Urban Strategies Council joined the Oakland Unified School District, Partners in School Innovation, and the East Bay Community Foundation in launching the ambitious African American Male Achievement Initiative (AAMAI) in late 2010. The AAMAI aims to reverse the academic and social inequities facing African American males in Oakland in seven key areas: the achievement gap, graduation rates, literacy, suspensions, attendance, middle school holding power, and juvenile detention.

Urban Strategies Council's role in the AAMAI includes data analysis, indicator development and tracking, and quantification of targets in the seven goal areas; research into strategies to improve outcomes for African American boys and eliminate disparities; policy analysis; and special research projects.

More information about the initiative, including preliminary data analyses, upcoming events, and opportunities to get involved are available on the African-American Male Achievement website: http://www.thrivingstudents.org/5

Urban Strategies Council's AAMAI Products

Goal Area Data and Analysis

These documents provide analyses of baseline and first-year information about the status of African American males in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in each of the seven AAMAI goal areas.

1. Goal Data Packet

   This packet gives an overview of the initiative, places it in a national context, and provides data about the current situation for African American boys in each goal area.

2. School Ranking Tables (2009-10 and 2010-11)

These tables give each school a rank within schools of the same type (e.g. elementary schools) for African American male students in each available goal area as well as a composite rank.

3. Goal Area Narrative

This document describes each goal area, why it matters to the well-being of African American males, and the current situation for African American male students in OUSD.

4. AAMAI Themes Presentation

This PowerPoint presentation gives an overview of the goal indicators and their status compared with the 2015 targets, the major data findings and recommendations from the three reports - A Deeper Look at African American Males in OUSD, A Closer Look at Chronic Absence for African American Males in OUSD and A Closer Look at Suspensions for African American Males in OUSD.

AAMAI Special Reports

1. A Deeper Look at African American Males in OUSD: On Course to Graduate

   This report establishes a segmentation framework for assessing which African American males are on course for graduation, at risk of being off course for graduation, or off course for graduation, and identifies risk factors for non-graduation at the elementary, middle and high school levels..

2. A Closer Look at Chronic Absence for African American Males in OUSD

   This report examines data and policies related to attendance and chronic absence and offers recommendations for reducing the levels of chronic absence for African American males in OUSD.

3. A Closer Look at Suspensions for African American Males in OUSD

   This report examines data and policies related to suspensions and offers recommendations for reducing the levels and disparities in suspensions for African American males in OUSD.

4. African American Males with Perfect California Standards Test Scores

   This brief report examines available data about the African American male students who got a perfect CST score in 2009-10 or 2010-11 and, where possible, compares them to other African American boys.