The West Windsor-Plainsboro African-American Parent Support Group is celebrating 25 years in the school district with a conference on the critical issues of parental engagement and the achievement gap with speakers from central New Jersey school districts, colleges, parent groups, and community groups. “An Update on Cutting Edge Strategies for Addressing the Achievement Gap and Increasing Parental Engagement in Our Community for Parents, Administrators and Other Stakeholders” will be held on Saturday, November 13, at Grover Middle School.
Speakers include Angel Harris, assistant professor of sociology and African American studies at Princeton University and an expert on the educational achievement gap; Victoria Kniewel, superintendent of WW-P School District; Judith Wilson, superintendent of Princeton Regional School District; and Barbara Flythe, consultant in multi-cultural education and diversity and co-founder of AAPSG.
“Bettie Williams, Louise Hall, Martha Butler, and Brenda Graham were all a part of the first group,” says Flythe. “We worked collaborativey and it was hard to engage the superintendent and other faculty to respect us and take us seriously.”
Harris, a faculty member in the joint Ph.D. program in Social Policy and Sociology, and a faculty associate of the Office of Population Research, the Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, and Center for Migration and Development at Princeton University, has research interests in social inequality, policy, and education. His work focuses on the social psychological determinants of the racial achievement gap, especially the factors that contribute to differences in academic investment among African Americans, Latino, Asian Americans, and others.
“This important dialogue will include discussions with all stakeholders on how we can ensure that all children in New Jersey have access to a quality public education that leads to success,” says Barbara Edmonds, president of the organization.
Celebration and Conference, West Windsor-Plainsboro African American Parent Support Group, Grover Middle School, 10 Southfield Road, West Windsor. Saturday, November 13, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
For more information visit https://www.west-windsor-plainsboro.k12.nj.us/aapsg/html, Facebook African-American Parent Support Group, or Twitter at www.twitter.com/AAPSG.
