Dr. J. Luke Wood and Frank Harris III — two prominent education researchers — have developed a large-scale online professional development training program designed to help faculty at community colleges in California do a better job of teaching young men of color.
The initiative is a partnership between local community colleges and the Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement (CORA), an organization that supports the development of educational professionals in advancing their capacity to serve historically underrepresented and underserved students.
The one-week intensive training is designed to equip educators with the tools needed to facilitate relationship building to support men of color in the classroom. It includes video modules, readings, live interactive sessions and learning assessments.
“The strategies we talk about benefit all students, but intensifies the benefits for the success of men of color,” said Wood, who along with Harris focus their research on young Black males. “This program is based upon the research that we’ve been doing. It’s critical that faculty do more to facilitate success for young men of color.”
Wood and Harris developed the program in the response to President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, a long-term White House strategy that was created to improve the outcomes for boys and men of color. In recent years, the Obama administration has also pushed for new efforts to improve and advance community college student success across the nation.
“We are pleased that colleges are making this program available to their entire faculty,” said Wood, who is an associate professor at San Diego State University and co-director of CORA. “This demonstrates a very serious commitment to redressing equity gaps between men of color and their peers.”
He said that he hopes that the online program will eventually expand beyond California.
