There is a deep need for equity in education. All students need to be challenged and know their schools have their best interest in mind. Schools need to make sure the needs of diverse students are met and they are receiving an equitable education. This means school districts need to ensure equity in resources and educational opportunities. This requires schools to recognize that not all students are the same and those with less will need more attention and support.
Research has shown we cannot separate learning needs and non-academic needs nor should this be entirely put on schools. We need support systems built within our communities. Dr. Pedro Noguera, a Professor of Education at New York University and the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, states, “Our achievement gap is due to social inequality. We must invest in children of color: They are the future.” In his efforts to support all students, Dr. Noguera developed 10 practices to promote achievement for all students.
1.Challenge the normalization of failure. Race and class should not predict achievement.
These practices, if implemented, can help support us in our efforts to close the achievement gap. As we work to close the gap, the students of today will be better prepared to contribute to society with confidence, strong skill sets and a desire to make this world a better place.
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Statistics state that black children are three times more likely to drop out of school and twice as likely to be suspended from school. In addition, the percentage of black students in special education programs is staggering . There are more statistics that could be brought to light such as blacks’ social and economic realities, the rate of infant mortality and the disparities within the criminal justice system. Yes, this information is startling yet crucial to know. We need to know and then decide how we can change this broken system. This system that is working against us rather than for us.
One important place to look is within our school system. Children go to school from as early as 4 years of age until 17 where they spend almost 7 hours a day, 5 days a week for almost 200 days a year. If children are spending that much time in school, we would hope they are learning from teachers who enjoy, inspire and affirm them. Teachers that want students to work towards academic and not compromise their cultural identities. Evidently, that is not the case and we must work to make classrooms better for black children.
Let’s start with racial bias. Racial bias is dangerous. As a result, there are lower expectations for black students and harsher penalties. A team of Princeton University researchers studied federal data that covered 32 million white and black students across 96,000 schools. Black students experienced more expulsions, arrests and faced more law enforcement interventions than white students. Racial bias incites disparities in school regulation.
How can we put equity in the center of education?
One approach would be teachers incorporating historical content into their instruction. Introducing all students to the history and life experiences of diverse cultures. Enriching those experiences with literature, music and films. Teachers need to learn ways to honor and respect the history of their students. This will strengthen the teachers cultural awareness and ultimately their beliefs.
Students develop and grow academically from educators who are culturally aware. They also benefit from teachers who have high expectations and see the potential in their students no matter their background.
It's Monday and many of us are off to work. In an ideal work environment, our place of employment should be a space and place where everyone feels safe, comfortable, respected and valued. It’s also where each employee feels a sense of belonging.
Financebuzz completed a survey and discovered that 46% of workers feel isolated from their team and 30% felt it’s challenging to collaborate with their colleagues. Although work culture varies from place to place, a healthy environment should be built on the belief that we will support the joy and growth of the employees and foster a culture of collaboration, engagement and inclusion.
Forbes.com shared 4 tips to strengthen the culture in a workplace. When you take these steps into consideration, it can build stronger, supportive teams.
The steps above can move your team in the right direction. If you want more collaboration with your team and increased productivity strengthen your team's relationships. Research conducted by EY’s Center for Talent Innovation, shows that “39% of respondents feel the greatest sense of belonging when their colleagues checked in with them, both personally and professionally.” Furthermore, “when people feel like they belong at work, they are more productive, motivated, engaged and 3.5 times more likely to contribute to their fullest potential.” Let's do the work and make a difference in our work environments.
]]>During the month of February my daughters and I explore and purchase books written by black authors. We add new material to our book collection and we also give books to our family and friends. This year, there are a number of books on our list from Kamala Harris to Amanda Gorman and a host of others. So, today we created a list of 10 books by black authors that we recommend.
1.
Who Has Hair Like Mine is a book that focuses on explaining the variety of hair types and textures while following a young girl on her journey towards appreciating her own hair.
2.
Brown Girl Dreaming is a novel told in verse that captures the story of a young girl growing up in the 1960’s in South Carolina and New york.
3.
Firebird is the story of a talented young girl who does not have confidence and questions her abilities.
4.
I Like Myself is a book that helps young children appreciate everything about themselves and realize what really matters.
5.
Hair Love is a story about a father doing his daughter’s hair for the first time and after several trials and errors, by working together, they are successful.
6.
Trombone Shorty is a picture book autobiography about how Troy followed his dreams despite many challenges.
The ABC’s of Black History takes readers on a wonderful journey through the ABC’s of black history and culture.
8.
Every Little Thing was written by Bob Marley’s daughter and it reminds readers that every little thing is gonna be all right!
9.
Hidden Figures picture book explores the story of 4 phenomenal women who contributed to NASA despite racial and gender barriers.
Crown is a story about a black boy going to the barbershop to get a haircut. It is a tribute to the barbershop culture.
I hope you take the time to read these books and when you do, share your thoughts by posting them, sharing with friends or emailing us. We would love to hear from you. Happy reading!
]]>A Better YOU!
As we prepare to embark upon a new year, I can’t help but reflect on the challenges we faced in 2020. The pandemic infecting and taking the lives of our family and friends, the Black Lives Matter movement, policing in the United States, the inequitable treatment of people of color, our schools restructuring instruction, and the presidential election. Despite it all, many of us were able to adjust and embrace our new normal.
There were a few tips I followed in 2020 that helped me adapt and as I continue to move forward, I plan to stay the course and apply them in 2021
Before the pandemic, I was wrapped up in my career and I made little to no time for my family, friends, reading, writing or exercising. After work, I always felt tired. I didn’t take the time to smell the roses or count my blessings. Now, I have forged new relationships and I am taking better care of myself. Life is too short, tomorrow is not promised so I urge everyone to live for today.
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Have you ever asked yourself, how can I make a difference? I have asked myself that question on multiple occasions and I soon realized with my time, talent and skills I can make a difference.
We each have 24 hours to use to the best of our ability. What we do with that time is entirely up to us. Consider taking time to mentor someone. Mentoring can be impactful. Do you remember a teacher, a coach or a former boss who said or did something that changed the trajectory of your life? Well, this is your chance to do that for someone else. Not every mentoring experience is life changing but mentorships continue because mentoring has the potential to incite change.
Another way to make a difference is with your talent. We might say or think we do not have a talent but creativity is in each one of us. Give yourself permission to follow what makes you feel alive or compassionate. If you like to sing, you should sing. If you enjoy writing poems or short stories, spend time writing. Do not walk away from your creative instincts because it is not your career. Your gift may simply be making dinner for an elderly person. Knowing you touched one life is making a difference.
Lastly, we can use our skills. I am a trained reading specialist and I enjoy helping children learn to read. It is rewarding and fulfilling. Instead of making money from my skill, I help by tutoring. I know this will make a huge difference in the students’ lives. If you want to make a difference in the world beyond your day job, getting into action with the skills you already have is a great first step. When we use our time, talent and skills to help others, we are working towards making an impactful difference in the world.
]]>PEACE
As we look at what’s going on in the world, it may appear frightening.
Many things have changed. From our social interactions and mobility, to our job security and the economy. One might ask, in the midst of all of this, how do we remain calm? This could be asked across the globe because this, our supposed "NEW NORMAL." is impacting the world. It's disrupting our lives and taking us out of our peaceful states of mind.
Luckily, there are several things that can help us stay focused and regain our peace. You see, our minds our great tools and because of that we have the ability to make choices to improve out circumstances. Consider the six suggestions listed below.
1. Refuse to be anxious.
This might be contrary to how we react. Some of us may complain, call friends
and work ourselves into hysteria. We shouldn’t be anxious. We need to try being calm before we approach any issue or problem. When you are calm, you tend to make better decisions.
2. Be still.
Reel in the emotions. Take time to stop and focus your mind.
Ask yourself, Is this worth my time? If it is, how should you approach the situation? Try being still and collect your thoughts before you proceed.
3. Remain hopeful.
Everyday, never cease from having hope. Always believe there’s a way to address whatever you might be facing. This will prepare you for what may come your way. You will find, by having this mindset, you are better equipped to deal with situations that come your way.
4. Don’t worry.
Don’t let something way you down. Life was not meant to be free of challenges.
You should take time to think of possible solutions and tap into your inner strength. Sometimes talking to a good friend helps too.
5. Keep inspirational quotes with you.
Keep quotes in your wallet or purse. It's also good to write them down in a journal. This reinforces what you believe. The more you read positive affirmations, the more you will believe in them and they will impact your mindset.
6. Develop a daily plan for yourself and follow through with it.
There are all types of plans. Start small and make it reasonable.
Plan to exercise several times a week. Get some Fresh air everyday by going on a walk, in the morning or during your lunch break. Practice deep breathing.
This is calming and it increases blood circulation. Also, consider going out and doing for others. This helps to relieve tension.
Today, let’s make a change. Let’s plan to move forward with a new mindset and handle events with a positive mindset. Let’s Strive for peace and happiness from within. I know you can do it! You just have to believe you can and take the first steps.
Children begin learning to read by being read to at home, sounding out words, recognizing common vocabulary from books and teachers instructing them with the reading curriculum at school. Reading skills increase when children develop and grow their word recognition skills and their language comprehension. Every child does not seamlessly develop these skills. Why is that the case? Read the article, from APM Reports, "What the Words Say," by Emily Hanford. It takes an in-depth look into reading development and how we meet the needs of children of color.
https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2020/08/06/what-the-words-say
A false assumption about what it takes to be a skilled reader has created deep inequalities among U.S. children, putting many on a difficult path in life.
August 6, 2020 | by Emily Hanford
Sonya Thomas knew something wasn’t right with her son C.J. He was in first grade and he was struggling with reading. “Something was going on with him, but I could not figure it out,” she said.
Teachers and school officials told her that C.J. was behind but would catch up. They told Sonya to read to him at home. But she did read to him. C.J. liked the Veggie Tales stories and “The Big Friendly Giant” by Roald Dahl. His older sister read the Goosebumps books to him.
C.J. went to Amqui Elementary, a public school in Nashville, Tennessee, where 80 percent of the students were Black or Hispanic and almost all of them were from low-income families. Test scores show most children in the school were struggling with reading. But Sonya didn’t know that. She sent C.J. to Amqui because she liked the school and it’s where her best friend’s son went; her friend picked the kids up after school because Sonya worked late as a nurse.
C.J. is the youngest of Sonya’s four kids. The three older ones had no trouble learning to read but something was different with C.J. “I started asking myself, does he have a learning disability?” She sent a handwritten note to the school, requesting that he be tested. Records show the school didn’t do it.
Second grade came and went. Then third and fourth grade, and C.J. was still having trouble reading. Sonya didn’t know what to do. Tutoring? Private school? Those weren’t things she could afford. She was desperate.
And she knew something about how C.J. felt. She’d struggled to learn how to read, too.
As she grew older, she says it wasn’t that she couldn’t read the words; it’s that she didn’t know what a lot of the words meant. Not just when she was reading, but when people were talking, too. She noticed it with colleagues at work. “Sometimes when they would have conversations, I didn’t know what they were talking about,” she said. “I would find myself Googling words.” It was embarrassing. She did not want this to happen to C.J.
But the schools kept telling her C.J. was doing fine. His grades were good. He was a well-behaved kid. Then, seventh grade, 2018. C.J. had moved to a new school that year, a public charter school in Nashville. C.J.’s adviser called Sonya in for a meeting. She told her that C.J. was reading on a second-grade level.
“I lost it,” Sonya said. “I sobbed.” Remembering the moment during an interview brought tears to her eyes.
The adviser said the school would help C.J., and Sonya wanted to believe it. But she’d put her faith in the school system for years, and now she had a seventh grader who was reading on the level of kids nearly half his age.
Sonya was determined to figure out what happened with C.J. — and to help other families in the same situation. “Nobody else should walk away feeling like that,” she said.
There are kids like C.J. all over the country. Learning to read does not come easily to them. Schools tell their parents: Read to them. They’ll be OK. But many won’t be.
Reading is essential — not just for school success, but for life. When children have trouble learning to read, it can kick off a devastating downward spiral.1 Struggling readers are more likely to report feeling sad, lonely, angry, anxious and depressed.2 Their poor reading skills make it hard for them to keep up in other subject areas. They’re more likely to have behavior problems, to drop out of school and to end up in the criminal justice system.3
Despite the high stakes, lots of kids in this country can’t read very well. You can see it in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a standardized test given every two years to measure the reading comprehension of American students. More than a third of fourth graders don’t read on a basic level.
Why are so many children struggling with reading — the most basic, most fundamental academic skill?
It’s a question I’ve been reporting on for several years. What I’ve found is that reading instruction in many schools is based on a belief that if children are read to a lot, reading should come pretty easily for them. Decades of scientific research on reading shows this isn’t true. Some kids learn to read easily, but many children struggle. It doesn’t matter how much they are read to or the number of books in their home. They will not become good readers unless they are taught how their written language works.4
But prevailing approaches to early reading instruction in this country minimize direct instruction.5 The teacher’s role is mainly to guide students, to create an environment that is conducive to learning how to read: setting up reading groups, reading with kids, helping them find books on their reading level.
This approach creates a lot of struggling readers. Some of these struggling readers get the help they need but a lot can depend on their family income, their race and ethnicity, and what kind of school they go to. Family income matters, because if a school isn’t teaching a child how to read, there are other options such as paying for tutors or private schools. Race matters, because white children are significantly more likely to go to public schools where more kids are successful with reading; that means when white kids struggle, their reading problems tend to stand out and get attention.6 And if a child has a reading disability, a white child is much more likely to get special education services.
America’s approach to reading instruction is having an especially devastating impact on Black, Hispanic and American Indian children.
The downward spiral that can start with early reading problems is a source of profound inequality in our society. This could be prevented if more educators and policymakers understood what cognitive scientists have figured out over the past several decades about what’s going on when kids struggle with reading.
Wes Hoover is a cognitive psychologist who first got interested in reading when he was a graduate student at the University of Texas in the 1970s.7 At the time, a big debate was going on among academics about what children need to learn to become good readers. The fight was focused on phonics instruction.
One side said: If kids know how the sounds in words are represented by letters, reading comprehension will follow. Teach kids decoding.
The other side said: If kids are focused on the meaning of what they’re reading, they can figure out what the words say. Teach kids comprehension.
Hoover studied under a professor, Philip Gough, who was trying to figure out the relationship between decoding and comprehension.8 Gough was particularly interested in why some people have a hard time understanding what they read. He was interested in reading difficulty.
What Gough knew was this: When children start school, the vast majority of them are already quite good at speaking their native language. “The average American 6-year-old,” he wrote in a paper, “has a mastery of English [that] would be the envy of any college graduate learning English as a second language.”9
But young children don’t know how to read most of the words they know how to say. If children can learn to decode, Gough thought, they should be able to comprehend text up to the level at which they can comprehend spoken language.
In 1986, Gough and a colleague, William Tunmer, came up with an equation to describe this idea. They called it the Simple View of Reading.10
The equation says that a person’s ability to comprehend what they read is the product of their decoding skills and their language comprehension ability.
Language comprehension is your ability to understand meaning when someone is talking or when text is read out loud to you.
Decoding is your ability to read printed words quickly and accurately. (Decoding is more commonly referred to now as “word recognition” in the Simple View equation, because scientists have discovered that readers become so skilled they don’t have to sound out most of the words they see; they know the words instantly, on sight.)11
The Simple View doesn’t say that reading is simple. It says that reading comprehension can be divided into two parts.
“It’s the big idea of reading,” Hoover said. “Word recognition is complex. Language comprehension is complex. But the big idea of reading is that if you can master those two complex skills, then you can master reading comprehension. That’s the hypothesis.”
The hypothesis was first tested and verified in a study Hoover published with Gough in 1990.12 It’s been confirmed in more than 150 studies since.13 The studies show the only way to be a good reader is to have both good language comprehension ability and good word recognition skills, as this figure illustrates.
The Simple View doesn’t say how word recognition or language comprehension skills develop. And it does not say how they should be taught.14 But it makes clear that the first task of the beginning reader is to learn how to decode the words he or she knows how to say.
Children who don’t learn to decode in the early grades can easily grow into adulthood without knowing how to read. I met some of these kids at a juvenile detention facility in Houston. They’re being taught to read as part of an ongoing study by researchers at the University of Houston who are investigating the links between reading problems and involvement with the juvenile justice system.15
I visited the Burnett-Bayland Rehabilitation Center in February 2018. It’s a large, tan building surrounded by metal fencing. The lobby reminded me of an auto repair shop: worn-out stuffed chairs, old magazines, a chemical odor.
I was led through two large locked doors by a staff member, who took me on a tour. It was all boys, as young as 10. More than 90 percent of them were Black or Hispanic. They walked the halls in blue jumpsuits, their hands clasped behind their backs. We passed the units where they slept on thin plastic mattresses and the isolation room where they were sent when their behavior was out of control. And then we got to a windowless cinderblock room with heavy locked doors on each side. Inside were a table and two green chairs. This was where the boys visited with their families once a week. It was also where some of them were finally being taught how to read.
I sat in on a few of these tutoring sessions. They included short lessons on concepts as basic as how two letters can represent one sound. There were vocabulary building activities. Then the students did some reading. Some of the boys could barely read.16
“B-l-ee …” said one boy I’ll call Mateo, struggling to read the word “bleak.” I wasn’t allowed to use the boys’ real names or ask why they were here. Mateo was 15 at the time, short and skinny with a shadow of a mustache above his lip.
He was trying to read a story about a man taking a bus ride. Occasionally, he’d successfully sound out and there’d be a flash of recognition. “Woman!” he exclaimed after slowly decoding the word. But it was clear from earlier in the lesson that Mateo didn’t know the meaning of a lot of the words he was trying to say: fleet, sneer, gloat. If someone had read the story out loud to him, he wouldn’t have understood it all. Mateo had a reading comprehension problem because he was having a hard time with both word recognition and language comprehension.
But if Mateo had been taught how to sound out words earlier in his life, it’s likely he would have known the meaning of a lot more words at the age of 15.
That’s because of something reading researchers call “Matthew” effects, a term borrowed from the Bible.17 It’s the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Here’s how it works in reading.
Let’s say you start school, and you get off to a good start learning how to decode words. Now you can read the words you know how to say, and through reading you begin to learn the meaning of words you’ve never heard before. That’s how the rich get richer.
But the opposite can happen. You have a hard time learning to decode. Maybe you have a learning disability. Or maybe no one teaches you how to decode. Or both. Now you’re a struggling reader. You can’t read very well, so you don’t read much, and you miss out on the opportunity to learn the meaning of new words through reading. One study estimated that a fifth grader who reads at the 90th percentile encounters about 2 million words every year just in text she or he reads outside of school.18 A reader at the 10th percentile encounters just 8,000 words. That’s the poor getting poorer.
When a person reaches age 15 without knowing how to sound out the word “bleak,” is that a learning disability or was the child never taught how to read?
The kids in the study at the juvenile detention facility in Houston all read at the third grade level or below when they started in the tutoring program. Latashia Crenshaw, who was director of Education Support Services for the juvenile probation department when I visited, estimated that close to half the kids who come through the system have disabilities that were never identified by their schools. When she talked to their parents, they would tell her: “I knew my son had a problem in first grade when I was coming up to the school every day, telling you that something was wrong, and no one listened.”
The University of Houston researchers are betting that a lot of the struggling readers locked up in the juvenile detention system can be taught how to read. Students in the study each receive 24 reading lessons of 90 minutes each. The researchers are collecting data over time to see if the reading lessons translate into things like reduced criminal activity or better educational outcomes.
I asked some of the kids in the study what they remembered about being taught to read in school. “That it was hard,” said a 17-year-old I’ll call DeShawn. “I just didn’t know none of the words.” I asked what he was learning in his reading lessons. “Like, ‘ph.’ It’s a ‘f,’” he said. “Like physics. I never knew that.”
DeShawn might have a learning disability. But that’s not why he couldn’t read the word “physics.” Someone finally taught him what he needed to know, and now he can read that word.
Paul Morgan is a professor at Penn State University who studies the risk factors for learning difficulties.19 He had a case study in his own home about a decade ago.
His younger son was in first grade and reading was really hard for him. Morgan’s other son had been fine. “Our oldest is a voracious reader and took to it readily,” he said. “He seemed to benefit from what our local school did in terms of teaching reading.”
When Morgan and his wife brought up their younger son’s struggles with the school, they were told: “Read storybooks to him, surround him with books.” But they’d been reading to him since he was a baby. They had tons of books in their home.
Morgan knew, from his own research, that his son needed something he wasn’t getting enough of in school. He needed to be taught how to read words. So, Morgan and his wife started doing that.
“We were in a position to reorganize our work schedules,” he said. They bought a book online and every morning, one of them would work with him before school. “And then he was OK. Things made sense to him. He was decoding and starting to read quickly and fluently.”
They caught the problem and were able to fix it. That’s not going to be the case with every child. Some kids will need lots of help. But intervening early is critical because when kids don’t get off to a good start with word recognition, it can begin to affect their motivation and their mental health.20
“If you can’t read well in the early grades, your peers notice, your teacher notices, you notice,” Morgan said. “And it really starts to have negative consequences on your social emotional development and your behavior.”
Children who are still struggling with reading at the end of first grade rarely catch up because the kids who get off to a good start reading words are catapulting ahead. It’s the rich get richer phenomenon. Everyone else quickly gets left behind.
Yet a 2019 Education Week survey found that more than half of teachers and 56 percent of postsecondary instructors who teach courses on reading said kids don’t need a good grasp of phonics to read.21 That doesn’t necessarily mean they reject phonics instruction. The majority of teachers describe their approach to teaching reading as “balanced literacy” and that typically includes some phonics. But it also includes the idea that readers don’t need to understand how the sounds in words are represented by letters. It’s that idea from the 1970s that if kids are focused on the meaning of what they’re reading, they can figure out what the words say.
This idea has been repeatedly debunked by cognitive scientists, but it lingers in education because the idea that children need to be taught how to read words has long been resisted by many educators and literacy experts.22 Even as some people who previously dismissed the importance of phonics instruction now embrace it, an assumption that continues to undergird reading instruction is that reading skill develops naturally, as long as kids are in an environment that supports and encourages lots of reading.
When this approach doesn’t work for a child, there are typically two responses.
There must be a problem in the home. The child wasn’t read to enough.
There must be a problem in the child. He or she has a disability.
But usually it’s neither. Most of the time, when kids can’t read, it’s because they weren’t taught how to do it.
You can’t be a good reader without good word recognition skills. Reading scientists refer to word recognition as a “sine qua non” of being a good reader.23 But good word recognition skills are only half the equation. Research shows that once kids have mastered the basics of decoding, their ability to understand what they read is largely determined by the level of their language comprehension.24
There’s a lot to language comprehension.25 It’s all the words you know the meaning of, and your understanding of how language works — grammar, syntax.26 It also includes the things you know. For example, if you don’t know what “sine qua non” means, you may not have fully understood the paragraph above. “Sine qua non” is a Latin phrase that means “an essential condition; something that is absolutely necessary.”
Knowledge is critical when it comes to understanding what you read.27 Consider this passage:
Australia failed to fully capitalise on the second-wicket stand of 182 between Smith and Finch, as Michael Clarke’s men were stunted by the off-breaks of Ravichandran Ashwin and a curious collective failure against back-of-a-length bowling.28
You may be able to read all the words just fine but have absolutely no idea what this passage is about — unless you know something about cricket. This passage is from a BBC report on Australia’s victory in the 2015 Cricket World Cup semi-final.
Your ability to comprehend what you read is linked to your knowledge. This is one reason there’s an association between a child’s reading comprehension and their family’s income; more income often means more opportunity for experiences that build knowledge of the world.
But how well you do on a reading comprehension test is going to be partly a function of what’s on the test. A 10-year-old in New Zealand, where there’s lots of cricket, would probably fare much better on a test that included a passage about cricket than a 10-year-old in the United States would. The American kid would likely do better with a passage about baseball. But of course, some kids know much more about baseball than others. A famous study found that struggling readers who know a lot about baseball did better comprehending a passage about baseball than good readers who don’t know much about baseball.29
The challenge with reading comprehension tests is that, at the end of the day, they are tests of knowledge, and in the United States we don’t have a canon of knowledge we’ve decided every child needs to master. We have common standards, which are essentially lists of things students should be able to do, such as “determine the main idea” and “describe characters in a story.”30 We don’t have agreed upon curriculum. It’s up to states, to schools — sometimes to individual teachers — to decide what to teach. They choose the books, the materials, the content.
One of the ironic consequences of nationwide concern about poor reading scores is that schools appear to be focusing more on reading instruction at the expense of other subjects.31 Time spent on reading instruction in the early grades typically takes 90 minutes to three hours daily; science and social studies might be 30 to 45 minutes, a few times a week — at best. Add to this the fact that kids who are struggling with reading are often pulled out of class during science and social studies for extra reading help.
When schools don’t put enough focus on general knowledge, it can be particularly harmful to the reading development of kids from low-income families. Consider two children.
One starts school with lots of knowledge and vocabulary. Her parents are college graduates who chat with her about lots of things. She attends summer camps, goes on vacations, takes trips to the science museum.
Another child hasn’t had the same opportunities: he rarely leaves his neighborhood, his parents work late, there may be few bedtime stories.
You can teach both of these kids how to decode, but the girl will likely have an edge when it comes to reading comprehension because of the knowledge she is acquiring outside of school. If a goal of education is equity, schools have to pay attention to building knowledge and vocabulary, exposing kids to lots of content, helping them access a wide range of information and experiences. And schools need to encourage kids to read a lot. Because reading is one of the best ways to learn.
That’s why teaching kids how to read words is so important. A child who comes to school weak on the language comprehension side of the equation will never catch up if he doesn’t get good at decoding. But if a child is taught to decode in the early grades, he has just been given his best shot.
Making sure that children get off to a good start with reading is critical because of the downward spiral that can begin as soon as kids begin to struggle. This means recognizing the factors that can make learning to read more challenging for some kids.
One of the big challenges for many children is when the language they speak at home is different from the language they use at school. English language learners, for example. Kids who speak Spanish or Korean or Arabic at home. But this can be native English speakers, too.
Julie Washington is a speech-language pathologist at Georgia State University who studies language and reading development in African American children. She’s specifically interested in the role of African American English.32
African American English is a dialect of English. Every language has dialects. They’re rule-governed variations of a parent language that can affect not just the pronunciation of words but also vocabulary and grammar.
“An example of African American English is, ‘One day, me and my mom was at home,’” Washington explained. “That is completely acceptable in African American English."
There was a moment early in her career when she realized that children who come to school speaking African American English might have a harder time learning how to read.
She was reading “Are You My Mother?” by P.D. Eastman with a 4-year-old girl. The book is about a baby bird who is looking for his mother. He approaches different animals and objects and asks, “Are you my mother?”
When Washington was done reading the book, she asked the girl to retell the story.
“Is you my mama?” the girl exclaimed. “I ain’t none a yo’ mama!”
When she went back to her office, Washington thought about how much work that girl had to do. She listened, recoded the story into her own language, and then retold it. “That takes a lot of working memory,” Washington said. “It takes a pretty good vocabulary.”
That little girl had to do a lot of work because there was a difference between the language she knew and the language of the book.
“The kid who comes to school whose language system mirrors the book doesn’t have that work to do,” she said. “He can go straight for decoding and not have to do all of those other steps in between.”
Washington says schools need to understand that children who are heavy dialect users may need more time, and more help, to be successful with reading.33 She says almost all low-income African American children speak African American English at home. Middle- and upper-income kids are more likely to either not use dialect at all, or to be able to code switch. “They’ve had more access outside of the community,” Washington said. “They go to schools where there are more kids using mainstream English.”
Think of family income as a kind of buffer when it comes to the risk of being a struggling reader.
But it’s not just your family’s income that can tilt things in your favor when it comes to learning how to read; it’s the income level of the school you attend too. Research shows that schools where the majority of kids are from poor families are less effective on average at promoting reading achievement.34 Who goes to high-poverty schools?35 According to the U.S. Department of Education, nearly half of all Black and Hispanic students in the United States attend high-poverty schools but only 8 percent of white students do.
When children from low-income families are concentrated in the same schools, it can be difficult to identify the children with reading disabilities such as dyslexia because so many of the kids are struggling. “I go into poor schools — nobody has dyslexia in a poor school,” Washington said. “In the face of a population where eight and a half out of ten are struggling with reading, who has a reading disability? The answer is, we have no idea.”
She says part of the problem is the way federal law defines learning disabilities. The law says a child cannot qualify for a learning disability if that child’s learning problems are primarily the result of economic disadvantage.36 “We’ve decided as a country that if you are having trouble reading and you’re poor, you’re having trouble with reading because you’re poor,” she said. “Because our policy does not allow you to be both learning disabled and poor.”
The purpose of the policy was to prevent low-income children of color from being overidentified for special education.37 But the policy has had unintended consequences, according to Paul Morgan.
“We hear from teachers that they have been told not to refer any more children of color,” he said. “That they’re already at their threshold.”
Research by Morgan and his colleagues shows that white children in the United States who are struggling the most with reading are significantly more likely than children of color to get special education services.38
This data suggests that more than half the children of color in this country who are struggling the most with reading are not getting the help they need and are entitled to by federal law. It also suggests that many white children are not getting help, either. Morgan says getting special education services for a student with a reading disability can be difficult no matter who you are or what kind of school your child goes to. “Too often parents have to fight for their children to be provided the services,” he said. “And when the school says ‘no,’ there’s not much of a recourse for the parent to engage in, short of legal action, which is very costly.”
It’s a system that favors people with money. I’ve interviewed parents who have spent thousands of dollars on attorneys to try to get their children into special ed, because in many schools, special education is the only way for struggling readers to get the kind of explicit instruction they need.39
Kids who don’t get into special ed, or don’t have families that can pay for tutors or private school, may never get what they need to become good readers. Like the kids at the juvenile detention facility in Houston.
When Sonya Thomas was told her seventh grade son was on a second-grade reading level, it changed her life.
The next month, in October 2018, she helped found a parent advocacy group called Nashville PROPEL.40 The name stands for “parents requiring our public education system to lead.” It’s a group of mostly Black parents whose children are zoned to some of the lowest-performing schools in the entire state.
Sonya says many parents don’t know how far behind their kids are. “They don’t know until it costs them.” Like it cost her and her son C.J.
Sonya wanted to figure out what happened to C.J. Why has he had such a hard time learning to read? Does he have a learning disability the school system missed?
She requested all of C.J.’s school records, and APM Reports hired Zack Barnes, an assistant professor of special education at Austin Peay State University, to review them.41 Barnes used to teach in the Nashville schools, so he was familiar with the forms and records in C.J.’s file. He went over them with Sonya and me.
The records show C.J. started off behind. A reading assessment in kindergarten shows he was “below benchmark.” But it doesn’t say what he was behind in.
At the beginning of first grade, C.J. took a reading test that placed him at the 24th percentile nationally. That means more than three quarters of first graders in the country were doing better than he was. There’s a form in the file that says C.J. had no problem understanding and using vocabulary but that he spoke slowly and sometimes had a hard time asking and answering questions.
“I do remember having some concerns about his speech,” Sonya said. “Like not talking a lot, being really shy.” She says she sometimes had a hard time understanding what he was saying.
There’s no indication in the records that C.J. was evaluated for a speech issue or a reading problem. There is the handwritten note from Sonya when C.J. was in first grade, asking the school to test him for a learning disability.
“I am very concerned,” the note says. “Please assist me.” But he wasn’t tested.
At the end of first grade, C.J. scored at the 12th percentile on the same test he had taken at the beginning of the year. The gap between C.J. and his peers had grown even wider. Sonya teared up when Barnes pointed this out. “This tears me all to pieces,” she said.
We spent nearly two hours going over C.J.’s entire school file, grade by grade. There are nearly 200 pages of records, and Barnes noticed a pattern. Some years C.J. got pulled out of the classroom for extra help with reading. His test scores went up. Then the help stopped. Barnes likened it to a lifeguard saving someone and then allowing them to drown a few minutes later. “I don't think what we are seeing is uncommon, across the country,” he wrote me later in an email.
Barnes says things might have been different if C.J. had been in special education. He would have had an Individualized Education Program and rights to services protected by federal law. But to get into special ed, you need to be identified with a disability. To determine if C.J. has a disability, he’d need a full evaluation from a school psychologist. C.J. never got one of those. Barnes says he should have. “He’s this kind of student that we really need to dig deep on to figure out, how can we help C.J.?”
Barnes offered to help Sonya get C.J. an evaluation. She was grateful, but angry. C.J. just finished eighth grade. She had asked for him to be tested for a learning disability in first grade. She wonders how many other kids needed help and didn’t get it. “There is this heavy feeling that I have,” she said, pausing for a long sigh. “I don’t know how to fix it. Except to keep telling parents to question everything and everybody, so they don’t have to go all of these years like I did, to try to get down to the bottom of it.”
I contacted the Nashville Public Schools to see if someone could answer questions about what happened with C.J. A spokesperson declined to comment.
When reading instruction is based on the flawed assumption that reading will come pretty easily to most kids as long as they’re in the right environment, reading instruction is tilted in favor of the few. The few who don’t need much instruction. The few from families who can pay to get their kids what they need.
The bottom line is that learning to read is not easy for many kids. Reading difficulty is natural.42
Cognitive scientists have known this for a long time. In 1980, Phil Gough wrote this: “The statistically average child, normally endowed and normally taught, learns to read only with considerable difficulty. He does not learn to read naturally.”43
Sonya Thomas wants everyone to know about what she and C.J. have gone through. And she wants to help other parents get what they need for their kids. She’s now executive director of PROPEL, the parent group she helped to found. It’s her full-time job. She wants to see a movement of parents across the country demanding better reading instruction.
“Why isn’t everyone in this country angry like me? Why are they not losing sleep?” she said. “It’s unacceptable for children to not have a chance right off the bat. And we are not going to let anybody sleep until we have changed for the better for all children.”
We all want to be healthy and enjoy our lives with our family and friends. Did you know multiple studies have shown that adults with strong friend groups will less likely be depressed or suffer from poor heart health. Friendships can also increase your life expectancy. What are some ways you can keep those strong bonds with your friends? Consider staying in touch on a regular basis, sharing updates on events and/or things you've experienced, reminisce and plan time to see each other.
1. Stay in touch. Social media is a great tool to use when you want to catch up with your friends. There is something even better than catching up on social media. Plan a day and time to meet in person. You could go to a favorite restaurant or even meet at a park and take a walk.
2. Share Updates. What are some things you and your friends have in common? Did you go to the same school? Did you grow up in the same neighborhood? Do you have several friends in common? Whatever the case, keep your group up-to-date on things going on in your life from work, family or your current projects. When you share, you motivate others to do the same.
3. Reminisce. Nothing brings a smile to my face faster than looking at old photos and talking about childhood memories. Call or contact a friend on social media and share a fond memory. It could make their day and draw you closer together.
4. Celebrate. Do you keep track of your friends' birthdays or anniversaries? It's nice to call or post happy birthday. If you want to grow the relationship, celebrate with a gift. When you go above and beyond, you make your friends feel special. They will remember and it can strengthen the connection.
We want to have strong relationships with our friends. Friendships help us to build healthy social lives. Friendships minimize stress and provide opportunities to enjoy time away from regular routines. They can improve overall health and bring years of joy and happiness into your life.
]]>As we prepare to embark upon a new school year, several thoughts cross my mind.
Will my children attend school face to face?
Will they take on-line classes?
Will my daughters participate in extra-curricular activities?
Knowing this school year will differ in comparison to others, due to the pandemic, we as parents and teachers have to determine the appropriate steps to follow. We need to make the best choices to keep us all safe and determine what it will look like for children entering school or working remotely from home.
Here are a few tips to consider in preparing for the upcoming school year.
Make a schedule. Children need structure. There can be some flexibility for breaks, playtime and snacks but ideally you want them to have a routine. A schedule helps their day and you function better. It’s also healthy for children to have a set time to wake up and perform their daily tasks.
Here’s an example:
7am - wake -up/prepare for the day
9am - Reading/Writing
10am - Math
11am - Lunch
12pm – Extra-curricular activities: walking, bike riding, drawing, journaling
1pm - Social Studies
2pm - Science
3pm - Snack
5pm - 7pm - Dinner
8pm - Prepare for bed
Stay involved. As this school year draws closer, stay in the know. This will better prepare you for what’s to come. Read/listen to the news and get updates on the school board meetings by attending them virtually.
Plan to teach. Familiarize yourself with your child’s grade level standards. It’s even good to view the standards in the previous grade. You may need to fill in some learning gaps to make sure your child is proficient. There are numerous web sites with resources to support you.
Preparing for the upcoming school year is not a decision to take lightly. Children need to continue learning and we need to keep working on our projects and work assignments. As you move forward consider the information shared and make the best decision for you and your family.
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]]>Merriam Webster defines culture shock as a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment without adequate preparation.
Both adults and children experience culture shock. Children are typically resilient and show evidence of culture shock in different ways than adults.
Some common feelings shared by all:
These feelings may cause one to withdraw. If you focus on learning about the new environment and observing your new surroundings as a new experience, the discomfort will pass.
So remember, if you plan to interact with someone with a different background, travel abroad or host someone from another country, consider these tips for dealing with culture shock:
Always be yourself, do your best to learn about the new culture and remember everyone adjusts at their own pace.
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Merriam-Webster’s “definition” of equity is “fairness or justice in the way people are treated.”
Equity is deep and complex. It is about everybody being able to get what they need to survive or succeed and having access to not only opportunity but networks, resources, and support systems that are based on both where we are and where we want to go.
How does this translate to the classroom.
Here are some tips to follow when creating an equitable learning environment.
The goal is to do our best to create learning environments that ensure equity for individual students and populations of students.
]]>"To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom."
Socrates
Understanding Who You Are…
Your identity is directly linked to the feelings of belonging you have to a particular group. Have you ever looked around at work or at school and noticed different nationalities? Did you listen to their voices or notice different accents? Each person has a cultural identity. Consider engaging in self identity activities. These can take place with co-workers or a group of friends.
Activities:
Self Reflection Exercise
Ask yourself…
The benefit of this activity is to better understand how your ethnicity impacts your day to day life.
Knowing Who You Are Within Your State
Questions to ask…
When you act on self-knowledge, you give yourself energy and you save energy. You will feel a sense of freedom and belonging. You will not be conforming to how people think you “should” feel or act based on stereotypes but who you really are.
]]>What does Black Lives Matter mean? That was the question posed by my six-year-old daughter. I found myself searching within for a politically correct response.
I told my daughter it’s a statement that many of us use to let the world know there needs to be an end to senseless deaths, violence and racism that we face as blacks in America.
Over the past few weeks, my four children, husband and I have watched, read and some of us participated in events that drew attention to “Black Lives Matter.” I have observed for weeks, Americans gathering and marching to protest against the violence black people face. Protests have taken place in practically every American state. There are also protests in Europe, Asia and New Zealand. Brands are publishing social media posts supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement.
We, at Culturally Kreative join them and want to offer our support. Wortham, a writer for the New York Times, reminded me of a statement from Alicia Garza. “Seven years ago, we were treated like we were too radical, too out of the bounds of what is possible.”
Alicia Garza, the civil rights organizer based in Oakland, Calif., who coined the phrase in a 2013 Facebook post after George Zimmerman was acquitted of killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. “And now, countless lives later, it’s finally seen as relevant.”
We must never forget the countless number of blacks lives lost to law enforcement and vigilantes and stand steadfast on our beliefs to create a better tomorrow.
A few things to view and read:
Ibram X. Kendi's conversation with Brene Brown on being an anti-racist
Vernice Jones and Henna Inam’s courageous conversation about race
A powerful video from Emmanuel Acho
Juneteenth is an annual holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. This holiday has been celebrated by African-Americans since the late 1800s. This year, this holiday resonates in a new way, given the changes and protests across the U.S.
A few facts about Juneteenth:
1.Did you know the June 19 announcement came more than two years after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which occurred January 1st in 1863. 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were already free, but they were not aware of this.
2.Some say the federal government delayed the announcement to Texas to get more cotton production out of the enslaved. Another reason is that Lincoln's proclamation was not demanded in the rebel states.
3.It was challenging to celebrate freedom when your life was surrounded by oppression. Still, Juneteenth celebrations took place during the era of Jim Crow laws.
4. The Poor People's March planned by Martin Luther King Jr. was purposely planned to coincide with Juneteenth. In fact, the march brought attention back to Juneteenth. Those involved took the celebration back to their states.
5.Although states recognize Juneteenth, it's still not a national holiday. Senators are currently working on legislation to make Juneteenth a national holiday.
Happy Juneteenth!
Becoming a Culturally Responsive Educator
Cultural biases can be overcome with a little hard work and reflection. The most needed component for eliminating biases is a willingness to go through a process of self-reflection. Yes, a deep dive into your beliefs. By doing so, you will learn what needs to be changed to teach in a culturally responsive manner. A great way to begin this approach is by writing. Write down your reflections. Reflections you have about your family as well as your upbringing, and your relationships. Then examine how those experiences may appear for a person raised in a different culture. Eventually the focus of this reflection will turn towards your ideas about race and bias. A culturally responsive educator should reflect on their fears, beliefs, and biases. One may have these about individuals that are different from their culture and when an educator recognizes that their own interests are not better than other people who are different from them, they can begin to learn and respect the customs and values of other cultures.
]]>These activities teach children about people and cultures around the world.
The first thing to consider is...
Which country will be the focus for the next two to three weeks.
Allow your students a few weeks to learn and grow their knowledge of another country. Use the following activities to expand their knowledge.
1. Reading Activities
Everyday, select something to read about the focus country. Find books, stories and articles. Find books at the local library, bookstore or online. Gather interesting facts. Students should be learning about the country's language, traditions and customs. Make the reading materials available in your class library or Google Classroom.
2. Art Activity
Art is a fun tool to use to let students express their creativity. Children could select something they notice about the country or the people. They could select clothing, food or homes and design something with a wide range of materials (i.e. glue, clay, markers, crayons, yarn, boxes or construction paper).
3. Maps
Show children where the country is located on a globe or a printed map. Focus on the distance between your location and the country. Also, determine how many hours it would it take to fly to the country.
4. Cooking
Children would enjoy trying food from another country. It would also be fun and exciting to cook together. Consider baking or cooking something from a country or visiting a restaurant that has authentic food. Share a menu with the class or watch a cooking demonstration on YouTube.
5. Music
Children enjoy listening to music. Try songs from another country. They could hear another language and they would be able to learn the chorus and sing along.
Remember...
Understanding, accepting and valuing our different backgrounds can help the future of tomorrow thrive and grow in our ever changing world.
]]>5 Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies
Let’s be honest, there is not one step we can take that will fully engage every student. Our classrooms are made up of diverse learners with different backgrounds. Because classrooms have a variety of learners, we need to equip ourselves with several highly suggested strategies to embed into our practice. This will allow us to be more effective in today’s ever-changing classroom.
Get to know your students
Every year we get a new group of students and more than likely, what worked last year, will not work this year. Start the year off by getting to know your students.
Gather the information, review it, and adjust your teaching style to best meet the needs of your students.
Make math problems relevant
Students enjoy connecting to learning in the classroom. What better way to grab their attention by adding their name to the story problem, connecting their interests, such as the number of points of a famous basketball player or referencing diverse cultures by determining the population, food or weather.
Invite guest speakers
Guest speakers are an important part of the educational experience for students. They allow students the opportunity to have real-world life experiences from someone who has been there. They get to see and hear the perspective of the guest speaker.
One important benefit of a guest speaker is the enhancement of the students’ educational experience. They get a glimpse into the life of the speaker, which they can’t get anywhere else. They also get to make a link between what they learn in their textbooks and what they learn from the speaker. Research states that it helps students build important connections between what they are learning and the real world.
Speak to every student
In 2018, Edutopia posted an article by Youki Terda
Welcoming Students With a Smile
The article addresses the benefits of greeting students every day. Welcoming students will not only have a positive impact on students, but it can also improve a teacher’s mental state. Research shows that over 50 percent of educators feel stressed by students' lack of engagement or their disruptive behavior. In addition, there is a 2014 study that “teachers report classroom management to be one of the greatest concerns in their teaching, and leads to burnout, job dissatisfaction, and an early exit from the profession.” If we take the time to greet students and welcome them into our classrooms, this can make a difference. Research shows that it can be beneficial for students and teachers to focus on creating a positive classroom environment.
Turn learning into a game
If someone asked you if you wanted to play a game or sit through a long lesson or lecture, which would you choose?
I’m sure you’d say “game.” Unless the teacher is entertaining, many lessons go in one ear and out the other. Our brains just don’t focus as well when we are listening without being engaged in the content.
Transitioning your most rote learning content into something fun that creates better learning retention doesn’t have to be an expensive venture.
Successful game design involves an open mind and a lot of brainstorming of ideas. Then you select your delivery method and think simple. If you make your game too difficult to understand and play, it will take the fun out of the experience for the students.
]]>Todays’ classrooms have students with varying skills and abilities, social or cultural backgrounds and physical characteristics. Due to these variances teachers should be prepared to meet the multiple educational, social, and emotional needs of all students. The culture of many students is different from that which much of the U.S. educational system is based on and we must consider restructuring the educational system in the United States.
Recommended Citation
Nichols, W. D., Rupley, W. H., Webb-Johnson, G., & Tlusty, G. (2000). Teachers Role in Providing Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction. Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts, 41 (1).
Retrieved from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol41/iss1/1
]]>A traditional classroom could consist of approximately 25 students and a teacher. This is the standard practice in American schools. In fact, schools in the U.S have grading systems, class periods, rules, and prescribed curriculums. These practices are influenced by the dominant culture as well as the teacher. Maria E. Reyes-Blanes and Ann P. Daunic believe this affects students’ performance academically and socially and reaffirms a dominant culture's values.
]]>Historically, students of color have been underrepresented in gifted programs. Alexinia Baldwin brings some insight into this topic.
Alexinia Y. Baldwin is a professor emeritus in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. She is a specialist in Education of the Gifted with emphasis on the minority gifted child.
Alexinia Y. Baldwin believes culturally diverse students are receiving much-deserved attention by educators of the gifted. Historically, the field has been unable to answer all concerns about this "minority within the gifted minority"; however, research and census data indicate that diversity has become a priority in educational settings. Baldwin also stated, “Understanding the meaning of cultural diversity and accepting new paradigms for developing organizational and instructional strategies are important variables that lead to success in meeting the needs of this population. Research has shown that conceptual and attitudinal changes toward the recognition of hidden abilities often overlooked in culturally diverse groups have enriched successful programs for the gifted. Recommendations for the involvement of administrators, teachers, parents, and the community in the planning process for inclusion of culturally diverse students in programs for the gifted provide a roadmap for this complex process.”
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