Sign Up for Our Webinars

Urban Strategies Council and the Oakland Unified School District are hosting four free one-hour webinars to share the findings of our recently-released reports on the well being of African American boys in Oakland, including promising practices being implemented.

You are invited to participate in any or all of these webinars.

African American Male Achievement in OUSD: An Overview

May 30th 10:00 - 11:00 AM register

This first webinar will explain the District's African American Male Achievement Initiative, why it was formed and what work has begun to address systemic, policy and practice-based inequities for African American Male students. We will provide an overview of the three major reports released focusing on suspension, absenteeism and graduation as well as the goals established for this initiative to ensure the work is data driven and the impact can be objectively measured. Join our CEO Junious Wiliams, the OUSD Superintendent Tony Smith, Chris Chatmon and Steve Spiker to hear about this work and join the conversation on how we take this research into action in Oakland. Sign up here.

Suspension: Analyzing and Addressing Disparities Facing African American Boys in Oakland

June 20th 10:00 - 11:00 AM register

Using records from OUSD, Urban Strategies Council found that African American boys were suspended at a rate six times higher than that of white males. In 2010-2011, 18 percent of African American males were suspended at least once, compared to just three percent of white males. Almost half (44%) of these students were suspended for "willful defiance or disruption," a highly subjective offense. Sign up here.

Attendance: Analyzing and Addressing Disparities Facing African American Boys in Oakland

June 27th 10:00 - 11:00 AM register

Our analysis found that in 2010-11, almost one in five African American males was chronically absent, missing more than 10 percent of the school year – a rate double the OUSD average. Further, not a single middle school in the district in 2010-2011 achieved the district's goal of less than six percent of African American males chronically absent. National research shows that students who are chronically absent at any grade level are less likely to graduate or experience academic success. Improving attendance among African American boys, particularly in the earliest grades, has the potential to boost dramatically their chances of succeeding academically. To hear more about this research and what is being done already at OUSD to address this please join our webinar.

Graduation: Analyzing and Addressing Disparities Facing African American Boys in Oakland, July 3rd 10:00 - 11:00 AM register

Using well-established warning signs that a student faces increased risk of not graduating from high school, Urban Strategies Council found that in 2010-11, one-third of African American boys in grades K-12 (34%) were off course for graduating from high school, compared to 20% of all students in OUSD. The warning signs were most pronounced among African American boys in middle school, 55% of whom displayed one or more signs of dropout risk. The warning signs vary by school level, but fall into the categories of poor academic performance, chronic absence, and suspensions. To learn more about this research and how OUSD is responding please join us for the final series webinar.