The School of Education’s CRESS Center and its partners hosted the First Annual Capital Region Equity Summit on March 20, 2010. More than 300 people got together to initiate a regional equity consortium and create an agenda for our schools and communities. Together, we examined racialized expectations, achievement and equity in today’s schools.
Our Partners
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Sacramento City Unified School District, California Teachers Association, Sacramento County Office of Education, Sierra Health Foundation, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, Urban Collective, Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis, and the Yolo County Office of Education.
Distinguished Panelists
For more information on this event and follow up activities, contact Dr. Vajra Watson, vmwatson@ucdavis.edu.
Featured Topics
The First Annual Capital Region Equity Summit addressed four focus areas: Closing the Achievement Gap, Social Justice Living, Youth Empowerment, Juvenile Justice.
Closing the Achievement Gap
The U.S. Department of Education describes the achievement gap as the difference in academic performance between different ethnic groups. In California, the gap is defined as the disparity between white students and other ethnic groups and between English learners and native English speakers, socioeconomically disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged, and students with disabilities as compared to students without disabilities.
Social Justice Living
Recognizing injustices in all areas of life, we will reflect on our own prejudices and stereotypes. This encompasses every aspect of community transformation–from the workforce to the doctor’s office to the classroom to the home. With the growth of the green movement the opportunity has arisen to create businesses that are sustainable and environmentally conscious for all; specifically, green collar jobs for communities of color. All neighborhoods are not created equally. Yet we are all grounded to the same reality.
Youth Empowerment (Youth Leadership &Youth-Led Workshops)
Youth empowerment is based on the potentially world-changing notion that young people have the energy and expertise to change and improve their worlds, alone and in partnerships with adults. This strand of workshops is to be led by youth, or adults in youth-adult partnerships, highlighting the social justice work they are doing in their schools and communities.
Juvenile Justice
Disproportionate minority contact refers to the overrepresentation of youth of color who come into contact (at all decision points along the continuum) with the juvenile justice system relative to their numbers in the general population. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002 broadened the scope of the DMC initiative from “disproportionate minority confinement” to “disproportionate minority contact,” requiring an examination of potential disproportionate representation at all decision points within the juvenile justice continuum and implementation of data-based prevention and system improvement efforts to reduce identified disproportionality.