Ensuring Equity in a Time of Change and Transition

Anthony Muhammad, PhD

Public School Purpose

All children have the right to have their gifts and talents cultivated through the process of education.

All children can learn and become educated.

(Cuban & Tyack, 1995)

What Has History Taught Us?

All students have not benefited equally from access to educational institutions?

The Achievement Gap

Achievement gap refers to the observed and persistent disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, language, disability, and socioeconomic status. The achievement gap can be observed on a variety of measures, including standardized test scores, grade point average, dropout rates, and college enrollment and completion rates.

(The Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University,http://www.agi.harvard.edu/projects/thegap.php)

“The world’s problems begin with the belief that some human lives are more valuable than others”

Nelson Mandela

The Problem

“Our society tends to embrace the idea of equality as dogma, but society has not embraced the idea of equity in service and environment in order to achieve the equality that we claim that we desire. This is a problem.”

Call to Arms

“When a school or district functions as a PLC, educators within the organization embrace high levels of learning for ALL students as both the reason the organization exists and the fundamental responsibility of those who work within it.”

—DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (2010)

A Major Shift in Paradigm

Invitation

(Meritocracy)

Guarantee

(Egalitarianism)

Meritocracy

A system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead

on the basis of their achievement

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Meritocracy is the Foundation for…

• Grading Practices• Academic tracking• Norm referenced testing• School Accountability Ratings• Merit Pay and Evaluation

Meritocracy Makes Sense in….

• Sales

• Commerce

• Athletics

• Talent competitions

Egalitarianism

1: a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs

2 : a social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among people

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Foundation of the Democracy

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with

certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,

Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. —That to secure

these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,

deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

—That whenever any Form of Government becomes

destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to

alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government….”

—U.S. Declaration of Independence

Social Response to Inequality

“In order to maximize opportunities for access experienced by certain groups, a good society commits resources, and develops a collective desire to level the playing field”

Kranich, N. (2001). "Imagining Fairness: Equality and Equity of Access in Search of Democracy." Libraries and Democracy: 15-17

Egalitarian Systems

What’s Next? Is Change Necessary?

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

—Albert Einstein

Two Forms of Change

• Technical–structural (skill)

• Cultural (will)

Learning Activities?

An analysis of research conducted over a 35-year period demonstrates that schools that are highly effective produce results that almost entirely overcome the effects of student backgrounds.

(Marzano, What Works in Schools, 2003)

The Achievement Gap is a Product of Our Thinking!

School Culture

“School culture is the set of norms, values, and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies, symbols and stories that make up the ‘persona’ of the school.”

—Peterson, “Is Your School Culture Toxic or Positive?” Education World (2002)

Complexity of Cultural Change

• Anthropology• Sociology• Psychology• Political Science• History• Economics

Will and Skill

Culture(Learning Environment)

Skill(Learning Activities)

High Will and High Skill

High Will and

Low Skill

High Will and

High Skill

Low Skill and

Low Will

High Skill and

Low Will

Technical vs. Cultural

• Both forms of change are essential to improving organizations.

• Schools tend to focus heavily on technical changes and spend little time on cultural change.

• Deep change cannot be accomplished without cultural change.

The Task at Hand

“If schools are to be transformed into learning communities, educators must be prepared first of all to acknowledge that the traditional guiding model of education is no longer relevant in a post-industrial, knowledge-based society. Second, they must embrace ideas and assumptions that are radically different than those that have guided schools in the past.”

—DuFour & Eaker, Professional Learning Communities at Work (1998), p. 34

Healthy School Culture (Egalitarian)

“Educators have an unwavering belief in the ability of all of their students to achieve success, and they pass that belief on to others in overt and covert ways. Educators create policies and procedures and adopt practices that support their belief in the ability of every student.”

—Peterson, “Is Your School Culture Toxic or Positive?” Education World (2002)

Toxic School Culture (Meritocracy)

“Educators believe that student success is based on students’ level of concern, attentiveness, prior knowledge, and willingness to comply with the demands of the school, and they articulate that belief in overt and covert ways. Educators create policies and procedures and adopt practices that support their belief in the impossibility of universal achievement.”

—Kent D. Peterson in Cromwell, 2002

Functional Inequality

“Inequality is a natural by-product of a progressive society. Talent is not equally distributed, so a progressive society has to decide how the most talented are prepared to inherit important positions and how less-talented people are prepared to hold less important positions in society.”

Davis, K. and W. Moore (1945). "Some Principles of Stratification." American Sociological Review

Mindset

The established set of attitudes held by someone

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Two Clashing Mindsets

Superiority Victim

Superiority Mindset

“I contend that the time, scholarship, effort, and resources to address the Achievement Gap were doomed to fail from their inception because there are people who have a vested interest in being defined as superior to others and they will seek to protect it. I call this the superiority mindset.”

Components of the Superiority Mindset

• Paternalism – The need to feel superior to regular human folly

• Competition – Personal and group value is based upon the ability to be better than others

• Standard Bearing – The belief that my construct is the best and only construct and I define myself and others through that lens

Perceptual Predetermination

“Perceptual predetermination involves an educator’s own socialization and the impact of that socialization on his or her practice in the classroom, including expectations for student performance.”

—Muhammad, Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division (2009), p. 21

Stereotypes

“To help simplify a complex world, people develop mental models called schemas. Problems arise when people start to oversimplify schemas. Oversimplified schemas are known as stereotypes. Stereotypes are fixed impressions and exaggerated and preconceived ideas and descriptions about a certain type of person, group, or society.”

—Langlois, Kalakanis, Rubenstein, Larson, Hallam, & Smoot, “Maxims or Myths of Beauty? A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review,”

Psychological Bulletin (2000), p. 390

Challenging Beliefs

“Teacher expectations of student performance is a thorny issue in American education because of the inevitable overlay of accusations that low expectations for some groups of students reflects racial, ethnic, or class-biased prejudice.”

—Jackson & Davis, Turning Points 2000: Educating Adolescents in the 21st Century (2000), p. 13

Dangerous Synonyms

• “Changing demographics”

• “High minority”

• “High poverty”

• “Special ed kids”

• “ELL students”

Crucial Conversations

• Conflicting opinions

• Potential to become highly emotional

• Stakes are high

Patterson, et.al, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High (2011)

Corrective Lenses“The Optometrist”

Combat false/incomplete information with better information.

Try:•Enlightenment•Encouragement•Experimentation

Victim Mindset

“Individual and collective responsibility to change conditions is difficult. There is a sense of comfort that comes from framing others as predators and oneself as a victim. I call this the victim mindset”

Comfort of Victimization

Discontent by itself does not invariably create a desire for change. Other factors have to be present before discontent turns into dissatisfaction. One of these is a sense of power. Those who are awed by their surroundings do not think of change, no matter how miserable their condition. When our mode of life is so precarious as to make it patent that we cannot control the circumstances of our existence, we tend to stick to the proven and the familiar.

Hoffer, E. (1951). The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. New York, NY, Harper and Row.

Components of the Victim Mindset

• Irresponsibility

• Low Motivation

• Low Expectations

Learned Helplessness

“Learned helplessness is a mental state in which an organism forced to endure aversive stimuli, or stimuli that are painful or otherwise unpleasant, becomes unable or unwilling to avoid subsequent encounters with those stimuli, even if they are escapable, presumably because it has learned that it cannot control the situation.”

Seligman, M. (1975). Helplessness: On Depression, Development, and Death. San Francisco, CA, W. H. Freeman.

Intrinsic Predetermination

“Intrinsic predetermination is the student’s perception of his or her probability of success in school. The messages that students receive from their environment—the home, community, and school—can either build their confidence or work to destroy it.”

—Muhammad, Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division (2009), p. 23

When Cultures Collide

Student

Norms

School Norms

Acting “White”“Minority students are subject to pressures not assigned to white students, and that pressure is being accused of acting ‘white.’ In the informal social groups of minority students, high-achieving minority students fear losing their friendships with minority peers if they get good grades, speak clearly, and follow rules. It is the unfair conflict that many black and Latino students face that white students do not.”

Ogbu, “Collective Identity and the Burden of Acting White in Black History, Community, and Education,” The Urban Review (2004)

Gifted and Talented Education

“Gifted and talented education works for two reasons: the student believes that he is gifted and the teacher believes that he is gifted. Based on this agreement, the teacher and student create the right learning environment and they utilize rigorous learning activities. All human beings possess a gift; the key is to identify and capitalize on it.”

—Renzulli, “What Makes Giftedness? Reexamining a Definition,” Phi Beta Kappan (1978)

Pedagogy of Confidence

• Identify and activate student strengths.

• Elicit high intellectual performance.

• Provide enrichment.• Integrate prerequisites.

Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning

• Instructional strategies are built around the students’ cultural norms.

• School policies are created with a respect for student home culture.

• Respect and affirmation lead to achievement.

The Maestro

Blending the best in students with the best in the institution to create beautiful music

Liberation Mindset

“The liberation mindset is an unwavering set of collective beliefs and actions rooted in the goal of achieving high levels of academic and social success for all students despite internal or external barrier.”

Three Components

• Equality

• Responsibility

• Advocacy

Equality

Equality – The belief that human potential is not a function of personal characteristics like race, gender, economic status, home language, national origin, or disability.

Responsibility

Responsibility – The belief that we will hold ourselves accountable for nurturing each student to his/her potential and to teach responsibility and self-empowerment to our students. We will accept the responsibility to develop our professional knowledge, practice, and systems to be responsive to the needs of our student population.

Advocacy

Advocacy – The belief that people and entities outside of school must play an active and supportive role in the development of our students. We will hold others accountable for supporting our efforts to properly educate our students through active participation, financial support, positive publicity, providing experiences, and legislation.

Rosa Parks Moment

It’s Not About Us! It’s About Them!

Contact Information

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E-mail:amuhammad@newfrontier21.com

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