The Mercer Island School District, the city of Mercer Island and the Mercer Island PTA Council are co-hosting a community discussion with nationally-renowned professor and author Dr. Pedro Noguera from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23 in the MIHS Performing Arts Center, 9100 SE 42nd St. This is a free event for all members of the community.
“We are committed to building and sustaining a school community that values and embraces inclusiveness, equity and awareness in pursuit of the district’s 2020 Mission and Vision,” said Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano. “We are honored to have Dr. Noguera come to Mercer Island and share with us his vision for educational excellence through equity.”
In the late spring of 2014, Plano launched the Diversity Advisory Committee, comprised of parent and community representatives to advise him on matters of diversity and equity. Recent changes in the demographics of the Mercer Island community show fewer students identified as Caucasian and growing numbers of families from around the world. These changes have encouraged an “adaptive need” to respond to the district’s changing demographics and to the children it serves.
The Diversity Advisory Committee is charged with reviewing the district’s continued efforts to provide all students, irrespective of racial and ethnic differences, with access to the following: equity of educational opportunity, individual empowerment, and equal and fair treatment.
Noguera is a distinguished professor of education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences at UCLA. His research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions, as well as by demographic trends in local, regional and global contexts.
Noguera appears as a regular commentator on educational issues on CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio and other national news outlets. He is the author of 11 books, and over 200 articles on topics such as urban reform, education policy, conditions that promote student achievement, the role of education in community development, youth violence and race and ethnic relations in American society. Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA in 2015, he served as a professor of education at New York University and as executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools.
Noguera received his bachelor’s degree in Sociology and History and master’s degree in Sociology from Brown University, and his doctorate in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley. He was a classroom teacher in public schools in Providence, Rhode Island and Oakland, California, and continues to work with schools nationally and internationally as a researcher and advisor.
