Leaders in Education and Policy Experts from around the nation hold conference in Chicago to discuss how to close the education gap.

Leaders in Education and Policy Experts from around the nation hold conference in Chicago to propose ways to improve academic achievement for Americas most vulnerable students, who continue to be left behind.

CAMBRIDGE, MA (PRWEB) May 1, 2004 --The Caroline & Sigmund Schott Foundation takes its national initiative, A Positive Future for Black Boys, to Chicago from May 5 -- 7, 2004 when the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation hosts a three day convening of national leaders in education and policy experts to discuss and create constructive policy ideas to improve school achievement for Americas most vulnerable groups of students, black boys. Entitled Black Boys: The Litmus Test and Hope for the Promise of Public School Education, the conference will be part of the Cantigny Conference Series.

Conference participants plan to create five strategic directions to reverse the negative educational trajectory of Black boys and other vulnerable students, who have too frequently been -- and continue to be -- disproportionately left behind in education and in life.

In many large cities, fewer than 30 percent of African-American boys graduate from high school with their peers. The consequences for those young men who never graduate are disastrous and have a negative impact on their communities and, indeed, the entire country," Dr. Rosa A. Smith, President of the Schott Foundation, in her Education Week article entitled Black Boys: The Litmus Test For NCLB" (October 30, 2002).

Focused on improving educational outcomes for PK-12 Black boys, the Schott Foundations A Positive Future for Black Boys -- a national initiative with funding support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Hazen Foundation, Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, Bank One Foundation and HOSTS Corporation -- seeks to create wider involvement in the development of methods and policies to:

•   ensure success for Black boys
•   create solutions and action steps
•   integrate media and communications strategies
•   share the findings of the research with educators and the community
•   gather the champions that emerge from the process to determine the next steps

Located in Cambridge, MA, with an office in New York City, the Schott Foundation wants all kindergartners to be able to come to school rich in literacy and from graduate 12th grade such that they can be successful in college and have the full options of life experiences available to them. Schott seeks to improve public policy as it relates to achieving quality education for all by strategically supporting the work of outstanding grantees who advocate for equity in education. Through its philanthropy, Schotts primary goal is to develop and strengthen a broad-based and representative movement to achieve fully resourced preK-12 public education in Massachusetts and New York.

Contact: Geneva Humdy
Phone: 631-842-0242
Email:    gh@schottfoundation.org