Forum focuses on improving education for African-American students
By Mary Rainwater – The Huntsville Item
Huntsville Independent School District administrators took another step to improve the education of its African-American student population Thursday, holding a public forum Thursday to gather input from parents and members of the community on the issue.
The meeting, held at Mance Park Middle School, was attended by over 100 concerned parents and residents, with 12 to 15 people participating in the concluding public input portion of the meeting.
It was one of several meetings that have taken place between the district and specific groups in order to gather input about the needs regarding the education of African-American students and to formulate and effective plan to do so.
“The district has shown generally upward trends in test scores, but there are some variants in this group that led us to this effort,” said HISD Superintendent Dr. Richard Montgomery, who presented a review of student data at the meeting.
That data showed successes — including top scores — in the African-American student group’s reading and social studies testing areas, with struggles in the areas of math and science.
“In looking at test scores statewide, our district is not unique in this,” Montgomery said. “But rather than excuse the problem and do nothing, we wanted to find something to do to help these students.”
With the help of Sam Houston State University Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership Dr. Mack Hines, HISD administrators have been holding meetings with various groups, including African-American teachers and caucasian teachers, to gather input to help those students.
“We have teacher teams and intervention teams that work with our students and make sure they are achieving at the right level,” the superintendent said. “But we wanted to do more to get teachers, parents and community leaders involved.”
Thursday’s meeting with parents and community leaders, Montgomery said, was unique in that it allowed input from a more general population.
“Those who spoke voiced concerns that I think were very useful,” he said, with the need for African-American teachers, parental support and teaching for the individual learner all brought up by those who spoke in open forum.
“Many said that they did not want to make excuses for their students, which I felt was very important in terms of giving them the appropriate support,” he explained. “They mentioned the need to teach students the way they learned — that is also important.”
Dr. Hines, who gave a presentation at Thursday’s forum, reported that his work with HISD on this project is his first long-term endeavor.
“I am working with the school in finding culturally sensitive ways of helping teachers,” Hines said, “and to find innovative ways to involve the community and parents in the process of reaching African-American students.”
Hines’ presentation included coverage of three areas of concern for African-American parents — how they define parental involvement, what they can do to ensure that their student will come to school prepared to learn, and what they expect from Huntsville ISD to assure the success of their student.
“I felt the meeting was very successful,” Hines said. “It was a very impressive turnout with a lot of people participating.”
Hines was pleased with how the project was going and felt the district’s proactive effort on the issue of educating African-American students was tremendous.
“The district leadership recognizes that there is an issue instead of avoiding it,” he said. “That those leaders are working hard to make sure African-American students are properly educated assures its success.
“That success is evidenced by the outpouring of participation from parents and the community on Thursday,” he added. “The input gained there will be used to develop a customized plan to help HISD teachers empower African-American students.”
According to Montgomery, an estimated six to eight meetings on the subject have been held so far, with more expected to take place this spring.
“I believe the African-American student can do well in school,” Hines said. “The concept that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ — with the school, home and community working together — will help us see students be successful.”