About MSAN

The Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN) is a national coalition of multiracial, suburban-urban school districts that have come together to study achievement gaps that exist in their districts. MSAN districts have student populations between approximately 3,000 and 30,000, and are most often well established first ring suburbs or small/mid size cities. Additionally, the districts share a history of high academic achievement, connections to major research universities, and resources that generally exceed neighboring cities.

With strikingly similar and disturbing disaggregated achievement data, racial disparities on an array of achievement outcomes demonstrate wide gaps in performance between students of color and their white peers. Since its inception in 1999 MSAN has worked fervently to discover and propose strategies to change school practices and structures that keep these achievement gaps in place. To this end, districts work collaboratively to conduct and publish research, analyze policies, and examine practices that affect the academic performance of students of color, specifically African American and Latino/a students.

A summary of beliefs and knowledge that guides the work of the Network is outlined in a working document titled What is the Relationship between Race and Achievement in Our Schools? A Statement of Purpose adopted by the Minority Student Achievement Network, June 2003.

Organizational Structure

The direction of MSAN's work is shaped by two organizing structures: the MSAN Governing Board and the Research Practitioners' Council. In addition, the Executive Director and other researchers provide guidance and support for MSAN projects.

Governing Board
The superintendents of MSAN districts serve as the Governing Board. The Governing Board carries out the business and oversight of the organization and, along with the MSAN Executive Director and the Research Practitioners' Council, sets the Network's research and development agenda. The Governing Board has increasingly worked to enhance its skills, knowledge, and insight through planned discussions and activities to further the aims of closing the achievement gaps that persist in their districts while ensuring all students achieve to high levels.

Research Practitioners' Council
The Research Practitioners' Council (RPC) is made up of the Research & Testing Coordinator and the Assistant Superintendent or Curriculum Director in each district. The RPC is responsible for carrying out the research and development agenda of MSAN. The four focus areas that guide the research and development work of MSAN include:

  1. Mathematics,
  2. Literacy, with emphasis on Adolescent Literacy,
  3. Teacher/Student Relationships, and
  4. Conversations about Race.

To date MSAN has generated more than $1 million dollars in foundation, grant, and local district support to explore these focus areas.

District Engagement

MSAN has worked to build a community of learners who engage in common practices across school districts. These include:

  • engaging in collaborative research in which practitioners and researchers are equal partners in designing, conducting, and publishing research;
  • sharing procedures for gathering and reporting disaggregated data;
  • conducting evaluations of programs intended to raise the academic achievement of minority students;
  • conducting training and professional development activities for district teachers and administrators intended to improve academic achievement of minority students;
  • participating in teacher and student meetings and conferences; and
  • disseminating results of Network activities among MSAN districts and the larger educational community.

Research

In keeping with the vision that research and practice must be developed one in tandem with the other, MSAN has developed authentically collaborative relationships with expert researchers in the areas of student achievement, race, and the achievement gap in schools. Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Ronald Ferguson and Dr. John Diamond from Harvard University, and Dr. Pedro Noguera from New York University are just a few of the research partners who have collaborated with MSAN over the years.

In 2007 MSAN moved from Evanston Township High School District 202 in Evanston, Illinois to the Wisconsin Center for Education Research located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As part of a larger consortium of educational researchers MSANs capacity for engaging in intervention-focused evaluation projects has expanded exponentially, specifically as the Network seeks answers to the fundamental question "How do we know this particular intervention has an affect on closing the gap?"

Meetings/Conferences

A central feature of the work of the Minority Student Achievement Network is to build local communities of learners through the holding of meetings and conferences. MSAN's Annual Conferences provide an opportunity for representatives from Network districts to build a continuous stream of work.

Meetings/Workshops for Non-Network Districts are held annually as well. These gatherings provide an opportunity for educators to come together to learn about and discuss current research and best practices regarding how to close achievement gaps that exist for our African-American and Latino/a youth.

Additionally, MSAN is committed to creating opportunities for African American and Latino/a students to guide their work. Each year a student conference is held where teams of students from member districts engage in discussions about the barriers students of color face in their schools and districts and the development of activities related to how they can improve the effectiveness of their schools in educating African American and Latino/a students. This youth conference is an opportunity for students to learn from peers from across the country while constructing valuable messages for the academic leaders of their schools.