Current interests in reducing high dropout rates and closing the achievement gap across many United States high schools have resulted in a major education reform. According to Durden (2008), with the passing of the No Child Left Behind legislation in 2002, national officials authorized the Comprehensive School Reform program to support low performing schools as they struggled to improve student achievement. As a result, a wide range of approaches have been considered to help solve this nation-wide concern. Durden (2008) discussed as a result of this national effort, an increase in implementation of comprehensive school reforms is occurring in schools serving predominantly diverse student populations in urban areas. Kemple et al., (2006) stated that while many different targeted programs and comprehensive reform strategies have been proposed as strategies to counter these problems, small learning communities (SLCs) or freshman academies have been incorporated. . Freshman academies or small learning communities (SLCs) are defined as small self-contained groups of students who take classes together from interdisciplinary teacher teams. (SLCs) have emerged as among the most common and potentially effective response. With the incorporation of small learning communities (SLCs) or freshman academies, there are other areas of importance needing change in addressing the problems of high dropout rates and the achievement gap. Important areas in need of change includes how we assess our students, preparation of America’s teachers, and development of appropriate curricular materials, policies, and practices for diverse students. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss specific factors that are related to dro... ... middle of paper ... ...om both genders and from diverse cultural, language, and ethnic groups have an equal chance to experience school success. (p. 20) Research does support indicators other than standardized tests and grades increases the dropout rate. It also reports that freshman academies can have a positive effect on the dropout rate and achievement gap. Research also supports multicultural education integrated into pre-service teacher education programs and school curricula can improve the high dropout rates and the wide achievement gap. If we are to successfully educate all students in a multicultural society, we must continue to address the issues that are hindering our children from exposing their full potential. Banks (1993) stated, “Thus, early exposure to a multicultural curriculum has the most likelihood of success” (as cited in Christie, 2009).
The multicultural movement in education is deeply rooted, and the movement as we know it today dates back to the 1960s, when the civil rights movement was in full swing. Stemming from the Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) decision and out of the demand by ethnic groups to be included in public schools, colleges, and universities, the main thrust of the mo...
Chapter one’s main idea was to provide a basic definition of multicultural education and provide the reader with insight on how the multicultural education movement has developed and progressed throughout the years.
One may believe that the achievement gaps are not improving; however, that is not the case as explained by Diane Ravitch in her essay “The Facts About Achievement Gaps”. The achievement gaps have actually improved over the past decades. The achievement gaps are gaps in the academic level of each student or their ethnicity. The test scores of most minority student have been gradually increasing due to the availability of schools regardless of ethnicity; therefore, it has led to a gradual increase in the students test scores, but now the achievement gap is steady and not increasing or decreasing. In her article Diane Ravitch clearly explains the steps that need to be taken into account in order to close the gaps. She says that it is the schools
Community forces comprises of four factors which include symbolic beliefs about schooling (e.g., whether the cultural and language identity of minorities will be threatened by learning), minority school comparison frame, relational interpretations of schooling (e.g., level of trust and confidence in the educational system), and instrumental value of schooling (e.g., whether or not school credentials are necessary for getting ahead in life) (Ogbu, 1978; Ogbu & Simmons, 1998). These forces are products of sociocultural adaptations within the minority communities. Over the years, in more current literature, cultural barriers have been adapted to also include community and social barriers such as behavioral characteristics, attitudinal factors and socioeconomic status which are significant predictors of school performance in minority students (Ainsworth-Darnell & Downey, 1998; Fordham, Signithia, & Ogbu, 1986; McLoyd, 1998). Duncan and Magnuson (2005) found that socioeconomic status accounts for more than half of the initial academic achievement gap that exists between minority and majority populations. Poverty and culture conflicts significantly contribute to why minorities achieve poorly in school performances (Smith, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1997). Ogbu and Simmons (1998) suggest that cultural and language differences can also cause learning
The literature review research and articles ranged in dates from 1995 to 2013. These articles are composed of over 50 studies, with the results being compared and evaluated over a vast time. The researchers examined the students’ permanent school records, documented the students’ gender, socioeconomic status, grade retained or intervened, teacher assigned grades, reading and mathematics, and the students’ standardized test scores (Rust & Wallace, 1993). Grade appropriate standardized test...
The American education cannot forgo the wise words of Spock on Star Trek,”The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one”. The “needs of the many” are meet in ability grouping, and all students will be challenged to their full potential. In mixed ability classes only the middle group of students needs will be met. Ability grouping doesn’t hurt any student , nor does it discriminate an racial or socioeconomic classes. It is imperative that America schools ability group their classes in order to have American students better compete with other students around the world.
Are Multicultural Approaches Good For Education? Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego. Greenhaven Press Inc. 2000.
As an educator one must understand that the children you will be teaching will all come from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different homes with different values. No one student will be the same, and no one student will learn the same. The role of a modern educator is to harness this idea of diversity and channel it into a positive learning atmosphere for children of all backgrounds. “I define culturally responsive teaching as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them” (Gay, 2013, p.50.). The hope for all teachers is to capture the minds of their children, as educators we must learn how our students learn, adapt to their skill set and channel our curriculum to their strength.
S, Toronto Life, and Mourshed. M. Has very profound reasons on the achievement gap begin to close. Well according to the Washington post as well as Kimberly Dogget students should attend after school programs, and ask teacher, and councils for help when they need it. I agree to what the Washington post, and Kimberly Dogget are saying about how students should take education into their own hands. Nevertheless, teachers can get a better understanding of the students learning style. As well as help parents not worry about their kids homework if there are a single parent and have a lot on their plate, because it will already be done if they were to attend the after school
The intervening years since court-mandated desegregation of schools have not eradicated the existence of achievement disparities for ethnic children, especially for Latin American and African American students (McKown & Weinstein, 2008). In fact, there is an extensive body of research that suggests that students from minorities do not perform well in the current American public school system (Tyler, Boykin, & Walton, 2006). McKown and Weinstein (2008) note that one often cited contributor to the achievement gap is teacher expectations.
Gives suggestions on how teachers can teach multiculturalism in the classroom. It also provides suggestions on how teachers can intercept and stop any notions of racial tendencies their students may have.
...of children from different economic classes (Frankema). Efforts targeted at poor and indigenous are also not showing to make huge changes in primary enrollment and achievement rates (Mier et al 2003). The funding and quality of the school, including classes, teachers, materials, and the involvement of family in the students’ academic efforts are other factors to consider. As mentioned earlier, society believes the first step to success is giving the opportunity. Society needs to reform this idea by including both opportunity and quality in the same step. Many programs have done these in separate steps, but including both in the same step will produce more efficient and positive change in the educational outcomes of students. This will take lots of commitment, investment, and collaboration with governments, organizations, schools, communities, families, and students.
There are layers to multiculturalism and its influence on psychological functioning and development of students in the classroom. These layers are made of constructs, helping to define contributing factors, highlight perspectives and better illustrate a continuum of acceptance.
“Despite the promising effects of efforts to personalize the learning environment by including features such as team teaching or school-within-a-school, the panel was unable to disentangle the effects of these specific components to determine the impact of the specific practice on dropping out, which resulted in the “moderate” evidence rating.” (Dynarski, 2008, pg. 30) This could be utilized in our school and be effective. We have a small learning community with resources to help make learning more individualized. We also have staff available to team teach and help meet the needs and interests of the students, but we don’t utilize it. We need to push the students to achieve more because they are not getting a big enough push at
Gollnick, Donna M., and Philip C. Chinn. Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.