Dr. Shaun Harper says the initiative will host monthly virtual forums that will allow practitioners doing the work to engage with each other.
RISE (Research, Integration, Strategy and Evaluation) for Boys and Men of Color will focus on better understanding the long-term strategies that will likely lead to better outcomes for boys and men of color. The initiative will focus on four key areas: education, health, criminal justice, and economic opportunity and workforce development.
Dr. Shaun Harper, a prominent professor in the Graduate School of Education and the founder of the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at The University of Pennsylvania, will co-direct the project over a three-year period.
Harper said that this effort will identify best practices and opportunities for new research that can inform equitable policies and ultimately create positive change in communities across the United States.
While many scholars who study issues that impact young men of color lauded President Obama’s decision to devote attention to the many challenges that face young boys and men of color, there has been a growing frustration among many researchers who worry that not enough attention is being devoted to examining the literature and extensive research-based outcomes that relate to this demographic.
In September, many of these scholars, who represent both public and private historically Black colleges and universities and predominantly White institutions, released a 17-page report, calling for the implementation of professional development structures to better train educators to effectively work with boys of color. They also called for the creation of a data tracking system and scorecard to help identify Pre-K through 12 schools with disproportionately high suspension and special education placement rates and low participation in gifted education and other accelerated education programs.
Last month, Drs. J. Luke Wood and Frank Harris III, co-directors of the Minority Male Community College Collaborative (M2C3) at San Diego State University, launched a national consortium designed to improve the outcomes for underrepresented men of color at community colleges.
