51st Annual COBA Annual Black Child Conference and Scholarship Awards

Across California, boys represent 68% of K–3 suspensions. Only 24% of 11th-grade boys are reading above standard. Fewer than half meet college readiness requirements. The numbers don’t lie — but they don’t tell the whole story either.


This session moves beyond statistics and into truth.


In He Is Not a Gladiator: 4 Shifts to Interrupt Academic Neglect, Dr. Fletcher challenges educators to examine how systems unintentionally neglect boys before they suspend them. Participants will confront hard data, reflect on their own roles in perpetuating or disrupting academic neglect, and learn four transformative shifts that reframe how we see, teach, and lead boys.