About Us

TDSB Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement is the first of its kind in public education in Canada. It is one of TDSB’s responses to dismantle anti-Black racism within the school board and improve both experiences and outcomes for Black students. The creation of the Centre of Excellence is also responsive to the voices of the Black communities who consistently advocated for deeper systemic change from the TDSB.

The concept of a Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement was first proposed in TDSB by the Enhancing Equity Task Force. This work involved extensive community consultation which surfaced systemic barriers that are experienced by many TDSB students and disproportionately impeded the academic success of Black students. The Task Force’s recommendations led to a number of action plans in the Board’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan. These action plans have the goal of removing practices that stream students and decrease the educational opportunities of underserved groups of students, especially Black students.

The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement will build on community voices as well as past and present efforts through a direct, multi-faceted strategy for meaningful and sustained change. The Centre of Excellence will focus proactively on academic success and experiences of belonging of Black students. It will provide a more coordinated and well-resourced approach leading to systemic transformation. There will be enhanced support for impacted individuals and a forum to develop solutions that are authentic and relevant for Black students, families and staff.

The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement is guided by a series of mandates.

The mandates of the Centre are to:

• Provide support to Black students in TDSB schools to combat racism, navigate complaint processes, identify barriers to success and access appropriate resources (e.g., scholarships, networking, mentoring);
• Use evidence to highlight promising practices and engage in meaningful research on topics relevant to Black students that are then integrated across schools and at the system level within the TDSB;
• Create professional learning in anti-Black racism and collaborate with other staff in facilitating learning in decolonization, anti-racism, anti-oppression & human rights recognizing the similarities and intersections of various forms of oppression;
• Identify, develop and facilitate culturally responsive and relevant healing practices for groups of students;
• Inform changes to policies and procedures so that all students may benefit from the learning and innovative practices developed by the Centre of Excellence;
• Establish effective mechanisms for monitoring improvement in the achievement of Black students;
• Provide annual accountability reports and recommendations to the Board of Trustees and staff;
• Support meaningful engagement and advocacy of caregivers for their children in TDSB schools and programs and improve communication to them about Black student success, system navigation and complaint processes; and
• Engage in strategic community partnerships related to education within the annually identified approved budget for this purpose.

Learn more about the Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement.