UNDERSER VE D G IF TED POPULAT I ON S SUMMIT

O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 6 A P R I L WE L L S

C O O R D I N A T O R - G I F T E D , A C A D E M I E S , A P & W O R L D L A N G U A G E S

I A G C B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

UNVEIL THE PROMISE AND POTENTIAL IN

UNDERREPRESENTED LEARNERS

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMM…

You know what you know; and what you don’t know, you just don’t know.

EQUITY VS. ACCESS

• What comes to mind when you hear these terms • How are they similar (are they equal?) • What are the next steps in our pursuit?

BARRIERS TO RIGOROUS PROGRAMMING

• EAL • Poverty • Cultural bias • Access to Enrichment • Exposure • Policies • Procedures

QUESTIONS TO ASK

• Are students from all demographic population represented in assessment, nomination, identification, service and exiting?

• Where are the discrepancies occurring?

PICTURE THE GAP

EMBRACING THE IMBALANCE

• Working through cognitive dissonance • Conceptual categories • Implicit biases

PROMISE

• CLD learners are disproportionately represented in gifted programs

• Responsive practices allow for more inclusive opportunities

• Privilege is insidious

THE FAULT IN INSTRUMENTS

• No single instrument is going to tell the story in a way that adequately represents students in the most dynamic manner

ALTERNATE WAYS TO ASSESS

• Interviews • Observations • Rating scales • Portfolios • Surveys/questionnaires

FRAMEWORK CONSIDERATIONS

• Definition • Philosophy • Mission statement • Program components • Education • Mindset • Barriers

IDENTIFICATION…DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

• Early intervention • Multiple measures • Qualitative measures • Cultural competence • Contextualized identification

INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES

• Culturally responsive pedagogy • Noncognitive skills • Instructional scaffolds • Strengths model • Growth model • Interdisciplinary approach • Leverage questioning

CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY

Culturally responsive pedagogy uses the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective for them; it teaches to and through the strengths of these students.

WARMTH AND DEMAND

• All learners must be held to high expectations • Expectations must be reflective of student

readiness, diversity, etc. • Realization of how members from various

culture/groups “do school” • High context vs. low context culture • High support balanced with high expectations

ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE

• Second language acquisition • Native language foundation • Bridging • Strengths vs. deficit model • Cognitive ability

AFFECTIVE DOMAIN

• Scholar identity • Social and emotional pursuits • Culturally responsive problem solving models

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

• Talent development programs • Supplemental experiences • Training- administrators and teachers • Varied and authentic assessments • Data exploration

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

• Talent development experiences are structured for learners to reach their full potential.

• Such advanced academic programs and resources enhance a child's schooling

• Comprehensive approaches to talent development delivers personalized options and guidance.

• Talent development pathways lead students on a clearly articulated journey of intellectual, emotional and social growth.

• Talent does not develop in isolation…schools can support diverse learners by providing programming that allows students to discover their unique voice, explore opportunities, cultivate a love of learning and become bold, creative achievers and contributors

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATION

• Advanced Placement mission statement • The School District U-46 Advanced Placement (AP) Program

provides students exposure to college-level courses in a high school setting with developmentally appropriate support from teachers and peers. Through engagement in rigorous coursework, students sharpen their communication and analytical skills as they draw upon their personal strengths and diverse experiences. U-46 encourages all willing students to enroll in an AP course.

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATION CONTD.

District U-46 AP goals

• Increase AP enrollment by all willing students • To raise student performance by creating a culture of high

academic attainment through rigorous college-level courses • To demonstrate that all learners are able to learn at high levels

with the appropriate level of expectation balanced with support

• To provide a pathway for students to become independent thinkers practicing effective time management, directed inquiry and critical thinking

• To create opportunities for students to pursue their passion in academic pursuits

• To afford students an opportunity to sit for an AP exam

COLLEGE BOARD ACCESS AND EQUITY STATEMENT

The College Board and the Advanced Placement Program encourage teachers, AP Coordinators, and school administrators to make equitable access a guiding principle for their AP programs. The College Board is committed to the principle that all students deserve an opportunity to participate in rigorous and academically challenging courses and programs.

COLLEGE BOARD

All students who are willing to accept the challenge of a rigorous academic curriculum should be considered for admission to AP courses. The Board encourages the elimination of barriers that restrict access for AP courses to students from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in the AP Program. Schools should make every effort to ensure that their AP classes reflect the diversity of their student population.

AMONG THE MISSING…

• Low income, Latino and black students access AP and IB courses at the lowest rates

• “Enrollment gap” in advanced courses has been around for a long time

MORE THAN 650,000 MISSING STUDENTS

• Research shows that at least two-thirds of a million students who are qualified for advanced courses are not enrolled in them each year

EXCELLENCE GAP

• Excellence gap refers to the disparity in the percent of lower-income versus higher-income students who reach advanced levels of academic performance.

BELIEF GAP • Undermatching

Most low income students with good grades and test scores don’t even bother to apply to top colleges. This is called undermatching, and it’s believed to happen largely because students aren’t aware of the options available to them.

• Gifted and Talented Low-income and minority students are far less likely to enroll in gifted and talented programs, even when they have the aptitude to succeed in these courses.

• Implicit Bias White teachers are much less likely than black teachers to see black students as college material, even when talking about the same students. This kind of unconscious stereotyping is called implicit bias. While these biases may be unintentional, the expectations teachers hold for students can significantly affect student outcomes and success.

GOT ACCESS?

The College Board strongly encourages educators to make equitable access a guiding principle for their AP programs by giving all willing and academically prepared students the opportunity to

participate in AP. Educators encouraged to: • Eliminate barriers • AP classes and diversity

of student population • Early access to rigor • Equity and excellence

PURSUING PROMISE: U-46 AP 2015 FACTS

PURSUING PROMISE CONTD.

PURSUING PROMISE CONTD.

Awards and distinctions:

• 357 AP Scholar awards

• 218 AP Scholars • 62 AP Scholars with

Honor • 77 AP Scholars with

Distinction • 8 National AP

Scholars

THE BREAKDOWN

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Hispanic Asian A/A White

AP Test Takers by Ethnicity

District Demo 14-15 13-14

STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE EQUITY AND ACCESS

• Eliminating pre-requisite courses; open access • Providing special study sessions for students • Recruiting students for AP courses, often

microtargeting underrepresented students • Establishing flexible and creative schedules • Communicating with the community, sometimes

using media outlets • AP potential data, course matching • Resources and materials

U-46 PARADIGM SHIFT

• When students take an AP course, not if they take an AP course

MINDSETS, VALUES AND BELIEFS

• Equitable access.. Best practice • Noncognotive factors • Affective domain • Scholar identity

A PIPELINE TO AP SUCCESS: DISTRICT U-46

EQUITY AND ACCESS

The District’s administration believe that it is imperative to: • Hire educators who have high expectations of the

school’s/district’s diverse student body • Have a robust curriculum that is vertically aligned;

leading to AP courses • Offer as much professional development as possible

to all teachers

COLLEGE AND CAREER SUCCESS FOR ALL STUDENTS ACT

• A student who takes a College Board Advanced Placement examination and receives a score of 3 or higher on the examination is entitled to receive postsecondary level course credit at a public institution of higher education.

• Requires each public institution of higher education to comply with the same standard of awarding course credit to any student receiving a score of 3 or higher on a College Board Advanced Placement examination and applying the credit to meet a corresponding course requirement for degree completion at that institution of higher education.

QUESTIONS?