The 4th Annual Black History Education Conference’s theme this year is “I Am Somebody” and will take place virtually Friday-Saturday, Feb. 18-19. This two-day conference, hosted by UW-Madison Professional Learning and Community Education (PLACE), will provide a space for educators from across the country to come together and share policies and practices that promote high levels of achievement in under-served and underrepresented school communities.
“I had been working at the state level and created a culturally responsive practices training,” longtime Madison-area education leader Andreal Davis told Madison365. “I kept hearing in various meetings and from different people that there was a huge education gap in African American students and American Indian students. And I had worked previously with the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) where I did a lot of work around African American education and grew a lot of work from that foundation. I created a professional development model called CPR: Breathing New Life Into Our Instructional Practices, where we focus in on six areas of Black education, trying to improve in the school district.”
Davis is the culturally responsive practices coordinator for the Wisconsin Response to Intervention (Rtl) Center, after serving 26 years at MMSD in a variety of roles. Davis, founder of The Value of Cultural Practices That Are Relevant, LLC, created the conference to improve school districts and support students suffering from achievement gaps and lack of resources.
(Photo by David Dahmer)
“I ended up moving that work out to the state level and working with a team to move their workout more broadly,” said Davis. “So more than just being in the school district, we moved it out across the state. I kept hearing about the education achievement gaps and I kept running into people across the state that were doing really good work around Black education. I kept going to people saying, ‘What can we do? How can we move faster? How can we move quicker?’
“We have these opportunities, these attitude gaps, the achievement gap, how can we move quicker? I just didn’t feel like people were moving fast enough,” she adds. “I said, ‘You know what, I’m going stop asking. I’m going do it myself’. I created the Black History Education Conference four years ago.”
This year’s Black History Education Conference presenter lineup includes Dr. Alfred Tatum, Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, Dr. Chike Akua, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Freddie Taylor, Douglas Ewart, State Rep. Shelia Stubbs, and Terrence Carey.
The virtual conference will have a variety of events including keynote sessions, activities, and breakout sessions. Davis talked about the impact this conference has on Black educators and students and her gratitude for those who have supported her efforts over the years.
“I am excited about the commitment that many members from home, school and community have made to attending the conference and taking action afterward,” said Davis. “Some of our conference presenters, like Milaney Leverson, have shared their wisdom and gifts with us for four years straight and there is always a high demand from families and the community to hear her and her presentation team’s messages about equity in education.”
There is also a free event for students, The Student Strand, hosted by the Carter G. Woodson Foundation. Madison community members and organizations have a plethora of activities for students to engage with and learn from.
“I want them to know that there is also a Student Strand that is also free,” said Davis. “It’ll be taking place on the same day, but with a different Zoom link and it is sponsored by the Woodson Scholarship Community Services Foundation, that my husband is the president of and it’s actually a branch of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. They, along with F.O.S.T.E.R. and Seein‘ Is Believin‘, LLC, will be sponsoring that. But primarily, the Carter G. Woodson Foundation.
“And we have [HBCU] Grambling State University coming to do a presentation called “Where Everybody Is Somebody.” They’re going to show a collaboration they did with Beyonce. We have Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. doing a presentation about the college application process.”
This conference and student sessions will provide space to improve Black education and help staff and students learn. People are able to support the Black History Education Conference through donations, which will go towards the costs of registration fees for those who may not be able to attend otherwise.
For more information about the Conference, click here. To learn more about The Value of Cultural Practices That Are Relevant, LLC, please visit this website.
