Transcript Meeting the cultural and linguistic needs of all learners

Meeting the Cultural & Linguistic Needs of All
Learners:
Reducing Misidentification & Providing
Needed Intervention
U.S. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
2009 PROJECT DIRECTOR’S CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
DONNA M. SOBEL, PH.D.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
Addressing issues of disproportionality and the
growing diversity of our student population
 Integrating culturally responsive content and
learning experiences into a teacher preparation
program meant that every aspect of that urban,
merged general and special education program
warranted attention.
 This work could only be done if faculty first began by
increasing their own knowledge about culturally
responsive pedagogy.
A professional development journey for
university and partner school faculty
“To create a society in which all people are valued,
you must model that society in our schooling.”
Villa & Thousand (2005)
It’s a process……..
Supported by funding from the Office of Special
Education in 2007 (ASEED: Achieving Special
Education Equity through Diversity project),
faculty in began to make plans for revising the
special education licensure program with a focus on
culturally responsive pedagogy, however they quickly
acknowledged that this could not be done in
isolation.
Institutionalizing curriculum revisions
and reforms
NEEDED STEPS IN THE PROCESS:
 Revising a unified conceptual framework.
 Collaborating on curricula and courses including
internships and the logistics of implementation
however we knew that professional development on
culturally responsive teaching practices needed to
happen first.
 Professional development on culturally responsive
teaching practices needed to happen first.
Professional development planning efforts
In order to better prepare teachers to implement
culturally responsive teaching practices with all
students and with a focused attention to those with
special needs, support first needed to be provided to
university and PDS site faculty and that professional
development needed to be conceptualized not as an
event, but rather as an ongoing process.
“Teachers’ knowledge about and attitudes toward cultural diversity are powerful
determinants of learning opportunities and outcomes for ethnically different students.”
(Gay, 2000)
Our Context
 University of Colorado Denver (UCD) has utilized a
professional development school model for general and
special education teacher preparation since 1993.
 29 schools in the partnership across six metropolitan
school districts, serving students primarily from lowincome and diverse backgrounds.
 TCs progress through a series of developmentally
sequenced internships to ensure exposure to the full
range of student ages, types and level of abilities, varied
teaching styles and collaborative opportunities.
 Internship experiences are aligned with on-campus
coursework to ensure a gradual release of responsibility
and experience with students from diverse backgrounds
and with diverse learning and language abilities.
Focused faculty professional development
Issues surrounding:
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Power and privilege
Sociocultural competencies
Pedagogy and practices
Professional development design plan
OVERLAPPING STRUCTURES
I. Ongoing design activities
ACTIVITIES
Faculty meetings/retreats
Work group meetings
Advisory council
II. Specialized workshops
Conversation cafe
Premier urban teacher prep
Curriculum planning
III. Feedback loops
Focus groups
External review of curriculum
External review of partner school sites
Moving forward…….
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Finalizing a new conceptual framework that reflects a deep
commitment to urban education and social justice;
Utilizing the new conceptual framework to “backwards map” clear
proficiency descriptors in the new teaching roles utilizing our
internship rubric, a framework for urban proficiency descriptors,
and additional professional accreditation standards and
requirements;
Collaborating on the redesign of a sequence of core courses that
provides for deep, developmental experiences for all teacher
candidates throughout their program and aligns to the conceptual
framework and mapped proficiency descriptors;
Collaborating on the selection of a core set of readings/texts that
would be used across the course sequence; and
Collaborating on the development of syllabi “shells” that include
course objectives/proficiency descriptors and readings that allow
“lead instructors” to further develop course materials, activities and
content outlines.
This is a process and that process is not linear
 The process documented in this presentation has served to merely set us
on the right track for continued work.
 Strategic teacher education leadership is essential to ensure committed
and focused professional development.
 Professional development and recruitment efforts must continue on
several fronts.
 At the core of such deep work is an examination of ones dispositions.
Such introspection has the potential for creating a conundrum that must
be attended to as faculty strive to understand what this means to each
individual.
Contact Information
Donna M. Sobel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Colorado Denver
[email protected]
303-315-4954