The U.S. News and World Report – Delece Smith-Barrow
“Sometimes it’s the teachers, not just the students, who need extra help when it comes to success in the classroom. Minority students, especially males, are often taught by someone who can’t relate to their backgrounds and their struggles. “What does a typical K through 12 teacher look like? A white female,” says John Michael Lee Jr., the assistant vice president of alumni affairs and advancement at Florida A&M University. And when boys are socialized with people who don’t look like them, it can make them question their place in the classroom, he says. This problem isn’t just for teachers in elementary-school education. Faculty members, Lee says, need to learn how to address the unique needs of minority boys. Lee shared his thoughts at the U.S. News Stem Solutions Conference on Tuesday in San Diego. He was joined by Jon Guerena, a director in Deloitte Consulting’s financial services practice; J. Luke Wood, an associate professor of community college leadership and the director of the doctoral program in community college leadership at San Diego State University; and Andre H. Sayles, the principal deputy director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy.”(more)