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who led the way in creating AOIP are
keenly aware that even the very best
school superintendents, other administra
tors and classroom teachers often are
blamed unjustly for the poor reading (and
other) cognitive-oriented performance
scores so widespread among many urban
area students.
These unusual AOIP pioneers--who have
seen marked changes in the disciplinary
climate within classroom settings, and can
identify completely with the plight of many
other teachers--also know thatthese same
public school professionals are blamed
mistakenly for all kinds of negative behav
ior or circumstances aspects of learning
including hopelessness, low moral stan
dards (resulting in teen pregnancies and
unabated rates of often-deadly HIV), race
related and other disruptive tensions of
sometimes-huge proportions, etc., which
impact on the affective-oriented aspects
of learning.
Thus, these deeply-concerned educators
(many of whom still live in communities of
these urban-area schools) have con
cluded that--unless some obviously
needed missing learning- (including
moral-standards-addressing) links are ef
fectively introduced as supplements and
complements to our present learning sys
tems--today's classroom students will
never become prepared academically or
otherwise to fulfill the multifaceted needs
required in the present and future global
economic workplace.
The Presently Unmet "Missing Learning
Links": Generally in the past, as well as in
many communities today, amply-prepared
parents and/or other supportive entities in
the community have been the linkages that
fulfilled the largely at-home (i.e., parental
and/or community) roles of:
1. Supplementing the largely-cogni
tive-oriented classroomteacher func
tions via the encouragement and tu
torial enablement of each child or
student to learn; and
2. Complementing these classroom
teachers in the largely affective-ori
ented area by instilling moral and other
values and addressing other basic
(or survival) needs.
Yet, in the "troublesome" urban areas,
many parents are ill-prepared and schools
have not been successful in enlisting as
sistance from a variety of seemingly-com
peting community groups.
Readily Addressing The "Missing-
Learning-Link" Roles: Thus, many urban
area school systems lacked much of the
needed community-based instruments/
resources until development of The AD
VANCER System by AOIP educators. This
system both enables the target-area par
ents to become prepared, and allows for
bringing together supportive community
resources in a productive, coordinated
and incomparably cost-effective partner
ship arrangement: The system is not a
"turnkey" mechanism.
Questions And Answers On
AOIP's The ADVANCER System
I-Q. WHAT IS AOIP?
I-A. AOIP is an unprecedented Black com
munity ills-eradication coalition founded
primarily by Black teachers and other edu
cators who have first-hand experience with
student/parent situations around which
there often has been a devastatingly-high
rate of iliteracy and a host of related ills.
AOIP now is comprised of more than 90
national Black-led organizations whose
Educational-Enhancement Mission is to
serve as a catalyst through which Black
led organizations have coalesced in a
collaborative manner to properly prepare
our students for the cognitive-oriented (or
classroom) domain of learning by instill
ing in them good enough attitudes about
themselves and about their surroundings
or communities so they will then have the
pride-filled CAN-DO attitude so essential
for being motivated to want to learn. And,
this attention as to how students view
themselves and/or their communities is
known (in educational circles) as the af
fective-oriented domain of learning,
which--for simple understanding by the
average person--has been referred to by
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel
Bell as the community-building aspect.
Also, because many affective-oriented
(and community-based and largely-im
posed) predicaments still have not been
remediated to a degree sufficient to prop
erly prepare many Black Americans for
classroom readiness, AOIP was formed
to fulfill this presently-neglected prepara
tory focus.]
[Preparatory Affective-Oriented Goal for
Black Educator Groups.]
1. Create support systems and/or de
vices (like AOIP's The ADVANCER--both
for parallel and simultaneous use in every
classroom and in every community--to
help compensate fordistortions and omis
sions intext-books and otherwise through
which Black and other similarly-situated
ethnic groups will be filled with the desire
to rise above their present state of depen
dency by learning of their worth and dig
nity. [Please see complete list of goals on
Page 11.]
[The combined membership and family
reach of these major community-building
organizations are estimated at over 16-
million--or approximately one half--of the
entire Black population in America. Thus,
from among these groups there is an
ample number of programs available
(though presently not working in coordi
nated ways with many schools)--to both
supplement and complement any and all
kinds of affective-oriented needs of pub
lic school systems particularly when such
cooperation will contribute to the achieve-
Are Your Local Chapters, Temples, Lodges, Courts and Branches Actively Involved in AOIP Division Organizing?
ment of AOIP's Mission and Goals for The
Year 2000 and Beyond. Also, with such a
broad-based network of Chapters,
Branches, Lodges, Temples, Courts, etc.,
there are many AOIP volunteers in every
community adjacent to practically every
urban area school in America. AOIP is a
not-for-profit entity and everything done
under its umbrella--including development
of The ADVANCER System--is far below
the cost of any alternative.]
11-Q. WHAT ARE THE FIVE ELEMENTS OF
The ADVANCER System?
11-A. There are several elements of the sys
tem which have been used until now only
by the individual tutorial programs of
AOIP-affiliated organizations. However,
AOIP now is offering this system--with
some adjustments--to public schools be
ginning with the 1995-1996 year. Those
elements are as follows:
The first element is an eight (8) page tab
loid-size weekly insert in AOIP's national
weekly newspaper. It is called The AD
VANCER--AOIP's "fun-to-learn" reading
motivational and comprehension-en
hancement publication. It is designed to
strengthen the student's image of self, en
hance the student's exploration of new
areas of interest, and develop the student's
reading skills so essential for today's work
place skills development. Two crucial as
pects of the success of this learning tool
are that it is designed to instill pride in its
ownership by each student and the fact
that the front page of every issue starts
with a career path exploration of some
type. Itimportantly incorporates a mecha
nism for making it mandatory that it be
taken home and then reviewed along with
-and signed by--a parent or other family
member. Also, by having The ADVANCER
inserted within an adult-oriented newspa
per, the parents and other adults in the
home--and who often cannot read the
major newspaper, but can begin with The
ADVANCER--can be made to feel that the
emphasis for the parents (in front of their
children) is not necessarily on The AD
VANCER (which is lower-level-reading),
but instead is on the adult-oriented news
paper which actually might be beyond
them.
The second element is alocal cooperat
ing newspaper or--when none exists in
the area--AOIP's adult-oriented demon
stration newspaper Greater News which
highlights the weekly activities of national
role models and chronicles their commu
nity-building activities. It is designed very
carefully--in combination with The AD
VANCER '"fun-to-learn" youth-oriented
newspaper--to identify, motivate and en
able presently-ill-prepared parents to learn
much almost-concurrently with their chil
dren.
[lmportant to note are the following:
1. Almost everyone is exposed to local
White-oriented newspapers. However,
National BLACK MONITOR--October 1995
these excellent types of media under
standably are lacking to an appreciable
degree in good wholesome news and
other needed information that provide
positive images of Black Americans and
of the community in which these targeted
urban area students and their parents live.
2. Black-oriented newspapers overall
present positive images and provide
needed information from a Black perspec
tive. They not only can motivate Black
youngsters and their parents and incul
cate in them a better image of (and value
system for) themselves, but also this same
kind of exposure to White young people
can be a race-relations eye-opener that
would tend to lessen some of the need
for bussing Black and White young
people as ameans of interracial exposure
and appreciation.
3. The Black-oriented newspaper(s) in
volved in this system will carry a set of
highly-instructive and positive editorials
to be prepared by Black Resources, Inc.
(BRI) which is the direct funding source
for AOIP nationally and also operates on
a not-for-profit basis in order to fulfill this
fiscal need. School officials, teachers and
others are urged to make suggestions for
these editorials which will always be to
cused on value-system enhancement.]
The third element of The ADVANCER Sys
temis the expert assistance of retired and/
or the educators who often live in (or near)
the areas most in need and are specially
prepared towork ina "hands-on" way with
classroom teachers using this system.
These AOIP teachers and other profes
sionals developed the easy-to-use Teach
ers Guide: on page six of each issue of
The ADVANCER "fun-to-learn"insert. These
highly-trained professionals are available
on a no extra cost basis (where so
needed) to support the classroom teach
ers using The ADVANCER Systemin a host
of helpful ways in almost all urban areas.
The fourth element is the issue-oriented
National BLACK MONITOR.. This maga
zine (in color) is the official interorgani
interorganizational medium at the national
level for AOIP leaders whose organiza
tional programs it highlights. It helps to
coordinate the efforts of Black Americans
focused on uplifting urban area schools
and the communities these schools serve.
A glance at any copy of the National
BLACK MONITOR will enable one to see
that this medium is focused on instilling
pride and hope. It motivates Black youth
with the awareness of efforts by these or
ganizations to work together to provide
these youth and their parents positive al
ternatives/opportunities for abundant and
fulfilling lives. Also at the same time, it
serves as an "eye-opener" for White stu
dents and parents and thereby helps to
"build bridges" and promote interracial
understanding.
The fifth element is the enormous num
ber of largely-organized volunteers who al
ready are preparedto complement the role
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