Introduction Education experts have spent many years planning and revising learning material and assessment tools to meet the demands of diverse learners coming into the 21st century. Educators have responded to this demand by becoming more aware of the need for a multicultural education program that helps meet the needs of each diverse learner, examining their own attitudes and bias opinions toward minority students, and acknowledging the important role every stakeholder plays in providing an equal education to every learner. However, in spite of these efforts, there is still a growing concern for the achievement gap that remains evident among students. Despite some evidence of success and strong progress by black, Hispanic, and socioeconomic disadvantaged students from 1970 to 1988, the education reform efforts of the last decade have not enabled significant numbers of students to become educationally competitive or to close the gaps in achievement (Lee, 2001). The purpose of this paper is to reflect on multicultural education, the achievement gap, and unresolved issues, prospects and challenges moving through the 21st century. I will show my knowledge, through research, of the efforts and tactics educators and policy makers are being urged to consider helping narrow the academic disparities which continue to divide racial and ethnic groups moving forward. Furthermore, after viewing the required video presented by Dr. Ferguson, I will describe my views on the achievement gap, and how as a teacher, I can implement some of the suggestions and concepts of Dr. Ferguson into my classroom, school and/or district. After all, we need to arrive at mid-century with adults and children from every background feeling they have as m... ... middle of paper ... ...). Professional community and closing the student achievement gap. Advocating for What’s Right: A One-Day NEA Symposium on Critical Issues for Educators. Presentation conducted from Harvard University, Washington, D.C. Ferguson, R. F. (2011, October 15). Educational excellence with equity: A social movement for the 21st century [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_KTzDUcqrk&feature=youtu.be Lee, J. (2002). Racial and ethnic achievement gap trends: Reversing the progress toward equity? Educational Researcher, 31(1), 3-12. Manning, L. & Baruth. L. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th Ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Williams, B., & Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, A. A. (2003). Closing the achievement gap: A vision for changing beliefs and practices (2nd Ed.). Alexandria, VA.
Robles de Melendez, W. (2010). Teaching Young Children in Multicultural Classrooms: Issues, Concepts, and Strategies (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
In his book Improbable Scholars, David Kirp examines the steps communities take to make successful education reforms. While describing the particular education initiatives of Union City, New Jersey, Kirp suggests that “[if] we want to improve education, we must first have a vision of what good education is,” (2015). Kirp’s descriptions of Union City certainly support that point, but it’s difficult to claim that that point is generalizable if we do not examine other education initiatives and their approach to reform. In examining how visions of “good education” can guide successful education reforms, one can point to Black communities in Mississippi—whose radical vision of “good education” guided the creation of schools, curricula, and community
Landsmen, Julie. (2004, November) Closing the Achievement Gap: Confronting the Racism of Low Expectations. Educational Leadership 62 (3).
The first issue that has been identified as a significant problem involved in the Achievement gap, is that it is partially the fault of America's educational system. Because of the suffering economy that has spurred the increasing lack of basic necessities in schools across America, there are an increasing number of children who are not being properly educated. Whether it is a deficiency in supplies, poor teacher selection, or administration and staff who are indifferent to the students at their sch...
Authors Glenn E. Singleton and Curtis Linton in Chapter Five of Courageous Conversations About Race broach the topic of race, by asking the reader to evaluate his or her own consciousness of race. According to the authors, in order to address the achievement gaps between African American students and White students, educators should shift their energy towards focusing on the factors that they have direct control of inside the classroom rather than on the factors that influence this achievement disparity between races outside the classroom.
The achievement gap is defined as the disparity between the performance groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, ability and socio-economic status. The achievement gap can be observed through a variety of measures including standardized test scores, grade point averages, drop out rates, college enrollment and completion rates. The Black-White achievement gap is a critical issue in modern society’s education system. Although data surrounding the issue clearly indicates that the racial performance gap exists in areas of standardized tests, graduation rates, dropout rates, and enrollment in continuing education, the causative reasons for the gap are ambiguous—therefore presenting a significant challenge in regard to the most effective way to close the gap. The gap appears before children enter kindergarten and it persists into adulthood (Jencks 1998). Since 1970, the gap has decreased about 40 percent, but has steadily grown since. Theories suggest the Black-White achievement gap is created by a multitude of social, cultural, and economic factors as well as educational opportunities and/or learning experiences. Factors such as biased testing, discrimination by teachers, test anxiety among black students, disparities between blacks and whites in income or family structure, and genetic and cultural differences between blacks and whites have all been evaluated as explanations for the Black-White achievement gap (Farkas 2004). The research that follows will elaborate on these factors as they affect the decline in academic performance of black males—particularly the literacy achievement of black males.
The Schott Foundations Report (2008) on public education does a great job spelling out the educational inequities in graduation rates and achievement gaps impacting African American males in the United States, particularly in the south. The Schott Foundation on Public Education mission is to develop and strengthen a broad-based and representative movement to achieve fully resourced, quality pre K-12 public education (The Schott Foundation Report, 2010). The Schott Foundation has been proactive over the years by evaluating the success of national, state and local public systems in educating Black males (The Schott Foundation Report, 2010). One of ...
The United States is a country known for its diversity; so when it comes to the diverse classrooms of today many would not think there would be an issue. However, many schools face a multitude of problems that affect pupil’s education. Roughly twenty-seven percent of Hispanic, Latino, and African-American students in the state of Louisiana fall within the poverty level and unfortunately do not obtain a decent quality education. In addition, only seventy-four percent of those Louisiana students go on to graduate high school (Spotlight on Poverty, 2015). The core portion of the issue concerning poverty in relation to education is due to the economy, work availability, and
...g 17 schools in four cities in two states. The organization’s goal is to produce college ready graduates from low-income, traditionally low-achieving urban districts. The schools use a model of closing the achievement gap by lengthening the school day, finding the best human capital, and using data to guide instruction, while building student character and modeling life-long learning behaviors for students. To this point, which is about seven years in to the Achievement First network’s operations, the schools have been successful at dramatically increasing test scores and having graduation rates much higher than the average. Achievement First’s biggest challenge, like many other CMOs, is scaling up and there are several parts involved in that, including teacher and leader development, budget concerns, and maintaining high achievement with an increased student base.
The United States places a great deal of importance on education and continuing to be a leader in the realm of education. If the United States wants to continue on this road it must take a good look at the achievement gap that has been created and growing. In a system where in high school 34% of black students are being held back, and are more likely to drop out before receiving a high school diploma it is essential to understand what has caused this gap and ways to help close it. When African Americans first came to this country becoming educated was not something they were allowed to do, they had to wait years and years to even learn how to write without there being consequences. When the opportunity did come along for African Americans to become educated and schools were created for them and by them, there have still being hurdles for them with chances of schools losing accreditation, and financial support for students. Policies, laws, and initiatives must really become priorities to help African Americans to ensure that they are allowed to succeed and achieve the same goals and lives as everyone else. Making sure there are able, understanding, and qualified teachers teaching students is also very important. Teachers play such a big role in the lives of students and helping them to succeed not primary and secondary school, but also continuing their journey’s into places of higher learning. This is a problem that can be fixed as long as we are serious about true equality and opportunities for
As the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in America's public schools, Hispanic students have the unique potential to positively affect the economic and cultural future of the United States. Ensuring the promise of this diverse group of learners requires the attention and commitment of the entire country. We must work harder to close the educational achievement gaps between Hispanic students and the nation as a whole. This must begin with high expectations for achievement, clear goals for what must be accomplished, and specific benchmarks to measure our progress.
Solutions to these disparities are improving minority student readiness and providing support for families in areas related to academics. Improving the opportunity to succeed in education for poor minority students will likely enhance the future options and support future social mobility (McKinney, 2014). In keeping with this logic education policies such as No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) have been introduced. The focus of NCLB is to close the achievement gaps among students in the US. The framework of NCLB includes benchmark accounting for schools to be proficient in teaching. NCLB also intends to ensure that any teacher providing instruction at the core levels be suitably qualified. This initiative offers many opportunities for success but also create its own set of challenges. Challenges based on student role performance, environment, teacher roles, family, and peers. Student role performance is how well a student meets expectations and obligations based on their achieved roles. Environmental factors that affect NCLB are teacher selection, class size and school rules and regulations that must be enforced. Teacher roles are characterized by if a teacher is fair, caring and provides quality instruction. The family demands of NCLB
Manning, L.M. & Barruth, L.G. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
The cultural diversity in society, which is reflected in schools, is forcing schools not to solely rely on content-centered curriculum, but to also incorporate student-centered lesson plans based on critique and inquiry. This requires multicultural education to a dominant part of the school system, not just an extra course or unit. Further, it demands that learning itself no longer be seen as obtaining knowledge but rather, education be seen as creating knowledge. Multicultural education should be seen as affirming the diversity of students and communities, promoting the multicultural ideas of the United States, and building the knowledge and behaviors needed for students to be a positive and contributing member of society and the global community as a whole.
Manning, L. & Baruth. L. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th Ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.