Learn and describe features and outcomes of a systemic
professional learning (PL) framework for educational equity.
Engage in PL processes and content that exemplify principles of systemic PL for educational
equity.
Become familiar with PL resources available and which may be
contributed to the Equity Alliance at ASU website
• Powerful, focused, and sustained approaches that combine external and practice-embedded activities to build teachers’ knowledge, skills, and instructional practice so that all students experience everyday equity in their education
• Begins with assessment of students’ needs, from which teachers’ learning needs are determined by teachers themselves
• Becomes institutionalized and scaled up through a distributive model of organizational change in which effective practices are systematically disseminated through school networks
Improving Opportunities to Learn for All Students
Understanding the Cultural Nature of Learning
Attends to the long-standing disparities in opportunities to learn for students with diverse backgrounds and abilities, and across gender lines. Inequitable access, opportunities, and outcomes for traditionally excluded and marginalized groups are deeply embedded in U.S. history, and are certainly not problems of the past (Haycock, 2008).
Requires that educators understand the cultural nature of learning. Those engaged in this type of PL critique transform normative assumptions race, class, gender, ability, religion, national origin that define who is considered competent or different (Minow, 1990), and focus on nurturing, and educating all students (Artiles & Kozleski, 2007).
Grounding Assertions Desired Outcomes
Demonstrate the impact of
culturally responsive
practice.
Expand local ownership of
equity matters.
Increase learning
outcomes for students who
have been marginalized.
All learners have a right to
high-quality educational
opportunities where their cultures and
experiences are valued and
used as learning
resources
Dispel the myth that individual
student and group deficits
account for disparities in
access, participation,
and outcomes.
Universal equity is
achieved by creating
systems (at all levels) that
embody the principle of everyday
justice.
Education expands our
understanding of ourselves, the worlds in
which we live, and the
possibilities of what we can
become.
Equity exists, in part, to the
degree that all students feel they belong, are included,
and empowered.
Assertions & Outcomes of PL for Equity
oWhat are the purposes of education from your, students’, families’, perspectives? oWhat would equity look like at the systemic level? oWhat education do students have a right to? oHow are educational opportunities defined? oHow do we measure equity in terms of how students feel and what they achieve?
oWhat do you want out of this type of framework for PL? o What myths and/or biases do you want to confront and
address? oWhat kinds of capacities do you want to build? o What kinds of student outcomes do you want to achieve
and be able to connect with your efforts?
WHAT ARE THE TOOLS? How does PL provide educators opportunities to explore their own practice? Experience building bridges between curriculum, the culture of schooling, and the experiences of students?
educators purpose
tools
Cultural Responsivity Matrix Conceptual Framework
Topics
Activities
Language
People
Assessment
Miscellaneous
Curriculum is examined by each of these areas to determine whether the content and the approach to teaching represents one of the following approach types:
Contributions Additive Transformational Social Action
Dimensions of the Culturally Responsive Matrix
Contributions Diversity Additive Transformational Social Action
Levels of Knowledge Construction
This perspective conceptualizes knowledge construction as occurring on a continuum from factual and peripheral
to transformative and active
Diversity Additive
Transform-ational
Social Action
Contributions
Curriculum structure, goals and characteristics reflect mainstream constructions of knowledge.
Ethnic heroes and their
contributions are noted. Ethnic holidays and themes are
incorporated into the curriculum to acknowledge ethnic holidays and celebrations.
Books, bulletins boards, videos
and other teaching materials portray people from multiple cultural, racial, ethnic, religious, and language groups in a variety of roles interacting across stereotypical lines.
• Teachers consistently reference the multicultural nature of their teaching tools noting the contributions and accomplishments of distinguished individuals from a variety of cultural, racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds.
• Concepts, themes, authors, and perspectives from a variety of ethnic and cultural groups are added to the curriculum without changing its basic structure and assumption.
Diversity Additive
Contribution Transform
-ational Social Action
• Teachers consistently provide opportunities for students to work together across cultural boundaries
• Curriculum is taught from multiple perspectives and points of view
• Teachers involve students in decision-making about classroom culture
• Classroom practices create opportunities to examine multiple perspectives
Contribution Diversity Additive
Social Action
Transformational
• Teachers enact curricula that explore multiple perspectives, ideas, and outcomes.
• Students are able to develop critical lenses.
• Teachers assess student outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, and critical perspectives as well as social advocacy.
Contributions Diversity Additive
Transfor-mational
Social Action
Story 1 : Mariah Keeps Cool
Mariah, plans a birthday party for her sister, Lynn, with the help of her half sister, Denise,
and several friends. Lynn’s favorite activities are reading and helping out a local
homeless shelter. She says she does not want any special attention to her birthday and,
probably suspecting that something’s up, announces that she’s staying in bed all day.
The story recounts her sisters’, mother’s, and friends’ efforts to keep the party a surprise
and make it a meaningful for Lynn. The party includes dancing, eating, and bringing
contributions to the homeless shelter where Lynn helps out. It turns out well – Lynn is
pleased, and Mariah comes to appreciate her half-sister, Denise, more through their
shared efforts for Lynn.
STORY CONTENT
Mariah Keeps Cool
Topics/Issues The story theme is positive family and friendship relationships, team work, and problem solving.
Again, counters stereotypical African American vernacular speech. Speakers use standard English with occasional shifts of register such as “ya’ll” and “what you doing here?”
Language
People Studied The family is African American and the story apparently seeks to counter common stereotypes of African American family structure, SES and life-style. Most of the group of friends participate in a swimming club and are preparing for competition. The friend who is the swim coach has a swimming pool at his home. Lynn does not participate in the swim club but is an avid reader with a social conscience.
Miscellaneous (Pictures)
All the characters in all the pictures in the story are African Americans. Would seem to support notion of in-group friendships rather than cross-group. Does not challenge traditional societal prejudices regarding relationships.
Activity Discussion
At what level are the Topics/Issues presented? What are your evidences?
At what level is Language portrayed? What are your evidences?
At what level are People Studied portrayed? What are your evidences?
Curricular Profile
Contributions Diversity Additive
Transformational Social Action
Topics/Issues
Activities
Language (form, content, usage)
People Studied
Grading/ Assessment
Miscellaneous
Content Area:__________________________________________________________________________ Teachers:______________________________________________________________________________
Next Steps
What do I plan to do to move my curriculum from contributions to transformational?
What do I need to move my curriculum from contributions to transformational?
How will I evaluate changes in my students over time?
How do we engage teachers in exploration of their own curriculum and examining the effects of their teaching on student learning, through sharing and building on each other’s knowledge?
THE LOCATIONS OF LEARNING: How do we adjust teacher time and resources for the effort and activity
necessary for successful onsite learning, rather than creating learning opportunities
that are only additive, and potentially overwhelming models for existing schools.
Literacy?
• The ability to read and write. (American Heritage
Dictionary)
• The use of language to construct personal and public
worlds and to achieve full participation in society, (NCTE)
• "Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret,
create, communicate and compute, using printed and
written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy
involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to
achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge
and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society."
(UNESCO)
The Literacy Debate
"By the year 2000, every adult American will be
literate and will possess the skills necessary to
compete in a global economy and to exercise
the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.”
Darlene tryin to teach me how to talk….Every time I say something the way I say it, she correct me until I say it some other way. Pretty soon it feel like I can’t think. My mind run up on a thought, git confuse, run back and sort of lay down. You sure this worth it? I ask. She say Yeah. Bring me a bunch of books. White folks all over them, talking bout apples and dogs. What I care bout dogs? I think….But I let Darlene worry on. Sometimes I think bout the apples and the dogs, sometimes I don’t. Look like to me only a fool would want you to talk in a way that feel peculiar to your mind. - Celie, in The Color Purple
Explanations for Literacy Achievement Gap
Linguistic Differences
Cultural Differences
Societal Racism
Inferior Education
Rationales for
Schooling
Teaching Children to Read: National Reading Panel
Alphabetics
Phonemic Awareness Instruction
Phonics Instruction
Fluency
Guided Oral Reading
Independent Silent Reading
Comprehension
Vocabulary Instruction
Text Comprehension
Instruction
Alphabetics
Phonemic Awareness Instruction
Phonics Instruction
Rhymes and alliteration
Oddity tasks
Orally blend words and split syllables
Orally segment words
Phonemic manipulation tasks
Letter-sound correspondences and
uses in reading and spelling
Integrate with other reading
instruction
Fluency
Guided Oral Reading
Independent Silent Reading
Repeated readings
Positive relationship between large
amounts and improvements in fluency
Comprehension
Vocabulary Instruction
Text Comprehension
Instruction
Direct and indirect instruction Repetition and multiple exposures Learn in rich contexts Task restructuring Multiple approaches
Comprehension monitoring Cooperative learning Question answering Question generation Story structure Summarization
Findings of the National Commission on Writing (NCW)
1. Standardization
and scripting of
instruction
threaten to
undermine
writing
instruction.
2. A climate to
encourage
writing must
be created.
3. Genuine reform
requires
personalization of
instruction.
4. Maintaining a
sense of
“community” in
schools is
essential both to
writing and to the
larger reform
movement.
Best Instructional Writing Practices - NCW
• Use the languages, experiences, and images of students home communities as learning
• Students and teachers as co-inquirers and co-learners
• Use writing to collect, analyze, synthesize, and communicate information and opinions
• Draft, compose, and revise a variety of writings for a variety of audiences, purposes, and occasions
• Use all the language arts (listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking) all at once and all together in learning and sharing ideas
• Make some of student writing public beyond the classroom