Author: Nefertari Nkenge

Nefertari Nkenge, Ed.D. is a well respected transformative leader in pedagogy. The unique combination of over two decades of classroom instruction, curriculum/professional development innovation, urban school administrative leadership and a lifelong commitment to grassroots activism and social justice - informs the empowering Educate to Liberate model.
Posted on by — 11 Comments

How Academic Testing is Racist

“Standardized tests have become the most effective racist weapon ever devised to objectively degrade Black minds and legally exclude their bodies”
~Ibram X. Kendi

The start of a new academic year, brings the promise of high-stakes standardized tests for all students. Educators are duty bound to ensure that our students are prepared to meet the rigors of a wide, unimpressive array of tests by endlessly drilling – the sad, yet telling, 21st Century form of teaching. The annual aftermath of the vicious cycle of standardized testing results in administrators and teachers being deeply disappointed, unfairly maligned and held solely accountable for our students’ annual, less than stellar performance ratings. Just as in life where nothing is certain but death and taxes; in formalized schooling, the only two certainties are testing and mis-education. To opt-out of high-stakes testing is rare. To believe in the accuracy and cogency of these #RacistAF litmus tests of one’s intelligence is at best, naive/clueless and at worst, disingenuous . . . dependent upon the source. We, the people, are collectively at fault for allowing a form of systemic racism, overt classism and oppression to exist and increasingly thrive for centuries. Though many will attest that academic tests are scientific and were uniquely designed to promote objectivity, this is a widespread myth. There is no more fitting portrait of the abject failure of standardized testing to determine one’s intellect and to serve as a weapon of institutionalized oppression than to examine history.

In 1869, Charles Darwin’s cousin, English statistician and pioneer of the western eugenics movement, Francis Galton, hypothesized in Hereditary Genius that “the average intellectual standard of the negro race is some two grades below our own”. As proof of the overarching acceptance of this racist notion, universal college entrance board exams were adopted in 1900 to monitor students’ progress in specific curricular areas, assess American education overall and to complement the wide variety of government policies designed to expressly benefit the elite class of society. In 1904, the French minister of public education tasked noted psychologist, Alfred Binet, with the development of the very first standardized test of intelligence. This was a feat which would eventually be incorporated into a version of the modern IQ test, dubbed the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. Using a scientific study involving his two adolescent daughters – Binet later refined his theory of intelligence and in collaboration with his doctoral mentee, Theodore Simon, the two created an arbitrary measure of intelligence commonly referred to as the Binet-Simon scale. Even a condensed reference to the troubling history of the racist foundation of academic testing, like the Binet-Simon scale of intelligence, is relevant because it demonstrates the degree to which age-old assessment measures are used to perpetuate centuries-old social stratifications of wealthy, Whites as educated landowners and all other people as interminably oppressed.

Standardized tests are nothing more than arbitrary measures devised using White, female subjects as the norm and are imminently unqualified to assess the absolute undocumented genius of Black and Brown people the world over. In Binet’s own words, he was charged with creating an academic admissions test to regulate the formal inclusion of what he referred to as “subnormals”(also referenced as defective and/or retarded children), in schools after “being subjected to a pedagogical and medical examination from which it could be certified that because of the state of his intelligence, he was unable to profit, in an average measure given in the ordinary schools” (Binet, p.9, 1916). In terms of the non-politically correct and highly offensive terminology used to delineate those deemed to possess lesser intelligence? Binet outlined the use of “idiot as applied to the lowest state, imbecile to the intermediate and moron to the state nearest normality” (Binet, p.9, 1916). To be clear, a state of normalcy was only conferred upon those who comprised (or were deemed in close proximity to), people of European descent. These crude distinctions, though admittedly not understood in the same way by all practitioners, were ascribed to each student’s corresponding academic record of certificates to duly classify one throughout life. Moreover, the varying nomenclatures of the past in combination with the modern-day, vast disparity of academic test performance as driven by race and class – represents the grave imprudence and woeful inaccuracy of intelligence tests. Given Binet’s admitted stance that intelligence testing was limited, subject to variability and was not generalizable, it is noteworthy to acknowledge that the significance that standardized testing wields in the U.S. today, is vital to its function as a weapon to promote and legitimize the insidious myth of White supremacy.

Academic testing, like tracking, was traditionally favored as a means to avoid wasted resources on the race/class deemed unfit or otherwise relegated to servicing the needs of the wealthy, White elite. Thus in 2018, our continued allegiance to and widespread use of traditional academic tests of intelligence; despite evidence to the contrary to prove that they lack both precision and applicability outside of 19th Century, European culture – is an unforgivable crime against all of humanity. Inarguably, standardized test scores highlight only the grave disparities in race and socioeconomic privilege in American society. There can be no uniform method of academic testing devoid of fundamental flaws. By nature, people are as diverse as the day is long. Therefore, arbitrary measures of intelligence, used by either past or modern eugenicists to denote a permanent racial hierarchy are dated, overtly racist and have no place in 21st Century pedagogy. To the extent that colleges have begun to apply the research-based best practice of either diminishing the importance of, or eliminating the power of standardized tests altogether, in their admission decisions is instructive to the whole of society. Furthermore, since a single, standardized measure of intelligence created from the scientific study of the innate genius of Black minds would undoubtedly eradicate all modern illusions of White superiority – then an arbitrary scale derived from the use of White people is equally unacceptable.

Children, adults – ALL people, are innately gifted, uniquely crafted and should never be expected to conform to antiquated, cookie-cutter, standardized images of intelligence. What Francis Galton, Charles Darwin, Alfred Binet or Theodore Simon deemed as academically proficient is in fact racist to the core and unfit as a universal metric. Current educational policy reforms must be inclusive of an immediate de-emphasis upon (and the progressive removal of), standardized tests. Any reforms devoid of this non-negotiable, best practice operate only as an exercise in futility. In the interim, the same way that affluent Whites have long opted their own children out of flawed, demeaning and falsely representative standardized testing results – as a means of exercising their privilege and influence – all parents must duly exercise their right to uphold an uncompromising #EducateToLiberate standard of justice and equality by refusing to subject our children to the inhumanity of high-stakes academic tests. After all, the very idea of an achievement gap or even the notion of academic excellence, when based upon the inherently biased gauge of an ACT, SAT or countless other standardized, high stakes assessments are a misnomer. We must comprehensively eschew our dependence upon academic testing as it is a weapon of the racist, elite class to sustain racial hierarchy and universally accepted norms of oppression. Instead, let us commit to truly valuing the immeasurable diversity of all people by affirming our uniquely viable forms of genius in every form. Asé

Posted on by — 3 Comments

What Each of Us Can Learn From the Queen

Detroit is my undisputed home. In Detroit, we lay claim to the unique swagger that is uniquely our own, as the Motor City-home to the auto industry, the place that birthed the Motown sound, as a predominantly Black city known for our collective, revolutionary consciousness and activism. We adorn the old English ‘D’ of the Detroit tigers, and boast of the legendary reign of the Detroit Pistons “Bad Boys”, we unapologetically wield the Black fist of Joe Louis as we proclaim Black Power and we march to the beat of our own rhythmic drum, which resonates through our legendary drummers and dancers, in our daughter poet, jessica Care moore and c/o our musical sons, Big Sean and Eminem. How fortunate we are to have been blessed to exist in the same location, space and time with a long list of gifted artists, freedom fighters and great scholars who also consider Detroit their home. Alas, no one is more notable and more readily synonymous with the long list of Detroit’s royalty – than is our Queen, known worldwide as simply the Queen – Aretha Franklin.

Among the fitting tributes and well-deserved honors being heaped upon the Queen since her recent, earthly transition to the realm of the ancestors, there is also a profound void of one who was larger than life, anointed by God and who willingly shared of her gifts in her trademark effortless manner. It’s not at all surprising that the vast majority of the words of wisdom meant to comfort the family and millions of fans across the globe have made reference to the Queen’s remarkable 12-octave range and her illustrious, decades long career. Yet, I am especially struck by the meaningful lessons we are each able to glean from the extraordinary life of this Queen. Though scarcely apparent to the public eye, the Queen taught, by example, the inherent virtues of: faith, love, loyalty, the tireless pursuit of justice and the power of speaking one’s truth.

As it regards her indwelling, spiritual light and faith, the Queen ministered through her divine gift of song rather than to ever “perform” in the traditional sense of the word. While performers are often classically trained and exhaustively coached to project a pre-packaged and politically correct image; the Queen was always and forever-her authentic self. As a PK (preacher’s kid) and a self-taught and extremely talented pianist – the anointed power of the Queen’s melodic voice was acquired and most importantly, perfected in childhood. This symbolized unmitigated proof of her predestined walk of faith. In the esteemed tradition of the Black church, the Queen’s Holy Ghost, spirit filled hymns often punctuated the historic, soul stirring and rousing sermons of her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin. Thus rendering the Queen a co-creative vessel in which to minister to the people of God. The rich foundation of a strong, Black Christian faith played an indelible role in the Queen’s lifelong ability to live a life that was much unlike our own, in that though flawed by circumstances, the Queen’s life and her purpose-driven vocation was a thorough testament to God’s grace and the depths of her own faith.

The Queen’s unconditional love of family, friends and of her beloved Detroit community was readily apparent in her generous outpourings of affection for us all. From the never far away, consistent companionship of her sons, grandchildren, nieces and sisters; to the opulent, star-studded annual parties she hosted to celebrate her birthday and Christmas, with extended family and friends – there was no greater return on her unconditional love than her own regal presence and a keen ability to be so other-centered. Intimately involved in every detail of the planning of her coveted parties, benefit concerts and events, the Queen ensured that the red carpet treatment was extended to all whom she loved and she spared no expense in this process. Indeed, she loved family, friends and Detroit with a fierce passion and the beauty of her adoration for us was evident in countless gifts of the heart shared so unselfishly. Over time, we (her beloved community), had even come to routinely expect the five-star, four-course meals and prominent gospel lineup of industry greats she blessed us with, as we worshipped God as an extended family unit within Detroit’s famed New Bethel Baptist Church every year. We not only reaped the benefits of a free concert and fully catered dinner meal, but we often reveled in enjoying the Queen’s own homemade oxtail soup and in partying with her and her Hollywood star studded, featured guests, each year. Even now, as painful the void that we must now endure from the absence of our beloved Queen blessing us with her earthly presence; we are each infinitely blessed to have long been the beneficiaries of the Queen’s divine light and love for us all. As such, it is now time for Detroit to join the nation in saluting the Queen, in kind.

Alas, out of our profound sense of an unparalleled depth of love and loyalty to our larger-than-life, yet equally personal Queen, we pause to reflect and to honor you with merely a small measure of the beauty, light and love you shared so unselfishly with us. As we embark upon the appropriately lengthy, distinguished and impending four-day celebration of the remarkable life and legacy of our Queen; we mourn even as we learn from your significant life lessons. We mirror your undying love for your family by holding our own loved ones a bit closer. We model your exemplary loyalty for the people of the city of Detroit, as we travel or even relocate elsewhere and enjoy international life experiences but still regard Detroit as our home. We affirm your tireless pursuit of justice as we deliver clean water to Flint, MI, feed the poor and serve the less fortunate, out of the same obligatory duty which inspired you. We honor the people on Linwood street in Detroit, with the same level of respect and esteem that is often reserved for Grammy award winning artists, heads of state and U.S. Presidents – because we emulate your fine example. And perhaps most importantly – we collectively benefit from your fearless example of always speaking your unfiltered opinions, as we give ourselves permission to speak “truth to power” in the face of an entire world of pretenders. We remind those with whom we conduct business and whom we honor with our presence, to pay us via cash advance as a non-negotiable sign of respect. And we do our level best to adopt your signature Aries-inspired, straight no-chaser honesty when faced with probing questions about our personal lives by refusing to play nice and resist revealing our innermost, personal narratives. Instead, with your songs as the soundtrack to our lives and Detroit as a defining attribute of your character, we glean from your exemplary life experiences, forevermore. We stand a bit taller, sing your soul stirring praise songs from someplace deep within, we dance like no one is watching and we pledge to live our lives a bit more fearlessly and purposefully, because we have been blessed to walk and live among your royal highness, Ms. Aretha Franklin.

All hail the Queen. Asé.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Chicago & Detroit – Ground Zero for School Privatization

The corporate driven privatization of America’s public schools has completely transformed this nation’s educational system. These changes have disproportionately been implemented among inner-city schools, segregated by race and class, and the implications of this movement have been to the grave disadvantage of America’s most underserved population of students. Schools in large part, represent big business for corporations and as such, public education in the traditional sense, has been nearly entirely eliminated in favor of a voucher/charter model touted as representing choice; but in essence comprising a private, for-profit agenda. This public-private agenda is a nationwide phenomenon being championed by government officials like Betsy DeVos on behalf of corporate interests. In the wake of this movement, teachers’ unions are virtually obsolete and for-profit, charter school principals maintain absolute rule over the schools’ personnel (hiring and firing authority without a system of checks and balances). Perhaps to those outside of the realm of education policy, there is little difference between a public and charter school. In fact “school choice” or “privatization” may sound standard or even trendy in some respects. However, an informed critical #EdcuateToLiberate inspired viewpoint of this country’s public-private agenda reveals it to be much more than a passing fad and nothing short of disastrous for the vast intellectual potential gone to waste. On the contrary, the ever-expanding school privatization movement has essentially shifted our once publicly funded, accountability-driven and compulsory educational system into a tax-funded, privately run, for-profit institutional machine, which only exists to serve the interests of a minority of businesses, policymakers, religious right and/or ostensibly racist, conservative and political figures. In short, America’s schools represent big business and K-12 students are being trained rather than educated in supposed schools of choice. There are no large cities in which these shifts more apparent, than in Chicago and Detroit, respectively.

In Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has all but decimated the city’s public schools system – with his very public, aggressive agenda to transform public schools into big business with which to reward wealthy, corporate interests. In this prioritized agenda to ensure the demise of public schools, over the past several years a record number of literally hundreds of public schools have closed on both Chicago’s South and West sides. To be perfectly honest, the high needs, low-income and impoverished neighborhood communities have disproportionately suffered the closure of their formerly public schools, in favor of a bevy of charter (more aptly referred to as private, corporate run schools) by design. The targeted nature of this uniquely discernible urban agenda, presented the initial red flags of impending doom. Namely, pre-selected communities of color in Chicago have been hardest hit including: Bronzeville, North Lawndale, Garfield Park and Englewood. As it regards the previously union protected, health care and benefits ensured careers of this nation’s under-appreciated public schools teachers? Well, needless to say, the job losses have been severe. Charter schools overwhelmingly operate without unions and adding insult to injury, generally disregard ‘best practices’ such as optimal class size standards, thus resulting in the loss of thousands of teachers’ jobs. At present, the mass orchestrated, all-inclusive takeover of public schools in cities like Chicago and Detroit seemingly ensures the end to critical analysis, deep thought, and the competitive edge of the now defunct public schools system. As an accompaniment to the corporate takeover of schools is an ushering in of an entirely acceptable norm of: widespread levels of low academic performance, general apathy, mediocrity and school as a center for New World Order wealth building or training, rather than as an institution of learning. Schools as the nexus of knowledge development used to translate into education as a springboard to lifelong learning and advanced degree attainment. Education in America is now a precursor, predictor and funnel to an industrialized prison system, or a dumbed-down workforce – at least in urban America.

Here in the state of Michigan, the privatization of public schools has largely been the central objective of outgoing MI Governor, Rick Snyder. In fact, even the hushed legacy of countless city of Detroit mayor’s attempting to be intimately involved in education policy, as a means to legislate a financial takeover, has been apparent for nearly 20 years. The decimation of Detroit’s public schools and the accompanying deep-seated corruption is best chronicled through the financial trail of tears left behind. For example, there was never a financial deficit in the Detroit Public Schools system, until after the failing model of a statewide takeover of public schools was initiated by then Republican Governor, John Engler. His plan, later implemented and touted as a school choice movement, was exclusively applied to urban schools by his successors (Jennifer Granholm and Rick Snyder respectively). Government appointed symbols of Emergency mismanagement uniquely targeted Detroit area urban community schools with large enrollments of impoverished students of color, without exception. Public schools were wiped out in areas including: Highland Park, Hamtramck, Flint, Pontiac, Benton Harbor and Muskegon. Each of these cities were prime examples of those intentionally targeted for a legislated public-private agenda, enforcement of school privatization. As outlined, the city of Detroit essentially followed the Chicago example in that a small cadre of corporate forces coalesced to engineer a full-scale destruction of of the state’s largest public schools system. Moreover, since the 1990s Dick and Betsy DeVos have sadly, yet successfully influenced Michigan education policies by using private giving to drive their wealthy, conservative, and anti-public school education agenda. There’s evidence of the longtime DeVos “support of vouchers for private, religious schools; conservative Christian groups like the Foundation for Traditional Values, which have pushed to soften the separation of church and state; and organizations like Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which have championed the privatization of the education system”. Undoubtedly, the concerted efforts to engineer a the full-scale privatization of schools here in Mi, has been so successful that according to NAEP data the state of MI has dropped in ranking from 14th in the nation, to the 43rd place (out of 52), in just the area of fourth grade mathematics. This is a clear and unadulterated reflection of the intentional destruction of public education in favor of a more profitable, privatized model – nationwide.

Ultimately, according to Barkan in the Washington Post, 2018 “Public funding, private management — these four words sum up American-style privatization whether applied to airports, prisons, or elementary and secondary schools”. While the public-private agenda of this movement is often hidden, the players are much more visible. Namely, the election of Trump and the subsequent appointment of under-qualified DeVos, as Education Secretary have cemented a controversial and racism fueled agenda to summarily destroy public schools in America, particularly those serving the needs of Black and Brown children, and their campaign has been successful. This movement has drawn definitive lines in the sand and aggressive privatization efforts are easily identifiable in countless urban communities segregated by race and class. As such, the traditional view of education as the great equalizer or even as a symbol of democracy is no longer accurate. While wealthy, agenda-driven conservatives shift K-12 public funding into privatized charter schools, finances are diverted from the curriculum, staffing and school resource needs of the schools serving the overwhelming majority of low-income students of color under the guise of offering “choice”. All the while, charter schools which claim to be “public”-because they receive tax-payer money, are only overseen by state-approved authorities in theory. Because in actuality, private-sector entities — boards of directors and charter management organizations (CMOs) — manage these schools and control the finances, with little to no transparency, accountability or disclosure of financial records amid claims of “private status”. In terms of performance, charter schools often perform no better (or even far worse), than their public school counterparts. “Given the overall record of charter schools, support in the general public and among minorities has been slipping”(Barkan, 2018). Thus, our children are overwhelmingly trained (I.E. languish in low-performing schools, comprising the achievement gap), rather than educated. Ultimately, the demise of public education results in increasing the profit margins for wealthy, conservatives in the private sector – who pledge to miseducate and then exploitatively employ and/or imprison Americans of color – thus ensuring a profit at both ends of the privatization spectrum.

In a nutshell, our children are no longer universally provided with a sound, globally competitive and/or relevant education. In fact, it is safe to conclude that the public-private movement within America’s education system is certain to result in our students’ continual academic decline, as the achievement gap widens and failing students are exploitatively and uniquely trained to constitute mindless, un-empowered menial workers or even criminals within a New World Order. Along with common publicly funded yet largely privatized institutions such as health care, transportation, and the prison industrialized complex – education has long been deemed ripe for privatization by the corporate sector. The increasing fulfillment of this public-private movement ushers in a significant era, in which education will no longer be regarded as a human right but be reserved for only the privileged few, I.E. those who can afford to pay for it. The reason education has been targeted for privatization is simple? On a global platform, education constitutes a $2 trillion dollar industry. For many of those who have already matriculated through a sound public educational foundation – the nation’s K-12 population is now regarded as expendable. Indeed, the concept of training as opposed to being educated is thoroughly underway and has detrimental implications for society as a whole. Namely, one might well predict a likely conclusion to the public-private agenda, based upon what has already happened specifically within the urban communities of Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan respectively. After all, as most profoundly uttered by the Honorable Malcolm X Ell Hajj Malik El Shabazz, “Of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research”. The solution? Educate to Liberate…

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Being a Boss V. Being a School Leader

If given the choice between being an esteemed boss: superintendent, principal, head, chief of a school institution versus being organically anointed as a school leader, by virtue of one’s value-added resource to the people, community, district, school and most importantly to the students . . . I would overwhelmingly opt for the latter. In the photograph featured above, I was in fact a well-paid school leader, participating in an elementary school field trip to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History in Detroit, but also duly engaged as a hands-on chaperone in order to substantively interact with the children who were engaged in active learning from the culturally enriching educational tour. One of the marks of an exceptional leader is an ability to lead by example and as required, effective school leaders must also teach, chaperone, perform lunch/hall duty and to ideally implement positive behavioral and academic interventions as opposed to solely suspending students, managing staff and leading from an air-conditioned office. All of these actions are preferable to completing the seemingly unending amounts of data-driven paperwork and finance reports (which in most cases should be completed whenever students are not in the building). An effective school leader is recognizable through much more than a title, but indeed ones legacy lies in the fruits that they bear.

As a highly qualified, experienced, licensed and credentialed school leader, I am most proud of my educational legacy, not the least of which includes literally hundreds of Facebook “friends” who are former students who sought me out to expressly share words of gratitude or appreciation. This is a testament to the breadth of one’s reach, a gift which I do not take for granted and wish to replicate via this blog post, by attempting to “pay it forward” and professionally salute those who have selflessly paved the way for my own leadership. I am also proud of the fact that when faced with the difficult choice of being a boss in a rather scripted and un-empowered school environment, I have personally sacrificed the prestige and financial security of a single school or district appointment, in favor of my present vocation as a pedagogical leader able to autonomously impact transformational change on both a national and a coveted international forefront. Even as a classroom teacher for more than 15 years and one blessed to teach in high-needs, urban districts from Detroit, MI to Brooklyn, NY – I recognized how fortunate I was to have been exposed to authentic school leaders, both male and female, capable of exemplary stewardship as instructional leaders and mentors. What made each of these unique school leaders great however, was not their own individual brilliance, star quality and/or admirable personal virtues; but rather their innate abilities to recognize, nurture and shape the brilliance, collective star quality and most importantly, the increased academic achievement profile among both their staff and students.

Upon my successful transition to the school leadership capacity, I was fortunate to have learned many practical skills after having been immersed in several transparent school cultures conducive to the open sharing of information and knowledge. Namely, my previous teaching, curriculum experience and knowledge base alone would never have afforded me the opportunity to continue to thrive professionally and to navigate the arenas of fiscal responsibility and ethical leadership required to spearhead the leadership of a collaborative school or an Educate to Liberate vision and mission. However, due to the exemplary leadership modeled by my primary pedagogical mentor, Dr. Clifford Watson, and later through countless others who shared generously of their leadership platform(s) – I learned to promote an effective, distributive leadership model. Namely, while teaching in Detroit’s famed Malcolm X Academy (1994-2004), I was blessed to be nurtured by the capable leadership of both Dr. Watson as the school’s founding principal, and by his impactful successor, Mrs. Freda Dawson. Dr. Watson and Mama Dawson each played a significant role in expanding my introductory pedagogical knowledge base and shaping my high expectations and enduring regard for outstanding school leadership. Dr. Watson was the very first to anoint me as a “master teacher” in my early 20s, and he also laid the groundwork for the well-rounded leadership of countless others, while driving continuous learning and student achievement as a primary objective for an entire African Centered school. A strict and uncompromising leader in his leadership approach, he led by example that principals must operate as instructional leaders with his frequent, unannounced class observations and verbal (on the spot), as well as written feedback on everything. Academic achievement was admittedly his first and prioritized objective as he mandated full staff participation in exhaustive indaba salons (intensive, African Centered professional development training sessions) to hone and fine-tune the scholarly knowledge base of each of his instructors. Then, even after his untimely and heartbreaking illness/passing, Mrs. Dawson continued to affirm, and in her own traditional sweet manner, she continued to implement the academic achievement priority and distributive leadership model to fidelity. At MXA, the skillful facilitation of team brainstorming was akin to the “internal community builders” that Senge (1990) references in his work on the learning organization. We were a small, family oriented and highly talented and effective group of educators blessed to work within a high performing school community in which all employees felt an investment in fulfillment of our common mission and goal. It must be noted that in any/every school, this form of collaborative leadership is preferred to that of the traditional all-knowing and wise sage, or micromanaging boss, because it is only in this environment that authentic knowledge sharing of the collective brilliance of ALL stakeholders takes place.

Next, I was blessed to briefly work in the welcoming and wholly culturally conscious and revolutionary environment of Aisha Shulé/W.E.B. DuBois Preparatory Academy. Notably, this was an institution indelibly marked by the African genius, infinite light and larger-than-life persona of its revered founder and Detroit area Queen Mother, Mama Imani Humphrey. What an absolute blessing it was to be afforded the highly privileged opportunity to teach in not one, but two, very unique and successfully thriving African centered institutional environments. The Shulé prioritized an all-inclusive priority of traditional, African scholarship, an age-appropriate Rites of Passage initiation for all students and an overall community atmosphere. High expectations were the hallmarks of the Shulé and was not only apparent in its leadership, Mama Imani and Mama Hasina Murphy, but emanated from virtually all Walimu and Wanafunzi (teachers and students). Because this was more than a school; this was a community institution encompassing an African consciousness and activist centered way of life. The sense of continuity between the school/community was evident within every student’s family and was even widely celebrated among the larger Detroit Metropolitan community. Being nestled in the nurturing bosom of this much larger and pioneering African Centered academy allowed exposure to an independent and unapologetically Black K-12 institution, which prioritized the enduring qualities of a whole child approach, leadership and activism among its students, staff and perhaps most importantly, the entire Black family and nation. For more than 40 years, this school was revolutionary in its amazing, unparalleled ability to produce scores of critical thinkers, accomplished academic scholars, and confident men and women empowered to ensure the freedom of African people (across the global diaspora), from both the figurative and literal chains of oppression, which still haunts us even today.

Later, as a public school teacher in New York City, one either sinks or swims; wins or loses and educates or not – there is no middle road. Having read the depressing exploits of Ed Bolan, an optimistic yet naive NY executive who had a brief, unsuccessful stint as a teacher during the same time I taught in NY (he quit after just one year), there’s no secret to the challenges that NYC teaching presents. From a book detailing his exploits, I recall that this (seemingly), liberal and altruistic man initially committed to change – came to utterly fear and loathe his impoverished, gang affiliated and outspoken students during his brief tenure as a teacher. Bolan was even reduced to crying in the restroom after just two weeks of teaching in NY. One of the most memorable quotes of his was this admission “I resented their poverty, their ignorance, their arrogance. Everything I was hoping, at first, to change”. Well, from the start of my own memorable teaching and graduate fellowship coursework as a NYC Teaching Fellow, I learned (through an intensive pre-service program) that preparation was a non-negotiable requirement for those aspiring to teach in NYC public schools. For those who could be trusted to handle the demands of juggling both master’s courses AND teaching full-time, our graduate degrees were partially subsidized in our calling to be rigorously trained to increase student achievement levels in any number of high-needs schools in all 5 boroughs. For me, there was certainly no more fitting a transition after having exclusively worked in African Centered schools in Detroit for the vast majority of my career, than to be blessed to work (briefly in Brownsville, Brooklyn and then later), in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant (the livest one!), Brooklyn from 2008-2012. My beloved role as an upper middle school teacher of English Language Arts at Middle School 385 (School of Business, Finance & Entrepreneurship) will always be regarded as the quintessential site within which I was challenged to apply all of my previous classroom teaching experience to the ultimate goal of becoming an effective school leader.

Within the no-holds barred and fast paced environment of MS 385, a solid foundation of school leadership evolved through the mandated cultivation of an uncompromising work ethic to positively impact the wide variety of high-needs students one encounters as a NYC public school teacher. My diverse students were animated, multi-talented, and an absolute joy to teach but to be honest, a startling majority were so low-performing and/or previously mis-educated that in order to be effective, I (and other highly effective teachers) needed to literally perform a miracle, every single day, as a means to move student achievement. In a nutshell, teaching had to be fun/engaging, rigorous and constantly re-invented, in order to positively impact my large classes of ELA students (many of whom were non-English speakers). Each year, my lowest-performing students would read on the first-grade level, while my select few, gifted students were above-grade level and required 10th-11th grade reading/writing materials. Thus, in fulfillment of my purpose to increase student achievement I learned to go over, above and beyond the call of duty to meet every student’s unique needs. I learned overnight to team teach w/ an accomplished SPED teacher, utilize technology in EVERY lesson, implement the (then newly mandated) Common Core State Standards and to still manage to maintain high academic expectations while employing rigorous, engaging classroom instruction. My teaching style has always been non-traditional in that I rarely rely on outdated, Euro-centered textbooks and prefer instead to glean lessons from current events, classic poetry and hip-hop and the students’ interests as a guide. My beloved and highly influential administrators, Mr. Glyn Marryshow and Mrs. Anne-Marie Malcolm were absolute Rockstars in terms of “bringing out the best from their people [by operating] . . . like alchemists who turn lead into gold” (Hallowell, 2011) through co-partner facilitation rather than an overbearing boss mentality. Through a combination of rigorous PLC collaboration, ongoing professional development trainings, a conspicuous absence of workplace politics and through the skillful cultivation of a loving and thoughtful ‘continuous growth’ culture – my school leaders (Mrs. Malcolm in particular :), empowered a shared knowledge culture of ongoing and affirming staff collaboration and mentoring, consistent feedback and the courtesy of frequent, timely professional performance reviews, while encouraging leadership growth from within the organizational ranks to improve the performance of all.

Of course, every school environment has not been ideal. The ideal school frequently rewards student achievement and teacher effort while holding administrators equally accountable for a school’s success and/or failure. In order to earn a teacher data rating in the 95th percentile for increasing student achievement rates (while working in MS 385 in my beloved Bed-Stuy), this would not have been possible being receptive to re-writing (pre-submitted and approved) weekly lesson plans nearly every day, in order to fit the differentiated needs of my 30+ students (think of an IEP for every student). I was also required to employ an iron-clad classroom management style that simultaneously demonstrated my loving, nurturing and natural personality; frequently honored student voice and choice; while deftly reinforcing the law that I was the unmitigated “Queen of my Classroom Castle” and this law had to be laid down from day #1 or I would never have survived the countless behavioral perils outlined by Ed Bolan, as earlier referenced. Out of my own, self-imposed degree of unimpeachable integrity and a mutual understanding and respect for the inherent difficulties of successfully operating as a school leader (particularly in urban America) – I would not dream of referencing the schools’ and/or persons who left much to be desired in my limited review of their leadership tenures. However, what I can say is that I have worked with and for control freaks, actual freaks (think sexual harassment magnet), incompetent micro-managers and because of their own inability to abandon their misuse of power; these schools invariably failed. The apparent universal common denominator of each of the aforementioned, effective school leaders is not just being a #Boss, but operating as an effective instructional leader. In my humble opinion, the mark of an effective school leader is that your leadership reign mirrors the school’s performance. Increasingly, all of the pressures of student achievement are uniquely felt by America’s teachers, arguably the rank and file members of a school on the front lines of progress; while superintendents, principals and other top-heavy administrative roles are afforded multiple opportunities to demonstrate their vast ineptitude. How frustrating it is that in American education, we operate within a dysfunctional system that holds teachers more accountable than its leaders. Within my more recent school leadership opportunities, while working as an Instructional Coach/Assistant Principal and later as an Elementary Administrator in a high-needs school in Highland Park, MI I benefitted from the wise counsel of Mr. Charles Gordon, a district leader who kept the faith despite insurmountable odds and as a complement to his rank as an elder statesman. Mr. Gordon considered it a priority to extend cash and/or noteworthy incentives to worthy students, staff and families alike – under the auspices of building a cohesive and ultimately effective school community. We need more selfless leaders of his kind in all Title I schools.

In closing, one of my most memorable re-tweets on the Educate to Liberate Twitter page, was admittedly humbling in that it was acknowledged by an educator I greatly admire and respect, Principal Baruti Kafelé, who retweeted this thought, which encapsulates my final feelings on school leaders: Far too many school superintendents and principals thrive on the power of being a #Boss, yet fail miserably at their primary obligation of increasing academic achievement in America’s failing schools. #NotImpressed. As for me, I am blessed to have the educational credentials, professional certification and years of practical experience to run my own company (as I have opted to do), or to lead an entire school district with a host of high-performing and competent schools . . . but the moment that yours truly, or any one of us, falls short of the mark of a fulfilled staff and high student performance, we must have the integrity to acknowledge that we may have abandoned our true calling as authentic school leaders. For now, I am content among the rank and file front line soldiers, teaching school-aged students on an international platform and graduate education students advancing their academic pursuits to become more effective practitioners. Ultimately, through the unique tapestry of my own blessed instructional and school leadership roles to date, many of which have been recounted in this blog post, my unique calling is undoubtedly tied to the priority to #EducateToLiberate and for this I am eternally grateful.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Why U.S. Achievement and Performance Lags Globally? A Failure to Own The Educational Process

A child’s first teacher is their parents. Among the most developed nations, there is no assumption that any government institution, school or individual should have greater sway over a child’s education than one’s family or oneself. Yet over time, schools have grown in power and influence to the extent that they are largely deemed accountable for all knowledge acquisition. The truth is that the most fundamental components of one’s learning occurs outside any institution. Parents, through an equal combination of language, behavior, explicit instruction and tacit experiences convey the most profound lessons to our children and these values are then effortlessly passed on to the next generation. This intellectual foundation, in turn, sets the stage for what should constitute a collective responsibility to embrace lifelong learning. Early on, children learn to value knowledge acquisition based upon the family’s approach and the overall emphasis placed on reading, speaking, social interactions and critical thinking, reasoning. To the extent that parents can engage, it is never too late (and always preferable), that adults take full control and ultimately own the educational trajectories of their own children. Recently released data (2017), from Pew Research Center’s international math and science assessments analysis indicate that “U.S. students continue to rank behind many other advanced industrial nations”, in fact a companion survey of members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science found that just 16% rank U.S. K-12 STEM education as the best or above average; 46%, in contrast, said K-12 STEM in the U.S. was below average. The fact that the U.S. is consistently outranked in Science, Mathematics and Reading by countries like Finland, Japan and China is no secret – however, a copious analysis of the reasons the U.S. is left behind is quite sobering.

Educators often lament that children are sent to school within the early childhood education phase, without having had the benefit of the vast knowledge “building blocks” to succeed in life. This initial learning includes much more than merely the A, B, Cs and 1, 2, 3s but comprises the a wide array of knowledge and is observable through a child’s natural curiosity, language acquisition, spatial orientation, and behavioral interactions with both peers and adults. Between the ages of 0-5 (and especially by age 3), before a child is even introduced to formal education, they possess a keen ability to develop an expansive brain capacity and to sustain a wealth of cognitive, social and emotional abilities. Because of the fact that during these pivotal, early childhood years, more than 1 million new neural connections are formed every second – the brain’s full lifetime capacity develops 90% before a child even reaches age 5. In essence, the brain’s intricate architecture is already largely pre-destined before any one of us has even been exposed to formal learning and behavior patterns taught in school. The importance of the early childhood phase cannot be overstated and this is the primary reason that parents must not relegate the education of their children solely to others. Clearly, every one of us is required to be intimately involved and engaged in the educational process from birth. This aggressive, all-encompassing quest for knowledge must then be sustained throughout life.

One of the more meaningful assumptions about the Educate to Liberate (ETL) ideology, is that every person, at every age and rank in life, has something more to learn. Our model and expressed objective aims to meet the multifaceted needs of all individuals and our clientele ranges from that of PK-12 school-aged children, college and graduate level students, to adults seeking to learn specialized skills, homeschooling parents, educators, institutional professional development needs and corporate/non-profit training modules. In both a surprising and affirming manner, over the course of the past year and a half of our incorporation and international launch, the ETL clients most receptive to our efforts to turn the tide of mis-education and to promote a knowledge-driven platform c/o online learning? None other than that of countless Chinese families, who have an impressive and globally recognized reputation for owning their own educational trajectory and in earning coveted roles of international dominance in nearly every industry for their esteemed record of achievement and business acumen. As an international school without walls, Educate to Liberate has been afforded the coveted opportunity to work directly with parents seeking to supplement their child’s education with English language instruction, and to reinforce any/all of the core subject areas in which their children fail to master in school. To my utter surprise and delight, I have taught students as young as Chinese infants, who learn via a phone, laptop or tablet while sitting on their parents laps to adults (all within a digital platform). I have since learned that China’s educational trajectory mirrors the system here in the U.S. in that primary education begins at age 6, however this is where the similarities come to an abrupt end. Their educational system has earned an impressive reputation and school is admittedly challenging and competitive.

In China, children are only required to fulfill 9 years of education and following the primary level and three years of middle school, students have the option to decide whether or not they would like to continue for 3 more years of senior middle school to complete their secondary education. Despite heavy academic workloads in school, Chinese students are tutored daily in order to maintain the rigor of their peers and classmates. After a long school day beginning as early as 6 am and ending between 4 and 5 pm, Chinese students are tutored in a wide range of core/priority subjects ranging from Math, Literature, English, Chemistry, and Physics. The school day though rigorous, is balanced by a 2-hour lunch/recess/nap break and relatively short holidays, school vacation days. From a negative standpoint, China is believed to be achievement obsessed and as such, education is a luxury (after age 15), meaning that only the affluent can meet the universally high academic requirements which include affording the high cost of one-to-one tutoring. On the contrary, here in the U.S. the public school day is shorter, admittedly less rigorous and the great American pastimes of sports, recreation, social activities and behavior/character education are all universal pre-requisites of the teacher/school institution, rather than appropriately regarded as left to the discretion of one’s parents and family. It is my humble opinion that such an inordinate focus upon outdated and exclusionary standards, curriculum and instruction and perhaps most oppressively, high-stakes, standardized testing, has rendered the U.S. educational system as largely inept and incapable of competing on an international scale. While the largely universal Common Core standards seek to incorporate increased rigor, communication skills, higher-order thinking and problem-solving expertise . . . our children still emerge as comprising an expansive achievement gap and ranking or as woefully unprepared when faced with the reputation of international scholarship.

The solution? Owning our own education, starting at birth and with an equal amount of curiosity, desire, involvement and engagement throughout the remainder of one’s lifetime. From an institutional standpoint, we must de-emphasize the importance of rote memorization and non-essential, albeit flawed American nationalist inspired theories (i.e. the purposeful re-writing of history), in favor of a purposeful and wide-ranging base of knowledge whereby geography, the truth of U.S. history and even biology and algebra are taught from a very young age, and in accordance with student interest. Gone are the days where subjective letter grades and culturally biased, inaccurate and misused tests like the ACT can cease to have relevance and weigh considerably in college admission decisions. Instead, we must embrace the educational ideals of empowering students to embrace their own creativity and natural genius at an early age, implement a more balanced and equitable standards-based grading system while increasingly devaluing the validity of historic college admission tests designed to inordinately favor affluent, White males. Only then will we be poised to acknowledge and reward the inherent genius of Black, brown, red, yellow and white and to close the gaping abyss of the U.S. achievement gap. We can finally begin to bridge the divide of the unique learning style of Black males (and to a lesser degree Black females), in that we are primarily kinesthetic, tactile, musical, visual, creatively inductive and oral learners – a non-conformist style which is otherwise diametrically opposed to the structured, linear, passive, deductive, written, rule-bound, standardized and conformist style of learning which predominates in American schools. While formal education rewards a hierarchal style and approach to knowledge acquisition, all other people of color operate within a communal culture which approaches learning in much the same way. Therefore, we must conclude that for the vast majority of America’s diverse student population, a bevy of unexpected and traumatic experiences of one’s life occurs during the foundational academic (or formative) years, wherein children interact with authority figures (White, female teachers) or other peers who may not be similarly raised or share common, moral beliefs. Parents naively assume that their own contributions to their children’s development has evolved to a marked state of closure and the vast majority of one’s growth and development is then subtly yet wholly transferred to a school system. This is a grave travesty and therein lies a common problem and societal misnomer, from which we must duly cease and desist.

Contrary to popular belief and even more common practice, there is no magic or appropriate age upon which we should cease engagement and interaction with the educational trajectory. If in fact knowledge is power (and indeed it is) . . . then we must own the educational process as a means to overcome the glaring societal and moral disparities of poverty, oppression, and mis-education to accomplish our diverse, lifelong learning goals and to achieve global recognition of unparalleled academic achievement and business success. It bears repeating that while parents are the first teachers, no government institution, school or individual should have greater sway over a child’s education than one’s family or oneself. Rigorous, affordable and lifelong learning is readily accessible c/o the Educate to Liberate LLC technologically savvy and online learning platform.

Please visit https://educatetoliberatel.wixsite.com/website or https://www.facebook.com/KnowledgeFreedomPower/ for more information on personalized, differentiated online learning options for lifelong knowledge acquisition, today.