CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP

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CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP

• District 2
• October 13, 2004

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STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

• Overall improvement
• Test results
• AP courses taken and passed
• Disaggregated data
• Gap continues for Latino and African American
  students

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CULTURALLY RELEVANT AND RESPONSIVE EDUCATION
(CRRE)

• educating all students by incorporating their
  cultural, emotional, and social experiences into
  the teaching and learning process
• Seven domains

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KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

• Students prior knowledge and experience
• Alternative learning styles and modalities
• Alternative sources of knowledge
• Students cognitive and mental strengths

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SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL

• Mutual respect and acceptance
• Respect for cultural diversity
• High expectations for student achievement
• Affirmation and care for all students
• Positive and diverse role models
• Effective classroom management

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RELEVANT EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

• Provision and utilization of authentic culturally
  relevant materials and artifacts that represent
  all the children in the class
• Use of culturally relevant examples in teaching
  key concepts and principles
• Offering choice in project assignments that
  reflect students ethnicity and learning style
• Classroom materials and décor that reflects
  student diversity

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QUALITY INSTRUCTION AND CURRICULUM

• Use of clear standards
• Rigorous instructional environment
• Multicultural content
• Attention to college and vocational preparation
• Language needs of diverse students
• Attention to student diversity
• Attention to poverty issues

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INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Cooperative learning
• Active learning and apprenticeship
• Instructional conversation (accountable talk)
• Constructivist learning
• Scaffolding
• Targeted teaching or differentiation

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DIAGNOSIS AND ASSESSMENT

• Multiple sources of assessments (traditional and
  non-traditional)
• Alternative assessment methods
• Additional student support and ample testing time

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PARENT AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• Parent presence in the classroom
• Contact with parents for other than discipline or
  homework follow-up
• Community presence in the classroom (e.g.
  presentations)
• Parent education

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ADMINISTRATOR ACTIONS

• Administrators in schools that closed the gap
  were more likely to
• Be hands-on, often visiting classes
• Express positive attitudes towards their staff
  and students
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of instruction
• Co-create a learning community
• Enjoy mutual trust and acceptance among staff

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ADMINISTRATORS (CONTD)

• Administrators in schools that widened the gap
• Less frequently monitored instructional
  activities and programs
• Less likely to offer instructional support to
  teachers
• Reported fewer instance of shared decision making
• Reported lower levels of staff support
• Did not address diversity directly be integrating
  it into curricula

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TEACHER ACTIONS

• Teachers in schools that closed the gap
• Had more experience and longer tenure in their
  particular school
• Shared in decision making, collective school
  management with administration, and teacher
  collaboration
• Drew upon students prior life experience and
  academic knowledge
• Recognized that school-related factors determined
  student success
• Revisited lessons more frequently
• Delivered lessons in alternative ways to clarify
• Asked more questions to verify understanding

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TEACHERS (CONTD)

• Teachers in schools that widened the gap
• Fewer years of teaching experience
• Spoke less enthusiastically about the principal
• Less likely to use differentiated learning
  strategies
• Less like to use differentiated methods to
  reteach to ensure comprehension
• Less likely to base instructional decisions on
  student data
• More likely to blame parental or environmental
  factors for student failures
• Spent less time on academics and more time on
  extracurricular activities

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PARENT ACTIONS

• Parents in schools that closed the gap
• Helped teachers with administrative activities
  (e.g. monitoring student attendance)
• Were involved academically rather than only in an
  extracurricular mode.

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SUMMARY

• Frequent use of both formal and informal
  assessment approaches
• Less focus on celebrating cultural events and
  holidays more emphasis on ensuring equality and
  equity among students
• Use of diverse strategies
• Varied CRRE implementation across classrooms
• Administrators in classrooms
• Teachers drew upon students prior life
  experience and academic knowledge
• Recognition that school-related factors
  determined student success

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