Closing the Minority Achievement Gap: What the Research Says

1. Closing the Minority Achievement Gap: What the Research Says A. Wade Boykin, Ph.D., Executive Director

4. Percentage of High-School Graduates

5. Percentage of College Graduates By Age Group

6. GAP CLOSING OPTIONS C PERF PRE POST White Black

7. Evidence-Based Approach to School Improvement • Programs based on research literature • Programs based on on-site data • On-site data based on sound methods and instruments • Enabling conditions are provided and documented • Implementation quality is assessed & adjustments are made • Instruction is guided by assessment • Outcomes are evaluated and linked to conditions and implementation

8. Evidence-Based Practices • Did we get these results because of what we did? • Can we repeat this and get the same results again? • Can we or others get the same results elsewhere in similar settings?

9. Integrity-Based Principles • Meaningful Learning • Strategic Instruction and Critical Engagement •  Learning Community •  Cultural Resources •  Constructive Social Relationships

10. Meaningful Learning • Relevance • Personal Connections • World Connections • Subject Matter Connections • Importance • Prior Knowledge, Competences and Understanding

11. Strategic Instruction and Critical Engagement • Graphic organizers • Mnemonic devices • Curriculum extension tools • Strategy modeling • Critical thinking • Metacognition

12. Learning Community • Collaboration and collaborative learning • Student accountability, ownership and responsibility • Student voice and choice • Inclusiveness

13. Langer (2001) “Beating the Odds” “Typical Teachers” APPROACH T0 SKILLS INSTRUCTION CONNECTED LEARNINGS Multi-faceted 88% 0% None 0% 58% ENABLING STRATEGIES Overtly Taught 100% 17% Left Implicit 0% 83% CONCEPTION OF LEARNING Deeper Understanding 100% 0% Immediate Goal 0% 100% CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Shared Cognition 96% 8% Individual Thinking 4% 92%

14. Constructivist Teaching Phonics Instruction Embedded in Meaningful Text Modeling & Guided Use of Explicit Comprehension Strategies Multiple Methods of Reading Instruction Connection to Children’s Personal Experiences Encouragement of Self Expression STIPEK (2004) • Didactic Teaching • Isolated Phonics Instruction • Rote Memorization • Teachers Read to Students Without Engaging in Conversation • Correctness Emphasis in Children’s Writing

15. Prediction of Didactic Teaching % Below Grade Level .18 % Eligible Lunch .04 % African American .42* % Latino in School .06 P < .001 Entries are regression coefficients Stipek (2004)

16. Teacher Reports Regular Use Of Multiple Choice Math Grade 4 Grade 8 Black Students70% 63% White Students 56% 38% NAEP 2000 Math Data Set Lubienski (2002)

17. Cultural Resources • Family, peer, community socialization • Traditions, rituals and practices • Fundamental core values • Culturally salient learning structures • Popular culture

18. Classroom-based Communalism Study: Comparison of Fractions Posttest Performance Coleman, 2003

19. Constructive Social Relationships • Encouragingly high expectations • Effort and improvement emphasis • Constructively prosocial behaviors and communications

20. Two Factors Significantly Predicted Students’ “Classroom Belonging” In A Study of Middle School Mathematics Classrooms • Peer Support (+.40) • Emotional Risk (-.30) Hamm & Faircloth (2005)

21. Kaplan & Maehr (1999) Task Ego Goals Goals Emotional Tone -.35 Peer Relationships -.31 Perceived Academic Efficacy .49 Disruptive Behavior -.41 Significant Regression Coefficients

22. When You Work Really Hard In School, Which of the Following Reasons Are Most Important To You Percentages Blk Wht Hisp Asn My Teachers Encourage Me 47% 31% 41% 31% To Work Hard The Teacher 15% 29% 19% 20% Demands It Ferguson (2003)

23. “My Teachers Support Me and Care About My Success in Their Class” (In Percentages) (N=537) Black Black Asian Asian White White Male Female Male Female Male Female Strongly Agree 8 12 24 36 33 44 Agree 12 16 42 33 21 27 Disagree 38 45 16 15 18 11 Strongly Disagree 42 27 18 16 28 18

24. Ways That Teachers Convey Differential Achievement Expectations to Students • Teacher calls on low expectation (LE) students less often than high expectation students (HE) • Teacher likely to give less praise and more criticism for failure to LE students • Teacher shows less acceptance and use of ideas put forth by LE students • Teacher provides briefer and less informative feedback to questions raised by LE students • Teacher gives LE students less benefit of the doubt • Wait time before teacher provides an answer is less for low expectation (LE) students • Teacher more likely to give low expectation (LE) students the answers, while more likely to give high expectation (HE) students clues or to rephrase a given question Adapted from Good (1987) & Ferguson (1998)

25. Integrity-Based Strategies • Connections • Critical Thinking • Collaboration • Culture • Concern

26. IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, ANY ROAD WILL TAKE YOU THERE

28. Key Talent Development/Talent Quest Principles • Co-Construction • Multiple Outcomes • Multiple Success Pathways • Asset-Driven Evidence-Based Activities

29. So What Do We Mean By Assets? • Interests and Preferences • Motivational Inclinations • Passions and Commitments • Personal, Family, and Cultural Values • Family Traditions and Practices •  Attitudes, Beliefs and Opinions •  Self-Perceptions and Personal or Collective Identities •  Prior Experiences •  Prior Knowledge •  Existing and Emerging Understanding •  Existing and Emerging Skills and Competencies

30. IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO GET THERE THEN YOU WONT!

31. How To Get There • Theory • Targets • Training • Tools • Things (Resources, Activities, etc.)

32. THEORY

33. WARNING!!

34. I N T E G R I T Y B A S E D S T R A T E G I E S Cognitive Processes First Order Learning Outcomes Attentional Deployment Elaboration Representation Schemes Concept Webbing K & S Accumulation Long Term Retention Retrieval Mechanisms Higher Order Learning Outcomes Knowledge Transfer Knowledge Production & Application Knowledge Reflection & Judgment Knowledge Communication Affective Processes Motivation/Affective Tone Sustained Task Engagement Efficacy & Resilience Academic Identity The “Why” Of Enhanced Educational Outcomes

35. TARGETS

36. TargetsThe Talent Quest Classroom: Essential Features to Observe • Kids talking about things that matter to them • Kids are doing things that connect to other things they have learned •  Kids giving more than one word/one sentence answers…elaborated justified answers to questions • Kids are writing about, reflecting on, and evaluating what they have learned • Active out of seat activities • Popular culture brought in • Evaluation (oral and written) rubrics that place a premium placed on effort and improvement • Classroom management as constructive socialization

37. TRAINING

38. Professional Development • Ongoing (job-embedded) • Conceptual (what and why) • Practical (how and when) • Collaborative (peer support and professional learning community) • Reflective • Active and hands-on

39. TOOLS

40. Action Plan for Pathway to Literacy Process Step 1: Previewing the Text Step in the Pathways to Literacy Process: ·• Preview the text • Read the text • Return to the text • Respond to the text • Extend the text This action plan will highlight the first step in the Pathways to Literacy Process:Preview the text. Key Strategic Elements for Previewing the Text: 1.Discuss title/ topic 2.Brainstorming 3.Examine the pictures 4.Make Predictions 5.Reinforce vocabulary Previewing the text is done BEFORE students read the text for a lesson or activity. Previewing the text is a brief exercise to engage students in. The goals of Previewing the text are: a) activate prior knowledge about the topic, and b) help them to make predictions about what they will learn. This initial step is designed to increase student motivation, encourage active engagement and spark a genuine interest in the learning task. Specific Strategies for Previewing the Text: 1.Direct students to pay special attention to headings 2.Examine words that are underlined, italicized, or bold 3.Review pictures, maps, tables or graphs 4.Identify and define key vocabulary words Suggestions for Specific Strategies in Previewing the Text: It is suggested that students be provided with a graphic organizer for this portion of the exercise. These suggestions could be done in small groups or teacher led. 1.5 minutes to jot down everything the already KNOW about the topic of the text 2.5 minutes for students to Pair & Share their responses 3.2 minutes for student to jot down their predictions about the text 4.5 minutes for students to Pair & Share their predictions about the text * Instructional Suggestion: After the entire text is read, teacher should revisit student predictions and discuss which predictions were accurate and which text cues were used to make the predictions.

42. THINGS

43. CONNECTIONS

44. Newspaper Exercise (Fostering Meaning) Step 1.Read the passage provided for you, and take notes on the central or most important points. Step 2. Find an article or item in the newspaper provided that you believe relates to the subject matter of the passage. Step 3. Jot down your justification for why you believe this article or item is relevant to the book passage. Step 4. Share your rationale with your partner, and have the partner share is or her rationale with you. Step 5. Have your partner further clarify his or her position and/or provide you with further justification if you feel such is necessary; and further clarify or provide the same for your partner if she or he requests. This continues until each is comfortable with the other’s explanation.   Step 6. You present to the group your partner’s article or news item and the case your partner made for its relevance to the book passage.

45. CRITICAL THINKING

46. Venn Diagram: Pioneer Days and Today Today Pioneer Days Food • Most people buy • at store; can raise, • grow, or hunt • Storage is good: refrigerator/freezer • Large variety • Could raise, grow, or hunt • All food groups • Mainly had to raise, • grow, or hunt • No good way to store • Limited variety Major Holidays and Celebrations • Thanksgiving • Religious: Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter • 4th of July • Weddings, • Birthdays, anniversaries • Memorial Day • Labor Day • Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday

47. COLLABORATION(LEARNING COMMUNITY

48. Exit Pass Questions • What is one connection that I was able to make between what we learned today and an interest or goal that I have? •   What is one question I wish that I had asked today but I was confused or distracted at the time to think of it? •   If I were presenting on the topic at hand, I would want to be sure to include…? •   What is the one thing that I hope we will cover at tomorrow’s session? •   One thing I would like to change about this session is ….?   I would have liked…?   I would like to know more about …?

49. CULTURE

50. Communal Learning Prompt [Instructions should be given to the students while they are holding hands and standing in a circle around the tutor]. I would like you to help each other by working together. It is important that you feel connected with the students that you are working with in your group. You should also try to do everything that you can to share, help and work well together for the good of the group so that everyone will [learn/compete the story/task/project]. Your group is counting on you to do the best you can so that everyone will succeed and not just for one of you to do well. Since all of you live in the same neighborhood, have similar friends, and go to the same school, then you are very important to each other. You should feel close to each other and you should support one another. Remember also, that you and your group are working together to make the most of this time that you are spending here together. Therefore, you and your group should be helpful, kind, and giving for the good of everything in your group. You can do better if you all take part in [learning/completing the story/task/project].