Jeffrey Laff

​Jeff has dedicated his career to serving at-promise students as a K-12 teacher, college administrator and advocate. For the past 11 years he has led unique alternative programs at Portland Community College supporting opportunity youth to finish high school and successfully transition to college. Jeff is a frequent trainer, facilitator, and speaker on equity and education. His primary focus is on whiteness and leadership; discussing race, equity, and inclusion to catalyze white people into becoming accomplices. He works to dismantle systems and policies, and to transform educational organizations to effectively serve all students. Jeff holds a B.A. in English and an M.A.T. from Lewis and Clark College, an M.P.A. in Cross Cultural Management from Portland State University, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Education at the University of Portland.

AAPF19 Session

Navigating the Confluence of Accountabilities: Charting Success for At-Promise Students
​At-promise students require authentic accountability measures that recognize their persistence and success after re-engaging with the educational process. Have you been advocating for accountability measures with multiple stakeholders who have conflicting metrics and priorities? None of the fifty states chose the reengagement metric in the ESSA reauthorization, and the overwhelming majority of states still define alternative school success by the same criteria as traditional high schools. This doesn’t effectively serve at-promise students. This session will define success in a complex environment of school districts, national networks, and college and state accountability frameworks. Participants bring examples of their own effective outcome measures and ideas for how you want to define success for at-promise students. Together, we will codesign an accountability framework of authentic measures that honors at-promise students and begins to establish a grass roots foundation for measuring success.