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Nationally Known Scholar To Question Popular Cultural Approaches To Teaching Children of Color, April 26 in Boston

Lisa Delpit speaks as part of "Race, Culture, Identity and Achievement" lecture series at Simmons College

BOSTON (April 20, 2006) — One of the nation's top educators on the issue of culturally relevant approaches to educating students of color will question the validity of popular teaching strategies for African-American and other minority students, Wednesday, April 26, at Simmons College.

Lisa Delpit, the executive director/eminent scholar of the Center for Urban Education & Innovation at Florida International University, will speak as part of the popular "Race, Culture, Identity and Achievement" lecture series, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., in the Linda K. Paresky Conference Center, 300 The Fenway, in Boston. Admission is free and open to the public.

Called a "visionary scholar and woman of courage" by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Delpit's research addresses how schools often perpetuate educational inequalities of African-American and other minority children, and offers educators ideas for creating the best frameworks to educate children while valuing their language and identity.

Additionally, Delpit chairs The National Coalition for Quality Schools in New Orleans, an ad hoc group comprised of national and New Orleans scholars and educators. This group works together to help ensure that post-Katrina schooling in New Orleans provides excellent public education for all children, especially those from low-income communities and communities of color who have historically been least well-served. The group - which also includes Simmons College Africana Studies and Education Professor Theresa Perry - aims to leverage national expertise to work collaboratively on education at the invitation of the local community.

Delpit,  who was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1990 for her work in school-community relations and cross-cultural education, is the author of several books, including "Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom," "The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom," and "The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children."

The "Race, Culture, Identity and Achievement" lecture series is a groundbreaking initiative conceived by Simmons's Professor Perry. The series brings nationally known scholars who specialize in academic achievement for students of color to Boston community forums.  This series creates a location for teachers, teacher-educators, community leaders and involved citizens to engage in a sustained conversation about how race, culture and identity are implicated in the school achievement of Boston's increasingly multiracial and multiethnic student population.

Among the sponsors for the series are the Boston Center for Leadership Development of the Boston Public School System, Lesley University, The Schott Foundation, the Boston Children's Museum, and Northeastern University.
 
For more information on the "Race, Culture, Identity and Achievement" lecture series, visit www.achievementseminars.com.

Simmons College (www.simmons.edu) is a nationally recognized private university located in the heart of Boston. It includes an undergraduate college for women, and graduate programs for women and men in social work, health studies, library and information science, management, and liberal arts.