A panel of nationally distinguished African American education scholars, policymakers and practitioners will address the intersection of practice, research and policy as they relate to African American children. The "2008 ISAAC Roundtable on African American Education" will take place on Saturday, July 19, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Wayne State University's McGregor Memorial Conference Center.

The meeting will combine the features of a lecture series, roundtable discussion and working conference. Some of the African American community's most creative thinkers will outline the situation that prevents African American children from reaching their true learning potential.

V.P. Franklin, Presidential Chair and Distinguished Professor of History and Education at the University of California, Riverside, will deliver the keynote address titled "Protecting our Children: Lessons for the Twenty-first Century."

The mission of ISAAC is to understand factors that contribute to the African American academic achievement gap and to identify and support strategies that help narrow and close that gap in order to propel African American children to their rightful position of excellence and leadership in the world. The mission requires understanding African American child development and its underpinnings and many contexts and influences that impact upon the manner in which that development unfolds. The focal point of the Institute is to formulate the best practices for working with African American children in school and in the community.

Janice E. Hale, professor of Early Childhood Education is Founding Director of ISAAC. Hale is a nationally recognized expert on the education of African American children and the author of 3 books, two of which have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Hale has issued a call to the African American middle class to stand up for African American children. "We are the best educated, most affluent Africans in the world. If we stand up for African American children, America will listen. If not us, who? If not now, when?" Mother Theresa said, "We cannot do great things on this earth. Only small things with great love."'

The roundtable will offer opportunities for audience dialogue and meetings of action groups to design plans for change. A $100 registration fee includes a continental breakfast and a box lunch.

Scholarships are available for students and the general public.

Students should download scholarship forms from the Web site. Members of the general public should submit registration forms available on the website and request a scholarship. Scholarships will be awarded on a first-come first-served basis. Scholarships do not include the Soul Food Jazz Buffet.

Other event speakers include: William H. Watkins, Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago; James C. Young, Professor, Clark Atlanta University; Carol Brunson Day, President & CEO, National Black Child Development Institute; Carol D. Lee, Professor, Northwestern University; Ivory A. Toldson, Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology at Howard University and Senior Research Analyst for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

A fundraiser titled "Throw Down in Motown" to benefit ISAAC will be held on Friday, July 18, at the Marriott Hotel at the Renaissance Center from 8 p.m.-1 am. The event will be a dinner dance with music provided by D.J. Rick Love. Also included will be a silent auction and live performances by Motown recording groups, The Vandellas and The Contours. Tickets are $75; Gold Sponsor tickets of $150 entitle the bearer to attend a VIP reception in the Presidential Suite of the Marriott from 6:30-8 pm.

There will be an AfterGlow following the conference, a Soul Food Jazz Buffet in the lobby of the McGregor Center, from 5-8 p.m., featuring music by the Jerome Perry Plus Jazz Combo. The Afterglow is open to the public for $35.00.

For more information, or to register, please visit http://www.coe.wayne.edu:16080/isaac/isaacsite/roundtable2.html; or contact Saundra Sumner, 313-577-0991; ac6642@wayne.edu