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Colonial SD educators describe takeaways from Black Men in Education conference
Summary
District educators who attended the Black Men in Education Convening Conference described professional learning, networking and plans to recruit and mentor more Black male educators; staff recommended bringing students to next year’s conference.
Several Colonial School District educators told the board on Feb. 3 that the Black Men in Education Convening Conference, held Nov. 21–23, 2024 at the Loews Hotel in Philadelphia, offered professional learning, networking and potential recruitment opportunities.
"I'm not a black male, but I am an educator. And I also understand that in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there is less than 1% of black male educators," Dr. Melissa Figueroa Douglas said, summarizing the conference's focus on building an affinity space for Black male educators. She and several staff described plenary sessions, breakout workshops and student participation.
The educators said the conference — which they said drew "over a 1,000 participants" nationwide — included representation from elementary through high school, counselors and administrators, historically Black colleges and universities such as Morehouse and guest speakers including Chris Webber.
"It was a great opportunity to really just soak up all that information, knowledge and mentorship," Christopher Lashley, assistant principal and athletic director at Colonial Middle School, said. He described sessions on data use and networking with Pennsylvania principals of the year.
Teachers who attended said the conference reinforced the value of representation. "To be in a space where you're seeing people who look like you doing positive things, it really, it uplifted me," said Courtland Jackson, a second-grade teacher at Conshohocken Elementary School. Several presenters called for using conference experiences to help students picture careers in education.
Attendees described concrete takeaways they plan to pilot locally: mentoring programs that bring fathers or community members into schools for periodic breakfasts and one-hour mentoring sessions; weekly classroom challenges to boost intrinsic motivation; and a focus on small-group instruction driven by clearer, data-based goal-setting. One attendee said he has joined the district's artificial intelligence committee and is exploring ways to use adaptive or interest-based approaches to classroom assessments.
District leaders and board members encouraged translating conference lessons into practice. Attendees said they have begun discussing action planning with the district's EIV leadership team and plan to fold conference strategies into the district's turnaround EIB training. Staff also said they aim to field a Colonial SD recruitment table at next year’s conference and asked the board to consider support for bringing students to the event.
No formal district action was taken at the meeting; presenters requested continued district support for recruitment, mentoring and student opportunities.
The presentation runs from the board packet’s HR/committee agenda; board members asked presenters to return with an update on how conference takeaways are implemented in district classrooms and on plans for student participation next year.
