When I was nine years old, I lived in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, a predominantly African-American, poor community. My family and I, refugees from Vietnam, were among the few Asian people in the neighborhood. My first school in the United States was depressing: the buildings were in a state of disrepair and the teachers were overworked and under-resourced. The students, rather than being inspired and encouraged, were mostly being housed from one day to the next. This was my first school experience, and I didn’t know it could be different.

A few years later, we moved to San Francisco’s Richmond district, and I saw…

This is the opening of CEO Gia Truong’s latest post on Education Week’s Learning Deeply blog, and is a post in two parts.Ìý Continue reading about Gia’s take on leading for equity at the links below:

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He insists it is a way to keep them disciplined, engaged and focused. That’s why he pays many of their basketball expenses out of his own pocket and raises money through donations and car washes. ÌýRecently, Amber Lee of KTVU caught up with Vinson after hearing that Uber and the Warriors had teamed up to honor the coach and his players by giving them tickets to the January 16th Warriors game against the Cleveland Cavaliers..

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At , we strive for high outcomes for all students, regardless of background. While this may seem like a commonplace statement, at least in national rhetoric, the achievement and opportunity gaps experienced by low-income students clearly demonstrate that as a culture, we have a long way to go to ensure that every student attends a school that develops him or her to the fullest extent. This means we are all faced with a challenge: how do we as educators ensure that every child receives what he or she needs to develop to his or her full academic and social potential?

Read more, in by Gia Truong, over on the Buck Institute for Education’s blog.

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Classroom truth: what gets measured, gets done

Read more over on Education Week’s blog!

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here.

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In her latest post on Learning Deeply, the Education Week blog on all things Deeper Learning, Gia Truong talks about how important #AGENCY is for all students. ÌýAgency isÌýthe ability to take ownership of one’s learning, to be empowered to grow and develop, to be responsible for one’s goals and progress, and it’s what students need, in order to unlock their power and potential.

about one Envision student, Robert, and how agency made the difference for him.

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If you missed it, don’t worry: it will be archived on the MindShift Facebook page and you can head over there and watch anytime by clicking the photo or the link above.

Spencer’s presentationÌýis a great example of the Envision Portfolio Defense model in action. ÌýIn a defense, students must show that they have mastered academic content, learned core academic competencies (like inquiry and research), and acquired key leadership skills (like communication and collaboration). ÌýIn Spencer’s case, he did so with flying colors and now gets to get ready to walk across the stage at graduation and head to UC Berkeley in the fall! ÌýCongratulations Spencer!

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Across the U.S., there’s a large achievement gap between low income students and their more affluent peers. But some schools, like Envision’s Hayward campus, break the mold, preparing all kids to succeed after high school. At Impact,Ìýstudents from low-income families score higher on state tests, graduate at higher rates and, upon graduation, have completed the requirements needed to enter the University of California or California State University.

Kudos to the teachers, students, and families of Impact Academy!

Read more .

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For an hour, he walks through the challenges he faced in his past four years of study and how he took them on. He goes in-depth in explaining his academic work, including graphing parabolic functions and research into federalism in American politics and presents his digital media portfolio, fielding tough questions throughout.

He isn’t presenting his college thesis – he’s a senior at in Hayward and he’s presenting his final portfolio defense.”

Following its recent recognition by Innovate Public Schools (IPS) as the only high school in the Bay Area where low-income African American students are exceeding statewide averages on math and ELA standards, Impact Academy is now being feature on IPS’s website as an example of a school characterized by strong relationships, high expectations, and a robust college-going culture. ÌýWe’re thrilled that our Hayward teachers and students are receiving this recognition for their hard work and dedication!

Read the !Ìý

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