The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans (WHIEEAA), in partnership with Ebony magazine, will host the third summit on improving educational outcomes for African American students and better preparing them for college and careers on Friday-Saturday, June 13-14, at Laney College in Oakland, California.
David Johns, executive director of WHIEEAA, will open the summit, which will address the academic achievement and development of African American male students at all grade levels. Panel discussions include framing the issues and challenges through the eyes and voices of young black men, highlighting the relationship between educational excellence and economic justice, building meaningful relationships between parents and caregivers and educators and school leaders, and leveraging research and community resources to ensure college and career readiness for African American youth. The complete agenda can be found here: http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/whieeaa/laney-college-summit/
The summit at Laney marks the third of four in a series. A fourth summit will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in October. Taking a holistic approach to educating African American children and youths, the summits highlight individuals and organizations that are successfully supporting educational excellence for African Americans and address ways to create opportunities and empower parents, grandparents, guardians, and other caring adults in the community to increase the number of African Americans who graduate from high school prepared for future success.
Equity in education is a priority for the U.S. Department of Education and underlies nearly all of its initiatives from Race to the Top to School Improvement Grants to Promise Neighborhoods to the College Rating System to Race to the Top – Opportunity. President Obama's Opportunity for All: My Brother’s Keeper Blueprint for Action report was released recently, outlining a set of initial recommendations and a blueprint for action to expand opportunities for boys and young men of color and help all young people succeed.