely to smoke, drink or use marijuana than their peers in other ethnic or racial groups. In probing for the reasons for substance use, researchers found that Hispanic youths may lack confidence in their ability to say “no” to peers.

The study, conducted by Regina A. Shih and her colleagues at Rand Corp., was comprised of 5,500 seventh- and eighth-grade students who were surveyed about their drug use and factors influencing drug use. Overall, 22% of the students said they had ever used alcohol, 10% said they had smoked at some point and 7% admitted to smoking marijuana. But Hispanic youths were more likely to have used these substances compared with other groups. Among Hispanic students, 26% had tried alcohol, 12% had smoked cigarettes and 9% used marijuana.

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(Kansas City Star) On the first day of class, everything N.C. Central University junior Ricky Magwood wore was much too big for him – from a billowy white T-shirt to the gold chain dangling nearly to his waist.

But it’s hot out, Magwood argued. And he’s an art student, so he’s going to get messy anyhow.

Ricky: Your chancellor would like a word with you.

NCCU Chancellor Charlie Nelms thinks eye-catching outfits – whether risque or just-plain sloppy – are obstacles to learning. This fall, he’s put in motion a subtle campaign to eliminate everything from pajama pants to plunging necklines.

“Suggestive, revealing clothing, by men or women, should not be worn in a classroom,” Nelms said recently. “And you shouldn’t be wearing pajamas to class!”

Nelms’ concerns are echoed across America’s college campuses, where students routinely file into lecture halls in pajamas, baggy clothing or skirts better suited for a night out on the town. Universities are fighting back; some have imposed strict dress codes, others softer guidelines.

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(Wall Street Journal) In the Research Triangle of North Carolina, there’s a struggle over school busing that probably signals serious problems for the future of economic affirmative action – the idea that only a few years ago had been the hope of those looking to replace legally questionable programs based on race.

The headlines over the school dispute in Wake County, N.C., which includes Raleigh and many of its suburbs, go to the activists who claim the school board is adopting a plan that will once again segregate the public schools.

The new school board majority, elected on the promise of return to community schools, has reversed a decade-old policy of busing kids to schools to create a desired level of children from varying economic backgrounds.

Inevitably, given housing patterns in Wake County and much of the country, market economics and the natural inclination of people to seek out those like themselves as neighbors, any effort to have kids attend their nearest school would create student bodies that are much more racially and economically homogenous.

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(TBD) After four months, the University of Maryland has selected a new president. His name is Wallace Loh, and he comes from the University of Iowa. A native of Shanghai, Loh is the first Asian American president to lead the University of Maryland.

UMD’s first Asian American president leaves the University of Iowa and brings a touching story of immigration from Shanghai with him.
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“I’m committed to advancing this university to its next level of excellence,” stated Loh.

In a packed auditorium, students, faculty and alumni, including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, welcomed the new school leader.

Hoyer said, “The University of Maryland is a great institution but it can, and I believe under your leadership and clearly the selection committee believed that, will be greater.”

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(City Town Info) A recent study by the Schott Foundation for Public Education reported that Newark, New Jersey leads the nation in the percent of African American male students graduating from high school, followed by Maryland, California and Pennsylvania. The report revealed “alarming data” from other states and districts that points to a “national education and economic crisis”, said the Schott Foundation in a press release.

The report provided state-by-state data and illustrated which districts and states were failing to provide African American students, and all students, with quality education. According to the biennial report, the graduation rate for African American males in the 2007-08 school year was only 47 percent. The states with the highest disparity between African American and Caucasian male graduation rates were New York, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. In its press release, the Schott Foundation singled out the district of New York City. The district has the nation’s highest enrollment of African American students, but only 28 percent of Black male students earn Regents diplomas on time. “Taken together, the numbers in the Schott Foundation for Public Education’s report form a nightmarish picture,” said Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone as well as author of the report’s foreword.

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(San Francisco Chronicle) If slow and steady wins the race, California schools will eventually emerge victorious in significantly raising student proficiency levels in math and English, but at the current pace, it will take years if not decades.

Standardized test results released today show scores inched up for the eighth year in a row in the state’s public schools. They rose across most demographics and grade levels, an indication that state schools are headed in the right direction.

The achievement gap between Hispanic students and their white or Asian peers narrowed a bit, but remained largely unchanged for African American children. About 40 percent of Hispanic and African American students were proficient in English on the California Standards Test at the end of the 2009-10 school year, compared to 69 percent of white students and 75 percent of Asian students.

Overall, 52 percent of state students were proficient or above in English and 48 percent were proficient or above in math, up two points in each subject from the year before.

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(Kansas City Star) Calling education “the civil rights issue of our generation,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday issued a national challenge for whole communities to get involved in improving public education.

“The only way to achieve equality in society is to achieve it in the classroom,” Duncan told NAACP delegates meeting in Kansas City for the group’s annual convention.

“This is not just a moral obligation; it is our economic imperative,” he said. “Everyone has a responsibility. Everyone can step up. Education is our national mission. Education is our best hope.”

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(Diverse Education) Diversity isn’t recession proof, and higher education and corporate officials agreed that institutions of all types must be proactive to prevent the faltering economy from overly impacting one or more underrepresented groups.

That was a theme of discussion during the American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA) annual meeting in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday. The main question: how can organizations maintain diversity when the bottom line forces downsizing?

“You have to pay attention to what’s happening and what decisions are made because downsizing is an opportunity for inequity,” said Dr. Benjamin D. Reese, Jr., vice president of the Office for Institutional Equity at both Duke University and Duke University Health System. “It’s difficult to develop a strategy around diversity. We all want to create an inclusive environment, but in practice, it’s very, very challenging.”

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(San Jose Mercury News) There will be more black freshmen on the University of California, San Diego, campus this fall, but statistics released by the university shows African Americans represent less than 2 percent of the incoming class.

UC San Diego stepped up efforts to recruit black students after an off-campus “Compton Cookout” party mocking African Americans made national headlines and led to protests.

The university says there will be 68 black freshman this fall, up from 50 last year.

Of the incoming class of 4,206, Asian Americans make up 48 percent. White students are 20 percent of the class and 16 percent are Hispanic.

Other UC campuses plan to release their enrollment figures next month.

(USA Today) Colleges and universities should adopt affirmative-action policies based on socioeconomic status, argues a new report that finds the most disadvantaged students on average score 784 points lower on the SAT than those from the wealthiest, most educated families.

Despite recent efforts by about 100 selective colleges to provide more need-based aid and improve graduation rates of recipients, low-income and minority students are increasingly concentrated in the least selective schools, the report says.

“It doesn’t do any good to offer a generous financial aid package to low-income students if you don’t also admit them,” says Richard Kahlenberg, a longtime advocate of class-based preferences in admissions, and editor of Rewarding Strivers: Helping Low-Income Students Succeed in College, published today by the Century Foundation.

A 2003 Supreme Court ruling allows colleges to consider race in admissions, but the SAT research finds that socioeconomic factors, such as parents’ education and income, contribute significantly to differences in student scores.

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