“Cultivating” Culturally Responsive Teachers at Southwest Academy
Through a generous donation to The William J. Watkins, Sr. Educational Institute, Inc. we have partnered with Southwest Academy Middle School in Baltimore County to provide seven teachers with our year long "Cultivating a Culturally Responsive Practice" teacher training. Our philosophy that the most important relationship as regards student success is that between the teacher and student. Principal Karen Barnes [...]
“Colored Teachers for the Colored Schools:” The Fight for African American Teachers in Baltimore City (Part 2)
New Black Leadership By the middle of the 1880’s there was a shift in Baltimore’s African American leadership. The Republican hold on the black community was beginning to be reexamined. African Americans questioned the propriety of supporting candidates who only used their support to get into office and once elected did not follow through on their campaign promises. Also, the [...]
Educating Baltimore’s Black Community (Part 1)
Baltimore’s Black community has been fighting for adequate public education for our children since the Baltimore City Public School system was established in 1829. Many of the issues we were fighting for in the 19th century we are still struggling to acquire today. Initially we merely sought access to the public schools. While we paid taxes that supported the schools [...]
7 Steps to Effectively Work With Your Child’s School
This pamphlet is a useful set of guidelines for parents to use for effectively engaging with their child’s school. It is written in easy to read plain English without a bunch of educational jargon. The overarching idea of the handbook is that parents want their children to attend the most effective school they can. The most effective schools are those [...]
Disconnected Students
One of the many problems in today’s schools is that we have a tremendous disconnect between the students, how and what schools teach and the manner in which it is taught. We are using agrarian age facilities, employing an industrial business model to teach third millennium youth. In a PBS Frontline program about Michele Rhee one of the scenes illustrated [...]
What is the Most Important Relationship to Student Success?
Some people may consider the most important relationship in a child’s academic success is that between the parent and the child. After all parents are the primary caregivers and are responsible for the well-being of their children. Good parents show love and support and do whatever they can to ensure their child is successful. They go the extra yard, taking [...]