Transcript Moving ALL Students Toward Rigor

Applying Culturally Relevant
Strategies to Systemic Reform
Los Angeles Unified School District
NCRESSt Conference
Creating Opportunities to Learn
Denver, Colorado Feb. 16-17, 2006
Presenters
Noma LeMoine
Ebrahim Maddahian
Daniel Patton
Randy Ross
Liza Scruggs
Overview
• Defining the problem (Randy Ross)
• Framework (Ebrahim Maddahian)
• Historical Background (Liza
Scruggs)
• Implementation (Noma LeMoine)
• Program Evaluation (Dan Patton)
• Discussion (All)
Defining the Problem
Randy Ross Ph.D.
What the Research Says:
• “There is a direct link between student
achievement and the extent to which
teaching employs the cultural referents
of students”
Geneva Gay, 2000
• “... for students who experience
disproportionate levels of academic
failure, the extent to which the students’
language and culture are incorporated
into the school program constitutes a
significant predictor of academic
success”
Jim Cummins, 1989
What happens when learning
encounters are culturally relevant?
•
•
•
•
•
High attendance rate
Rigorous education program
Sustained academic achievement
Graduation from High School
Post-graduation success
ATTENDANCE
• Attendance rates
• Suspensions (and expulsions)
Attendance Rates (Secondary, November
2005) for African-American, Native
American, and Latino Students are Lower
Asian
Filipino
White
Pacific Islander
All Ethnicities
Hispanic/Latino
American Indian/Alaska Native
Black/African American
88%
89%
Source: LAUSD, January 2006
90%
91%
92%
93%
94%
95%
96%
97%
In 2004-05, LAUSD Schools
Suspended African-American
Students at an Alarming Rate
LAUSD Sub-Group
African American
Hispanic
Asian
White
Other
All Students
Ratio of
Susp to Avg Days
Enr Suspended
Enrollment Suspensions
83,687
21,423
26%
1.6
530,962
52,839
10%
1.4
26,995
746
3%
1.4
63,619
3,879
6%
1.4
20,252
970
5%
725,515
79,857
11%
1.5
Source: LAUSD, January 2006
EDUCATIONAL RIGOR
• College-Prep Curriculum
• Special Education
Far fewer African-American and
Latino Students Take College-Prep
Courses
Ethnicity
All Students
African American
Asian
Hispanic
White
Number
11,076
1,242
983
6,784
1,518
% of 9th
Grade
Cohort
(Fall 2001)
29%
28%
52%
25%
38%
% of 12th
grade
students
(Spring
2005)
54%
60%
78%
49%
64%
Source: Jordan Rickles and Jeff White, “A-G Course Access and Completion,” Presentation to LAUSD Board of Education
Educational Equity Committee, December 8, 2005, Program Evaluation and Research Branch
African American Students Suffer
from Disproportionate Placement
in Special Education
Special Education Enrollment by Ethnicity, LAUSD, December 2004
Item
Special Ed
Enrollment
Spec / Enr
American
Indian or
Alaska
Pacific
Hispanic or African White (not Total
Native Asian Islander Filipino Latino American Hispanic) Enroll.
328 1,362
2,189 27,993
15%
5%
161
2,282
7%
940 56,370
16,119 539,906
6%
10%
Source: California Department of Education, Special Education Division.
14,602
86,362
17%
9,444 83,207
66,438 741,367
14%
11%
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
• Proficiency in Reading and Math
• Passage of College-prep courses
Far Fewer African American and Latino
Students Read Proficiently (Spring
2005)
CST Achievement Gap - English Language Arts
100%
90%
Percent at or Above Proficient
80%
70%
60%
Achievement Gap
English Language Arts 2-11
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
African
American
American
Indian
Asian
Filipino
Hispanic or
Latino
Pacific
Islander
Ethnic Group
Source: LAUSD Board of Education, Educational Policy Unit, 2005.
White (Non
Hispanic)
Far Fewer African American and
Latino students are Proficient in Math
(Spring 2005)
CST Ahcievement Gap - Math, Grades 2 - 7
100%
90%
Percent At or Above Proficient
80%
70%
60%
Achievement Gap
Math 2-7
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
African
American
American
Indian
Asian
Filipino
Hispanic or
Latino
Pacific Islander
Ethnic Group
Source: LAUSD Board of Education, Educational Policy Unit, 2005.
White (Non
Hispanic)
Far Fewer Latino and AfricanAmerican Graduates Complete a
College-Prep Curriculum (2003-04)
Subgroup
Asian
Filipino
Latino
African American
White (not-Hisp)
All Groups
All
65%
57%
31%
41%
51%
38%
Female
70%
64%
33%
45%
52%
40%
Source: California Department of Education, Educational Demographics Unit.
Male
61%
51%
28%
36%
49%
35%
GRADUATION
• Passage of high-school exit exam
(CAHSEE)
• Graduation rate
Over ¼ of African American Students
in the Class of 2006 may fail to pass
the California HS Exit Exam
Ethnicity
African American
American Indian
Asian
Filipino
Hispanic/Latino
Pacific Islander
White (not H)
(Sub) Total (1)
Number
of
Students
Tested
4,751
92
1,826
1,121
23,608
122
3,753
35,273
Projected
# of
students
who will
not pass
CAHSEE
1,286
14
100
41
4,347
20
175
5,983
Source: LAUSD Board of Education, Educational Policy Unit, "CAHSEE FAILURE AND NON-GRADUATION: A
PRELIMINARY PROJECTION," August 31, 2005
Percent
27%
15%
5%
4%
18%
16%
5%
17%
Fewer Latino and African-American
Students Graduated from LAUSD in 2005
ASIAN
FILIPINO
WHITE
PACIFIC ISLANDER
AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE
ALL ETHNICITIES
BLACK
HISPANIC
74% 76% 78% 80% 82% 84% 86% 88% 90% 92%
Source: LAUSD, January 2006.
Resultant Statement of the
Problem
• The gap in achievement for Latino
and African American students in
LAUSD schools is wide in part
because these students’ learning
encounters with teachers are
insufficiently aligned with their core
cultural referents.
Theoretical Framework For a
Culturally Relevant and
Responsive Education
Ebrahim Maddahian Ph.D.
Defining Culture from an
Educational Perspective
American Heritage Dictionary defines “Culture” as:
• The totality of socially transmitted behavior
patterns, beliefs, arts, and all other products of
human work and thought characteristics of a
community or population.
• A style of social and artistic expression peculiar
to a society or a class.
• Intellectual and artistic activity, and the work
produced by it.
• The act of developing the social, moral, and
intellectual faculties through education.
• A high degree of taste and refinement formed
by aesthetic and intellectual training.
• The cultivation of the soul.
A careful analysis of this
content includes the following
elements:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Behavior patterns,
Belief systems,
Human work products,
Human thought products,
Art forms, and
Human’s social, moral, and
intellectual development through
learning that define a specific group
of people
Learning Definitions:
• Behavioral modification especially
through experience or conditioning
• The act, process, or experience of
gaining knowledge or skill
• Knowledge or skill gained through
schooling or study
• The process by which we receive and
process sensory data, encode such data
as memories within the neural structures
of our brain, and retrieve those
memories for subsequent use
What do we mean by CRRE
• A comprehensive system of
education that incorporates
student’s life experiences
(emotional, social, cognitive and
cultural) into schooling activities
and processes.
Socio-Cultural Constructivism
• Biological and psychological growth
do not occur in isolation, but start at
birth through social interaction that
leads to cognitive development
Important Concepts
• Zone of Proximal Development: The
difference between independent learning
without supervision and guidance and
possible potential learning with guidance
of a knowledgeable adult in collaboration
with more able peers. (Vgotsky).
• Children develop their cognitive abilities
and psychological tools necessary for
learning and problem solving through
cultural and social interactions. (LadsonBillings).
• Teacher’s Role
Cultural Differences
• People raised in different cultural environments
may behave differently – yet appropriately - in the
same situation.
• They may show evidence of a different set of
values about the same condition, may acquire the
same knowledge in different ways and may
demonstrate their learning in different modes.
• Since students from diverse racial, religious, and
geographical backgrounds exhibit unique deepseated cultural traditions of learning and of making
sense of the world around them, it is essential for
educational systems and educators to not only
respect and value students’ cultural backgrounds
and histories, but also to build instructional
strategies appropriate for and relevant to them.
Culturally Relevant and
Responsive Initiative in Los
Angeles Unified School
District
Chronology
Liza Scruggs Ph.D.
Background
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•
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•
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Facts about the District
Students
Ethnicities
Staff
Communities
Other Information
Background
• June, 2001, Hayes resolution
adopted authorizing the
development of an Action Plan to
address the needs of African
American and other underachieving
students in the LAUSD
Background
•
•
•
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The Steering Committee
Coalitions
Conferences
The Action Plan - 5 Tenets, 95
Steps
Researchers/Scholars
collaborated with LAUSD
staff and community in
2001 about the relationship
between culture, teaching
and learning
Instructional Practice
• Carol Lee
– CRR Pedagogy
• John Rickford
– Standard English Learners
• Roland Tharp
– Classroom Ecology
• Vinetta Jones
– Secondary Math
• Jomills Braddock
– Policy
Teacher Quality, Standards and
Parent & Student Engagement
• Phyllis Hart
– Standards, coaches
• Sam Redding
– Parents as partners
• Reginald Clark
– Parent Involvement
• Jerome Freiberg
– Student resilience
Background
• December, 2002 Huizar, Hayes,
Tokofsky resolution adopted which
expanded the closing the
achievement gap initiative to
specifically address the needs of
Latino and African American
students and embed culturally
responsive pedagogy into all district
initiatives
Background
• June 24, 2003, The Board adopted
a motion/resolution to continue full
support, implementation, and
monitoring of the African Action
Plan
School Policies That Promote
Equity
• Access to College Preparatory Courses
• Elimination of Tracking and Remedial
Courses
• Professional Development on Culturally
Relevant and Responsive Education and
infusion into all instructional curriculums
• Support to Meet Student Needs (SELs/ELs)
• Infusing Instructional Strategies That
Promote Equity & Access to Core Curricula
• Continuous Assessment of the School
Culture and Programs
L. A. Unified School District
Improving Opportunities to Learn
Noma LeMoine Ph.D.
Director, Academic English Mastery
Closing the Achievement Gap Branch
The Action Plan
For a Culturally
Relevant Education
Than Benefits African
American Students
and All Students
The Action Plans Tenets
• Tenet 1 - Opportunity to Learn
(student focused)
• Tenet 2 - Opportunity to Learn
(adult focused)
• Tenet 3 - Professional Development
• Tenet 4 - Parent Engagement
• Tenet 5 - Evaluation and Monitoring
Action Plan Recommendations
• Culturally Relevant and Responsive
Instruction
• A College-Prep Curriculum
• Academic English Mastery for Standard
English Learners
• Highest Quality Teachers
• Professional Development for all
stakeholders
• Parent Engagement
• District Accountability
• District Monitoring
Local District
Implementation
Local District Blueprints
• Baseline data
• Action steps
• Allocation of Resources
• Internal monitoring
Tenet 1
Recommendations
1. Central and Local District offices will provide
comprehensive professional development for
administrators, teachers, counselors, and
coaches on Culturally Responsive and
Culturally Contextualized Teaching to ensure
that instruction for African American students
is relevant and responsive to their learning
needs.
2. Principals, counselors, and teachers in every
high school in LAUSD must work closely with
parents and students to ensure that all African
American students know of, have access to,
enroll in, and pass a college prep curriculum,
including A-G course requirements, honors
courses, and AP courses.
Implementing TENET 1
• A-G Initiative
• Special Education Initiative
– Addressing disproportionality
• Re evaluate AA Special Ed students
• Ten School Pilot
• Initiative to address attitudes and beliefs
– Consortium of scholars
– One million dollars allocated over 3 years
• Algebra & Algebra Readiness Plan
– 367 Math Coaches
Tenet 2
Recommendations
1. Pursuant to its education of Standard
English Learners (SELs), the district will
continue to implement its Academic
English Mastery Program (AEMP), which
provides professional development for
teachers and other school staff aimed
toward improving the ability of schools to
promote language acquisition in SELs.
2. The district must make every effort to
ensure that African American children
have equal access to the highest quality
teachers and administrators within and
across schools.
Implementing Tenet 2
• The Academic English Mastery
Program
• Small Schools Initiative
• Human Resources
• Changes in hiring practices
– Changes in procedures for
interviewing teachers
DISTRICT INTERVENTION
The Academic English
Mastery Program
Professional Development
Program for Educating SELs
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•
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Fall Educational Seminar Series
Intensive Summer Institutes
Periodic Curricular Focus Courses
Technology Training Courses
A Weekend Professional Development
Conference
• Grade Level Student Achievement Teams
(GSAT)
• Grade level Collaboratives
• Instructional Academies
Professional Development
Outcomes
• Teachers build knowledge and understanding of
Culturally Responsive pedagogy
• Teachers build knowledge and understanding of
Linguistically Responsive Pedagogy
• Teachers engage in collaboration and study of
research-based instructional methodologies
and infuse them into daily instruction
• Teachers are provided with opportunities to
discuss, evaluate, & modify, their instruction
based on observed students outcomes
Tenet 3
Recommendation
• Where change is expected and needed to
improve African American students
opportunity to learn, the LAUSD must make
every effort to ensure that its staff –Central,
Local District, and School– and the external
support providers responsible for change,
are adequately trained and have the
pedagogical knowledge and skill to
effectively enhance the academic
achievement of African American students.
Implementing Tenet 3
• One Million dollar contract with a
consortium of scholars to deconstruct
Negative Beliefs and Attitudes Towards
students of Color
• Comprehensive Professional
development Plan to build knowledge
and understanding of culturally
responsive instruction
– District Response
• Literature Circles
• Strategies Reference and Resource Manual
• Professional Development Models
Tenet 4
PARENT ENGAGEMENT
Recommendation
Parents should be
given the opportunity
and tools to be the most
effective educational
advocates for their
children.
Implementing Tenet 4
• Parent Ombudsmen in all 8 Local
Districts
• Parent Involvement Centers on
school sites
– Staffed by trained parent/community
representatives
– Provides parent education workshops
• Districtwide Parent…
Tenet 5
Recommendation
Ongoing planning,
systematic
monitoring, reporting
TENET 5
RECOMMENDATIONS
• The district will annually evaluate the actions
taken by various parties (Superintendents,
Local Districts, Schools, Programs,
Administrators, Teachers, and Staff) to close the
achievement gap of African American students.
• The assessment should also include an analysis of the
impact of those actions on student outcomes
(attendance, course-taking patterns, and standardized
test scores in reading, writing, language, and math).
• The District’s annual report should be completed and
disseminated to the board and the summit of African
American leaders, among others, no later than December
31 of each year, in order to ensure that:
• the evaluation gets externally and independently vetted
• the evaluation guides the district’s future efforts to close the
gap in achievement of African American students.
Implementing Tenet 5
EXTERNAL MONITORING
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External Monitoring Report No. 1
External Monitoring Report No. 2
External Monitoring Report No. 3
External Monitoring Report No. 4
External Monitoring Report No. 5
External Monitoring Report No. 6
External Monitoring Report No. 7
CRRE Action Plan Evaluation
Findings and Activities
2001 to Present
Daniel Patton, Ph.D.
Program Evaluation and Research Branch
Los Angeles Unified School District
Evaluation – Tenet 1
• The effectiveness of the District’s
CRRE implementation will be
assessed using:
- Standardized test scores
- Evaluation of CRRE prevalence in
classroom practice.
- Special Education placement of
African- American and Latino students
Findings: Tenet 1
• Student Achievement outcomes
• Achievement gap persists
• Variability of achievement gap within ethnic groups and
across local districts
• CRRE Classroom Implementation
Implementation study (Sept, 2004)
• CRRE not implemented in LAUSD classrooms
Achievement Gap Case Studies (African-American
and Latino)
• CRRE implemented more often in higher achieving
schools
Findings: Tenet 1
– Progress:
Reduced discipline and suspension rates
• 75% of Local Districts reduced the number of AfricanAmerican students suspended over past three years.
– Persistent Challenge:
Special Education referrals for African-American &
Latino students
– Increase in Special Education referral rates for
African- American and Latino students from 1999 to
2003.
Evaluation – Tenet 1
• The effectiveness of the District’s CRRE
implementation will be measured by:
• the documented scope & quality of the
efficacious actions to implement CRRE;
• increased availability of A-G, honors, and AP
courses to African-American students; and,
• the extent to which the gap in AA students’
enrollment in and passage of A-G & other college
preparatory courses closes annually.
Findings: Tenet 1
• Increased enrollment of African-American
students in college preparatory courses
– A-G report
• 33% of Local Districts have increased the enrollments
of African-American students in AP courses
• Closing the Achievement Gap in Student
Performance on A-G, honors, and AP courses
– Presented in Student Outcomes Report (Annual)
Evaluation – Tenet 2
• The effectiveness of the District’s CRRE
implementation will be assessed by:
– analysis of the scope and depth of AEMP’s
implementation
in schools and classrooms with
large proportions of African-American students;
– analysis of student achievement outcomes on
standardized tests;
– the extent to which CRRE strategies are embedded in
LAUSD’s Core Literacy and Math initiatives;
– creation of a master calendar of professional
development that trains teachers to effectively
instruct Standard English Learners.
Findings: Tenet 2
• Evaluation of Professional
Development Implementation (Sept,
2004)
– Raised consciousness re: CRRE
– Obstacles to implementation
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Time
Clarity of methods
Professional development support
Resistance
Budget
Findings: Tenet 2
• Stakeholder Report (November, 2004)
• Students did not perceive high levels of respect for
cultural diversity from school instructional staff
• Students did not perceive that all were treated equally
by teachers and administrators
• Achievement Gap Case Studies (Sept,
2004)
• Narrowing the Gap schools had teachers with
more experience and greater stability
Evaluation - Tenet 3
• The effectiveness of the District’s CRRE
implementation will be assessed by:
• An analysis of the level of CRRE implementation scope
and depth of implementation as demonstrated in
schools with African American students
– Impact of Professional development on
African-American student achievement
• Documentation of professional development delivery,
utilization and budget allocations
Findings: Tenet 3
– Analysis of the level of CRRE
implementation in schools and classrooms
with African-American students
• CRRE Classroom Implementation Evaluation
(Sept, 2004)
– Less than one-half of the teachers incorporated
CRRE into instruction
– Only limited evidence of mutual respect and
acceptance, respect for cultural diversity, and high
expectations for student achievement
Findings: Tenet 3
• Achievement Gap Case Studies
(Sept, 2004)
– Narrowing the Gap schools had:
• More ‘hands-on’ administration
• More collaborative teaching and learning
• Parent involvement more geared toward
instruction
Findings: Tenet 3
• Evaluation of Effective School and
Teacher Practices in the Ten
Schools Program (May, 2005)
– Higher performing schools exhibited
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Positive teacher-student interaction
Positive school staff relationships
Quality professional development
Evidence of CRRE school practice
Evaluation – Tenet 5
(Recommendation 6)
• Parents
– The quality of the district’s efforts to
engage AA parents in the education of
their children will be assessed through
an annual survey of AA parents.
Findings: Tenet 5
(Recommendation 6)
Parents
•
Fifty-four percent (54%) of parent respondents viewed their
experience with teachers as positive and helpful.
•
Few parents felt that their children’s cultural experiences were
incorporated in their school experiences.
•
Most parents said that their involvement in their children’s
education consisted of helping them with their homework
•
Obstacles to more active school-based involvement included:
– Parents believed that they were not informed of pertinent
information by schools (23%)
– Work schedules (19%)
– Parents’ feelings of disconnection impeded their attendance at
school events (30%)
Copies of CRRE Evaluation reports
are available at the Program
Evaluation and Research branch’s
website:
[email protected]
Other Reports and Documents relative to the Los Angeles
Unified School District’s District’s Closing the Achievement
Gap Initiatives are available at the Closing the Achievement
Gap wedsite: