Common Core Politics

Gov. Chris Christie Calls For End To Common Core

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Reflective Practice PowerPoint

Reflective Practice in Small Groups and Teams
PowerPoint

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Race Lies

Spokane NAACP official Rachel Dolezal's "race" is questioned

Michael P. Jeffries defines 'race':

"'Race' is socially constructed, meaning that it is an idea produced by human thought and interaction rather than something that exists as a material fact of life on earth . . .

'Race' is rooted in false beliefs about the validity of observed physical differences as indicators of human capacity or behaviors. Human beings build categories and make distinctions naturally. But there is no biological basis for racial categories and no relationship between classification based on observed physical characteristics and patterns of thought or behavior . . .

Humans do not have separate subspecies or races the way some animals do, and genetic traits like skin color are inherited separately from other physical and mental traits, such as eye and hair features, blood type, hand-eye coordination, and memory . . .

Social imperatives change racial categories and meanings over time, as political, cultural, and scientific developments force us to reconsider what once seemed certain. No matter the time and place, race is intimately bound with the distribution of rights and resources, and racial ideas are manifest in social inequalities."

-- Michael P. Jeffries

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Class Struggle

Class Struggle

Reflections about Families and Student Learning

Every urban learner can succeed. As an educator dedicated to closing the Achievement Gap, I believe that every urban learner can grow; every urban learner can achieve; every urban learner can excel; every urban learner can – and deserves to -- succeed. I know this is true, because I came to know every one of the remarkable, resourceful, resilient learners who populated my culturally rich, grade 11, urban literacy classroom in North Minneapolis. To contemplate so important and precious a collection of young people is to re-negotiate the import of my polyfunctional position as classroom manager, academic mentor, community resource and role model, and its attendant professional charge to prompt learning, promote growth and empower students to realize their personal potential.

While I may know in my heart and believe in my soul that all learners can succeed, as I think back on the juniors in my language arts class, I also know, in reality, they did not all finish the year with “A-pluses” There were certainly all sorts of successes. But, measured by final grades – derived from summative assessments of proficiency and evaluations of academic performance – there was uneven and generally modest growth demonstrated by the group, with a few students even failing, and thus, failing to acquire the language arts credits required for graduation.

Examining a set of nine specific students from this class, and their various levels of learning and achievement, is a way of reflecting on my effectiveness as an urban educator. It is also a way to critically contemplate my position as one person who operates among the many other people and elements that contribute to a young person’s academic accomplishment.

Critical Components

Student success involves several factors. In Reflective Teaching, authors Zeichner and Liston cite a 2012 quote from Arne Duncan which nicely serves as a guide to these factors. Framed from a teacher’s perspective, the quote breaks down the broad education, social and institutional components that pave the pathway to student success:

“When a good teacher has useful information about a child’s particular needs — has support from his or her principal — a real partner at home — a quality curriculum aligned with college and career-ready standards — and the tools and the time to do the job — that child is going to learn and achieve.”

Secretary Duncan’s model is useful because it establishes that student success depends on more than the classroom teacher. There must also be support from family, community and school. Sandy Grande, speaks of these components in relation to the aims of a critical pedagogy, saying that schools must be engaged “alongside other revolutionary struggles, specifically those that seek to end economic exploitation, political domination, and call to rule dependency.” Grande goes on to cite Henry Giroux who similarly asserts that critical pedagogy must be seen as "part of a broader ethical and political project wedded to furthering social and economic justice and making multicultural democracy operational."
Duncan’s model is also useful because none of its specific set of required elements are directed toward the student. The learner is here presumed innocent of any personal shortcoming or deficit that would prevent success. In Duncan’s model – given the proper environment and resources needed to succeed, the student will succeed.

Dynamic Thinking

As an urban educator, tasked with narrowing the Achievement Gap that exists between students – when looking broadly at ethnicity, gender, cultural background and socio-economic status – I am developing the understanding that I can best foster student success by focusing, not on what I am teaching, but on who I am teaching – and how they are learning. Zeichner & Liston speak to this as a general shift in education philosophy.

Some look back upon past educational policies and practices and see subject matter coverage, not students, as the central focal point of classroom instruction. But that has changed. With the national attention given to student outcomes toward the end of the last century and the beginning of this one, including the federal A Nation at Risk report in the Regan era, the No Child Left Behind legislation of the G. W. Bush tenure, and the more recent Race to the Top policy formulations promoted by Education Secretary Arne Duncan and the Obama administration, we find greater consideration being given to instruction that is focused on student academic outcomes.

In Pedagogy of Confidence, Dr. Jackson advises against using a deficit model when thinking about students and student outcomes:

Administrators frantically searched for that magic program that will save them from the penalties imposed as a result of the low performance on standardized tests of many of their students of color, a situation branded with the pernicious label achievement gap.  This label has exacerbated the cultural myth that the only way to close the gap is by focusing on weaknesses. As a result, we have been obsessively misdirected to turn our backs on the vast intellectual capacity of the students and to regard minimum proficiency as the ceiling, dismissing two inherent truths about learning as if they do not pertain to these individuals:

All people had an intrinsic desire to learn and to be self-actualized . . . All brains are the same color.  In other words, the way the brain makes learning happen does not differ from one culture to another.

The deficit model’s focus on weaknesses, which assumes there are many flaws to be corrected, stands in contrast to dynamic models which presume there are many strengths to be built upon.


Deficit Model Families

In Providing Access for Culturally Diverse Gifted Students, authors Ford & Grantham state that “family involvement in the educational process enhances student achievement,” but go on to stress the dangers of deficit thinking:

. . . If the deficit orientation is present among educators, they may not communicate with culturally diverse families about gifted education services and other opportunities.  Further, if this mindset exists, diverse parents might view schools with suspicion and doubt the school's commitment to their children.  Such parents are unlikely to involve themselves in school settings because of the belief that they are not valued as our resource and member of this whole community.

In the fifth chapter of Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Schools,
authors Route-Chatmon, Scott-George, Okahara, Fuentes, Wing and Noguera use specific observations from families at Berkeley High School to highlight general issues surrounding the important role played by parents and guardians in shaping the educational experiences of learners.  The authors explain that, often being a child’s first teachers, parents and care-givers not only have a strong influence on learning and literacy skill development during early childhood, their influence shapes the “intellectual foundation for future cognitive development.” Pointing to several other researchers, the authors assert that “the educational and socio-economic background of parents” is often a decisive factor “in the formation of student attitudes and habits towards school.” This indicates that the influences of parents, guardians and care-givers, which extends through adolescence in various ways, can subtly but significantly effect a student’s learning and academic achievement. 

The authors of Unfinished Business also explore family – school relationships from a critical perspective. They assert that, while parental involvement was trumpeted as key to promoting academic success, and “especially so for poor and minority students,” historically, the experiences and treatment of different parents at Berkeley High varied widely based on their race and class. The authors go on to describe the problematic social situation:

. . . poor and working class parents of color [face] numerous obstacles that have made it difficult for them to play an effective role.  In the same way that the school marginalizes many African American, Latino, immigrant, and low-income students, the parents of these students are often distanced from school activities.  The distancing is due in part to linguistic and cultural differences that separate parents from Berkeley High School staff, but also due to a basic lack of power on the part of parents of color within the school community.

 A Novel Approach


Leo Tolstoy’s novel, Anna Karenina, begins with the following famous sentence: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Tolstoy here implies that for a family to be happy, several key things are necessary (health, finances, relationships, etc.), and that deficiency in any single one means the family will be unhappy.

Since a number of conditions must be met in order to produce a happy family – they all fit a similar profile. Each unhappy family has a distinct profile, unique to its specific combination of deficiencies from among the constellation of necessary conditions.

Jared Diamond in his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, extended Tolstoy’s idea into a frame for understanding “the requirements for success in complex undertakings,” called the Anna Karenina principle (AKP).

According to the AKP, “the success of complex undertakings always depends upon many factors, each of which is essential,” so that if even just one factor is lacking, the undertaking is likely doomed.

When applying this principle to schooling, and the mission of closing the Achievement Gap, the conclusion is at first disheartening. Any number of factors threaten to block a student’s success and any one of them can get in the way. Conversely, doing well can only occur in special circumstances. But, if we start with the presumption that every student can learn – regardless of ethnicity, gender or any other cultural identification – then there’s a subtle lesson in the AKP about closing the Achievement Gap.

All failing students are alike; each successful student is different in his or her own way.

We know that all students are a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. Further, we know that young urban learners are resourceful and resilient. Taken out of a deficit model and placed in a dynamic model, the AKP holds that it is possible to succeed in many ways but to fail in only one way. Here, we are not focused on finding and correcting the many things that can lead to school failure, but on identifying and developing the one or two strengths of the student that can lead to success.

Poetic Justice Project


This reflection finishes with snapshots of nine urban learners, grouped into three types of students: Deep Inspirations, High Frustrations and Mid Variations. These student profiles sketch basic information about my relationships with them and their families – and thoughts about lessons I learned. The urban learner snapshots are accompanied by samples of original poems – composed as part of the Poetic Justice Project – and some brief notes on each student learning.

Input

Grade 11 learners were tasked with creating 30 poems using formats and guidelines given through individual assignments over the course of the quarter. After editing, learners used their best 20 poems to create and publish an online poetry collection. Students presented their final collections to the class – choosing one poem to read aloud. The poetry rubric lists four main areas: (1) Original Ideas and Depth of Thought; (2) Clear Voice and Articulate Expression; (3) Figurative Language/Poetic Device Use; and (4) Expressive Text Layout and Formatting.

Outcomes

I do not have access to records of the student grades for this project and therefore no aggregated data, but I can generally say that the female students found more success than male students. The work from this particular set of students, randomly chosen, seems to indicate that, across the board, students were able to engage, produce and grow in proficiency.

In thinking back on the project – what I could have done differently or do again – I can say, I would definitely do this again, but I would schedule it early in the school year. Clearly, I would plan much more time for the re-thinking, rewriting and editing of work. The project would benefit from added opportunities for learners to work with partners and groups, co-creating and co-editing poetry. The key lesson learned from the project – most students actually did it. They saw it as an opportunity to express their feelings. Importantly, the most troubled, at-risk and socially awkward students were among the most successful. Generally, students enjoyed posting and publishing their poems to the web. Despite the moaning, groaning and grumbling from the class when this project was first introduced, several students found they had a talent for writing poetry and went on to produce some fairly sophisticated work.

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Black and White TV

Deray McKesson on media bias: "Whiteness gets nuance and blackness doesn’t."

Social activist -- and former Minneapolis school administrator -- Deray McKesson criticizes the media for the way they had handled a White biker shootout in Texas with “nuance,” but Black rioters in Baltimore who did not kill anyone were not “humanized” in the same way.

WeTheProtestors

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Gay Valedictorian Silenced

Evan Young

High school senior Evan Young said he was not notified until just a few minutes before the graduation ceremony at Twin Peaks Charter Academy High School in Longmont, Colorado that he wouldn't be allowed to speak or be recognized as valedictorian because of the contents of his speech.

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My First Teaching Assignment

Reflections About Self:

My First Teaching Assignment

This reflection is focused mainly on my first Language Arts teaching assignment at North High School in Minneapolis. North High, which had previously been declared a failed school, was actually two schools: the new, North Communication, Arts and Science school which had just recently opened, and the North Senior Academy (NSA) where I taught, which was two years away from closing.

At the time, NSA had an essentially 100% African American student population of about 200 11th and 12th grade learners. My duties included teaching sections of junior and senior English, 12th grade IB English and, for one semester, co-teaching an online AP course in Rhetoric and Analysis.

Though NSA’s population was nearly all students of color -- and who all qualified for federal Free and Reduced Lunch programs -- its students were diverse in many other ways. There was a strong and relatively large LGBTQ group. There were several students with families from Somalia and other African countries, and some with families that had a Southeast Asian background. Also, students at the closing school had a wide variety of reasons for attending NSA -- as well as many different academic needs, challenges and goals. Of the approximately 120 seniors, only about 80 were on-track to actually graduate. North Senior Academy was not officially an “alternative” school – but, due to a tortured set of past events and circumstances, that is practically what it was: a place of last resort for students not welcomed at other schools.

Reflecting back on NSA as a career choice for my first teaching assignment, I see that it was ill-considered. The job was extremely difficult. Beyond the solo creation of a curriculum from the ground up, there was contending with the administrative and structural issues of NSA’s unique environment. It was also challenging to what Parker J. Palmer refers to as my “teacher’s heart.” The experience was, however, rewarding in my personal mission as an urban educator and offered rich opportunities for professional observation, reflection and growth.

Guided by questions prompted from selected readings -- and looking back on three experiences at NSA, I ponder the following: what is my teaching philosophy and teaching style, how has it  changed, and what now stands out as real and true to me when reflecting on my identity and integrity as an African American urban educator?

I. Welcome to the Zoo

Author & Cited Issue:

Reflective Teaching

Kenneth M. Zeichner & Daniel P. Liston

“Here we want to underscore that teachers’ understandings, their developed frameworks and practical theories, are often expressed as images and metaphors and through narratives. “

“Researchers . . . maintain that metaphors appear in the natural language of teachers as they talk about their teaching.”

Belief/ Understanding/ Expectations:

I have taught various theater and dance classes for over 20 years, and upon entering my first high school English teaching assignment, my philosophy was “Everyone can learn.” Everyone is able to, everyone is allowed to, and everyone will learn. As an educator, my core belief then and now is – as researcher Richard Stiggins put it – “Students can hit any target they can see that holds still for them.” I viewed my teaching role as an academic facilitator and guide.

NSA Experience:

I began my time at NSA in the middle of the school year as a long-term substitute – after the school’s former English teacher was dismissed and after his replacement quit. My experience confirms that teachers casually use metaphors when they speak of teaching. I will never forget an event that happened in my first few weeks at NSA while eating lunch in the teacher break room. A teacher was loudly complaining about his students' behavior and directly compared the teenagers to animals in a zoo. I was deeply offended by the metaphor being used and the easy laughter it provoked in the other staff members present. While NSA’s students were all African-American, none of the teaching staff was Black – until my sub position became a full-year teaching contract there. The teacher’s metaphor disturbed me due to the cultural context – but also because, as Zeichner and Liston state, teachers’ metaphors and framings “guide and inform teachers’ actions.”

Reality Check/ Thoughts:

Confronting many, many personally disturbing and culturally uncomfortable situations in the first few months of my job – involving both students and other staff – I quickly realized that much of my work would include dealing with social and cultural issues as well as academic ones. In terms of a teacher image, I would borrow a metaphor often used for novels: teachers as mirrors and windows. Coming from the philosophy that all of my students can learn and will learn, my job then, is to frame the content for them – make it interesting, assessable, relevant and relatable. The teacher acts, at times, as a window through which students can see new things about the world, and at times, the teacher is a mirror in which students can better see themselves.  In this sense, my metaphor of teaching now includes both the image of an academic guide as well as that of a social role model.

II. Tested by the System

Author & Cited Issue:

Practice Makes Practice (Chapter 6)

Deborah P. Britzman

“No teaching identity is ever singular or without contradictions; the teacher's identity expresses a cacophony of calls. The cultural myths examined  . . . contain such contradictions; they beckon and repel, promote and dispute, particular meanings about the work and the identity of the teacher.”

“The three myths examined: . . . everything depends upon the teacher; the teacher is the expert; and teachers are self-made.”

Belief/ Understanding/ Expectations:

Motivation was a central issue for my urban classroom. My understanding is that in order to motivate students, the teacher must find projects that are both meaningful and doable. In other words, the academic goals must seem to the students to be relevant as well as attainable.

NSA Experience:

My mid-year teacher performance review was a disappointing and debilitating experience.  The lesson being observed was a session where students were presenting a blog entry designed to provide basic background information about a specific African American author. Students were given a choice of authors, and a simple template of research questions and blog requirements. While one student was presenting the information on his/her web page, the other students were taking notes and were encouraged to offer comments and questions. The rubric for this project included both the blog and the student presentation. Each presentation took 10-15 minutes and plenty of time was afforded for discussion.

I thought the project was a success and that the observation went very well. However, I received low marks from my district observer.

During the discussion, one male student used the “N-word” in reference to a classmate. The observer was highly critical and said that, since I did not discipline the student, it indicated that my classroom was not under control. She gave me low marks in the area of “creates a safe learning environment.” Also, for one thing, the students were well aware of my classroom expectations and my intense personal feelings about the use of that word. It had been the focus of countless class discussions – because when I first arrived at the school, students were openly using racial slurs and curse words. It was actually a problem that I was happy we had largely solved.

For the particular student involved, use of the ”N-word” was a constant. It was a reflection of the way he normally spoke, and while he didn’t always refrain from using it, he certainly knew it was against my classroom policy and expectations. Not to excuse away his infraction -- or my failure to discipline him -- but the student was actually using the word in a friendly manner (though that is impossible to explain out of the proper cultural context). When confronted during the observation meeting about the “N-word” use, I could barely even recall the incident. I was so pleased that there had been a robust class discussion that, at the moment the student said it, although I heard it – in the context of class involvement, it did not register as something that I needed to stop class for.

I was also given low marks in the area of “establishes high cognitive expectations.” The district observer apparently felt that my project was not sufficiently rigorous for high school seniors.

My thinking was that the presentation forum allowed for general class discussion and active reflection on important African American authors. Along with providing literary background information, I also considered the Author Bio Blog writing assignment to be practice with a note-gathering strategy for research paper pre-writing.

Though perhaps simple, the project was embraced by my classes and most students completed the assignment – which was unusual at NSA. The students seemed to enjoy becoming “experts” on their authors and many took ownership of the subject matter as well as their blog design. Some of the discussions were a bit rowdy – but students were involved and not sleeping or looking at their iPhones. So in terms of engagement and motivation, the assignment was a success.

Reality Check/ Thoughts:

Although my observer failed to appreciate my lesson, it was guided, in part, by my desire to refute two of the cultural myths identified by Britzman: “everything depends upon the teacher” and “the teacher is the expert.” Students picked their own author, designed their own blog and then became teachers as they shared their research. The pressure to present work in front of the entire class made it more difficult for students to simply forgo the assignment. The third myth mentioned by Britzman – “teachers are self-made” -- is also relevant to my observation experience. I was an English Department of one. There was no program or curriculum in place, no guidance and little support. I did my level best to create a rich, rewarding curriculum. At the top of the school year, I was also careful to have composed a 20-page document detailing my teaching plans with specific notation on content, goals, standards, assignments and assessments. If my lesson plans were inappropriate, the administration had plenty of time to request modifications – and yet, the mid-year review was the first time anybody had ever questioned my curriculum or learning strategies.

III. The Color of Authority

Author & Cited Issue:

Teacher Reflection and Race in Cultural Contexts

H. Richard Milner

“How might my students’ (and co-workers’) racial experiences influence their work with me as the teacher?”

Belief/ Understanding/ Expectations:

Current research on culturally responsive teaching has determined that learning is maximized when students are given learning targets and rubrics prior to teaching, and when they have been explicitly instructed on setting personal learning goals. An assessment plan must include quality formative assessments – tied to learning targets and standards – making summative assessments an opportunity for student success. Course grades are not rewards and punishments to be meted out by the teacher.

NSA Experience:

Near the end of my first school year, I encountered an experience with a chief administrator that caused me to lose heart. There was a male senior – hereafter referred to as “Bob” -- who was popular in the school and a star on the school’s football team. Based on his sports abilities, he had been offered a scholarship to a college – however, Bob was not on track to graduate. He had completed almost no work in English and was set to fail my class as well as another required course.  The student was antagonistic and openly hostile toward me, and despite my best efforts, we had not been able to build any sort of a positive relationship. Bob was disrespectful and disruptive, and routinely skipped my class.

In the final weeks of school, while meeting with Bob about his grade, he informed me – dared me, really -- that I could not fail him. He threatened that he would go above my head. I dismissed the threat until a few days later when I was approached by an administrator who asked about Bob’s failing grade. I was a caught completely off-guard when, after I explained the student’s failure to complete required assignments, the administrator more or less told me to change the “F” to a passing grade. The conversation ended with the administrator, who was himself a Black man, saying, “You know, we have to look out for our African American males.”

I was truly stunned. My first thought was – I am an African American male! What about my integrity as an educator? Secondly, are we really doing Bob a favor by falsely giving him credit for work he was more than capable of doing but refused to do? How is that setting him up for success or looking out for him?

In the end, I gave the student a grade of “Incomplete” which apparently was changed to “D” by the administrator.

Reality Check/ Thoughts:

Racial issues came into play in strange ways here – since all parties involved were Black males. Basically,  I was placed in the position of changing a student’s grade based, not on his work, but rather, on the color of his skin.

To be an effective urban educator my assessments must create a detailed, valid, reliable and transparent record of learning -- and teaching -- because assessments are a check on systemic integrity. Stiggins points out seven criteria for testing, saying assessments must be appropriate to learning outcomes, tied to specific teaching, varied, culturally responsive, differentiated, non-bias and defensible.

In Conclusion

Despite my first year challenges, I maintained and strengthened my identity and integrity as an educator. Though my ideas on classroom management have grown and been altered, my basic teaching philosophy has not changed. I still believe my core teacher metaphor of mirrors and windows holds. Palmer noted, "we teach who we are," and he goes on to say that teaching itself is a mirror:

The entanglements I experience in the classroom are often no more or less than the convolutions of my inner life. Viewed from this angle, teaching holds a mirror to the soul. If I am willing to look in that mirror, and not run from what I see, I have a chance to gain self-knowledge—and knowing myself is as crucial to good teaching as knowing my students and my subject.

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GA Principal's Racist Remarks

Georgia Principal Fired for Racist Remarks During High School Graduation

Nancy Gordeuk, the principal of Georgia’s TNT Academy, is no longer the principal of TNT Academy: the school’s board of directors fired her after video emerged of her calling out “all the black people” during a recent high school graduation ceremony, and she subsequently blamed it on “the devil.”

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