“Nothing in the textbooks looked like them, nothing related to them,” Vázquez said, adding that students today do not need to feel like “they are guests in somebody else’s house” while in school.
“Our students need to have some ‘KICS,” he added, referencing to acronym, which stands for Knowledge in Interpersonal Communication Skills. K.I.C.S. is a tenant that is part of the Academic Cultural Competence Teaching (ACCT) model.
Educators at New Mexico State University use the model to encourage Hispanic students to develop a strong academic identity. Also part of the model’s three tenants is Collaborative Learning and Student Success (CLASS) and Teaching Academic Skills and Knowledge (TASK).
Other speakers during the briefing included Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, and Michael Wotorson, director of community partnerships at the Campaign for High School Equity and the Alliance for Excellent Education.
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