The annual community Latino educational summit, scheduled 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 19 at California State University, Fresno, will explore ways to help close the academic achievement gap for Latino, African-American and Southeast Asian students.
The Community Summit for Educational Equity and Excellence is a collaboration between the Latino Educational Issues Roundtable and the university’s Kremen School of Education and Human Development. Co-sponsors are the Fresno County Office of Education and Fresno Pacific University.
Quoc T. Tran, director of educational equity and public relations for the Alhambra Unified School District, will deliver the keynote address. Dr. Paul Beare, dean of the Kremen School, and Dr. Larry Powell, superintendent of Fresno County Schools, also will address the event.
Dr. Ananda Aspen of the Fresno County Office of Education will discuss cultural relevance and Dr. Herma Williams, provost of Fresno Pacific University, will talk about “Creating a College-going Culture.” Student testimonials will be presented. The event closes with a workshop on local educational issues led by members of the Latino Educational Issues Roundtable.
The roundtable is a nonprofit organization of educators, administrators, media and community members that helps Latinos by influencing educational policies. The first summit was in 2004, said Regina Uribes, the Fresno City College outreach counselor who is the president of the Latino roundtable.
She said roundtable leaders are looking beyond Fresno Unified School District and recognizing that issues concerning Latino, African-American and Southeast Asian students extend throughout the region. ”We will begin by expanding our focus to the Fresno County area,” Uribes said.
She said discussions have consistently identified four issues related to achievement gap: dropout rates, declining scholastic achievement starting in the third grade, entering high school students’ lack preparation for required courses for college and hiring practices.
“The Latino roundtable performs an important role in helping districts across the Valley close the achievement gap,” Beare said. “Teachers, administrators and teacher educators can benefit from the groups’ collective wisdom and ideas.”
The summit, which costs $20 per person and includes lunch and parking, will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the University Courtyard Dining Hall at Fresno State.
The registration deadline is Thursday, Oct. 11, at latino_edu_issues.fresno@yahoo.com or by calling 559.696.9232.
