2024 ACSA Leadership Summit

This training teaches 6 concrete skills that are simple yet effective for supporting young men of color. While the techniques are specifically designed for young men of color, they are inclusive all student contexts and populations. Dr. Arzumanian presents findings from his doctoral research as well as over 20 years of experience in the field. Participants will leave with the ability to apply 6 simple yet effective practical strategies to increase male student engagement contributing to increased academic engagement and success (CPSEL 2A-2).

This training addresses the largest equity gap that exists today, namely, male students in every racial category, every socio-economic status and every age group falling significantly behind in education and other important success indicators (CPSEL 1A-3). Every school administrator knows implicitly that the majority of their top honors students are female while the vast majority of their dropouts, students with GPA below 2.0, or students on probation are male. Through this training, practitioners will gain simple, practical strategies to connect with their male students.
[The first two paragraphs of this description are the summary. What follows is the detail.]

- The skills are founded in assets-based practice, where we seek and affirm the strengths/assets in students, building them up from their strengths as opposed to focusing on perceived deficits (CPSEL, 1A-2).
- The six strategies:
- Relationship Responsibility (CPSEL 3C-1)
- Give them what they want so I can give them what they need
- Tailor my communication (CPSEL 5A, 5B3, 5C2)
- See the target, hit the target (CPSEL 5A, 5B3, 5C2)
- Collaborative problem solving (CPSEL 5A, 5B3, 5C2)
- Watch my language (CPSEL 5A, 5B3, 5C2)
- Audience Engagement
- Each strategy will include some form of audience participation such as brainstorming, role playing and collaborative dialogue (CPSEL 2A-2).
- Each participant will receive an e-book study guide both in physical and digital format.
- Each participant will also receive a strategy poster.
- This training is appropriate for practitioners at any level of experience. It helps early career professionals successfully connect with young men of color, and helps seasoned veterans to understand the sequence of strategies they’ve used in the past toward success, so they can reproduce those results reliably.