Asian American students are marginalized'

1
Asian American students are marginalized.

• Lack of Asian American teachers
• Bilingual education lacks the proper
  infrastructure.
• Lack of Asian American material in high school
  curriculum
• Ethnically based stereotyping diminishes Asian
  American opportunities.

2
Lack of Asian American teachers

• Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) make up 5.2 of
  the Philadelphia School District
• teachers' knowledge of their subjects also
  appears to influence student performance.1
• Policy 102 Multiracial-Multicultural-Gender
  Education
• Diverse teachers understand diverse students

1Olson, Lynn (2003). The Great Divide.
Education Week
3
Bilingual education lacks the proper
infrastructure.

• Targeting wrong students
• Lack of teachers with Proper training
• Submersion ESL (current program)
• Current Proposals
• 1. Unz Initiative ( California)

4
Lack of Asian American material in high school
curriculum

• cultural diversity focus is a priority of the
  District's curriculum reform agenda
• Asian American studies help to counter the
  black-white view of American society and serves
  as a way to understand the American experience in
  terms of class, sex and race.
• In April 1995, students at Northwestern
  University went on a hunger strike to demand
  permanent AAS courses, and in April 1996, a
  multi-racial coalition of students at Columbia
  University held a hunger strike and took over
  university buildings to demand an ethnic studies
  department

5
APA Stereotypes

• Model Minority Myth
• Reactions from teachers
• Reactions from peers
• Consequences of Stereotypes to APAs

6
Needs Assessment - Method

• Initially wanted to conduct interviews with the
  administration- Failed
• We each individually examined different problems
  and the resulting action taken by the school
  district of Philadelphia

7
Change Project

• 2 methods
• Approaching Administration
• Approaching the Students

8
METHOD 1

• Step 1Making Administration Aware of the needs
  of Asian American Students
• Step 2 Recruiting and training faculty
• Step 3 Using trained faculty to help address
  bilingual students needs

9
Addressing Stereotypes

• Step 1
• Administrative Awareness
• 1. debunking model minority myth
• 2. mandatory curriculum change
• 3. counselors specialized with APA issues
• Teacher Sensitivity/Training
• 1. promoting cultural awareness APA issues
• Student Application
• 1. discussion groups
• 2. increased social contact with other cultures

10
Recruiting Faculty

• Step 2
• Recruiters and counselors sensitive to APA
  concerns
• Cultural and social events that support APAs
• Increased opportunities for APAs to work with
  other APA practitioners in the field
• Academic and counseling services
• Financial aid and scholarship packages

11
Training Faculty

• Step 2
• Use classes or lectures
• Know the demographics of the region and classroom
• Learn how to work with children who do not speak
  English
• Enable educators to encourage the quiet to speak
  and the loud to listen
• Cultural Awareness

12
Addressing Bilingual Education

• Step 3
• Using newly trained and recruited teachers to
  teach bilingual classes
• Asking higher education degree granters to change
  the requirements for obtaining a degree in
  teaching.
• Continue using Submersion ESL programs to help
  student acclimate.

13
Method 2Approaching the Students

• Create the demand from the students
• Administration usually wont supply in an empty
  vacuum
• Make high school students aware of the problems
  and let them know they can do something about it
• Pamphlet
• Word of mouth

14
Evaluation

• Evaluation for Methods 1 and 2
• Utilize Focus Groups
• students will be observed and then chosen by
  facilitators of this project
• students will not solely be chosen by race but
  will be chosen according to the high school
  setting context
• Before initiation of this project begins, these
  selected students will first be asked to discuss
  and write down their stance on the aforementioned
  Asian American issues in the following contexts
  peers of the same race, peers of different races,
  family, and school
• From then on, the facilitators of this project
  will continually meet with these group of
  students and discuss in an open forum and
  individually through questionnaire and
  suggestions
• the success of this project will be gauged upon
  the teacher's evaluation of the student's
  academic achievement, leadership and social
  interactions with groups of other races

15
Evaluation

• Method 2 of Change Project
• Possible Outcomes
• Apathy
• Negativity
• Activism