Dear Parents,
On last night I attended a school board meeting and want to share some helpful things with you all. African American, Hispanic, English Language Learners, and Special education students around the United States public schools are flailing. While most of the talk in schools lead us to believe that this is an issue for low income and language learners, the research confirms that African American students with educated and middle/upper class backgrounds and perfect attendance are experiencing achievement gaps (Kunjufu, 2005; Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Thompson, 2007; National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, 2006). This means that African American children are not responding to either the curriculum, instruction or both, in the same manner as their White and Asian peers. This makes perfect sense since we know that teachers remain largely White middle-class women (Delpit, 2006; Diaz-Rico & Weed, 2010) and curriculum is not perfect and must be supplemented in order to meet the needs of diverse learners (Center for Applied Science and Technology, n.d.). What can we do about it? I am glad you asked.
Family engagement is key.
1) Get a copy of the school's school site single plan (the school site council creates this).
2) Are there specific interventions, resources and programs geared towards African American, ELL, and Special education students to address the achievement gap? The strategies should not be lumped together (English-language learner students African American students have different learning styles and needs).
3) If there are none, there needs to be. How else will the gap be closed? Most of the things that can be done are free. It is just a matter of prioritization.
4) Inform yourself. How does your child learn? Is that reflected in the classroom and this school single plan? Get books like 200+ educational strategies for teaching students of color or Keeping Black boys out of special education. They have practical strategies to be used in schools and at home. There is a plethora of research on the distinct learning styles of African American and Hispanic children. Another great resource is Janice Hale's Learning While Black or Comer's work.
5) Just yesterday my sister was telling me how all of her friends take half days and make unexpected visits to the classroom. My mother always visited our school. She knew everyone and came to observe her children, teachers, and staff. Many families do this before there is a problem. Visit the classroom and observe.
6) When you observe look for the following: Is the lesson being taught using principles from Universal Design for Learning (UDL)? To learn what that is go to Slideshare.com and view the presentation I created. Are the students engaged? Are connections being made from past lessons to the current one? Is there a real world connection? Think about how your child learns. My daughter learns while teaching others. This is an evidenced-based strategy for African American children. When her teacher allows her to "think pair share" or teach something to her class or peer, then she is utilizing her learning styles and strengths to access the information.
Does your child get called on to answer questions? Is your child participating? What is considered participation? Is your child asking questions? What are most children doing and what is the teacher's response?
7) Advocate for your child and others. If you notice students being treated unfairly, as there is plenty of data that suggests African American students, usually male, tend to be punished more harshly for the same behavior as other students (Delpit, 2006; Kunjufu, 2005), say something. Request that instruction be provided in the manner in which your child learns. Yes, teachers have 23 students sometimes more and usually there is more overlap in learning styles than differences. My point is make sure your child gets what they need to learn.
Stay informed.
No comments:
Post a Comment