Dr. Macario Hernandez Appointed President of Dallas College Mountain View Campus

Friends, 

My heart is full.

Dr. Macario Hernandez, my former student and mentee, just made a major career leap as Dallas College Mountain View Campus president. He reached out to me Saturday evening to give me this amazing news. 

I have blogged about him as an Ethnic Studies advocate and a successful high school principal, winning Blue Ribbon Status by the U.S. Department of Education at Dallas ISD's Trini Garza Early College High School located in Oak Cliff, Dallas. The magic of President Hernandez' ascendancy is that he will continue to serve his community, but now as president. "Grow your own," he happily expressed to me over the phone. "Yes, organic, like we've always said. Organic is best," I responded.

Grow Your Own is a concept advanced by the National Latina/o Education Research and Policy Project (NLERAPP) which is a consortium in several states that are embarked in creating pathways into higher education for teachers and administrators with the idea of graduates returning to their communities where they can "give back" to them by being critically conscious educators. Macario is the literal embodiment of this ideal that we advance. 

I honestly couldn't be more happy or proud. I know in my bones that Macario is going to make a massive difference in the lives of so many young people in Dallas. I can't wait to celebrate with him and look forward to witnessing an unfolding of so much possibility for our youth.

Glad to see Dr. Burillo-Hopkins appointed President of Dallas College, as well. I don't know her, but I'm sure she's amazing. Dallas is making great strides in advancing these Latino and Latina leaders to top posts.

-Angela Valenzuela

Dallas College Appoints Two New Presidents

Dr. Macario Hernandez

Media Contact: Debra Dennis; DDennis@DallasCollege.edu

For immediate release — June 24, 2024

(DALLAS) — Two highly accomplished education leaders have joined the ranks of Dallas College as the school’s newest presidents of its Brookhaven and Mountain View campuses.

Dr. Macario Hernandez, an education administrator for 25 years, will lead Mountain View Campus in southwestern Dallas County, and Dr. Madeline Burillo-Hopkins will lead Brookhaven Campus in Farmers Branch.

Both appointments were made by Dr. Justin Lonon, Dallas College chancellor.

Dr. Hernandez, who was raised in Oak Cliff, has a long history with Dallas College, where he received an associate degree in 1996. He was also honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019.

Dr. Hernandez was a Dallas ISD principal for 23 years, including at Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early College High School on the Mountain View Campus. Under his leadership, the school earned recognition as a National Title I Distinguished School in 2018 and received a National Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education in 2021.

Known as a public education advocate, Dr. Hernandez will lead Mountain View’s campus culture and local business community engagement and advancement. Among his other duties, he will work with industry partners and business leaders to develop and expand workforce opportunities in Dallas’ southern sector.

He is a graduate of the University of North Texas and holds a master’s degree from Texas Woman’s University and a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Dr. Hernandez comes to Dallas College from the University of North Texas at Dallas, where he served as chief of staff.

“Given his background, connection to the community and affinity for Mountain View, I am excited for the future and look forward to supporting Dr. Hernandez in his new role,” Dr. Lonon said.

Dr. Burillo-Hopkins comes to Dallas College from Houston Community College, where she served as vice chancellor for workforce instruction and was instrumental in securing federal and state workforce grants. She led efforts in credit and continuing education and developed workforce partnerships as well as prior learning assessment. She is noted for her efforts to raise private sector funds for student support and instructional programs.

In 2021, Dr. Burillo-Hopkins earned the Hispanic Women in Leadership Award for outstanding

service in education. Two years later, Houston Community College honored her with the Chancellor’s Medallion for Outstanding Service. In 2010, she was an HCC (Houston Community College) Eagle Award recipient for Administrative Leadership. D’Mars Magazine selected her as one of Houston’s Top 30 Influential Women.

In addition to being a champion for Brookhaven’s campus culture, Dr. Burillo-Hopkins will oversee and help improve workforce training pathways to meet the demands of employers and students. She has degrees from Sam Houston State, University of California at Berkeley and the University of Puerto Rico. She received a doctorate in education from Sam Houston State.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Burillo-Hopkins join Dallas College. Her extensive experience working with community colleges will undoubtedly serve us well as we navigate the evolving landscape of higher education in Texas and beyond,” Dr. Lonon said.

# # #

It's profound to consider all the havoc wreaked by the pandemic and how it has implications for children's development. However, this piece focuses on just how brutal it has been for teachers that today accounts for teachers resigning and leaving the profession in great numbers. Read, for example, this deeply concerning Aug 1st piece in the Houston Chronicle titled, Houston districts trying to fill thousands of teacher vacancies just 2 weeks before school starts.

The irony for us here in Texas, and presumably throughout the U.S., as well, is this Charles Butt Foundation report that I previously posted which shows that respect for teachers in Texas has been increasing among parents with school-aged, children, and is at an all-time high as a result of the pandemic. Accordingly, I quote one of their key findings on page 3 as follows:

“Texas public school parents’ ratings of their community’s public schools have surged since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, signaling broad appreciation of schools’ – and teachers’ – efforts to respond amid closures and controversy.” (p. 3)

Report citation:

o   Charles Butt Foundation. (2021). Connected Through Our Schools: The 2022 poll on Texans' attitudes toward public education. [Report]

While these are precarious times for public education, let's not squander this good will and let's pass policies that pay all teachers well, that diversify the teacher workforce through Grow Your Own teacher programs and other measures, and address working conditions, especially the toxic environment created by high-stakes assessment and accountability to make the profession attractive to current and future teachers. And while we are at it, let's be sure to defend public education against vouchers schemes and privatization proposals.

-Angela Valenzuela

#TheGreatResignation

122 Teachers Speak: Surviving Student Learning Loss, Behavior Challenges

In survey, teachers reflect on students’ struggles with raising hands, forming sentences, using scissors, crayons, tying shoes, and angry outbursts

By Marianna McMurdock, Jasmine De Leon & Meghan Gallagher | August 1, 2022The 2021-22 school year was a tough one for America’s children. 

From regular f-bombs and bullying to difficulty finishing assignments, raising hands or buttoning pants, young people across the country are struggling to adjust to classrooms after lengthy pandemic isolation. 122 teachers from 37 states and Washington, D.C. painted a picture of a generation emotionally anxious, academically confused and addicted to technology, in a survey created by The 74.

Educators from coast to coast noted students had difficulty with common classroom routines — writing down homework, raising their hands to speak, meeting deadlines. And for the youngest learners, underdeveloped motor skills made it difficult to use scissors, color, paint and print letters. 

In their responses, teachers plead for parents and other adults in their life to lead with “grace”: ask questions, read to them every day, listen to frustrations and model behavior.

“We have a huge problem we’re facing with kids now as a result of the pandemic, which isn’t over,” said Pedro Noguera, sociologist of education and dean of USC’s Rossier School of Education. “I hear it directly from teachers — talking about a kind of chronic absenteeism, kids not wanting to come, kids not being motivated when they do come, and then the behavior challenges that come when they are present.” 

And while states iron out summer programs and tutoring initiatives for next year, made possible by pandemic relief funds, teachers have identified a summer wishlist for how parents and guardians can help the young people in their life.

The skills typical of age groups have seemingly shifted, teachers reported in the survey. Elementary students fumble to form sentences, use scissors and pencils; middle school students can’t quite grasp the concept of multiplying and dividing fractions. High schoolers are silent during discussions, averting the gaze and judgment of peers. 

And racist, homophobic and transphobic language is on the rise, teachers say, as part of an a pattern of more aggressive behavior. 

“This year’s students had significantly more behavioral problems than most previous groups of students. They made inappropriate racial remarks, struggled with owning the issues they created, made disrespectful comments to staff, engaged in bullying and even physical altercations,” a 7th grade teacher observed in Nebraska. 

In Kentucky, an elementary educator asked a school mental health practitioner to lead social skills peer groups to curb conflict and get kids talking about their emotions. 

Above are the words teachers used to describe student behavior and discipline challenges in the 2021-22 school year.

One fifth grade teacher in Arizona said students struggled to manage emotions and respect each other: “…Being honest about social issues (never heard so many lies before), tidiness, respecting others property [or] space. Arguments and competition [are] getting out of control.”

“Any little thing can wreck their whole day,” they added.

Young people now need extra practice with staying organized, taking notes, managing their time and following through with deadlines, many teachers told The 74. As one Texas high school English teacher said of their students’ executive functioning skills, due dates would “snowball… They quickly became overwhelmed.” 

“Their fuses are just shorter and the concept of respect seems different. You can’t push them too much or they turn off … Their emotional state is still in turmoil, partly because they are teens, but also since the concept of school is new again,” one California English teacher said. 

Accordingly, educators are adapting policies and class time to help students manage workloads. 

“I’ve learned to be much more understanding to what’s going on at home. I’ve also scaled back on ‘homework’ and deadlines due to absences and personal situations,” said a 7th grade English teacher in southern California. I’ve also used class time to help students organize themselves or catch up on work. Some often just appreciate time to clean out their backpack.”

ACADEMIC CHALLENGES

In elementary and middle school, teachers observed a host of language challenges. Students found phonics and reading aloud difficult, along with forming grammatically correct sentences and capitalization. 

Reading longer texts, inferring meaning, and thinking critically were challenging for students of all ages, educators said. 

In math, elementary school children struggled to understand numbers and order of operations. 

“4th graders came having major gaps in basics of arithmetic … operations, number sense, problem solving,” said Stafford, Virginia teacher Jill Lottes, whose students could also not speak or write in full sentences when they returned in-person last fall.

Educators across state lines and grade levels noticed shorter attention spans and a lack of “stamina” or motivation to focus — listening to peers in class, and on most assignments. 

In response, teachers incorporated more learning by doing; slowed down the pace of lessons; and added reading and writing activities to classes that never usually reviewed them, like math and Spanish. 

“I am very firm with procedures and expectations, and saw much more success this year. I was able to build relationships with the students because they knew what my expectations were, but also that I cared,” said Andrea Calderon, a 7th grade English teacher in southern California. 

For one first grade teacher in northern California, the biggest change in her teaching was devoting regular class time throughout the year to talk about behavior — how they treat each other, and why. It felt counterintuitive, given how much academic growth needed to happen.

“I think that a lot of last year for them was sitting in front of an iPad for a few hours at home, and then watching TV the rest of the time,” the teacher said. “I don’t know how much time most of the parents of our students spend with their kids talking with them, problem-solving with them, engaging with them.” 

Challenges with motor, executive functioning skills 

Above are the words teachers used to describe motor and executive functioning skills students were missing in the 2021-22 school year. 

Across ages, teachers also observed students’ difficulty keeping track of their work and collaborating with their peers. 

“Students really struggled with completing group [or] partner activities … having to wait their turn or share materials wasn’t something that was as big of an issue in middle school prior,” said one 7th grade teacher in Columbia, South Carolina. 

Elementary school teacher Catherine Graber noticed similar trends in Louisville, Kentucky: “Social awareness and relationship skills were areas of growth. I worked with the school mental health practitioner to facilitate social skills peer groups for some small groups of students.”

Behavior challenges

As compared to pre-pandemic school years, many teachers noticed a rise in behavioral concerns, including fighting, bullying in person and on social media, and using sexual and racial slurs. 

“The last two years have been some of the most divisive in American society … Show the kids what it looks like to respect each other and stop treating everyone like an enemy,” said Illinois middle school teacher Anthony Modica. 

For young children, behavior changes were more subtle. 

“It was fairly obvious to me that they probably hadn’t had a lot of adult interaction over the last year or two, and they were just so talkative, so needy, just sort of over the top in terms of how much energy they needed and wanted from me and the other adults in our classroom,” said a first grade teacher from Emeryville, California. 

Key for most educators was getting to the root of behavior and showing kids what it looks like to talk through emotions. 

“I still took time to ask questions about how or why a student was feeling or acting out negatively,” said a 2nd grade ESL teacher in Carrollton, Texas. “I also took the time to apologize to them when I overreacted and explain my feelings in a child friendly way. This went a long way in building trust and respect between us.”

Virtually all 122 educators surveyed acknowledged that behavior and academic challenges are challenging but not unexpected given the pandemic and exacerbated youth mental health crisis. 

“We can’t just expect kids are going to just pop right back into where they were pre-pandemic,” a third grade teacher outside of Minneapolis said in an interview with The 74. “We’re going to have to do a lot more work to settle them into what school really is like and make them feel safe…”

And academics like Pedro Noguera say children will need much more than just academic recovery to feel like school matters. 

“We have to bring some joy to learning and to being in school, so that kids want to be there,” said Noguera. “A sense of joy comes from a sense of belonging…So music, theater, sports have to be more integrated into the academic program, and not treated as an afterthought.”

Marianna McMurdock is a staff reporter at The 74.

@marimcmurdock marianna@the74million.org

This is the 2nd time that Trini Garza High School, headed by principal Dr. Macario Hernandez wins national Blue Ribbon school. In 2018, the school won National Title I Distinguished Award as captured in this earlier post on the school's accomplishments that delves into why they are so successful: Dallas early college campus singled out as one of the nation’s top schools for low-income students

That piece references the importance of having teachers that come from the community. Dr. Hernandez himself is a member of this community. This aligns with a growing research literature that points to the power of community-based teachers to educate the children in their own communities.

You did it again, Macario. None of this happens without excellent leadership—and to do so in the throes of a pandemic is no small thing. 

I hope you get a promotion. You're amazing! 

Felicidades! Congratulations!

-Angela Valenzuela

4 Dallas-area campuses named National Blue Ribbon Schools

The coveted honor recognizes schools for high performance and closing achievement gaps.

Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy was just recognized as a 2021 National Blue Ribbon School for the first time since 2014. It's one of four Dallas-area campuses that received the National Blue Ribbon School honor Tuesday.(Emil Lippe / Special Contributor)

Four Dallas-area campuses received National Blue Ribbon School honors Tuesday, recognized for their high performance and work to close achievement gaps.

The schools, among 26 receiving the status in Texas, were Dallas ISD’s Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early College High School at Mountain View and Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy; Mesquite ISD’s Porter Elementary School; and Christ the King Catholic School in Dallas.

The program selects campuses based on either how well students perform on standardized tests or how much progress they make in closing achievement gaps among student groups.

Students at Garza and Gilliam typically earn college credit while completing their high school diploma as well.

The majority of those at Garza will be first-generation college students, principal Macario Hernandez said. Among its 431 students, 88% are Hispanic and about 8% are Black. More than 85% come from families that are struggling financially.

The honor is “validation for all the hard work of our teachers and our students and our parents,” Hernandez said. He added that the status is a celebration for the teachers and students who persevered despite the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The school staff values students’ home culture, racial backgrounds and lived experiences, he said, which allows teachers and students to build relationships that transform the experience for the entire campus community.

“It’s a family that really builds on each other’s strengths,” Hernandez said. “Humility and valuing and respecting and working with people with compassion and empathy can go a long way.”

Gilliam principal Gayle Ferguson Rodgers said the award is proof that a school can perform at high levels despite its at-risk population.

A majority of its students, most of whom are Black or Hispanic, also come from low-income families.

“This award is a celebration of everyone’s efforts as we do our mission here at Gilliam, which is to have college access and success for all,” she said.

Ferguson added that being named a National Blue Ribbon School “wasn’t a goal,” but that the school’s community only focuses on delivering on its mission every day.

The staff’s commitment to the school’s vision “Every Child. Every need. Whatever it takes.” became abundantly clear for Porter Elementary Principal Leeann Englert when she began working at the Mesquite school. She credited parents for pushing the school to meet high expectations.

“The campus exudes this vision in every conversation they have and in every decision they make,” she said in a statement. “Everyone is deeply invested in the success of our children.”

The schools join more than 9,000 others that the National Blue Ribbon Schools program has recognized in the past 39 years.

“I commend all our Blue Ribbon honorees for working to keep students healthy and safe while meeting their academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a written statement. “In the face of unprecedented circumstances, you found creative ways to engage, care for, protect, and teach our children.”

The four local campuses are among 302 public and 23 private schools honored across the U.S. on Tuesday.

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.

Valeria Olivares, Education Lab Reporting Fellow. Valeria is a reporter for The Dallas Morning News Education Lab focusing on higher education. She was born in El Paso, but was raised across the border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. She has previously interned at The San Antonio Express-News and The Texas Tribune. She loves internet culture and green tea-flavored sweets.

valeria.olivares@dallasnews.com ValeriaOliEsc valeriaoliesc

Study Finds Students of All Races Prefer Teachers of Color

Super interesting. Researchers Cherng and Halpin analyze data sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation involving "1,700 sixth- through ninth-grade teachers from more than 300 schools" and arrive at this finding of a preference by all students for teachers of color.

This finding might ruffle some feathers in light of the fact that most public teachers are white. However, this is consistent with a growing body of research which shows not only that students who are "ethnically matched" with their students register consistently higher levels of achievement, but that white children benefit from these environments, as well.

For example, read Dr. Easton-Brooks book titled, Ethnic Matching: Academic Success of Students of Color, as it supports the former claim. I refer to an earlier post to this blog on Easton-Brooks' findings, as well.

Regarding the latter, Meier, Wrinkle, and Polinard (1999) additionally found that the test scores of Anglo students also benefit from a large presence of teachers of color. I also address this in my book, Growing Critically Conscious Teachers at some length.

It's great to see additional confirmation for findings that are turning up in the research literature on teachers and students in classrooms. The evidence is increasingly pointing to a need for districts to actively recruit and retain teachers of color for the benefit of the whole.

Although this study provides insights through survey data, qualitative ethnographic research can get a better grasp of how race, class, and gender dynamics position teachers of color optimally for today's classroom. A deeper analysis would also examine the uniqueness of community-based educators such as those emanating from Grow Your Own (GYO) educator pathways.

Additionally, I can't help but wonder about the extent to which any of this maps on to university classroom contexts. That's for someone else to study.
Thanks to Dr. Greg Pulte for sharing.

-Angela Valenzuela


Study Finds Students of All Races Prefer Teachers of Color
October 7, 20167:00 AM ET

By Anya Kamenetz | NPR


LA Johnson/NPR

"Do you speak English?"

When Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng walked into his summer school classroom for the first time as a brand-new teacher, a student greeted him with this question. Nothing in his training had prepared him to address race and identity. But he was game, answering the student lightly, "Yes, I do, but this is a math class, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Oh my gosh, was that racist?" he says the girl asked, and quickly checked her own assumption: "'That's exactly like when I go into a store and people follow me around because I'm black.'"

During the time that Cherng, who is of Chinese descent, taught in an 85 percent African-American middle school in San Francisco, he enjoyed a good rapport with his students, and he wondered what role his own identity played in that.

Now Cherng is a sociologist at New York University and he's just published a paper with colleague Peter Halpin that addresses this question. It seems that students of all races — white, black, Latino, and Asian — have more positive perceptions of their black and Latino teachers than they do of their white teachers.

Cherng and Halpin analyzed data from the Measure of Effective Teaching study sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which also supports coverage of education at NPR.
They looked at a group of 1,700 sixth- through ninth-grade teachers from more than 300 schools in cities around the country. The students had completed 30-question surveys, asking about a variety of different dimensions of teaching.

For example:
· How much does this teacher challenge his students?
· How supportive is she?
· How well does he manage the classroom?
· How captivating does she make the subject?

Although NPR Ed has reported before on the pitfalls of student evaluations used in many undergraduate classrooms, this particular student self-report measure may be more valid because of its thoroughness; it's been independently linked to student learning gains on standardized tests.

Cherng and Halpin found that all the students, including white students, had significantly more favorable perceptions of Latino versus white teachers across the board, and had significantly more favorable perceptions of black versus white teachers on at least two or three of seven categories in the survey.

The strongest positive relationship was the flipside of what Cherng experienced in his own classroom: Asian-American students had very rosy views of their black teachers.

The relationship persisted after controlling for students' age, gender, their free and reduced-price lunch status and their academic performance. The researchers also controlled for other factors like the teacher's level of experience and education, their gender, and even outside expert ratings of the teachers' effectiveness, based on classroom observations.

No matter what, students had warmer perceptions of their teachers of color.

Cherng calls the findings "surprising."

"I thought student awareness of the racial hierarchy would influence the results," in favor of whites, he says.

Other studies have found evidence for "race matching," or the idea that students and teachers of the same race or ethnicity perceive each other more favorably. And NPR Ed recently covered research on "implicit bias," the idea that teachers of all races look less favorably on students of color.

"We're not done," investigating this finding, Cherng says.

His working theory is that teachers of color score more highly because of their ability to draw on their own experiences to address issues of race and gender, which, he says, can be highly germane even to teaching subjects like math, especially in America's majority-minority public schools. He's currently working on a series of studies that look at preservice teachers and teacher training, to provide more evidence about the relationship between teachers' multicultural beliefs and awareness and their effectiveness in the classroom.

As a math teacher, and now a sociology professor, Cherng was never prepared to really understand or address race or gender dynamics in the classroom. But, he says, there may be good evidence that these are essential tools to being a good teacher, period.