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chalkjockey the teacher's List: Research for diversity in schools

Press Releases

Press release about racial desegregation

www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/...deseg06.php - Preview

diversity school on 2008-04-03
- the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University releases new findings showing an
  American educational landscape that is increasingly multiracial yet,
  simultaneously, separate and unequal.
- in the South, where the greatest progress in school integration was achieved
- 6 more annotations...
- - landmark Supreme Court decisions in the last decade have steadily eroded the
    progress in educational integration
  - From 1991-2003, the number of black students attending majority nonwhite schools
    rose sharply across all regions. In the South, this percentage increased from
    61% to 71%. Latinos constitute the largest minority and are increasingly
    segregated in regions where they are concentrated. Asians are the least
    segregated group of students and are most likely to attend multiracial schools.
  - States where the largest shares of students attend multiracial schools include
    the three largest states-California, Texas, and Florida-and one state in which
    the Latino population seems to be exploding-Nevada.
  - While South and Border regions are resegregating, black students in the South
    and Border states still have among the highest levels of exposure to white
    students
  - three quarters of intensely segregated schools are also high poverty schools
  - white students remain the most isolated group
Policy Action

Review material about Gary Oldfield's book

www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/...voltint.php - Preview

diversity school on 2008-04-02
Professional Education Associations & Educational Journals Resources

A listing of professional education journals

www.highered.nysed.gov/org_jnl.htm - Preview

associations education journal journals on 2008-04-02
Education Policy Analysis Archives: Vol. 2 No. 2 Levin and Riffel "Dealing with Diversity"

Canadian diversity study

epaa.asu.edu/v2n2.html - Preview

canadian diversity educational riffel on 2008-04-02
- Dealing with Diversity: Some Propositions from Canadian Education
  
  Benjamin Levin
  J. Anthony Riffel
  
  University of Manitoba
- These programs are primarily offered outside of regular school hours, and in
  many cases are taught by people from the communities who do not have teaching
  certificates. In some areas, however, schools offer bilingual programs in
  languages such as German and Ukrainian. Some schools have also tried to reach
  out to ethnic and minority populations by, for example, translating school
  communications into various other languages. The Toronto Board of Education
  recognizes more than 40 languages being spoken by sizeable numbers of its
  students' parents.
- 22 more annotations...
- - This has led urban Aboriginals to press for the creation of separate Aboriginal
    schools, with extensive Aboriginal involvement in governance; the first such
    schools now exist in cities such as Calgary and Winnipeg
  - Family income has been and continues to be a very strong predictor of how well
    Canadian children do in school. A great deal of research shows that poverty is
    related to lower achievement in school, to greater risk of dropping out, and to
    lower eventual occupational status and income. These relationships are at least
    as strong as is the relationship between measured ability and achievement.
  - not uniform across countries
  - stronger in North America
  - Low economic status may predict school success more strongly in countries where
    the disparities between rich and poor are greater
  - double jeopardy
  - seems paradoxical
  - Nor have schools and districts been particularly imaginative in their approach
    to poverty. The kinds of efforts which have been made essentially involve
    tinkering at the margins of the system providing breakfast and lunch, creating
    special classes for students who change schools very frequently, strengthening
    remedial programs, and so on
  - Maynes (1990) has pointed out in his study of Edmonton schools that
    administrators and school trustess did not see poverty as an issue that was
    their responsibility, or over which they had very much influence.
  - The same is not true of poverty
  - there is convincing evidence from many places, especially in the United States,
    that education programs which address directly problems of poverty can result in
    dramatically increased success rates for students (for example, Slavin, 1991;
    Means & Knapp, 1991).
  - success has come from efforts such as pre-school programs which help parents
    provide educational support to their children
  - Linguistic or ethnic pride have been major factors in the surge of politics in
    these areas; it is hard to envisage a movement based on pride in being poor.
    Indeed, poverty is still frequently viewed as a condition to be ashamed of, and
    which is one's own fault. Not only does this view limit political work around
    the issue, it also limits the respect or sympathy with which lobbying efforts
    will be met. The poor also tend to lack the resources to organize
  - For most of our history, the common good has in practice meant the good of those
    who already enjoy income, power and social status.
  - Insofar as education has as one of its goals making people more aware of
    their situation and more conscious of themselves as actors able to affect the
    world, we should perhaps see the increasing pressure on schools (and other
    institutions) as a positive outcome of education. People are more aware of what
    they think they want and more willing to work to obtain it. That is, on the
    whole, a positive development.
  - As Tinder (1991) has pointed out,
    
    There must be tolerance for beliefs we consider erroneous and actions we
    deem immoral. Tolerance must extend far enough to be dangerous. Otherwise it is
    a more formality...and not a policy that accepts important disagreements...in an
    effort to make room for abounding life and serious communication. (p.180)
    
    So far in Canada we have been more inclined to do the easy thing, and to
    recognize differences that do not change the status quo very much. Having
    multicultural festivals in schools with ethnic foods and costumes is a
    recognition of diversity, but hardly one that threatens the status quo. Giving
    political control of schools to various ethnic groups is much more significant
    and equally much more contentious.
  - As groups see their needs for identity, recognition, and success being met,
    their demands are likely to decline, or to become the same as anyone else's
    demands.
  - The essential tension facing schools is how to combine diversity with solidarity
    in an appropriate way.
  - diversity may ultimately not be manageable in any real sense
  - Diversity appears to fit well with the idea of a "wicked problem", one which is
    ongoing and has not evident solution (Rittell & Webber, 1973).
  - A particularly difficult problem is the issue of "standards." It is one thing to
    say that there will be curricular differences to meet the needs of different
    subpopulations; schools have always made these kinds of adjustments. But it
    could be argued that the critical function of schools is providing credentials.
    Is it possible to have differing credentials? Experience suggests that
    credentials created to accommodate differences, such as vocational diplomas,
    quickly take on inferior status.
  - the legitimacy of governing structures such as school boards will be argued.
    Full recognition of diversity suggests not only changes in curricula, but also
    in basic instructional approaches and in school organization
EPAA Vol. 10 No. 1 Koretz et al. Testing and Diversity in Postsecondary Education: The Case of California

Primarily postsecondary school admission requirements and the state of affirmative action in college admissions.

epaa.asu.edu/v10n1 - Preview

diversity education equity on 2008-04-02
- Florida
  The Board of Regents of the State University System of Florida
  voted in favor of Governor Jeb Bush's "One Florida" Initiative in February 2000.
  This plan eliminates the use of race as a factor in admission decisions in the
  Florida University system and outlines an alternative, race-neutral admission
  process. Florida planned to have its new admission criteria in effect for
  students graduating from high school in 2000.
- diversity is "an amorphous, unquantifiable goal" that cannot be constitutionally
  justified
- 2 more annotations...
- - ow-discarded policy of maintaining lower admission standards for blacks. In a
    non-binding opinion, he further criticized the university's use of
    race/ethnicity as a "plus" factor in the selection of 10 to 15% of the students
    in each year's entering class.
  - In March, 2001, District Court Judge Bernard Friedman ruled that the law
    school's admissions policies considering race were unconstitutional and a
    violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Signatories against segregation

www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/...amicus_brief-10-10-06.php - Preview

diversity education equity segregation on 2008-04-02
- signatures of 553 social scientists and researchers, urging the Court to permit
  the continuation of voluntary race-conscious student assignment plans in
  American public schools.
- In both districts, two individual students who were denied their first choice
  school have sued, trying to end these choice programs designed by local
  educators. The districts have defended the programs as the only practical way to
  produce integrated school experiences which have important educational benefits
  for students and their communities
- 3 more annotations...
- - evidence that schools will resegregate in the absence of race-conscious policies
  - 553 scholars who have signed on to the statement reflect an unprecedented
    commitment by scholars representing 201 institutions in 42 states and the
    District of Columbia
  - ending voluntary desegregation will serve to accelerate this resegregation, with
    serious consequences including the undermining of successful magnet and choice
    plans, and the creation of more schools segregated by race, income, and
    language.
PDK International | Phi Delta Kappan: Mathews V89N4 April 2008

Article by David Matthews about the sense of community in public education

www.pdkintl.org/...k0804mat.htm - Preview

diversity education equity on 2008-04-03 and saved by 3 people
- By "democracy," I mean what the word implies: self-rule or rule by the people.
  Self-rule isn't confined to elections and representative government or to what
  citizens do in relation to the state (pay taxes, obey laws, and the like).
- We, the People" collectively, but with all of our diversity
- 21 more annotations...
- - baseball
  - These school initiatives tend to focus on individuals, or they assume that the
    public already exists as a constituency to be roused by more effective
    communication. The problem is that the public able to take effective ownership
    doesn't exist until citizens, like baseball players, begin to work together.
    This work has to start where citizens start, which is with their communities
    rather than just schools and with education broadly rather than just schooling.
  - public ownership
  - Citizens are more disposed to take ownership of decisions they have helped to
    make rather than decisions that have been made for them.
  - Another widely touted means of establishing a better relationship with the
    public is through greater accountability. The objective is to restore public
    confidence in the schools. Yet the citizenry that places confidence in an
    institution is not the same as the public that exercises responsible ownership
  - the kind of accountability the law provides and the accountability the public
    wants are not the same.
  - the scores should be used for diagnostic purposes rather than for punitive
  - laws leave citizens on the outside looking in
  - the assumption that customer satisfaction will solve many of their problems with
    the citizenry
  - Classroom teachers are quick to feel the effects, and they complain that
    educating children is doubly difficult if it is seen as solely their
    responsibility
  - Such a process is occurring in Kentucky, where a farm for retired race horses is
    being used to teach everything from history to biology, and in Alabama, where
    such contextual learning is being promoted by a new organization known as PACERS
    (Program for the Academic and Cultural Enhancement of Rural Schools)
  - the community itself is an educational institution
  - From this perspective, the role of schools is to support communities in their
    role as producers of education
  - To begin, people have to identify or name the problems that interfere with the
    education of young people in a way that suggests actions they might take. Then
    they have to come up with options for solving the problems and recognize the
    tradeoffs that have to be made. This creates a framework for decision making on
    critical issues. As citizens weigh the pros and cons of the various options,
    they deliberate. And after people have made decisions, they must commit their
    resources to implementing what they have decided. Ideally, people are aware of
    and in a position to employ the range of a community's resources in mutually
    reinforcing ways.
    
    Add Sticky Note
  - People have to identify problems in terms that are meaningful to them, in terms
    that capture the invaluable intangibles that can generate political will
  - One concrete example of what professionals have done to engage citizens has been
    to promote deliberative public forums on issues that affect both the schools and
    the community
  - issues related to persistent problems
  - challenges of work-force development, economic revitalization, and health care
  - all have had implications for educators
  - Implementing exclusively professional solutions to problems without regard for
    collective actions that citizens might take can burden schools with problems
    that only the community can remedy. These problems -- poverty, drug abuse, crime
    -- send children off on a trajectory that schools alone are hard pressed to
    redirect. Controversy over sex education can mask the larger problem of teen
    pregnancy; lack of discipline in classrooms can be a symptom of an increase in
    youth violence. Deliberative forums have helped to reframe such issues as
    matters that a community as a whole must address. Only a democratic citizenry
    can deal with problems that are deeply rooted in our society.
  - Schools were made public for democratic, not pedagogical, reasons

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Research concerning diversity in schools

Updated on 2008-04-03
Created on 2008-04-02

Category: Schools & Education

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chalkjockey the teacher's List: Research for diversity in schools

Press Releases

Policy Action

Professional Education Associations & Educational Journals Resources

Education Policy Analysis Archives: Vol. 2 No. 2 Levin and Riffel "Dealing with Diversity"

Dealing with Diversity: Some Propositions from Canadian Education

Benjamin Levin
J. Anthony Riffel

University of Manitoba

EPAA Vol. 10 No. 1 Koretz et al. Testing and Diversity in Postsecondary Education: The Case of California

Florida

Signatories against segregation

PDK International | Phi Delta Kappan: Mathews V89N4 April 2008

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chalkjockey the teacher's List: Research for diversity in schools

Press Releases

Policy Action

Professional Education Associations & Educational Journals Resources

Education Policy Analysis Archives: Vol. 2 No. 2 Levin and Riffel "Dealing with Diversity"

Dealing with Diversity: Some Propositions from Canadian Education

Benjamin Levin J. Anthony RiffelUniversity of Manitoba

EPAA Vol. 10 No. 1 Koretz et al. Testing and Diversity in Postsecondary Education: The Case of California

Florida

Signatories against segregation

PDK International | Phi Delta Kappan: Mathews V89N4 April 2008

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chalkjockey the teacher's Public Lists (13)

Benjamin Levin
J. Anthony Riffel

University of Manitoba