There are discrepancies within the educational curriculum that are not culturally diverse when trying to close the achievement gap. This means through analyzing the evidence from 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, there may need to be a revision. When seeking detailed and comprehensive outcomes, Hess, Stover, Liston, Whitcomb, and Boroko (2007) highlighted the questionings or argument of, what would happen if we take our eyes off the goal(s)? The key aspect that speaks volume in gauging with students is understanding the student population, Ware (2016) identified how practices were incorporating elements of the students’ culture in their teaching, adapting instruction to meet the students’ learning style, and having high standards and expectations (p. 20). While standardized English has a different effect on the various background, the method in instruction is imperative to comprehension. According to Silva and Cain (2015) language skills develop early, we have noted that word reading is the critical limiter of reading comprehension in the early stages of reading development.
Standardized English has an effect
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The need to concentrate on what the students bring to the table and meeting students at their learning modalities is key. Based upon Cheesman and De Pry (2010) to improve phonological awareness and decoding skills of culturally diverse high school students, a suggestion that teachers to use hip-hop music to increase students’ awareness of rhyme and alliteration. Noble instruction deals with thinking out of the box when understanding the student population. Ware (2016) also bring to light how culturally responsive African American teachers teach with authority, discipline and how practices incorporate elements of the students’ culture in their teaching, adapting instruction to meet the students’ learning style, and having high standards and expectations. The provided information provides insight on what is
Howard, T.G. (2010). Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in
The stance Terry P. Husband articulates in an (2012) article regards the commitments teachers and administrators must opt to improve the reading gap concern of African American males. It points out the reading differences; male learning differences, text selection, curriculum standards, disciplinary options expectations and learning styles utilized in the classrooms go against increasing reading achievement of African-American males in the classroom.
“The world’s greatest problems do not result from people being unable to read and write. They result from people in the world-from different cultures, races, religions, and nations-being unable to get along and to work together to solve the world’s problems.” These statements by James A. Banks have made a profound impact on my view towards multicultural education and the nation’s current trend of standardization and high-stakes testing. Scholarly research shows that the emphasis placed on testing and standards, mandated by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, is causing teachers to focus entirely on basic skills in reading, writing, and math (Banks & Banks, 2010). This focus on basic skills is taking much needed time and attention away
In 2014 congress set an aspirational goal for all children in every school in the Nation to attain 100 percent proficiency in two main subjects: reading and mathematics (Ravitch Pg. 102). Taken from the definition from the educational glossary organization website, in education the term proficiency is used in a variety of ways however in relationship to a scale or standard. It further explains that to understand how proficiency works in educational contexts, it is important to recognize that all proficiency determinations are based on some form of set standards. I would argue here that the way I entered into this reading is the way most of us currently are about the subject of education and its current state. I explain: “Some object that a country as diverse as ours cannot possibly have a national curriculum” (Ravitch Pg. 232). When I refer to the way I entered this reading being narrow minded in my ideas or views. In the same way are the leaders, the states, even us education advocates and parents. It is challenging to agree at the local level on what should be the standard much more at the national level. However, Mrs. Ravitch is made it very clear that without a clear set of standards there can be no measurable results, at least equitable ones
Teaching in racially diverse classrooms often leaves educators feeling uncertain about how to proceed and how to respond to historically marginalized students. There is pressure to acknowledge and accept students of color with different perspectives, to diversify the syllabi, be more aware of classroom dynamics, and pay attention to how students of color experience the learning process.
Culturally Responsive Teaching is an emerging field that focuses on student cultural backgrounds and experiences in the development of pedagogy. According to Kea (2013) cultural difference is the single largest difference in U.S. schools and also the most neglected. The goal of Culturally Responsive Teaching is to provide an equal opportunity for all students to learn in school, regardless of their gender, social class, ethnic, racial or cultural characteristics (Banks 2005). Ladson-Billings (1994) suggest that the historic failings of educators in educating non-white students is that educators attempt to insert culture into education rather than insert education into the culture. In other words, educators are not providing an equal multi-culturally relevant education by bringing tokens of culture such as food, national flags, or maps from around the world into the classroom alone. Although these actions promote a sense of multiculturalism, an education that is relative to a diversity of cultures is not necessarily being provided. Culturally Responsive Teaching attempts to bring the various experiences of the student’s cultural home life into the classroom. Schmidt (2005) identifies seven characteristics that must be incorporated into curriculum in order to provide culturally responsive instruction. These characteristics are high expectations,
In my last paper, I discussed the achievement gaps within the low-income African American community at Steele School in Galesburg, IL. Now that I have looked into the history of low-income African American students, I am now going to research even more by exploring trends, issues, evidence-based remediation practices, the preferred learning styles and the identified achievement gap of low-income African American students. Through the chart I am going to display, this will show various ways that low-income African American students are struggling at Steele School. However, I am hoping with the information below I can use this to display to others how certain multicultural education, learning styles, and culturally responsive teaching can enhance learning environments for all underachieving students.
For the past two years I have worked as a teachers’ aide for special education classrooms. I have had the privilege of working in over fifteen different schools and over thirty different classrooms ranging from kinder garden to the adult transition program. For the past three months I have been working in an adult transition classroom with five students. Four out of our five students are non-verbal and have severe behaviors. The school is located in the small city of Corona, CA with Hispanic students being the majority group. In the classroom I am the only aide who can fluently speak and write Spanish. Being bilingual has helped me in my job because all of our student’s parents are Spanish speaking and are originally from Mexico.
In order for African American students to be successful there has to be an understanding of how to instruct our African American students. Teachers have to understand and build upon their culture. It is a schools’ responsibility to provide teachers with professional development, but it is the teachers’ responsibility to seek professional growth as well. Professional development has to be ongoing and just like students, teachers have to be life-long
Culturally Responsive Teaching is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning (Ladson-Billings, 1994). This approach to teaching encompasses how knowledge is both communicated and perceived by the students. The teacher must have a good relationship with the parents, have high expectations, learn about their students culture, have culturally mediated student-centered instruction, willing to reshape the curriculum, and be a facilitator in order to accomplish this method of teaching. These are key points a teacher must be willing to do if they intend to be an effective teacher especially in a highly culturally diverse area like central
The United States of America is known for being a country filled with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Likewise, the student population in schools is just as diverse as it continues to grow. Lynch (2015) notes that schools are expected to teach their students “how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base” as this will help “facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world” (para. 8). Educators must be able to provide for the diverse needs of students and are expected to equip students with skills that can lead to healthy development as it can affect higher levels of student achievement and students have more opportunities of success in their future. Providing students with tools and skills requires an awareness and acceptance of their ethnic identity. Once students have developed self-acceptance about their ethnic identity, they can begin to feel empowered and motivated to do well. Through cultural empowerment, students of color can develop intrinsic motivation and achieve academic success.
As discussed by Jabari Mahiri, African American culture and discussions about African American youth cannot be eliminated when trying to help educate black students. In detail, two African-American teachers who taught in the same high school had two different outcomes with their students. The reason there were two different results between the teachers was because one teacher decided to introduced and exposed the students to familiar faces that they can relate to and African American issues. In addition, Quassan Castro Writer, Activist, Columnist, Poet, Educator and Culture Critic suggested some tips and strategies to teach African American students because he noticed that there is staggering amount of African American students dropping out of high school and not attending college. Specifically, Castro mentioned that main three tips all Educators Must Know About Educating African American and Latino Students is 1) Connect with Parents. “Establish a positive connection with parents from the first day of class. A phone call to report good news is as equally vital to the success of your student as informing parents when children are struggling” (Castro). 2) Cultural Images. “Due to the overexposure to white identities in media, African American and Latino students need to see images of themselves where they are not portrayed as inferior or subordinate to white culture.” (Castro). 3) Value of Education and Real Life. “Express the value of education. Explain the varying levels of educational possibilities one can attain. Do not assume your students know how many high school credits they need to graduate. Do not assume your students knows what a bachelors, masters or doctorate program consists of” (Castro). These particular sources link the issue of African American students not having a high rate of academic achievement because
There are many factors that play a role in the learning process for every human being. Race, religion, language, socioeconomics, gender, family structure, and disabilities can all affect the ways in which we learn. Educators must take special measures in the delivery of classroom instruction to celebrate the learning and cultural differences of each of their students. As communities and schools continue to grow in diversity, teachers are searching for effective educational programs to accommodate the various learning styles of each student while promoting acceptance of cultural differences throughout the classroom. It no longer suffices to plan educational experiences only for middle-or upper class white learners and then
This course has really enlightened my view of being able to learn the value of linguistic and cultural diversity and the influential learning opportunities it gives today’s classrooms and schools. We as teacher educators were allowed to examine our attitudes, beliefs, and preferences regarding linguistically and culturally diverse students, families, and communities and learn methods for working together to confirm high levels of learning for all students. Also, strategies for guaranteeing
In today’s society, there are many reasons why people in the world need to know the fundamentals of using Standard English. When working in a business environment, we as employees need to know how to use Standard English to compete in the world and become successful. Many opportunities and rewards can come from learning how to use proper Standard English. There are many reasons why people should use Standard English in an office or workspace frequently, and using non-standard English can lead to many effects on your outlook as a professional.