Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update: good interview on NPR with one of the researchers who founded the theory of implicit bias, Mahzarin Banaji. BANAJI: In order to just think about where implicit bias comes from, it's a good idea to think about it as a combination of two things. First, our brains - human brains have a certain way in which we go about picking up information, learning it. If I repeatedly see that doctors are male and nurses are female, I'm going to learn that. But the second part to implicit bias is the culture in which we live. But the mark of an evolved society is how quickly do we come to terms with it? How quickly do we realize that finding out that we're biased need not mean that we have to remain biased? So I have great hope just because I look at the history of this country, where we used to be and where we are today, and I see nothing but a path that is on the way towards doing better. End of update We could start this discussion with the micro-view of w...

Hi Save Seattle Schools readers! I am a Garfield graduate now attending Rice University in Houston, TX.  I am taking a class called"Black in Schools," which examines the history of and current state of education for black students in America.  For my final project in this class, I need to explore issues in black education through the personal experience of a single person--a student or educator.  For this project, I am interested in interviewing a student, teacher, or administrator from the now-defunct African American Academy.  If there are any former AAA students or educators interested in talking to me about their experiences there—or if you know someone who would be—please contact me by phone at  (206) 288-9051  or by email at  jht4@rice.edu .  My initial research on the African American Academy leads me to think that it might provide a very interesting perspective on some of the issues we are studying in my course, so any he...

More news on race and children in America. I offer this information as news.  I have tried not to editorialize much here but to listen to what others are saying.  Somewhere in this country, people are suspending preschoolers and most of them are children of color or Special Education students.  (I didn't even know you could suspend a pre-schooler.)  This story from the Huffington Post.   It's a wide-ranging report that goes from preschool thru high school and examines not just discipline but offerings in districts throughout the country.  A staggering new report released by the Department of Education and the Justice Department on Friday highlights a troubling pattern of zero-tolerance school discipline policies that disproportionately impact minority students in general, but also trickle down to the nation’s youngest students. While black children represent only 18% of preschool enrollment nationally, they make up 42% of students suspended o...