AAMAC
African American Male Advisory Committee
The African American Male Advisory Committee (AAMAC) was an advisory committee whose mission was to provide guidance on how to best transform our educational system so we can ensure educational excellence for all students, particularly our African American males. Formed in June 2016, the AAMAC made an in-depth review of the issues surrounding African American male educational achievement throughout its first two years.
The AAMAC’s roots go back to the original African American Male Think Tank, a group that authored six initiatives. Their purpose was to improve the quality of life and education for all African American males within Seattle Public Schools. Five of those six initiatives were operationalized and the positive effect; such as providing professional development addressing racism and implicit bias, trauma, social justice, equity, and culturally responsive pedagogy can be seen in our schools today.
Committee Process and Community Input
The AAMAC comprised of community members from a wide range of backgrounds, professionals, and SPS employees were selected to serve on this advisory committee so those in and outside the district could review a decade-long community/district issue. This also helped to ensure there was authentic community engagement in the project. This project is one from the community, for the community.
Meetings were held monthly and concurrently, sub-committees met to address areas that were identified as critical. Committee members were encouraged to bring their unique story to each meeting and by doing so, foster a space for reform, justice and solutions. They were also empowered provide honest insight to the issues that both prevent and enable the personal and educational development of African American males within Seattle Public Schools.
Recommendation to Superintendent
In September 2017, the AAMAC presented their Final Recommendations to the superintendent and senior leadership. The presentation represented a culmination of 15+ months of work from the committee on recommendations to improve outcomes for African American male students. These recommendations included the creation of “an African American Male Scholars Achievement Department, similar to that of the Oakland (California) Unified School District. This department shall be an independent entity that reports directly to the superintendent.” From this recommendation, Superintendent Juneau established what is now the Office of African American Male Achievement and we began our impactful partnership with the Kingmakers of Oakland team. Through professional development, narrative-change resources, curriculum and more, Kingmakers is successfully helping each unique district effectively transform their school environment. By collaborating with the Kingmakers team, we have been able to learn more about their model of success, further ensuring SPS can see similar results in Seattle.