The Office of African American Male Achievement (AAMA) within Seattle Public Schools carries out an “unapologetic focus on improving the conditions for our chronically least served students” (source). Notably, this is a rare instance of a publicly-funded entity calling attention to — and working to uplift — a group of males who are experiencing disadvantage or a lack of equity.
With its Office of African American Male Achievement, Seattle Public Schools is deploying a Targeted Universalism strategy, described as “a way to ensure that those who need the most support get it, without leaving anyone else behind.”
SPS releases 2024 progress report
Seattle Public Schools is the largest K-12 school system in Washington. The current superintendent of SPS, Dr. Brent Jones, attended Seattle Public Schools and the University of Washington.
“Goal: The percentage of Black boys who achieve English Language Arts proficiency or higher on the 3rd grade Smarter Balanced Assessment will increase from 28% in June 2019 to 70% in June 2024.” – Seattle Public Schools
In June SPS released a report entitled Seeding Success that shows what the AAMA has been up to since its creation in 2019. In this blog post we share excerpts from that report so that readers can learn more about SPS’s unique initiative focused on Black boys. An earlier blog post of ours in 2021 also called attention to the AAMA.
An organization called Alliance for Education has raised $3.7 million to support the AAMA since its creation. Donors have included Casey Family Programs, Amazon, Boeing, The Seattle Foundation, and several others (source).
Black males achieve disproportionately poor educational outcomes in the United States relative to other population subgroups. They are affected by what’s been referred to as a ‘double whammy’ of being both Black and male. In our observation, efforts by educational institutions to uplift Black males typically focus primarily on racial identity and culture while leaving room for improvement in the extent to which they address issues connected to the male sex and male gender that may be playing important roles in Black males’ lack of achievement. With boys in every racial category underachieving academically compared to girls in their same racial category, it suggests schools could be more thoughtful about how they serve boys in general.
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Excerpts from Seeding Success progress report
Below are excerpts from Seattle Public Schools’ 40-page Seeding Success report:
The Office of AAMA promotes shared accountability and models equitable practices by listening to the experiences and solutions of students and co-designing efforts with families and the community. (p. 6)
In the 2022–23 academic year the district’s 5,834 K–12 Black boys and teens represented 44 different spoken languages (including 66% English, 9% Somali, 9% Spanish, and 5% Amharic). Twenty-seven percent of our K–12 Black boys and teens were multilingual learners. Our Black students and Black boys and teens in particular are overrepresented in English language learning (ELL) and special education services and underrepresented in advanced learning. (p. 7)
AAMA’s inaugural effort, the Student Leadership Council, was established as an affinity and learning environment for Black boys and teens across the district to provide meaningful influence on school- and district-level decisions. (p. 11)
AAMA’s mentorship and leadership strategies initially focused on college and career readiness. Since the 2020–21 listen-and-learn series, the Office’s efforts expanded to include math, early literacy, and inclusionary supports. AAMA is now a programmatic hub within SPS’ Student Support Services department, with efforts embedded within each of the districts’ goal areas. The team has seen how culturally responsive mentoring, leadership, and affinity spaces can be powerful vehicles for providing social and academic support. (p. 39)
“Trust can be built over time but lost quickly. This is especially true when actions feel like yet another example of being left behind or left out. Our family remains willing to trust and hopeful that next year and beyond will be better.” — parent of Black male student during AAMA’s 2020-2021 Our Voice, Our Vision listening sessions (p. 15)
AAMA expanded resource access and cultural representation by hiring and supporting two full-time family support workers — one of East African descent, supporting multilingual learners and families, and one multigenerational African American. These family support workers provide case management, wrap-around services, and care coordination for over 60 families across 26 schools. (p. 16)
AAMA’s Early Literacy Collaborative is based in three Seattle elementary schools promoting justice-focused approaches and identity-affirming learning environments. The effort grew from a Black community call for increased culturally responsive instruction and structures for family powerbuilding. (p. 17)
Educational administrative data (i.e., test scores and student behavior) often capture the outcomes of systemic inequity, rather than causal factors and student strengths. These data are essential, yet when examined in isolation they obscure the role of policies and adult practices on students’ schooling experiences…Our understanding of impact must be guided by holistic data on our students and system. (p. 22)
Kingmakers of Seattle is an elective history course and mentorship program designed for Black boys and teens and taught by Black male educators. The program aims to create systems, structures, and conditions that foster positive identity, provide cultural knowledge, and build academic success for participating students…Students receiving mentorship and Black education curricula through Kingmakers of Seattle experience more adult support than their Black male peers who do not participate in the program. Seventy-one percent of Kingmakers of Seattle students affirm that they have an adult in school to teach them about their culture and history — compared to 42 percent of nonparticipating peers. (p. 23)
Rising Sons Extended has continued as a one-day-a-week mentorship program for Black boys in grades 3–5. The program is focused on identity, social and emotional learning, and self-advocacy. (p. 28)
High school course-taking matters for future success. AAMA’s WHOLE mentorship program provides one-on-one mentoring, tutoring, and peer spaces for Black male grades 9 and 10 students at Chief Sealth International, Cleveland, Franklin, Garfield, Ingraham, and Rainier Beach high schools. Mentors provide a culturally relevant environment, assess service and academic needs, and focus on high school course-taking. AAMA and the SPS College and Career Team review data and engage with young people to identify barriers to advanced coursework enrollment and retention. (p. 30)
“On the drive home today, I asked my son what he was writing in his notebook. He said he wrote: ‘Representation matters.’ Later my niece said she was super impressed and said the same thing. Representation does matter. She was happy that Black men were showing up for Black youth the way y’all are.” — Parent and 2023 Pacific Science Center event attendee (p. 31)