Diversity and Learning A Webinar Sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Education & The Center for Education Excellence in Alternative Settings (CEEAS) March 18, 2014 Peter Leone University of Maryland

Two Tasks Create positive instructional environments that value diversity and promote engagement and achievement Employ practices designed to address learning needs of all students especially those who have not achieved at the same pace as their peers

1: Create positive instructional environments Principles and Understandings Learning is innate human behavior Learning is reinforcing in its own right (I got it!) Inappropriate behaviors often manifest themselves when students are unable to access instructional material or are unsuccessful learning new material Diverse learners – those with a range of ethnic, racial, or sexual identities that may differ from the majority as well as those considered disabled – challenge traditional ways of delivering instruction and connecting teachers and students.

Ecological Assertions Behavior that may be adaptive in one setting may be maladaptive in another Individuals are socioculturally embedded At an early age, we learn norms for acceptable behaviors from our families Individual behavior is expected to vary from one setting to another Setting cues often prompt specific behaviors

Classroom & School Ecology The classrooms we create communicate what is important to our students Understanding the environment Physical aspects of the environment Space, organization, materials, structures Social aspects of the environment Structural issues Tracking, testing, curriculum, disciplinary policies, role of students, teachers, parents Cultural issues Shared beliefs, meanings attached to schooling and learning

Press of Environment on Behavior Social and academic behavior is embedded in the social context of the classroom and the school Bronfenbrenner’s ecology of human development Teachers, paraprofessionals, and other staff shape school and classroom environments

Implications for understanding classroom and school environments for diversity and learning Please respond to these questions. What matters in the physical environment? (poll) What matters in the social environment? (chat box) How do we ‘read’ the environment? (chat box)

It’s OK to talk about race and disability In the teachers’ lounge…. What do you say to a teacher who makes a broad generalization about a group of students that implies that they don’t do well because their parents don’t care about education? For example, the parents never come to school functions or back to school night or PTA meetings. In the classroom … What do you say to a student (or the entire class) when one student makes hurtful comments about another student’s racial identity? About a student who struggles to read grade-level material independently? "Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim."  -- Elie Wiesel

What do we bring to the classroom? What should we teach our students about diversity? About cultural differences, about disability? We cannot ignore diversity or pretend that it doesn’t matter.

Please respond in the chat box. What are the biggest challenges you face as an educator in addressing diversity in your school or classroom? Please respond in the chat box.

2: Employ practices designed to address learning needs of all students Identify students with low levels of literacy relative to their peers Intake assessment Informal reading assessment Classroom observation Identify students in need of special education and related services Student intake interview Child Find Records retrieval and review

Provide a Range of Academic Services and Supports Special Education IEP driven services Inclusive “push-in” & co-teaching 1:1 intensive supports Related services Data collection on student performance Reading Instruction Small group and individualized services Explicit vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency instruction Student progress monitoring

Literacy and literature that reflects students’ backgrounds and experiences Second Chances, CJCA A Place to Stand, Baca A Question of Freedom, Betts Makes Me Want to Holler, Caul

Passion Practice Persistence Critical Factors – Promoting High levels of achievement in diverse classrooms Passion This really matters Practice Multiple opportunities Persistence Over time

What services and supports would be adequate if I were providing instruction to my own child or to someone I loved? We model the behavior we expect and want to promote among our peers and our students.