The Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color, a Lynn, Mass., group founded less than two years ago, has crafted a document that schools or districts can use to assess whether they are adequately serving boys who are Latino or African-American.
The authors say the aim of the tool is to merge what is known about promising practices for boys of color with the research on effective schools. It focuses on assessment, parents and community, curriculum and instruction, school environment, school leadership, school counseling and guidance, and school organization.
The guide lists model practices in each area so that school or district evaluation teams can determine how their own practices measure up. In the area of curriculum and instruction, for example, one practice is for a school or district to provide “culturally relevant instruction that relates to the cultures, lives, and/or experiences of boys of color, allowing them to ‘see themselves’ reflected in curricular materials.”
The Metropolitan Center for Urban Education is also a partner in producing the tool.
