Diversity & Equity Today Defining and Meeting the Challenge

1. Diversity & Equity TodayDefining and Meeting the Challenge Heather Broderick Will Carter Paula Listrani Robin Sullivan

2. Introduction: • Inequity and Inequality • Equity-“fair” • Equality-“equal” • American society has historically struggled with the questions of equity and equality

3. Liberal Ideology: Meritocracy Reexamined • New Debate • Origins of inequality • “GI Bill” • Brown v. Board of Education (1954) • Michael Harrington’s 1962 bestseller, The Other America • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and urban riots that followed his murder

4. The Coleman Report • Survey by James Coleman • “concerning lack of availability of equal educational opportunity for individuals by reason of race, color, religion, or national origin.” • Initiated new debate on equity • Summary of findings • Flaws in Coleman Report • The Cultural Deprivation studies

5. The Political-Economic Context • Demographics of modern American society • Race, ethnicity, and the limits of language • Ethnicity, income, wealth • Ethnicity and employment • Ethnicity and family • Statistics

6. Gender • Gender and employment • “Glass-ceiling” • Increase role of women as professionals. • Gender and income • Do women make the same income as men in the same profession? • Gender and living situation • Implications for working mothers • Family Medical Leave Act (1993)

7. Socioeconomic Class • Class and income • Designating class by income bracket • Class and power • Thomas Dye’s research findings • “Power-elite”

8. Education: Ethnicity, Gender, and Class • How does membership in ethnic, economic, social class, gender, and handicapping conditions influence how individuals learnand the equality of education?

9. Education: Ethnicity, Gender, and Class • Race, ethnicity, and education • Socioeconomic class and education • Equity, education, and handicapping conditions • Gender and education & societal definitions of gender

10. Race, Ethnicity, and Education Are there fundamental differencesin the way African-Americans,white, Indian, Latino, or Asian children experiencethe institution of schooling?

11. Race, Ethnicity, and Education • Statistical information among racial and ethnic groups • Language barriers: Asians & Hispanics • Desegregation: Was it successful?

12. Race, Ethnicity, and Education • Progress in formal education • Today, most if not all educators believe that high-school graduation rate of 86% is no longer satisfactory

13. Race, Ethnicity, and Education • Subdivision among racial groups

14. Socioeconomic Class and Education • Are there fundamental differences between the experiences of the rich and poor?

15. Socioeconomic Class and Education • Thomas Toch Discussion Topic: Do you think that the school districts in the suburbs and the city is modern day segregation? Consider: • Teacher’s attitudes • Parents attitudes • School facilities & resources

16. Equity, Education, and Handicapping Conditions • Do Schools provide equitable treatment to students who are judged to have physical disabilities, psychological disabilities or handicapping conditions?

17. Equity, Education, and Handicapping Conditions • Labeled individuals • Education for All Handicapped Children Act ( EHA) • Implications Discussion Topic: What is the problem with identifying students with a handicap condition?

18. Gender and Education & Societal Definitions of Gender Are there fundamental differences between the experiences of male and female?

19. Gender and Education & Societal Definitions of Gender • Gender stereotypes • Gender vs. Sex • Social expectations & gender roles begin at birth • Sex roles in early education • Gender bias in secondary schools

20. Gender and Education & Societal Definitions of Gender • Women’s Educational Equity Act (1972) • Implications • Advances in gender equality • Gender equality today

21. Does Social Inequality Necessarily Determine Educational Outcomes? • Individuals succeed or fail due to their native abilities and applied efforts, but also on the basis of their membership in one or more ethnic, gender, or economic groups.

22. Jane Elliot's Experiment • Taught students what prejudice and discrimination were • Blue-eyed vs. brown and green-eyed children • Students realized how a feeling of inferiority can be destructive and how it can destroy motivation

23. Theories of Social Inequality • Genetic Inferiority Theory • Cultural Deficit Theory • Critical Theory • Cultural Difference Theory • Cultural Subordination Theory • Resistance Theory

24. Bilingual and ESL Instruction as Bridges to English Proficiency • LEP students have sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language • The U.S. Dept. of Ed. Identifiedover 2.1 million public school students in the U.S. as LEP • Of all schools with LEP students, 76% provide programs in ESL, while 36% offer bilingual education programs

25. BEV Language and Cultural Subordination • A child who says, "They be mine" is speaking a dialect known as Black English Vernacular (BEV) • There is a mismatch between African-American culture and the dominant Anglo culture of America • The language one speaks is not biologically determined, but a function of one's cultural background

26. Pedagogical Approaches to Pluralism • Ignore differences • Eliminate differences • Sensitivity to differences • Uses cultural resources as a bridge

27. Examining Gender Theoryas an Illustration ofSensitivity to Difference • 1st phase • “gender-free” approach • 2nd phase • equalizing gender differences • 3rd phase • looking for ways to overcome differences, and differences arerecognized and respected

28. Examples of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy(Grant & Ladson-Billings) • A culturally relevant educator’sconception of themselves and others • Conceptions of social relations • Conceptions of knowledge • All students are capable of academic success • Pedagogy as an art • See themselves as members of the community • Teaching as a way to give back to the community • Freirean notion of “teaching as mining” or pulling knowledge out, not putting it in • Fluid student-teacher relationships • Demonstrate connectedness with all students • Develop a community of learners • Encourage students to learn collaboratively and be responsible for each other • Knowledge is not static_it is shared, recycled, and reconstructed • Knowledge must be viewed critically • Be passionate about knowledge learning • Assessment must be multifaceted, incorporating multiple forms of excellence

29. Assimilationist & Pluralistic Approaches to Achieving a Pluralistic Education (Sleeter & Grant) • Teaching the exceptional & culturally different • Human relations • Single-group studies • Multicultural education • Multicultural and social reconstructionist education

30. What can be done?(Sleeter & Grant) • Reflect and celebrate diversity • Curriculum should regularly include contributions of diverse groups • Curriculum equally accessible to all groups • Build on students’ learning styles • Use cooperative learning

31. What can be done?(Sleeter & Grant) • Develop positive self-concept in all students • Evaluation should be used for improving instruction not sorting • Develop home/community relations • Extracurricular activities should not perpetuate race and sex stereotypes

32. Teachers who have been successful with high-poverty children were found to:(Knapp) • Maintain classroom order • Respond effectively to diverse cultural backgrounds • Teach for meaning

33. Diversity, Equity, and Special Education • Ongoing debate since 1960 • Labeling raises equity issues • The Education for All Handicapped Students Act (1975) • Labels say more about the system than about students

34. Political Economy Social inequalities Diversity across and within groups Inequalities in employment and pay Effects of poverty and racism on families Income vs. wealth differences Ed. For All Handicapped Children Act Language and dialect difference Ideology Equal opportunity for all Meritocracy Genetic deficit theory Cultural deficit theory Racism/Sexism Disability bias Social construction of which human differences matter Schooling Achievement testing Advanced placement tests SAT & ACT exams Antiracist education Culturally responsive pedagogy Bilingual education ESL instruction Multicultural education Inclusion of all children Analytic Framework

35. Conclusion • Teachers must devise an environment that will support students with very different skill levels and interests

36. Links to Internet Resources:Recognizing and Celebrating Diversity • Equity resources on the web • Diversity lesson plans • Multicultural lesson plans • Inclusion: how to teach everyone • Students with special needs • Gender equity in education • Gender equity resources: girls in science, math, engineering and technology

37. That’s All Folks!