Area 1: Goals:

AIM HIGH! is a program of the Schools Committee of the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race, an intentional integration organization. The goal of AIM HIGH! is to create a community of educators, students, parents, and others to study and then institutionalize initiatives to ameliorate the academic racial achievement gap and to improve the quality of our schools through parent advocacy and education, staff development, community involvement, and student engagement. The program helps staff understand that as they implement the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards in all areas, student achievement will only increase for all groups of students if the content of the standards is taught using the appropriate instructionally strategies and through the formation of appropriate relationships with students.

The activities of the program are aligned with the vision and goals as set forth in the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Mathematics in that they are focused on “enabling all of New Jersey’s children to acquire the mathematical skills, understandings, and attitudes that they will need to be successful in their careers and daily lives. This unique program brings to bear the resources of an entire community that has developed a culture of racial integration– a community that is one of the few in the United States seriously striving to create stable and continuing integration in our schools, as well as in our community. The activities described below encourage students to join with parents and district staff and community stakeholders to explore, discuss, and engage in the kind of real-life higher order thinking that can lead a community to creative solutions to difficult challenges. 

Area 2: Activities:

Courageous conversations:
Since its inception, the program has used face-to-face discussions aimed at contributing to the elimination of the gap mainly by encouraging race-related discussions among parents, teachers, students and other community members. During the programs, participants address how race impacts students and what we each can do to improve student learning across racial lines. The high school social studies teachers use these public events as a component of their curriculum, and students are always prominent in the discussions.

Community-wide Forums:

• Does it Take a Community to Raise A Child (Audience of approximately 200)
• "Closing the Achievement Gap," Challenges, Questions, Solutions (Audience of approximately 300)
• I Sit Where I Want (Audience of approximately 150

Volunteers/volunteer hours: Twenty volunteers on the Schools Committee do much of the work (Approx. 100 hours dedicated to each forum).  In addition to the twenty volunteers on the Schools Committee, Forum planning includes as many as fifteen - twenty volunteers made up of students, parents, teachers, and community leaders.

Results: Community members, students, parents, and teachers left with a greater understanding of institutional racism and its impact on academic achievement; and they joined together in discovering solutions.  The district adopted Dr. Ronald Ferguson’s TRIPOD Model and joined the Minority Achievement Network as a direct result of the Coalition’s Schools Committee’s inviting him to the district.

Community in-depth learning opportunities:
Along with the large forums, we also organized smaller, more in-depth learning opportunities.

• Achievement Gap Study Circles for Teaching staff and others (Approximately 25 participants)
• Achievement Gap Four Week Study Group (Approximately 65 participants)

Volunteers/volunteer hours: Scores of volunteer hours as the Schools Committee collected reading material and prepared the special lessons for the study circle.  District administrators and teachers also participated voluntarily both as learners and as sharers of their knowledge.

Results: Community’s understanding of the racial achievement gap increased in depth and sophistication.  Helped teachers understand that student achievement will only increase for all groups of students through the formation of appropriate relationships with students.

Raising the bar for individual students:
We know that smooth transitions from elementary to middle school and from middle school to high school are essential in engaging students and creating a culture of high expectations for academic achievement.

• Math Frenzy Summer Program– students entering sixth grade and were below grade level in math (Fifteen students)
• Bridge to Success– students entering 9th Grade were given summer leadership training (Fifteen students)

Volunteers/volunteer hours: Schools Committee did much of planning and program implementation for Math Frenzy (130 volunteer hours). Bridge to Success was a partnership with another community organization. Both programs ran for four weeks. The work of the volunteer teachers and administrators made the programs work.

Results: Sixth grade teachers found the students who participated in Math Frenzy were on grade level. Ninth grade staff found that students that participated in Bridge to Success were less likely to have behavior issues that interfered with learning.

Engaging Teachers:
Teacher understanding and buy-in are essential to ameliorating the Gap.

• Since 2004, Coalition forums have been certified by New Jersey for teachers’ continuing education.
• One Academic Achievement Gap Study Circle took place at one of the Middle Schools and was especially for teachers.
• Schools Committee Members participate yearly in South Orange/Maplewood School district New Teacher Orientation.

Volunteers/volunteer hours: Committee did publicity, etc. One committee member spent @ 40 hours doing paperwork for in-service certification.

Results: Teachers regularly attend the AIM HIGH! Programs and their understanding of theGap and how to overcome it has been enhanced.  Staff benefit from accruing hours for continuing education and are supportive of initiatives. New teachers recognize that they are part of a community that values academic achievement and issues of equity.

Uniting schools, parents and the community around a common goal: One of the most exciting things about the work of the Community Coalition’s Schools Committee is in the area of organizing the community to work with educators and families toward closing Gap. The Coalition builds community participation in the schools by recruiting, welcoming and training volunteers; advising families on ways to create a home that’s conducive to learning; and encouraging them to join in leadership decisions.

• Pre-school Open House (Annually for seven years). This event brings in a district principal to discuss Kindergarten readiness, an essential component of the effort to bridge the Gap, along with a Fair of Pre-schools and Day Care providers for families to meet. (This event regularly draws a hundred and fifty parents and thirty -forty pre-schools).
• Parent Advocacy Workshop. The Schools Committee brings together groups of parents and through discussion and role-playing helps them learn strategies for getting the most from the school system for their children.
• Parent Advocacy Handbook. This publication is in conjunction with the Parent Advocacy Workshop.  It has the unique property of being treated as a Draft, and the parent participants will suggest information that will be incorporated into the final form.
• Planning Ahead Workshop (Annually for four years). This is a workshop that helped parents figure out how to get their students in the highest-level classes possible with an aim towards college, or other post-graduate training.

Volunteers/volunteer hours: The Parent Advocacy Handbook alone took hundreds of volunteer hours

Results: We have seen a dramatic increase in participation from parents and the community. More students of color are entering higher-level classes.

Learning from the experts:
We have hired preeminent speakers on eliminating the Gap and sponsored district-wide seminars and workshops.

• Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum: Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting together in the Cafeteria? Community-wide read and discussion, evening forum with audience of 500)
• Dr. Ronald Ferguson: Administration Workshop, Teacher Workshop, Community-wide evening program
• Juan Williams: NPR and Fox News personality, author Eyes on the Prize, Thurgood Marshall - American Revolutionary (Columbia High School Assembly, 2000 students)

Area 3: Outside Resources:

Over ten years funding sources have included private donations, foundation support for the Coalition’s programs (Geraldine Dodge, NJ MLK Commission, Allstate Foundation, Facing History and Ourselves), volunteer hours and resources, committee work, and funding from the Townships of South Orange Village and Maplewood.

Area 4: Evaluation:

Much of the evaluation can be seen in the results described above. We have analyzed disaggregated test data that showed that, in spite of a continuing achievement gap, our students of color were at the top of the state when compared to students of similar demographics. 

Area 5: Stability:

AIM HIGH! has been in existence for ten years with a large committee of over 200 volunteers. The South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race, the parent organization, which includes 28 Trustees, was formed in 1996. The organization has the support of the municipal governments of both townships, school district of South Orange/Maplewood, BOE, as well as stakeholders like the town libraries, police departments, PTA’s and other local organizations.

Area 6: Endorsements:

The South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race continues to support the curricular and programmatic vision of our school system which is a commitment to academic excellence and high expectations for the achievement of all children. The highly effective programs sponsored by the Coalition have been and continue to be an important addition to the efforts of our District in identifying the needs of all students, monitoring their progress, and creating and delivering programs and services in order to help all students develop and achieve at their highest level.  The Coalition is extremely supportive of our District’s efforts to reduce the gap in achievement that exists for certain student groups.

James Memoli, Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum, South Orange/Maplewood School District.

The South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race has been in the forefront of efforts in this two town community to address and eliminate the academic achievement gap. It has worked to encourage alliances between the public and private sectors to improve academic achievement and to foster the development of successful educational partnerships among school districts, scholars, researchers and business and community organizations. Since its formation, the Coalition has promoted public discussion as a tool for facing numerous challenges that require creative approaches to problem solving. Forums are at the forefront of the Coalition’s efforts to encourage communication and trust between different groups. Coalition forums educate and allow neighbors to learn, think, and candidly discuss the issues of the day in the context of race. Thousands of community members have participated in forums focusing on our schools, our children, demographic change, and the achievement gap. More intimate discussions, via the Two Town Study Circles and Achievement Gap Study Groups maximized the energy that comes when people really talk with each other and find ways to work together to solve problems. By meeting people where they are, whether that is shopping for preschools or seeking direction in their faith community, the Coalition has taken every opportunity to engage parents, teachers, students and other community members in its all-out attack on the achievement gap.

Barbara Heisler Williams, Executive Director, Fund for an OPEN Society and parent of children in the district schools.

The AIM HIGH! Program, developed by the Schools Committee supports student achievement by maintaining a relentless focus on the need for all stakeholders to be mindful of our roles in eliminating the academic achievement gap between white students and students of color. Through their efforts, the BOE, Superintendent and school administrators have been challenged to evaluate programs and policies that address issues of equity and access for all students that impact the gap. Their efforts continue to support strategies that promote excellence in student performance, high expectations from staff and engagement with parents. They continue to be effective advocates for our students while raising the awareness of the need for action in our schools and the greater community.

Mila M. Jasey, Member, South Orange/Maplewood Board of Education