The Greater Washington Urban League's Campaign for Student Achievement is designed to focus the attention of the community on student academic achievement to recover the traditions and values of a former period in our history when academic excellence was valued and respected. Underpinning the campaign is the belief that every responsible adult in our community has a stake in the education of our children and a role to play. It is an ongoing collaborative effort between the League, service providers, the church community, the business sector, the school system, parents and students.

A major goal of the campaign is to have a competent and caring adult in the life of every child; and to help youth develop leadership and responsibility for their own achievement. To accomplish this, the League is focusing on the following:

* Access to a high quality education for all students with caring and competent teachers.
* Opportunities in school and during non-school hours for children and youth to grow and develop physically, mentally, socially and spiritually.
* Physical safety at home, school and in local neighborhoods.
* Ample opportunities for work, entrepreneurship and community service.

Each year the League inducts students who have outstanding achievement over the past year into the Thurgood Marshall Achievers Society, a national honor society established by the National Urban League and the Congress of National Black Churches.

Background

This campaign responds to a growing sense of crisis in the academic and social development of African-American youth. The performance gap between white students and African-American youth, which had narrowed in the decade prior to 1988, has been growing. Although 15.3 perecnt of high school students in 1993-94 were African-Americans, they comprised only 12.5 percent of those who received regular high school diplomas in that year. Also, African-American students regularly score below all other ethnic groups on the SAT, scoring 162 points below the national average in 1993-94. In addition, African-american male enrollment in colleges has been declining.

Persons wishing to volunteer in the Campaign for the Student Achievement may call the Greater Washington Urban League's Education Division at 202-265-8200; Email: luwgdbs@aol.com


GREATER WASHINGTON URBAN LEAGUE AWARDED GRANT TO HELP INCREASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT


Students at Six District Schools Will Benefit


The National Urban League and the Congress of National Black Churches announced in September the Greater Washington Urban League (GWUL) will receive a $100,000 grant for a pilot program to increase student achievement in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The grant is renewable for four years. The GWUL was one of 20 Urban League affiliates selected to participate in the Campaign for African-American Achievement, which has received support of $25 million from the Lilly Endowment. The announcement was made by NUL President Hugh B. Price.

GWUL President Maudine R. Cooper said that locally the GWUL will take a two-pronged approach to increase student achievement. First the GWUL will work to address educational issues of the entire community through academic policy/standards and fiscal decision making discussions, community mobilization and general program activities for students and parents.

Second, the GWUL will provide direct services to six schools in Wards 6 and 8 of the city. Those schools are Anacostia Senior High School, Kramer Middle School, and Ketcham, Savoy, Orr and Birney Elementary Schools. Specifically the GWUL will establish a "student achievement empowerment zone" where parents, community residents, organizations, institutions, government agencies, the faith community and businesses will work to help students achieve academically and to grow as individuals. Activities will include tutoring, mentoring, post-secondary guidance, employability education training and summer internships for youth; and parent education and technology training.

Local partners in the Campaign include the D.C. Public Schools, Reading is Fundamental, America’s Promise, Creative Associates International, D.C. Agenda and the D.C. Department of Recreation and Parks.

Established in 1997, the Campaign for African-American Achievement is an aggressive collaboration with the Congress of National Black Churches (more than 65,000 African-American churches nationwide), Urban League affiliates, African-American fraternities and sororities and other professional groups. The Campaign is designed to promote to African-American youth and children of color - as well as their parents - the principle that Achievement Matters. It is also the African-American community’s mechanism for holding schools accountable for the quality of education they deliver. One component of the Campaign is the Thurgood Marshall Achievers Society, the honor society the Campaign created to recognize youth for outstanding academic and achievements, which has inducted more than 5,000 African-American youths nationwide.

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