Research synthesis on diversity in education.

2. "Diversity is not simply a matter of the changing
demographics in students or faculty. Attending to it
has also altered the very knowledge base upon
which the intellectual integrity of the academy
rests. Institutions across the country are taking
advantage of the explosion of new scholarship
about the diversity of cultural traditions and
histories in America and around the world. Diversity
has also provided additional interpretive lenses
through which to analyze ideas and society. . ." -
from Diversity Web (www.diversityweb.org)

3.  Poverty & Academic Needs of Students
 Factors of the Achievement Gap
 English Language Learners
 Gender Inequalities
 Inclusion

5. Poverty Academic Needs
 The extent to which an  School Attendance
individual does without
resources  Social Support
 Financial
 Emotional  Parental Involvement
 Mental
 Spiritual
 School Support
 Physical
 Relevant Curriculum
 Support Systems
(Network of Relationships)
 Relationships/Role Models  Gifted Programs
 Knowledge of Hidden Rules
Among Social Classes  Culturally Sensitive
Teachers
(Payne)

6. Communication Discipline
 Poverty
 Child, Adult,
 Forgiveness & Penance
& Parent Voices
 Not about Change
 Adult
 Usually absent in poverty
 Used for Negotiation  Effective Discipline
 Structure
 When a Student is  Choice
Disciplined at School
 Child Voice  Teach That There are
 Powerless
 Parent Voice Two Sets of Behaviors
 Disrespectful to Educator  School
 Street
(Payne)
(Payne)

7. Social Support Effects
 Acts as a Protector/  Students with Support
Buffer to Help Stabilize from
Students Parents, Teachers, &
Friends have:
 Sources  Higher GPA
 Better Standardized Test
 Parents
Scores
 Teachers
 Provide
Emotional, Appraisal, Inf  Parental Involvement
ormational, &  Better School
Instrumental Support
Attendance
 Classmates
 More completed
 Close Friends assignments
 Schools
(Malecki & Demaray)

8. Relevant Curriculum Culturally Sensitive Teachers
 Social Class & Culture  Reflect On Their Own
Cultural Identity &
Classroom Practices
 Connects Schools to (Mitchell, Boutte & Hill)
their Communities
 Raises Academic
Achievement  Help Students Learn about
Multiple Worldviews
(Williams)
(Boutte & Hill)
 Gifted Programs  Make Classroom
 Culturally Diverse Interactions & Discussions
 Curriculum Culturally Sensitive
 Groups of Students
 Chinese: Do not make mistakes
 Access in Rural Schools in public
 Give students time to prepare
(Ford , Cross & Burney) for a class discussion
(Fu)

9. Factors of the Achievement Gap
What Does the Future Hold?
Matt Hoffman

10. The Achievement Gap
 Refers to the observed disparity between students
academic performance, especially groups defined by
gender, race and social class.
 Factors Concerning the Achievement Gap
 School Districts
 Large/Small Districts
 Lack of support
 Urban/Rural
 Funding
 Staff Accountability
 Student Population
 Support from home
 English Language Learners
 Learning Disabilities
 (NCTAF)

11. Who Is Accountable?
 The Disparity Between Minority and Majority Students:
 The Educators  Race
 Do school systems “water down” their material
for minority students?
 The School District  Are English Language Learners and English as a
Second Language students adequately instructed?
 The State (Fu)
 Castaneda v. Pickard
1. The program must be based on an
 The Student educational theory recognized as sound by
experts in the field or that is considered by
 The Nation experts as a legitimate experimental strategy
2. The program must be implemented with
adequate resources and personnel.
3. The district must evaluate the program to
determine whether it is achieving results and
make appropriate adjustments, where
needed, to ensure that language barriers are
actually being overcome. (McBride)
 Gender
 Do educators differ in their instruction between
Girls and boys?
 Boys are statistically called upon more

12.  Districts need to support their star teachers
 Union/District collaboration
 The Union and the school district cooperated with each other to
create a new series of schools known as “Empowerment Schools”
 Clark County (Las Vegas) Empowerment Schools
 Bonuses for “Job Well Done”
 Based upon school performance
 Increase of schools meeting Adequate Yearly Progress
 Increase of 12th grade graduation rate
 Decrease in dropout rate 9th through 12th grade
 Higher proficiency scores (NCTAF)
 Teachers need to recognize past tendencies and be willing to
adapt
 The importance of recognizing cultural differences and priorities
 All children can learn

14. Students whose first language is not English, and can
encompass both students who are just beginning to
learn English and those who have already developed
considerable proficiency.
The term is used to describe a student whose first
language is not English and has difficulties in
speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the
English language. These difficulties may be sufficient
to deny the student the ability to meet the State’s
proficient level of achievement on State
assessments, the ability to successfully achieve in
classrooms where the language of instruction is
English, or the opportunity to participate fully in
society.

15.  USA
1980 – 4.7% of all students were ELL
2000 – 7.4% of all students were ELL
2030 – 40% of all school age children may be ELL.
(Berliner and Biddle 1995)
 Concentration of ELLs in a handful of states
Hispanic – largest group
Asian – second largest group
 70% of ELLs are in only 10% of elementary
schools and most are in urban areas

16.  English  “Sink or Swim” approach –
teach children in English
 (Sheltered English or even as students learn the
Immersion Education) language – Some students
have pull out ESL
 English and Native
Language  Use both languages and
transition over time to
 (Transitional Bilingual
English. Develops literacy in
Education) primary language as
foundation for English
reading.
 English and Native
Language  Use both languages – all
 (Two-Way Bilingual students are learning 2
Education Immersion) languages

17.  Dropout Rates
 School resources
 Social and academic language

 NCLB and Achievement Tests – ELLs score lower on standardized tests
 Low expectations of teachers. They may receive less access to standard
grade-level curriculum
 Labeling of students – Language learning disability versus a child is
manifesting the normal process of acquiring a second language.
Interference/Codeswitching/Language
Students put on an IEP because they do not understand the
language.
 Lack of qualified bilingual education programs and teachers
 High percent of ELLs in urban schools that generally have more new teachers
and also more teachers uncertified than those at other schools. (13)

18.  Get to know your Students
 Create a Community of Learners
 Make tasks relevant, meaningful and engaging.
 Weave students’ first language and culture into instructional
conversations and curriculum.
 Believe that all students can learn and have a high expectations
 Create context for students with manipulatives, pictures and
video.
 Teach academic strategies, socio-cultural expectations, and
academic norms, as these are not readily acquired otherwise.
 Use parent volunteers, especially parents of English language
learners.
 Enrich print environment of your classroom – books and
magazines in student’s first language. In younger grades put
color and number words in different languages.
 Writing, class instruction/tests, and reading
 Take professional development classes.

20.  Children notice differences between the sexes, races, and
ethnicities by age 2 or 3
 Stereotypes are internalized and acted upon about age 4
 Gender differences are the most prevalent bias in children
 Societies rules, customs, and values have shaped the differences in
male and female children
› Each sex is taught to behave in different ways
› Children learn their gender stereotypes based on the society
they live in
› Females are raised to be submissive and dependent

21.  Teachers may push their own beliefs about gender roles onto
students
› See boys as needing competition, discipline, structure and support
› See girls as lacking confidence and losing out on teacher attention
 Different expectations and behavior standards exist for boys and
girls
› Girls are expected to do better at Language Arts
› Boys are expected to be better at mathematics and sciences
 Teachers unknowingly restrict areas of study and goals of their
students reducing their potential
 Parents reinforce gender biases by expecting boys to perform better
in mathematics and sciences while discouraging girls from pursuing
excellence in these subjects
 Teachers treat behavioral offenses by boys more strict than similar
offenses by girls

22. Boys Girls
 Stereotyped as lazy, badly  Stereotypes as talkative
behaved and immature  Raise hands and wait on
 Shout out answers to questions teacher to call on them to
in classroom answer questions
 Are encouraged to pursue  Are discouraged from
careers in areas requiring pursuing careers in areas
mathematics and science requiring mathematics and
 Given leadership roles in science
mixed sex groups  Receive less extensive
 More severely punished for feedback on assignments
misbehavior  Relegated to submissive role in
 Prefer careers as doctors and group projects
scientists  Career ambitions often
include teaching

23.  Schools and school districts should increase the percentage of girls who
take the trio of core science courses: physics, biology, and chemistry.
 Algebra I and geometry should be mandatory for all students.
 Teachers and counselors should encourage girls to take math and
science classes at the challenging AP or honors level.
 Educators need to develop programs at the classroom, school district, or
state level to increase girls' enrollment in computer science courses.
 Equity must be viewed as essential to teacher education and the
achievement of academic excellence.
 Producers and purchasers of educational materials should establish
processes and criteria by which to screen curricula and instructional
materials for bias in images, text, or logic.
 Colleges and universities should continue to use a broad range of
material to assess students.
 Testing organizations should consider adding a writing section to the SAT
exam to more accurately reflect students' academic skills.
 The relationship between girls' and boys' test scores and grades should
be further researched.
 Much more research is needed on gender equity and technology.

25. (Taylor, Smiley, & Richards)

26.  Diversity  Reflective Practice
› placement regardless of › Educators reflect and modify
learning ability, race, linguistic their attitudes, teaching and
ability, economic status, cultural classroom management
background, etc. practices and curricula to
› acknowledge, affirm and accommodate individual needs.
celebrate the value of all › Educators are
learners flexible, responsive and aware
› promote acceptance, equity of student’s needs
and collaboration in response to › Think critically and examine
individual needs. their practices for self
improvement and to ensure that
all student’s needs are met
 Collaboration  Individual Needs
› It is a group effort between › Sensitivity to and acceptance of
educators, other individual needs and differences
professionals, students, families
and community agencies
(Salend)

27.  FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
› Provides a diverse stimulating environment with more
engaged instructional time and a greater exposure
to academic activities
› Enables development of friendships with same age
peers
› Enhances self-respect & self-esteem by sharing same
activities as non-disabled peers
› Provides peer models who can facilitate
communication, social and adaptive behaviors
(Berg)

28. › Allows students to be more accepting of
differences among individuals
› Reduces fear and uneasiness of disabled
classmates
› Opportunity to experience diversity in a small
scale
› Develop leadership skills, increased ability to
help and teach others, mentoring, tutoring, self-
empowerment and improve self-esteem
(Berg)

29. › Creates an awareness and appreciation of individual
differences in all students
› Allows teachers to learn new teaching techniques that
can help all their students
› Allows greater creativity with teaching methods, avoids
monotony
› Allows them to develop team work/ collaboration skills
› Increases awareness of the importance of direct
individual instruction
(Berg)

30. › Focus on socialization part of their education may take
precedence over the academic part
› Some students with disabilities may need the special
education classroom to get the maximum it benefit of their
education: smaller class size, less distractions, more one-on-
one instruction
› May lower self-esteem and self-concept if they become
frustrated and are ridiculed or isolated
› Many feel that students with disabilities will become
depressed upon realizing what they cannot do compared
with their peers
(Berg)

31. › General education students may feel that their
classroom is more disruptive due to the
distractions from additional
teachers, aides, paraprofessionals, and from
special education students leaving the
classroom frequently and making involuntary
vocalizations, etc.
› Fear that their education is being jeopardized
› May resent special education students for all the
attention children with disabilities get
(Berg)

32. › May have a constant thought of fear that they are going
to fail at successfully and appropriately carrying out
inclusion
› May not have the proper training to teach and deal with
students with disabilities
› Discomfort with giving up control of their classroom when
they will have to co-teach and collaborate
› May not have proper support, and an appropriate
amount of planning and collaboration time
(Berg)

33.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N105TGmMkLk&feature=related
CONNECTS with students who
have disabilities as individuals
who are contributors first.
COMMUNICATES enthusiasm and
act comfortably around students
with disabilities.
CHALLENGE students with
disabilities to work their best
toward high standards.
CREATIVELY adapts and UTILIZES
appropriate strategies and
materials to help students with
disabilities learn and succeed.
COLLABORATES with others to
maximize students’ development.
A teacher who has developed
and/or creatively implemented
specialized skills, but also
recognizes that this expertise
must be accompanied by
appropriate
beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors
in order for the skills being utilized
to prove most beneficial.
An extraordinary inclusion
teacher demonstrates on a
regular basis how ordinary it can
be for students with disabilities to
participate successfully in a wide
range of activities with their (Henderson)
peers.

34. Questions??