Cultural Counseling View of the Achievement Gap Through A Different Lenses

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Cultural Counseling View of the Achievement Gap
Through A Different Lenses

• Dr. Rhonda WilliamsAssistant Professor
• Nicole Cartwright
• Teacher/School Counselor

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Each one reach one Each one teach one What you
do not know you must learn. When you have
learned then you must teach. Unknown
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Introduction

• Does Colorado really have an achievement gap?
• Why is culturally responsive counseling important
  or necessary?
• What does it mean to be culturally responsive?
• How are we currently demonstrating cultural
  responsiveness?
• How might you expand your program to meet the
  needs of cultural diversity?

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High School Graduation RatesColorado
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Proficiency on the 10th Grad math CSAP test
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How does the rest of the country compare?
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Interesting Facts Nationally
By Race, Ethnicity NAEP 4th Grade Reading 2003
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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By Race, Ethnicity NAEP 8th Grade Math 2003
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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What factors might influence the achievement gap?
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By Family Income NAEP 4th Grade Reading 2003
(Nation)
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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By Family Income NAEP 8th Grade Math 2003
(Nation)
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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Why is culturally responsive counseling important
or necessary?

• Without a high school degree, these young people
  risk missing a rung on the ladder of opportunity.
  They will not be adequately prepared for jobs
  that pay a self sufficient wage, and will need
  remedial education in order to go to college or
  trade school. (Bell Policy Center Report, 2005,
  p. 46)

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Why is culturally responsive counseling important
or necessary?

• Incongruities between linguistically and
  culturally diverse (LCD) students home cultures
  and values and those of the school can result in
  these students disengaging from school and
  eventually dropping out (Schwallie-Giddis et al.
  p 15).

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How are we currently demonstrating cultural
responsiveness?
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What does it mean to be culturally responsive?

• Representing the needs of under-represented
  youth.
• Being aware of the needs our diverse student
  population in order to achieve academic success.
• Utilizing techniques that are in line with
  cultural values of the students with whom they
  work.
• Closing the achievement gap

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Cultural competence

• Attitudes/beliefs-actively in the process of
  becoming aware of his/her own assumptions about
  human behavior, values, biases
• Knowledge attempts to understand the worldview
  of his/her culturally different client.
• Skills is in the process of actively developing
  and practicing appropriate, relevant and
  sensitive intervention strategies and skills in
  working with his/her culturally different
  students.

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The professional school counselor must
continually work toward multicultural counseling
competence by

• Increasing awareness of ones own culture and the
  culture of others.
• Working to eliminate personal and school-wide
  barriers
• Refraining from utilizing a cookbook,
  stereotypical approach to counseling
• Mastery of a variety of individual and group
  counseling approaches
• Respecting the indigenous support and healing
  systems of all students

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The professional school counselor must
continually work toward multicultural counseling
competence by

• Understanding possible stressors for students of
  diverse cultures.
• Understanding the specific way race, ethnicity
  and culture may affect students academic,
  career, and personal/social development
• Assuming multiple helping roles based on the
  needs of students.
• Providing student resources that are reflective
  of a diverse population
• Promoting school-wide programs and staff
  development opportunities
• (Moore-Thomas, 2004 p. 641)

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Activity
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How might you expand your program to meet the
needs of cultural diversity?

• Five underlying factors appear to be influential
  in school counselors perceptions of themselves
  as multiculturally competent practitioners.
• An understanding of racial identity development,
• Facility with multicultural terminology,
• Multicultural awareness,
• Multicultural knowledge and
• Multicultural skills (Holcomb-McCoy, 2001 p.
  197).

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Understanding White Privilege

• Knap Sack Pack presentation

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Diversity Leadership

• Empowering student by placing them in a position
  of school leadership, by implementing a student
  diversity leadership group, .might be an
  excellent way to change the cultural
  responsiveness of a school.
• cross-cultural mentorship as a learning
  experience for both the mentors and mentees.
• Domains addressed Personal Social, Career, and
  Academic

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Culturally Infused Curriculum

• Through multiple studies we know that if children
  hold misconceptions, it takes large amounts of
  new sensory input to rewire the brain (Kovalik,
  Olsen, 2005 p. 1.14).
• Through culturally responsive experiential
  activities, students learn to think at a
  different level.
• Helping students effectively collaborate and
  understand another persons world view can
  influence childrens cultural awareness and
  cultural responsiveness.
• Collaboration increases understanding and
  improves quality of output. (Kovalik, Olsen,
  2005 p. 1.18)

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Freedoms Song Curriculum

• This curriculum incorporates experiential
  activities covering each decade of the 20th
  century expounding on the African American
  experience.
• These activities introduce a culturally
  responsive way to reflect on historical events.
• This curriculum develops students awareness in
  looking at the world from a broader perspective
  than only through their culturally encapsulated
  eyes.

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Education brings daybreak ignorance, a long,
long night. Maya
Angelou
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Resources

• Freedoms Song (www.freedomssong.net)
• Monroe, Lorraine, (1997). Nothings Impossible
  Leadership lessons from the inside and outside
  the classroom. New York, Public Affairs.
• McIntosh, P. (1999). The invisible knapsack.

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Questions Answers
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Resources

• List the resources you used for your research