Arizona State University is one of the leading universities in the country for awarding degrees to Hispanic and Native American students, according to figures from the National Center for Education Statistics.

ASU ranked fourth in the nation for bachelor’s degrees to Native Americans, at 209, and 10th for bachelor’s degrees to 1,375 Hispanic students in 2007-08. The ranking reflects an intensive effort by the university over the past decade to recruit and support ethnic minority students who may be underrepresented in the student body. Download Full Image

As more of these students succeed, more continue their studies to earn graduate degrees. Among Native American students, ASU ranks sixth in the nation for master’s degrees and 12th for research doctorates. Among Hispanics, ASU comes in at 42nd for master’s degrees and 17th for research doctorates.

A third of new ASU undergraduates were ethnic minority students in Fall 2009, including 37 percent of new freshmen. Minority enrollment at all ASU campuses reached 18,600, more than 27 percent of the student body, a greater proportion than ever before. Ten years ago the proportion was 19 percent.

A broad range of social and academic support and resources are available to these students, including tutorials, skills workshops and mentoring by faculty. All ASU freshmen are offered academic support, though this outreach is especially important for first-generation students.

Among the resources for Native American students is the Native American Achievement Program, a specialized program designed in partnership with three Arizona tribes to increase students’ persistence and graduation. The One Nation Club at the Polytechnic offers cultural activities, guest speakers and community service projects, and the Tempe campus offers seven American Indian student organizations.

Latino students find many student interest groups, including the Hispanic Business Students Association, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Latino Graduate Student Alliance. One particularly successful effort has been the Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program, which brings high school girls to campus with their mothers over four years for specialized workshops and classes.

“Inclusion is fundamental to ASU,” says Elizabeth D. Capaldi, executive vice president and provost of the university. “As the population becomes more diverse, the country needs to educate this diverse population, and ASU is a leader in this endeavor. Our leadership in this area, combined with our focus on excellence, shows that these goals are not mutually exclusive.”

The Campus Environment Team (CET) at ASU’s West campus is seeking nominations for its 2010 “Excellence in Diversity” awards.

The awards, created in 1996, recognize members of the West campus community who have demonstrated a continuous commitment to cultural diversity. Academic professionals, classified staff, faculty, service professionals, administrators and students at the West campus are eligible for nomination. Download Full Image

“These awards and recognition are an important way we can honor those who put a priority on cultural diversity on our campus,” said Sharon Smith, CET chair and director of the TRiO Academic Achievement Center at the West campus. 

“Diversity is in our fabric; bringing multiple perspectives, different voices, to the table brings out the best in us. The people we honor with these awards are those who are living and promoting cultural diversity daily.”

Awards are presented in individual and group categories. In the individual category, three awards are presented: academic professional/faculty; classified staff/service professional/administrator; and student. In the group category, a group consisting of two or more persons from any of the individual categories is honored.

Nominees must meet the following criteria:
• Demonstrates a continuous commitment to cultural diversity.
• Sponsors and/or participates in culturally diverse activities.
• Promotes cultural diversity in all aspects of campus life.
• Models respectful treatment of all individuals.

Nominations may come from any member of ASU’s West campus community. CET requests that nominators obtain the nominee’s consent in advance.

To be eligible, nominations must include the ways in which the nominee has met the four criteria. Nominators may submit more than one nominee, however separate nominations must be submitted for each individual or group. Current CET members are not eligible for nomination.

Nominations must include the nominator’s and nominee’s name, email address, department, mail code and phone number. The nomination must also include the category of the nominee and a written statement explaining how the nominee has met the four criteria.

Deadline for submitting nominations is April 5. Award winners will be recognized at the Faculty/Staff Appreciation Breakfast on April 26.

For more information, contact Sharon Smith at 602-543-8116 or via email at Sharon.Smith">mailto:Sharon.Smith@asu.edu">Sharon.Smith@asu.edu. To submit a nomination, email Kathy Gunn at Kathleen.Gunn">mailto:Kathleen.Gunn@asu.edu">Kathleen.Gunn@asu.edu or via interoffice mail at mail code 1251.

One of the challenges for teachers is to learn to work with students in ways that respect their various cultures, enabling them to learn more effectively.

Arizona State University’s Equity Alliance will offer a free Webinar dealing with that topic at noon, March 19. Download Full Image

“Coaching for Inclusive Practice” is a one-hour session created by NIUSI LeadScape that enables coaching teachers and school staff members to create a school culture that serves all students.

The Webinar will help school leaders to move coaching from a problem-solving model to strategic capacity building that will change the way teachers and staff understand their work.

“Our coaching model provides a ‘framework’ for understanding and planning the types of conversations that are needed to broaden teachers’ understanding of their own assumptions and engage them in more thoughtful planning to effectively teach all students,” said Elaine Mulligan, assistant director, NIUSI-LeadScape.

“We’re helping coaches to help teachers understand what it is they don’t know about the way they interact with students – the unconscious assumptions they make based on their own experiences. Once teachers are aware of this, they can change their approaches to be more effective for students who don’t learn in ways that U.S. teachers use as default approaches.”

Registration for the webinar is available online at http://www.equityallianceatasu.org/ea/webinar.

The Equity Alliance at ASU represents a set of funded programs that promote equity, access, participation and outcomes for all students. Equity Alliance offers free webinars on topics related to improving equity in schools throughout the year. Past webinars on topics including “The State of Equity in Public Schools,” “Building Inclusive Schools” and “Professional Learning for Equity” can be downloaded at http://www.equityallianceatasu.org/webinar.

NIUSI-LeadScape, a project funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs, is developing a professional community of school principals of inclusive schools. The project’s professional learning tools incorporate research-based effective strategies and methods as well as research-based effective content on what principals need to know and do to achieve effective, inclusive schools.

For more information, contact Mulligan at (480) 965-8378 or elaine.mulligan">mailto:elaine.mulligan@asu.edu">elaine.mulligan@asu.edu.

Leading language, literacy and education policy researchers will gather this week at Arizona State University to discuss their research on issues of language, race, culture and equity in American education.

“Research on Educational Equity and Diversity in the Southwest, ” presented by the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education will take place Thursday, March 4, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Memorial Union’s Pima Auditorium. Download Full Image

 The symposium showcases the published research of ASU faculty and book collaborations with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, including guest panelist Patricia Gandara, UCLA Professor of Education co-director of The">http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/">The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles.

Moderated by Art Lebowitz, a Valley education leader and retired superintendent of Phoenix Union High School District, this panel of minority language and equity in education experts will present their most recent publications and discuss the relevance and implications of their work for all schools.

“The symposium will provide a forum for discussing the educational issues that are important to the diverse populations of the Southwest and the ongoing educational challenges and opportunities,” Professor Terrence Wiley, executive dean of the Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education.  

The debate as to whether using bilingual education and languages other than English in pre-K-12 school settings “holds children back” is among the issues the panel will examine through related research findings.

“The population of Arizona and the U.S. isn’t standing still. It doesn’t look like it did 50 years ago or 25 years ago, and it won’t look the same 25 years from now. Part of the resilience of an education system is being able to adapt to meet the needs of the population as it changes,” Wiley said.

In addition to addressing the needs of language minorities, the panel will examine the decline in foreign language instruction in the U.S. and its future impact on American children being able to engage and interact with the world at large in a globalized economy.

Wiley, Lee and Rumberger have edited a new book, The Education of Language Minority Immigrants in the United States, which includes relevant research of these issues by scholars from several disciplines. The book examines the relationships between language education and economics, immigration, educational progress, language loss, identity studies related to education, and the maintenance of heritage languages among immigrant populations. Applied linguistics expert Jeff MacSwan, professor of language and literacy and applied linguistics, also contributed to the book with his research on technical issues in language assessment of children.

“National agendas such as No Child Left Behind or Race to the Top have one-size-fits-all goals. In order to achieve the desired ends of these initiatives, it’s useful to understand the diversity of the populations we’re working with and how various education policies respond to their needs—or sometimes miss their needs,” Wiley said. “An increasing portion of the U.S. school population is either not native born or is minority in status. These are the populations we really need to make progress with. We need to be addressing their needs and know what’s happening with these kids.”

In the book, Forbidden Language: English Learners and Restrictive Language Policies, Gandara pulls together the most current research on the effects of restrictive language policies and actual outcomes for students and teachers in California, Arizona and Massachusetts. These states have mandated structured English immersion as the primary means of instructions and restricted other approaches, such as bilingual education. ASU’s Alfredo J. Artiles, professor of special education with the Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education, is a contributor.

“This is a topic that has been important in Arizona and California because children in immigrant populations are expected to acquire English as quickly as possible and maintain pace with their English-speaking peers,” Wiley said. “Sometimes, in the public debate, the concern about these children acquiring English overshadows them keeping up with their peers. This is even more important at the high school level with the dropout rate, performance on standardized tests and preparation for college.”

Teresa McCarty, Alice Wiley Snell Professor of Education and Policy Studies with the Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education, also is a panelist. Her forthcoming book, Ethnography and Language Policy, focuses on indigenous/language minority education, language education planning and policy, critical literacy studies and ethnographic methods in education. Her work links to a growing global concern about the rapid decline of languages around the world, particularly indigenous languages, as it’s estimated that 70 percent of the world’s languages may be lost by the end of the century, which is relevant for native populations in Arizona and the Southwest

Also participating in the symposium is Kimberley Scott, associate professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and executive editor of The State of Black Arizona project. Her published reports focus on the education and race issues facing Arizona's Black population. Similarly, The State of Latino Arizona, a report researched and written by ASU faculty in Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, is being represented by Eugene Garcia, ASU’s vice president for Education Partnerships. Garcia and Paul Luna, chair of the College of Public Programs Downtown Opportunities Board, contributed to the report, which was led by Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez, Chair and Professor of the Department of Transborder Chicana/o
and Latina/o Studies and Anthropology

 “In the last decade, educators and policymakers have realized the U.S. is at a disadvantage as a country because we don’t do well in foreign language instruction. There has been little attempt to link bilingual education with foreign language instruction, but people are increasingly interested in foreign language classrooms,” Wiley said. “Arguments are that language resources in foreign language instruction or heritage language instruction help expand the U.S.’ capacity in global trade and national security and make this a country better able to communicate with the world at large.”

Other esteemed Fulton Education faculty participating are: Beatriz Arias, associate professor of language and literacy, who is conducting research on teachers’ perceptions of their preparation to work with English Language Learners. Kellie Rolstad, ASU associate professor of language and literacy and applied linguistics, who along with MacSwan published book chapters on English emersion programs and bilingual education.

“We now have 10 years under our belt to review how the new policies are working and discuss how different models between the states work. We are interested not only in the continuing success of children, but also in the longitudinal impact of policies. Are they delivering what they claim?” Wiley noted. “In order to try to use educational research in a way that helps inform policy, we have to continue to do this kind of work, even though it may go in a different direction than the established policies.”

To attend the symposium, please RSVP to Paula Miller, paula.miller">mailto:paula.miller@asu.edu">paula.miller@asu.edu or call 480.727.7262. Visitor parking is available in the Apache Parking Structure. For a campus map, visit asu.edu/maps.

<p>Monica Green, a history professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, gives her perspective in the Feb. 24 <em>Race-Talk</em> on Continental Airlines naming a new Boeing 737 for her father. The honor took place nearly 50 years after her father initiated a legal case against the company and won a Supreme Court case that resulted in his hiring as the first black commercial airline pilot for Continental.</p><p>“What was I to make of this gesture, coming from my father’s former adversary as well as employer?" Green writes of her father, Capt. Marlon Green. "This was no small honor. (And no small plane!) Only a handful of planes in Continental’s fleet of over 300 aircraft bear names, and then only of past company presidents. But what did it mean?”</p><p>The historian in her “saw this as an event symbolizing the transformations our society has witnessed in the past 50 years.”</p><p>At the naming ceremony in Houston on Feb. 9, Green wrote she “praised the plane as a living exhibit, a record of my father’s story that would fly all over the country, touching the lives of every airline employee and passenger who encountered it.”</p><p>An additional story about the naming ceremony she references in her essay (link provided below) appeared Feb. 10 on the front page of the <em>Houston Chronicle</em>, under the tagline “Milestone in diversity.” A copy of that story is online at <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/6859688.html">http://ww...

The 7th annual border justice series event at Arizona State University’s West campus is spreading its wings and gathering a new enthusiasm just in time for the upcoming “Families, Justice and the Border” exhibit and forum.

This year’s event is spread over three days and two ASU campuses, giving it a new prominence and greater reach. The dates are March 24 and 25 on the West campus, while the Civic Space Park by the Downtown Phoenix campus will host performances and community education activities on March 27. The event is part of classroom coursework in the Master’s in Social Justice and Human Rights degree program offered by the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. Download Full Image

“The students have always been involved in the event, but this year it is a part of the coursework, which places a greater emphasis on its importance,” said graduate student Carrie Wallinger, who will graduate from the program in May. “The three days and our presence on two of the university’s campuses are the result of the hard work and dedication of 25 students and faculty in the social justice and human rights program.

“Mixing the West and Downtown campuses opens the event to more people, and will let more people know that ASU is dealing with these types of important issues.”

All events over the three days are free and open to the public. Included on the West campus schedule of events are an art exhibit, panel discussions, plenary speakers and a performance of “Tears of Lives” by the New Carpa Theatre Company under the direction of ASU faculty member James Garcia, who also wrote the play. Also scheduled is a viewing of the film “The Least of These,” a powerful documentary exploring the American immigration policy of family detention.  West campus activities will take place on the Fletcher Library lawn and in LaSala in the University Center Building (UCB).

At the Downtown Phoenix campus, activities will take place in the Civic Space Park and will include cultural performances and on-hand legal aid, tax and financial assistance, and information on community services available to families.

“Border issues are important and misunderstood in this region,” Wallinger said. “Lots of people don’t understand family unification issues; the issues involving families separated by the border. Family members can’t move freely across the border, or they do so with difficulty, at best. The families would much rather be together at home; family members don’t leave their families to stay here.

“The issues should be about the people, not laws. I’m not talking about a so-called lawless society, but you have to find a fair and compassionate way of dealing with transborder family issues.”

Wallinger has lived social justice and human rights issues since she graduated with a bachelor's degree in English and political science from Mary Washington College (now University of Mary Washington) in Fredericksburg, Va., in 2002.  She served two years in the Peace Corps in Mongolia where she taught English as a second language and also worked to improve the life and decision-making skills of her students. She has also worked as a counselor at a wilderness camp for troubled and at-risk youths. Upon her graduation from ASU’s New College, Wallinger hopes to continue her current internship with ALERT (Arizona League to End Regional Trafficking), a program of the International rescue Committee, where she works to help provide aid and support victims of trafficking.

In the meantime, her energy is focused on the “Families, Justice and the Border” event next month.

“The event is designed by students and faculty in the social justice and human rights degree program to capture people’s interest in border-related family issues,” she said. “We live in a culturally diverse area and we need to look at the options they have to enjoy that diversity. We hope to get people thinking about their commonalities, not their differences.”

For more information, contact Carrie Wallinger at caroline.wallinger@asu.edu.

Arizona Representative Cloves Campbell Jr. will be honored as the recipient of the Pioneer Award at a dinner at Arizona State University’s West campus on Feb. 27.  The Pioneer Award Dinner is the final event on a calendar of activities celebrating Black History Month at the campus and will take place at 6 p.m., in the University Center Building (UCB), La Sala ballroom.

The award recognizes individuals or families that have made a long-term commitment to the quality of lives of African Americans. Download Full Image

“Representative Campbell is a most deserving recipient of this prestigious award,” said Duku Anokye, an associate professor in the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies in ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. 

“He is an actively engaged member of a prominent African American family and has given more than 25 years of his own life in service to the community through his newspaper, The Arizona Informant, and as a representative of Arizona’s 16th District.”

Campbell Jr. is the son of the late Cloves Campbell, the state’s first black senator and founder of The Arizona Informant, the only African-American-owned weekly in Arizona. Now the board chairman and co-publisher of the paper, Campbell Jr. was elected to the Arizona State House of Representatives in 2006 and currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee, Banking and Insurance Committee and the Sub-Committee on Library and Archives.

In the community, the younger Campbell has been a dynamo. He sits on several boards, including Governor’s African American Advisory Board, Attorney General’s African American Advisory Board, Black Theater Troupe Board, Salvation Army Advisory Board, West Coast Black Publishers Board, Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church Board of Trustees, and the 100 Black Men of Phoenix.  He is a life member of the NAACP.

“What stands out when you meet Representative Campbell is his dedication,” says Anokye, who has been an integral part of the West campus Black History Month committee for years.  “His commitment, his faith, his devotion to family and the ongoing growth and development of African American social, cultural, political and historical concerns is an incentive for all of us to do more, do better, and to give back.

“Our Pioneer Award honorees, past and present, are living examples of what it means to live a dedicated and meaningful life.”

In addition to recognition of Campbell Jr. and a documentary commemorating his service, the Pioneer Award Dinner will feature an African processional and a special performance by the Asase Yaa African American Dance Theatre, an award-winning and internationally travelled ensemble of musicians, dancers and singers with training in various disciplines.

Other upcoming West campus events on the Black History Month calendar are the Poetry Jam on Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kiva Auditorium ($5 admission, students $3) and the African Master Dance Workshop on Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. in La Sala.

ASU’s West campus is located at 4701 West Thunderbird Road in Phoenix.  More information about Black History Month events is available by calling 602-543-5306. RSVP at WestEvents">mailto:WestEvents@asu.edu">WestEvents@asu.edu.