Browsing by Subject "Achievement gap"
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Item Addressing the achievement gap for African American, Latino and Native American adolescents : implications and approaches for white school counselors(2010-05) Wells, Kristina Elfriede; Cokley, Kevin O. (Kevin O'Neal), 1969-; Moore, LeslieThe achievement gap is still an epidemic in America and many schools struggle with identifying the reasons that their students of color are not achieving at the same rates as their White peers. This review of the literature uncovers some of these reasons and gives counselors ideas for how they can help these students achieve appropriately. Throughout the literature the disproportionate ratio between the overwhelming majority of White school counselors and educators and the growing number of students of color is clear, meaning that Whites in educator roles are over-represented compared to the demographics of the student body. Also, it is evident that the education that counselors have received in the past, and are still receiving, has been lacking in multicultural competency standards. These are just a few of the reasons for the emotional disconnect that students of color feel with the education system and counselors in particular, which makes the job of the counselor difficult when trying to help all children be successful, as is mandated by the American School Counselor Association and NCLB. The literature suggests that White school counselors can become multiculturally competent and can improve school climates to embrace diverse cultures, which in turn increases the chances of student success. Counselors are important change agents in schools and can help to close the achievement gap.Item Closing the achievement gap with family-school partnerships(2012-05) Sutter, Amy Gorham; Carlson, Cindy I., 1949-; Moore, LeslieThe achievement gap is an important problem with serious consequences for the United States’ economy. A long history of oppression has contributed to a substantial gap in achievement between students of minority status or low socioeconomic status and their white or higher income peers. Large scale efforts to address this problem have been unsuccessful in substantially reducing the problem. As parent involvement has been linked to student achievement, capitalizing on strong family-school partnerships offers a valuable opportunity to target student achievement. Low-income and minority parents face many barriers to parent involvement. If schools embrace a more inclusive view of parent involvement and collaborate with parents to reduce these barriers, however, successful family-school partnerships may be formed. Themes for creating such partnerships include recognizing that parents care about their children’s education and want them to succeed, treating parents as equal partners in the educational process, and using innovative techniques to solve problems.Item Deconstructing the deficit-thinking paradigm in district and campus level leadership to close the achievement gap(2009-05) Cormier, Bret D.; Olivárez, RubénDistrict and campus leaders face enormous challenges as they try to address the ever-widening achievement gap. With increased accountability, the achievement gap-- which exists between students of color and students of poverty and their White, middleclass counterparts--is becoming impossible to ignore. Nationally, demographics are shifting toward a society of color and school campuses are following suit. Students are not getting easier to educate. Yet while schools across the nation bemoan their student populations as 'hard to educate,' there are some notable districts consistently having success with these student populations. However, there is almost no research on these schools. Their successes are nearly unknown to the educational world. Therefore, this study sought to examine the practices utilized on these campuses and the role of district and campus leadership in guiding the teachers of these student populations. The theoretical framework was the deficit-thinking paradigm and the Effective Schools Correlates. The study investigated schools that (1) earned high ratings in their state accountability system (2) named Blue Ribbon Schools and (3) were Title I award winning schools because they had gone from low performing schools with few systems in place to high performing schools with many systems in place. The study focused on the Area Superintendent of Area 10 and two elementary principals. This study was a mix method qualitative and quantitative study that involved only one urban school district: Martin Luther King Independent School District, one of the fifteen largest districts in the southwest part of the United States. This was a case study, which is an intensive description and analysis of a phenomenon or social unit such as an individual, group, institution, or community. The case is a bounded, integrated system (Stake, 1995; Merriam, 1998). Data collection included interviews, observations, and a reflective journal. Findings revealed that there are six prongs these schools had in common to go from low performing to high performing schools as well as earn distinction and awards. Acquiring these six prongs is called Creating a Culture of Success for Students of Color and Students of Poverty. There are also six conditions that permeate low performing schools; these schools once had these conditions on their campuses, but overcame them to become high performing. These conditions are called the Labyrinth of Solitude for Students of Color and Students of Poverty. As school districts and schools attempt to create a culture of accountability where high expectations and a sense of urgency prevail--conditions necessary to close the achievement gap and move from the deficit-thinking paradigm and its deleterious impact on achievement toward the Normed-Opportunity Paradigm--universities and school districts can use this research data to help superintendents, central office personnel, campus principals, teachers, as well as prospective teachers and administrators to move schools and school districts forward and help close the achievement gap.Item Employee perceptions of progress with implementing a student-centered model of institutional improvement : an achieving the dream case study(2011-12) Cheek, Annesa LeShawn; Bumphus, Walter G.; Gooden, Mark A.; Brown, Anthony L.; Johnson, Steven L.; Mathis, Margaretta B.; Roueche, John E.Achieving the Dream is a national initiative focused on helping more community college students succeed, particularly students of color and low-income students. Achieving the Dream’s student-centered model of institutional improvement focuses on eliminating gaps and raising student achievement by helping institutions build a culture of evidence through institutional transformation. This interpretive case study employed a mixed methods approach and utilized a sequential explanatory strategy to gather detailed information related to the research questions. The study examined, from an insider’s perspective, the progress made by an Achieving the Dream college in implementing practices that reflect the principles of the Achieving the Dream model of institutional improvement. The four principles of the model are: committed leadership, use of evidence to improve programs and services, broad engagement, and systemic institutional improvement. The study was conducted in two phases and involved a quantitative survey of all college employees and semi- structured, individual interviews with members of the college’s Achieving the Dream team. The quantitative and qualitative data were given equal weighting in the study and were integrated to the extent that the qualitative data collected provided supportive insights into the findings derived from the quantitative analysis. This study found the college made progress in implementing the practices reflected by the Achieving the Dream model. The study findings also provide insights into underlying factors that existed at the college related to its implementation of the initiative. The findings will supplement current knowledge about the efficacy of change models designed to help community colleges build a student-centered model of institutional improvement and the knowledge gained should not only benefit the college, but also provide useful information to other institutions involved in this initiative.Item Insurmountable barrier or navigable obstacle? Gender differences in the construal of academia(2010-08) Jones, Sadé Margie; Swann, William B.; Bigler, RebeccaPsychologists have begun to examine factors that influence the achievement gap between African American and White students. This is a pressing issue especially for African American students (Steele, 1997; Shelton & Sellers, 2000; Cokley, 2001). To better understand the effects of race and gender on perceived discrimination and academic disengagement, 81 African American students at the University of Texas at Austin were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Participants either listed ten instances of discrimination they have experienced, five academic successes and five academic failures, or made no lists. The impact of these manipulations on responses to the Disengagement Scale (Major & Schmader, 1998) and the Everyday Discrimination Scale (Williams, Yu, Jackson, & Anderson, 1997) were assessed. Results suggest that gender plays an important role in African American students’ academic function. More specifically, African American males perceive more discrimination in academia than African American females, which is related to higher levels of disengagement. Researchers suggest this difference is related to African American males’ socialization to see discrimination as an insurmountable barrier rather than a navigable obstacle.Item Study and analysis of academic skills of newcomer high school students who are foreign born in Central Texas(2011-05) Lenoir, Gloria Irma Cisneros; Reyes, Pedro, 1954-; Young, Michelle D.; Saenz, Victor; O'Doherty, Ann P.; Lincove, JaneThe foreign-born population in the United States increased by 57% from 1990 to 2000 (U.S. Census, 2003). A substantial growth for minority and immigrant population groups is projected to continue over the next 20 years, and these newcomer students tend to have lower measures of achievement (National Center of Education Statistics, 2007). Most of the research available is for early grade students. A paucity of research exists for high school student newcomers. This study reviewed a single public high school as a case study in a Central Texas school district, focusing on newcomer immigrant students in Grades 9 and 10. This study adds to the understanding of educational needs for new immigrants, existing educational services for them, strategies in place to narrow the achievement gaps between immigrant and nonimmigrant students, and policies that should be developed or expanded in order to ameliorate their educational conditions. Research questions were (a) what are the achievement gaps between 9th-grade, newcomer immigrant students in Central Texas and their nonimmigrant peers; (b) what are the academic needs of 9th-grade, newcomer immigrant students in Central Texas; and (c) what strategies exist to narrow the achievement gaps between immigrant and nonimmigrant students? Evidence was found that indeed a subpopulation of immigrant teenagers arrives with significant gaps in schooling. This study revealed value in innovative, visual instructional techniques; encouraged development of interpersonal advocacy; and the most potent contribution, thoughtful and empathetic administration and teachers. Determining effective strategies, support systems, and appropriate school climate while finding other elements that work in other locations make for a successful school for newcomer immigrant students.Item White Educators in a Successful, Diverse, Large Texas School District:Developing an Authentic Equity Consciousness(2011-05) Brown, Randy M; Mendez-Morse, Sylvia; Price, Margaret A.; Booth, JohnThis study was designed to explore how and why white teachers and administrators employed in a successful, diverse, large school district had developed an authentic equity consciousness. Skrla, McKenzie, and Scheurich (2009) defined equity consciousness as teachers being aware of, accepting, and acting on the following four central beliefs: 1. That all children (except only a small percentage; e.g., those with profound disabilities) are capable of high levels of academic success. 2. That all children means all, regardless of a child’s race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, learning differences, culture, language, religion, and so on. 3. That the adults in schools are primarily responsible for student learning. 4. That traditional school practices may work for some students but are not working for all children. Therefore, if we are going to eleminate the achievement gap, it requires a change in our practices. (Skrla et al., 2009, p. 82) Moreover, educators with an authentic equity consciousness “have it, understand it, and live it out on a daily basis” (Skrla et al., 2009, p. 84). These educators have accepted and embraced the four central beliefs of equity consciousness noted above, and they demonstrate this consciousness in their daily practice. The district and participants in this study were purposefully selected. Only large (30,000 or more students), diverse (50% students of color), and successful (smaller achievement gap than the state) districts were considered for this study. After reviewing state educational data on students’ performance on state mandated tests and other documents, the researcher identified an appropriate school district and invited the administrators of that district to participate in the study. The goal of the researcher was to purposefully select from the district seven white educators who had been identified as exhibiting the traits of those described in the literature as possessing an authentic equity consciousness. One central office administrator, three principals, and three teachers who had been identified as white were purposefully selected and asked to participate in the study. This instrumental case study utilized three different qualitative data collection methods: questionnaires, interviews, and document gathering. The findings of the study revealed that the participants’ development of an authentic equity consciousness was a complex phenomenon influenced by several factors. Personal factors included a mentor or teacher, a critical incident, their faith or spirituality, and their exposure to diversity while growing up. However, the most important factor was a strong district culture that fostered a set of beliefs that in turn effected the development of an equity consciousness among the educators in the district. The district studied had achieved success because of its focus on both the beliefs and instructional skills of the educators. The district culture itself promoted an equity consciousness among the educators. While the participants embraced all four of the central beliefs of equity consciousness, their responses indicated that the most prevalent belief was that the adults were primarily responsible for student learning. These beliefs resulted in a culture where students of color are expected to achieve at high levels, no excuses are accepted for poor performance, and educators are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure student success. More importantly, the district culture caused those that did not have, or were not willing to develop, an equity consciousness to leave or not become employed by the district in the first place. The result was a district culture where an equity consciousness was not only expected but required, thus allowing for a subsequent intense focus on the instructional skills of the educators.