Washington DC Forum

October 29 - 30, 1999

Below is a digital recreation of the APA Education Forum in Washington DC, complete with summaries of each of the presentations, links to all handouts and other information provided to Forum Participants, and the Forum's recommendations to OBEMLA and the U.S. Department of Education.

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Dinh VanLo, Vice-President, NAFEA

Bouy Te, Deputy Director, OBEMLA, U.S. Department of Education

Ed Fujimoto, Deputy Director, Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Education

Bouy Te, Deputy Director, OBEMLA, U.S. Department of Education

Introduction of OBEMLA Staff

Luis Catarineau, Coordinator - Eastern Regional Cluster

The Funding Process

Harry Logel, Education Program Specialist

The Application Process

Sharon Saez, Education Program Specialist

System-Wide/Comprehensive School Program

Harpreet Sandhu, Education Program Specialist

Program Development and Implemenation, Immigrant/Foreign Language Program

Cynthia Ryan, Education Program Specialist

Professional Development

Milagros Lanauze, Education Research Analyst

Research Agenda

John Ovard, Coordinator - Midwestern Regional Cluster

Resources

Heidi Ramirez, Education Program Specialist

Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

KimOanh Nguyen-Lam & Sally Chou

Laura Efurd, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liason

Facilitators of the small groups synthesized key issues and strategies, and presented the recommendations to OBEMLA

Russel Endo & Leslie Turpin

1. Research Agenda

Samlong Inthaly, Petraine Johnson, and Emile Hargrove

2. Curriculum Development and Assessment

Sally Chou and Dinh VanLo

3. Leadership Development & Political Advocacy

Steven Lee and Ki Li

4. Resources & Funding

Bounlieng Phommasouvanh and Bob Gibson

5. Professional Development

Matsuko Tanouchi and Hongthong Niravanh

6. Home-School-Community Collaboration

Closing Remarks

Bouy Te, Deputy Director, OBEMLA, U.S. Department of Education

Welcome & Opening Remarks

 

Dinh VanLo

Vice-President, NAFEA

Bouy Te

Deputy Director, OBEMLA, U.S. Department of Education

Ed Fujimoto

Deputy Director, Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Education

OBEMLA Presentations

by the Staff of the Office of Bilingual Education and

Language Minority Affairs, U.S. Department of Education

 

Bouy Te

Deputy Director, OBEMLA, U.S. Department of Education

Introduction of OBEMLA Staff

 

Luis Catarineau

Coordinator - Eastern Regional Cluster

The Funding Process

Luis gave forum participants an overview of what kind of funding.opportunities were able from OBEMLA. Participants were provided with a chart of programs showing application availability, deadlines, estimated number and size of awards, and contact information. (click here to access this info from the U.S. Dept. of Ed. Website)

There was a question from a participant on why there was no new money for Foreign Language Assistance. Luis and other OBEMLA staff assured that in 2001 the budget for this program will triple if go all goes well. For now there are only funds to continue existing programs. Other concerns were raised by participants on the rationale for why some programs were not funded. OBEMLA staff explained that there would be some consolidation of some programs to ensure passage, and the some awards are rotated on alternating years.

Another concern was raised on how the department was informing schools and districts about available awards. Luis said the internet was the primary source. Specific mention was made of the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE). Participants were encouraged by NCBE and OBEMLA staff to subscribe to the NCBE-Newsline, which is sent by e-mail, in order to receive timely announcements on award and application availability. (click here to subscribe to Newsline)

 

Harry Logel

Education Program Specialist

The Application Process

Harry gave participants an overview of how to apply for funding from OBEMLA. All applications are now available online, but need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print the applications. (a link to download the software is provided on same page as the applications)

The System Wide Application deadline is later than others. This is a pilot program, and the deadline has been extended in order to try out this new technology.

Harry refered to the list of programs and closing dates provided by Luis. For the first time, applicants can send applications electronically via the internet. The Deptartment will print them out for readers to review in the traditional manner.

When you access the application, will see a cover page, then the text, then the forms. He urged us to pay attention to he text section, especially the end section that has a checklist. Determine if you have included everything with your application. Most naratives have a page limit. Text will give limits on pages and instructions on font size, spacing, etc... Do pay close attention because this is an eligibility requirements. Some proposals were thrown out last year due to this.

Need to submit one original copy and two copies. Original must have an original signatures. Other forms must have original signatures on orignal. Make sure you send them to the Application Control Center.

Must send copy of application to State Educational Agency no later than the closing date of the application. Should do it several weeks in advancement. This gives them time to review and give feedback. One SEA review exemption is for Native American schools such as those under Burea of Indian Affairs. Another requirement is some states require to send a copy to State Clearinghouse House. Due to legislation, the State given right of review, but some states have waived their right to do this.

Harry distributed the "Call for Title VII Readers." Peer review requires experts across the nation to determine the highest quality proposals. Select those that show the greatest potential.

A forum participant expressed concern on the inclusion of APAs in the Reader's process. Glad to see adjustment in schedules that could allow more APA participation. Most of APA programs are pretty small. Therefore, when projects come in, there are lobbying efforts among the larger organizations to get the larger grants funded, and the smaller grants lose out. As most APA grants usually target smaller groups, they often do not get funded.

Another concern was raised about the quality of readers. A participant expressed frustration of having submitted proposals and getting comments back from the readers which show they didn't read it carefully enough, and ended up missing important things. Many APAs have been upset with problems like this.

Harry agreed that these are issues that need to be addressed. He said the peer review policy issues are going to be reviewed and everything will be fair game.

Sharon Saez

Education Program Specialist

System-Wide/Comprehensive School Program

A B C D
Content Peformance T&L PD
Constant (all) (work flexibly)
OBEMLA
Process ------------> <------System Wide
Outcomes-----------> <-----Comprehension
<-----Professional Development.

Sharon argued that if we can show effectiveness, working in partnership with Title 1 and other programs, we can get more funding. We need Alignment and Accountability within comprehensive systematic school wide reform. Accountability, data driven proof of effectiveness is the key. In conclusion, she wrote on the overhead, Progam effectiveness = increase student achievement for ELL students.

Harpreet Sandhu

Education Program Specialist

Program Development and Implemenation, Immigrant/Foreign Language Program

 

Click here for handouts - Program descriptions - Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLG), Emergency Immigrant Education Program, Program Developent and Implementation (PDI)

 

Harpreet gave participants an overview of the Program Development and Implementation (PDI) grant, and the Immigrant/Foreign Language Program (FLG). FLG program is for teaching students a foreign language. This is not for superficial language and culture programs, but focusses on developing in students communicative competence with cultural and other contexts to understand everything as a native would. There are currently 43 LEA and 4 state FLG grants. These are 3 year grants. Requirements include proving that there will be Sustainabitly (i.e. the program will continue after federal funding ends), and Longevity, favoring programs which go from elementary up through high school.

 

Harpreet expressed the benefits of true bilingualism, such as helping with seeking job opportunities. She noted that Secretary Riley is pushing two languages for all students. In 2001, she hopes to have funding three times as high for this. This shows where the emphasis will be for the future.

 

PDI awards are basically seed money for new programs.

 

A forum participant asked "Which languages are elibible for FLG?" Harpreet said FLG programs are open to any language. Prior to 1990, they were only available for 5 major languages, but after being criticised for being too inclusive, it was opened up to any language that would meet the needs of LEAs (local education agencies).

 

A forum participant expressed concern that programs which recieve Office of Refugee Resettlement Grants might be exluded from Dept. of Ed. awards. Harpreet assured that ORR grants do not disqualify anyone from getting Dept. of Ed. grants.

 

Another forum participant expressed dissapointment that no new funds were made available for FLG this year. Harpreet explained that there is funding to continue existing programs, and that more money would be coming in the future (2001). Harpreet suggested that in the meantime, there may be local funds for new foreign language programs, and that Title I funds could also be used for this purpose.

 

Cynthia Ryan

Education Program Specialist

Professional Development

Handouts - Complete grant program descriptions (click to view)

Bilingual Education: Teachers and Personnel Grants

Bilingual Education: Career Ladder Programs

Bilingual Education: Training for All Teachers Program

Cynthia made some suggestions for submitting grant proposals for these programs. She suggested focussing on school based professional development through mentorship. There is a high turnover of teachers. 22% leave within first 3 years. They usually leave because they do not have enough pratice. Field based mentorship will help with retaining more teachers. A 2nd priority should be involving Institutions of Higher Education in the program or project.

Cynthia discussed the potential of Paraprofessional Career Ladder Programs, providing assistance and training for non-teaching employees of school districts to become teachers.

Cynthia described the Training for All Teachers grants. This is a new program, first funded in 1999. The emphasis is on providing training to all teachers in a school or district. The reality is that mainstream teachers won't become bilingual teachers. Therefore, it is important to train them to work effectively with LEP students. The funding for these grants will increase because there is a high demand (from things like 227) to train all teachers in ESL strategies. Criterion is still being developed, but will likely will focus on parent involvment.

Milagros Lanauze

Education Research Analyst

Research Agenda

OBEMLA is active in collecting basic information, such as conducting an analysis of State policies on the inclusion of LEP student in state assessments. One question asked is if teachers have a voice in whether students should be assessed and how?

Another important activity of OBEMLA is collaborating with other offices and organizations. OBEMLA stresses that LEP kids are part of the "all kids." Must have the research at the beginning of the process. In the past, there has not been very much collaboration. Sometimes, other offices and organizations expect money from the Department to include or address LEP students within their "all students" projects and work. One recent success has been that Head Start has contacted OBEMLA fo a joint research project.

Milagros next talked about the National Institute of Child Development's (under the National Institute of Health) current work on a Research Project called Development of English Literacy in Spanish-Speaking Children (DELSS). He gave participants a copy of a full report on the project and a request for Applications (click here to view them on the NIH website).

Milagros said that this project is important, because it is being done by the National Institute of Health (NIH), and will thus give legitimacy to bilingual education. He also pointed out the this study is taking place because G.W. Bush went to the NIH and asked them to do this.

Milagros gave participants a flyer (click here to view it) announcing an important website called Portraits of Success. This project is looking for schools that have data to show that their bilingual programs are effective. Milagros requested out help in getting the word out on this project. The Website has information on what kind of data to provide.

John Ovard

Coordinator - Midwestern Regional Cluster

Resources

 

Forecast of Funding Opportunities under The Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs For Fiscal Year (FY) 2000.

Announcements (Application Notices, Requests for Comment, etc. From the Federal Register)

Bilingual Education: Program Development and Implementation Grants Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 1999

John showed participants examples of the many resources available to us from the U.S. Department of Educations website, specifically information on grants. He went over the above handouts and explained how to navigate the departments website to get this information. He mentioned that Abobe Acrobat Reader might be needed to view some of the grant information. This program is free and there are links to download it.

A participant asked, "What about schools who don't have access to internet to download all of this info, especially in the Pacific Islands?"

John said that all States get hardcopies of the information. Another OBEMLA staff member commented that the Department has someone working with the Pacific Islands to ensure they have access to this information. This was done to address this issue.

Heidi Ramirez

Education Program Specialist

Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Heidi also briefly mentioned the Reading Excellence Act, which focuses on preventing reading difficulties in the early grades. OBEMLA is working on how to make Language Arts Standards more LEP-student friendly.

KimOanh Nguyen-Lam

Sally Chou

 

KimOanh Nguyen-Lam reviewed the goals and objectives of this Forum:

1. Create a network of partnerships.
2. Identify potential funding sources for APA
3. Stategies for getting funding for APA
4. Leave the forum with some specific program and policy recommendations to Deptartment of Education and OBEMLA regarding APA educational issues

She felt that with the OBEMLA Presentations and our discussion, that we had been making great progress so far.

KimOanh reviewed the six strands of the Forum: Resources & Funding, Professional Development, Curriculum Development & Assessment, Home-School-Community Collaboration, Leadership Development & Political Advocacy, and Research Agenda.

KimOanh and Sally reviewed the Report generated at the APA Education Forum the previous year in Long Beach, CA. (click here to view the Report) focussing on some the concerns and recommendations that were made. Our work later this afternoon will to be raise additional concerns and to create three focussed recommendations for each of the Strands.

Keynote Speaker

Laura Efurd

Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liason

 

Laura said that it is good to be serving the President at this time. There are many unaddressed APA issues at this time, some due to model minority myth. The Clinton Administration has recongized that there are issues that need to be addressed. This is the first time in history the President has issued an executive order to improve the lives of Asain Americans.

The last executive order of a U.S. President put Japanese Americans in internment camps. Thus, Clinton's work is very significant.

The Executive Order has two parts:
1. 15 member commission:
How can Fed Gov. can better serve APAs
How can the Public and Private Sector better serve APAs
Look to find ways to foster research and data collection on specific groups within APA

Laura hopes to announce next year who these people are. (represent various sectors, health, housing, employment, etc...)

2. (the more important part) White House Initivative on APAs.
Developed by an interagency task force within the government who come together to look at similar issues as the commission. They go back to their agencies to create ways to better meet APA needs within their areas.

Laura fears the 15 member Commission may only have a life of two years, and it will be up to next president to continue it. But the Initiative part will continue regardless of what happens.

Dept. of Health and Human Services will house the initiative.

The Executive Order (EO) started in Deptartment of Health and Human Services. The Model Minority Myth is also greatly misunderstood within the health field, especially stereotypes of long life and good health of Asians.

Laura gave an example of a National publication on Diabetes, which mentions other groups who suffer from it, but fails to mention a great number of Asian Americans also suffer from it.

Laura said there are ways our group can help:
The recommendations we have made in the past and will make in the future has laid a ground work for the Dept. of Ed. and the pieces they will have to come up with in their accountability piece to the Initiative.

Lack of publications from other initiatives outside of the OBEMLA world need to address the needs of the APA community. This is what the initiative is all about.

Hiep Chu

Project Director

National Asian Family/School Partnership Project

National Educational Policy for APAs

 

Handout: National Education Policy for Asian Pacific Americans - A Concept Paper

 

Hiep identified several areas of need, including the lack of a national, unified voice to advocate for APA education at the national level, lack of resources of existing organizations, isolation of scattered APA community leaders and advocates, the model minority myth, and the lack of understanding of policy makers about the diversity of APA communities.

 

Hiep described the background and work of his organization, the National Asian Family/School Partnership, and their parent organization, The National Coalition of Advocates for Students (NCAS). NCAS has 20 member organizations in 14 states and the District of Columbia, and has been the leading national organization to adress educational needs of Asian Pacific American students and their families.

 

Hiep next described a proposal for a National Education Policy Project. The objectives of this project would be to monitor federal and state legislation and programs, that have potential impact on APA communities in education. The project would involve collaboration with state and national APA organizations, promote APA educational research, leadership, and funding.

 

(For more detail and information, click on the Concept Paper Handout link above)

Facilitators of the small groups synthesized key issues and strategies, and presented the recommendations to OBEMLA

(Please Check Back in the Near Futre for the Full Report Reports for Each Strand by the Strand Facilitators)

 

1. RESEARCH AGENDA

 

 
 
 

FACILITATORS:

• Russell Endo, past NAAPAE Vice President, University of Colorado, Denver/Boulder, Colorado
• Leslie Turpin, NAFEA Vice President, School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont

PURPOSE

• Discuss issues related to research on APA education.
• Provide advocacy for the inclusion of APA data in national studies.
• Identify effective means of disseminating research findings and their implications for APA education.
• Identify needed areas of research.

GAINS

• There has been an increase in the amount of educational research on APAs over the past 20 years.
• Much research has been conducted on certain topics, APA groups, and regions.
• New and innovative research models have been developed (e.g., ones that involve participatory/community-based research).

REMAINING CHALLENGES

• APA populations are relatively small, diverse, and often underrepresented in research.
• Research funding is inadequate.
• Research conceptualizations and/or instruments are sometimes inappropriate for APA populations.
• Research is often too narrowly focused (e.g., few explanatory variables).
• Descriptive statistical analyses often provide a general picture but do not portray the complexity of problems and issues.
• Research is sometimes misinterpreted because researchers lack cultural and linguistic sensitivity to the APA groups they study.
• More trained researchers are needed to work within APA communities.
• Research results are not well-disseminated.
• More research is needed in many areas, for example:

• Relationship between APA heritage language maintenance and academic and social well-being; consequences of language loss
• Second language acquisition by APA students
• Linguistic and academic needs of less-frequently studied
• APA groups
• Effective programs and strategies to increase the number of APA educators
• Language instruction and materials
• Assessment standards
• Issues and needs of nonimmigrant APA students (e.g. second and third generation)
• Linguistic and academic needs of less-frequently studied
• APA groups and APA students from less-researched regions
• APA learning styles and motivation styles
• Best instructional practices that link theory directly to
• practice
• Characteristics of effective bilingual and ESL teachers
• Home-school collaboration efforts
• Impact of political initiatives such as Proposition 227 in
• California
• Value-added educational outcomes
• Professional development (including mentoring)
• Careers of APA educators (including issues of burnout)
• Factors that promote APAs into leadership roles
• Effects of community and school-level factors on APA achievement
• Impacts of education on APA families, cultures, and communities
• Issues in higher education including APA student achievement and APA faculty hiring and promotion/tenure
• APAs lack an infrastructure for addressing research concerns.
• APAs need to gain greater support for APA education outside their communities (e.g., among other researchers, educators, policymakers, etc.).

HIGHEST PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS

• The U.S. Department of Education should provide funding to establish a national APA educational research advisory committee to:

• review existing research and research funding opportunities,
• develop a national agenda of high priority APA education research projects,
• coordinate APA advocacy efforts to secure funding for these projects, and
• provide technical assistance for DOE programs including input on the development of grant programs (including programs relevant for the training of APA researchers) and assistance in evaluating proposals submitted to existing grant programs for funding .

The U.S. Department of Education, as a standard policy in all national-level research, should:

• oversample APA groups,
• identify the specific APA group background and immigrant/nonimmigrant status of all APA students, and
• include APA students with limited-English proficiency in such a manner that APAs in national-level research will be representative of the total U.S. APA population.

• The U.S. Department of Education should provide funding for an APA education research clearinghouse that will:

• collect and disseminate information on past and ongoing research on APA education to educators, researchers, APA communities, policymakers, etc. (e.g., via webpages, e-mail, newsletters, reports, journals, workshops, etc.), policymakers, etc., and
develop mechanisms for APA researchers and communities to network about research in progress and research issues and concerns (e.g., via Internet, forums, conferences, etc.).

2. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT

Facilitators: Samlong Inthaly and Ermile Hargrove

OBEMLA Representative: Sharon Saez

Procedure: Round robin: Three sessions. After initial introductions, members at the table were asked to identify key issues which remain to be challenges. Last year's list (Long Beach 1998) was used as the starting point. In a free flow of ideas, issues were generated. Following this free-flow, participants were asked to determine critical needs (i.e., prioritize). From that discussion, participants were led to discuss policy implications (i.e., what changes could be expected to be made based on the issues and needs).

Outcome: Our brainstorming led us down a variety of paths. Each group took a slightly different perspective on the issues and the results were rich and varied. Although each group did not follow the logic laid out in the procedures, we were able to gather enough information from the three groups to put together what we think are issues, needs, and policy implications.

Key Issues:

1. Curriculum, Standards, and Assessment

• Bilingual and ESL curricula and assessment are not well-designed, up-to-date, and/or aligned with the state guidelines and standards.
• APA students are being assessed using standardized tests normed on a non-representative group (i.e., standardized tests are culturally biased).

1. Instruction and Parent Involvement

• The information on existing bilingual and primary language curricula is not clear and concrete enough at classroom level.
• APA parents are not familiar with the mainstream curricula and are not well informed about how the curricula are being used or taught.

1. Decision-making

• APA voices and representatives are often left out from decision- making processes regarding curriculum development and assessment guidelines at district, state, and national levels.
• Aggregating APA students’ data on progress and achievement information confounds critical issues.

Critical Needs:

1. National APA Advisory Board and Clearinghouse

• Establishment of a national APA advisory board to act as a clearinghouse in identifying, evaluating, and disseminating in formation on promising practices and effective curricular and assessment materials.

1. Alternative Assessment

• Development of alternative assessment tools appropriate to APA students that would better address their educational and linguistic needs.
• Dis-aggregate data so that the different language groups can be identified in order to provide appropriate curricular materials and deliver appropriate instruction for greater accountability.
• Use a variety of assessment tools to better understand APA students and their educational needs.

1. Curriculum and Instruction

• Develop appropriate bilingual and primary language curricula and instructional practices that are responsive to and inclusive of APA historical and cultural heritage.
• Provide professional development for bilingual and mainstream teachers using the same instructional materials.

Policy Implications/Recommendations:

1. Provide funding for research studies exploring the connection between academic achievement, social adjustment, parental involvement, and primary language maintenance among the APA student population.
2. Require allocation of resources for developing curricular and assessment tools in the APA languages, especially for less common languages in all projects funded at state and federal levels.
3. Require the participation of APA representatives in making curriculum and assessment policies at district, state, and national levels.

These recommendations should be made to following groups:

1) Policy Makers at all levels

2) Grant Managers/Funders at all levels

3) Practitioners at all levels

The following are random notes from the groups.

Group 1:

• ESL/Bilingual programs are transitional with little or no interface with content areas or standards. Identity issues are not addressed. There is no systems connection. There are not cultural references. There is a lack of rigor.
• Standards at the State level are abstract but at the school level should be practical.
• There are special pathways for second language learners.
• In California English Language Development standards have been established.
• Effective practices are not being documented for replication.
• There is a need for a bilingual and ESL curriculum with textbooks in the primary language and standards and alignment. Instruction should be appropriate to language group.
• APA voices are being left out of decision making.
• When APAs are mainstreamed, there should be special approaches to integration.
• Teachers need to feel empowered. They need professional development. APAs should be recruited and trained as teachers.
• Student voices need to be heard and students need to be involved in the articulation of the educational process across grade levels.
• Accountability for curriculum, rigor, effective program design.
• Assessments should be appropriate and aligned to student achievement and the standards.
• Some of the assessment tools should include instruments which provide data which can be used for comparisons.
• Professional development should be aligned with the curriculum and standards.

Group 2:

• Large-scale assessments are generic, inherently biased, and use cultural referents from the dominant culture. Who's making the assessments? Who is being addressed? There's only one set of norms. Alternative assessments are needed.
• Policy makers don't recognize teacher assessments. Performance-based assessments are at different levels: classroom, district, state. Only the state level is valued.
• When kids are excluded we get a skewed view of education. (Second language learners are often excluded from large-scale assessments.)
• Is teacher preparation appropriate for today's and tomorrow's classroom?
• What are the best practices for the new demography?
• How is the data researched and interpreted for APA students? Dis-aggregate data to support classroom decision making about student learning (i.e., use data as diagnostic). Aggregated data now used for high stakes accountability and sorting schools. Test items have cultural referents which APA students might not know.
• Is lack of English proficiency/fluency criteria for special education? How many special education students are APAs? What instruments are used for APA students? Is there appropriate identification? What about the dyslexic? What about gifted?
• Practitioner-made assessments are aligned to the curriculum.
• Parents have a range of issues they are interested in from literacy to curriculum development and alignment regarding their child's background and strengths.
• Teacher quality is variable.
• Model minority image inhibits support to APA students.
• English Language Development assessment is a standardized test. How will it align with standards?
• There is a lack of diversity, a kind of homogeneity.
• Standards are supposed to be world-class but are they equitable?

Group 3:

• Are APA students being fully included in issues of curriculum and assessment?
• There is a need for performance standards by grade level for APA students, as defined by when they entered school.
• APAs should be involved in discussions about standards. Currently there is only 1 APA educator in the curriculum development project for San Francisco even though 65% of the student population is Asian.
• Can standards be written to be culturally neutral? Presently they represent the dominant culture through schemas and language.
• Social studies topics do not include APA.
• A public relations campaign is necessary.

• Training with Title 1; link with Hispanics; build partnerships with Special Education and the mainstream.
• Move from a reliance on standardized tests to a range of assessment tools which can be used for comparative purposes and are aligned with the standards but are appropriate.
• Teachers need to feel empowered around standard setting. More professional development activities are needed. Train teachers to adapt curriculum, instructional approaches, content.
• There needs to be some kind of articulation with the mainstream.
• Consultants should be hired to adapt the curriculum to APAs.
Create a community that understands the issue and can access information. A clearinghouse would support educators.

3.Leadership Development

and Political Advocacy

Facilitators:

• Sally Chou, past NAAPAE President, Assistant Superintendent, San Francisco Unified School District, California
• Dinh Van Lo, NAFEA Vice President of Programming, Des Moines Public Schools Systems. Iowa

Key issues:

• Not a unified voice in APA communities
• Lack of leadership skills and knowledge
• Need for collaboration with other organizations for networking and political advocacy
• Use different avenues to develop leadership
• Need for network, resources, and communications
• Need more APA’s in leadership roles (appointed or elected)
• Need to advocate and locate and make recommendations for appointment
• Make mainstream folks knowledgeable about APA issues
• Need to better advocate for us
• Need to break down the model minority stereotypes, see diversity in the communities
• Mentoring of activism; advocate for low-incident/small clusters schools for Title VII funding

Policy Implications/ Recommendations:

• An action plan will be developed with identified priorities and strategies for leadership development and political advocacy.

• School district and CBO’s need to be trained in the APA communities to cultivate a cadre of leaders and to achieve political advocacy and mobilizations

• NAFEA and NAAPAE should provide data to policy makers from stakeholders to be presented at institutes, posting on the website, and submit to US Department of Education decision-makers.

• Educators should go to the communities to provide leadership training and to recruit people into the profession and create career ladders.

• Update website for information sharing and access.

• Give OBEMLA staff more opportunities to access the communities; use APA educators to present at conferences and management institutes.

• Have decision-makers provide data on grant awards based on communities and underrepresented groups.

• Develop political strategies to articulate needs and follow up for accountability to APA’s: learning about the media and its effectiveness.

• Provide input to media organizations to work in our favor; training the media on the communities and provide advisory groups for input; mentoring leadership development; have students be the reporters.

• Development of mentoring programs for cultural adjustment, take risks; family and social context in leadership development, training parents and youth about activism; mentoring of students to become teachers; equitable funding of Title VII projects to APA communities in need.

Rally other organizations together including youth groups in high school and college. Leadership development should continue after college.

4. Resources and Funding

Facilitators: Steven K. Lee, NAAPAE Treasurer and Ki Lee, OBEMLA Education Specialist

 

 Purpose:

To discuss issues related to challenges in soliciting funding to implement projects to increase educational services for the Asian Pacific American communities.

Procedure:

Led by the facilitators, three one-hour sessions were held with members participating in the forum. Participants included several representatives from the OBEMLA office. Comments were recorded (in writing) and reported to all forum participants following the conclusion of the third session.

Key Issues:

1. The public is unaware of the educational needs of the Asian Pacific American groups due to the model minority image.
2. The aggregation of the Asian Pacific American groups results in lack of support for the communities in need of additional educational assistance.
3. The Asian Pacific American communities lack resources to tap in to various grants and financial sources available at the local, state, and federal levels.
4. There is lack of data assessing educational achievement of LEP and non-LEP Asian-Pacific American students.

Discussion:

The public continues to over-generalize Asian Pacific Americans as successful in the mainstream schools. Although many of them are high achievers, studies seem to indicate growing evidence of significant disparity within the APA group. However, because of the prevalence of this stereotype, it is generally difficult for educational organizations to solicit grants and other financial sources to initiate projects to help the disadvantaged communities within the APA group. Also, there is severe limitation in the APA communities’ ability to identify funding sources to assist in implementing educational projects due to lack of experience in grant writing, public relations, etc. Further, the lack of longitudinal studies on LEP and non-LEP APA students, documenting their pattern of academic progress, limits educational organizations’ ability to approach potential funding sources for financial assistance. One particular weakness noted is the failure to fully utilize computer technology to establish contacts with and engage in public relations with both the public and government sectors.

Recommendations

1. Encourage research projects that dis-aggregate Asian Pacific American groups so that appropriate educational needs can be identified.
2. Disseminate the results of such studies to the public to assist them in better understanding the unique needs of individual APA communities.
3. Establish partnerships with school districts to identify key issues for the APA students.
4. Seek support from private corporations, including foreign-based companies.
5. Collaborate with the Department of Education to provide mutual benefits.

Challenges:

Due to immigration, Asian Pacific American group is expected to continue to grow well in to the next millenium. The major challenge faced by the APA communities is the lack of identity; that is, the public’s failure to recognize the different educational needs within the group makes it difficult for the sub-groups to receive appropriate support for various educational programs. The under-representation of APA in discussions of language and cultural support, as well as issues related to attrition and college admissions remains a key challenge for the future.

Recommendations to OBEMLA:

1. Recognize the diversity with the Asian Pacific American group.
2. Recognize the unique educational needs within the Asian Pacific American communities.
3. Provide support for research studies on APA to develop appropriate educational projects and programs.
4. Develop increased activities with APA organizations to encourage grant writing.
Provide technical assistance to APA organizations to utilize computer technology in educational activities.

 

 5. Professional Development

Facilitator: Bounlieng Phommasouvanh, Ph.D., NAFEA Advisory, Minnesota Public School Systems and Robert Gibson, NAAPAE Council member, University of Hawaii

Key Issues:

1. There is a critical shortage of APA teachers and staff.
2. Teachers do not have sufficient training to fully understand education reform initiatives, standard-based education and the implementation thereof.
3. Teachers do not know how to use student assessment data effectively to improve their classroom instruction.
4. The majority of APA students across the nation is scattered in small numbers and placed in classrooms where their needs are not even known or addressed.
5. Many new teachers lack appropriate and relevant knowledge and skills to be effective and responsive to APA students’ social and academic needs.
6. Career ladder programs are not properly preparing APA paraprofessional and non-certified staff to become qualified and certified teachers.
7. Most alternative certification programs currently in place are not properly designed to address the shortage of APA teachers.

Critical Needs:

1. Professional staff development must address the need for training teachers to understand and implement education reform initiatives and standard-based education. This problem must be addressed in pre-service training at institutes of higher education as well as in-service training at the district level.
2. Teachers need t be trained in the area of student assessment and self-assessment of their classroom instruction as well as on how to use the data to improve their instruction.
3. All teachers and school staff, not only APA teachers, need to be trained on how to better serve APA students by developing knowledge and skills about the diversity of APA populations in terms of language, culture and learning styles.
4. The practicum teacher trainees receive must be relevant and related to their teaching conditions, and the mentoring process must be conducted by mentors experienced and qualified to prepare the trainees to help APA students succeed.
5. The critical shortage of APA teachers and staff needs to be addressed immediately.
6. School districts should develop career ladder programs to help paraprofessional and non-certified staff to become competent and certified teachers.
7. Alternative certification programs currently in operation should be re-evaluated and revamped so that they produce teachers competent and prepared to meet the challenge.

Recommendations:

1. APA leadership and their advocates should be involved in the decision-making process concerning teacher certification, testing and assessment
2. US Department of Education and OBEMLA should encourage institutions of higher education develop pre-service training programs that embrace education reform initiatives and standard-based education by providing funding as an incentive.
3. US Department of Education and OBEMLA should fund fellowship programs and scholarships designated specifically for APA teacher trainees.
4. Career ladder programs should be encouraged to be integrated and consistent with the school district’s professional standards and teacher performance in order to prepare paraprofessional staff to become competent teachers.
5. Establish intern and mentoring programs for APA trainees and new teachers at the state and local level.
6. Recommend that NCBE set up a web site of best practices for educating APA students to benefit all teachers.
Alternative certification programs must be based on successful models in order to meet the APA teacher shortage.

 

 6. Home-School- Community Collaboration

Facilitators: Mutsuko Tanouchi, Hongthong Niravahn & Rose Tran

Key Issues:

1. Underrepresented voices and perspectives: APA parents and community’s voices and perspectives continue to be underrepresented in all school and district governance. There are a number of reasons that perpetuate this situation ranging from cultural and linguistic differences to misperception of APA students’ academic attainment.
2. Lack of representation at all levels: There is a lack of school personnel from administrative, to certificated and classified staff levels who are representative of APA populations or knowledgeable of the APA cultural and educational values to advocate for more inclusive participation of APA communities.
3. Ineffective and invalidating Parent Involvement Programs: Past and present home-school-community efforts do not take into consideration the knowledge, commitment and experience of APA parents and community members in educating their children. Too often, parents engage in one-way lectures and informational sessions filled with educational jargons in which they feel powerless and useless. APA parent volunteers are often assigned meaningless tasks based on perceived communicative limitation.

Critical Needs:

1. Active and committed outreach to include APA parents and community leaders to participate in schools and districts’ governance at all levels. This includes ways to identify existing APA community leaders as well as opportunities to develop leadership in APA communities.
2. Special efforts made to encourage more APA to enter the education profession. Identify existing APA administrators, teachers and give them more flexibility and resources to outreach, network and represent their APA communities.
3. Develop two-way home-school-community partnership models in which immigrant parents and community members have opportunities to contribute meaningfully to school governance including curriculum selection and revision, and program evaluation. Parent involvement programs must help immigrant parents and school personnel to learn from each other and support one another in their shared goal of students’ success.

Policy Implications/Recommendations:
 
 

1. Teacher preparation must include a component on building partnerships with immigrant parents and parents of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Currently, many teacher education programs have not included this component. It is recommended that Title VII and other educational programs allocating special funding to help in-service teachers acquiring knowledge and skills in this critical aspect.
2. Although most categorically funded programs include a parent involvement component, many projects have treated parents as rubber stamps. Parents are often asked to affirm what has been planned and ready to be implemented. More stringent criteria is needed to ensure meaningful and authentic parent participation and contribution to categorically funded educational projects. This requires building background knowledge of immigrant parents of the U.S. school system as well as of school personnel on APA educational values and practices.
3. Special funding is needed to recruit, prepare, and retain more APA candidates into the teaching profession. This may include mentorship program between APA teachers and APA high school students and APA community members. More funding is also needed for research inquiries into the most inclusive collaboration models for involving immigrant parents into school governance.
4. To actively seek out and fund APA parents and community members to participate in leadership development institutes or conferences who will serve as advocates for APA educational communities.

These recommendations should be made to following groups:

1) Policy Makers at all levels

2) Grant Managers/Funders at all levels

Practitioners at all levels