Profs. Pulliam, Smith, and Paone Present at ICUE

Nicole Pulliam, Ph.D., Vernon Smith, Ph.D., and Tina Paone, Ph.D., professors in the Department of Educational Counseling and Leadership, recently presented at the International Conference on Urban Education (ICUE) in Cancun, Mexico.

Their session "Breaking Barriers Beyond Higher Education: A Twenty-Year Journey of Three Equity-Based School & Community Partnerships," highlighted the impact of three programs within Monmouth University's School of Education.

Pulliam, Smith, and Paone discussed the Central Jersey Consortium for Excellence & Equity (CJCEE), Social Justice Academy (SJA), and Empowering Young Black Males Leadership Mentoring Program (EYBM), focusing on how these programs' collective contributions have fostered educational equity and racial justice over 20 years.

They also examined how these programs break existing barriers beyond the walls of academia to better train future and current educators on equity, access, and racial justice.

• CJCEE, led by Paone, promotes inter-district collaboration and shared learning for continuous improvement in eliminating the disparities in student achievement and school engagement.

• SJA, formerly directed by Pulliam and currently led by Smith, serves as a professional development resource for Monmouth University and the local community, including anti-racist training and grant funding to implement social justice projects in their schools and districts.

• EYBM, created and led by Smith, is a catalyst for access to opportunities for personal and academic achievement for high school Black male students (mentees) and a retention initiative for current black male college students (mentors).

ICUE brings together over 700 educators from K-12 school districts, colleges, and universities to exchange strategies and share innovative approaches for addressing critical challenges in urban educational globally.