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Board hears update on ALI programs to support African American students
Summary
The ALI (African American Achievement and Leadership Initiative) team presented program updates including cohorts, Black Star Rising summer programming, literacy partnerships and manhood development classes; community partners urged sustained funding and stronger district-wide accountability.
The Board received a detailed update from the African American Achievement and Leadership Initiative (ALI) on Jan. 14 about programs intended to improve outcomes for African American students.
Dominique Denae, ALI lead, outlined the initiative’s theory of action — engage, affirm, and cultivate — and highlighted strategies including the Mastering Cultural Identity/Manhood Development course, a literacy collaboration with the American Reading Company, and the Black Star Rising summer STEM and credit-recovery program. Presenters showed data on cohort outcomes and said ALI would return in the spring with a plan to further integrate ALI services with district instructional work.
Community partners and faith leaders gave public comment in strong support, praising ALI’s progress and urging continued resources. Speakers included representatives from nonprofit partners, college-access programs and parent advisory groups who described ALI’s local impact and called for sustained funding and clearer data reporting on outcomes.
Board members asked about specific program access, how students are selected for summer cohorts, data on D/F rates and interventions, implicit-bias training for district staff, social-emotional and wellness planning, and how ALI’s work connects to site-level accountability and budget priorities. Staff said some interventions are targeted at small populations in cohort schools, that the manhood development course operates at a set of middle and high schools, and that staff are partnering with research teams (including UC Berkeley) to measure program effects and to audit needs such as grade-level analyses and interventions for failing grades.
Next steps: ALI staff plan to return in the spring with a clearer implementation plan, additional data and recommendations for scaling programs districtwide. Board members requested a study session and asked staff to come back with grade-level and programmatic data to support decision making.
