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OvercomingtheAchievementGapTrap:Libera6ngMindsetstoEffectChange

AnthonyMuhammad,PhD

WorkshopDisclaimer–WarningJ

•  Wewillexaminepersonal,social,andprofessionalmindsetsandtheworkshopmaterialisdesignedtobeprovoca6veandforcediscomfortandcogni6vedissonance

•  Thisworkshopwillbedifficultforpeoplewhoare“offensi6ve”(overlysensi6veandeasilyoffended)

PublicSchoolPurpose

� AllchildrenhavetherighttohavetheirgiOsandtalentscul6vatedthroughtheprocessofeduca6on.

� Allchildrencanlearnandbecomeeducated.

(Cuban&Tyack,1995)

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TheAchievementGap

Achievementgapreferstotheobservedandpersistentdisparityonanumberofeduca6onalmeasuresbetweentheperformanceofgroupsofstudents,especiallygroupsdefinedbygender,race/ethnicity,language,disability,andsocioeconomicstatus.Theachievementgapcanbeobservedonavarietyofmeasures,includingstandardizedtestscores,gradepointaverage,dropoutrates,andcollegeenrollmentandcomple6onrates.

(TheAchievementGapIni6a6veatHarvardUniversity,hZp://www.agi.harvard.edu/projects/thegap.php)

“Theworld’sproblemsbeginwiththebeliefthatsomehumanlivesaremorevaluablethanothers.”

—NelsonMandela

TheProblem

“Oursocietytendstoembracetheideaofequalityasdogma,butsocietyhasnotembracedtheideaofequityinserviceandenvironmentinordertoachievetheequalitythatweclaimthatwedesire.Thisisaproblem.”

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PausetoThink!

•  Whoareyourunderrepresentedachievementgroups?

•  Isthereasenseofemergencytoaddresstheirneeds?

AMajorShiOinParadigm

Invita6on(Meritocracy)

Guarantee(Egalitarianism)

Meritocracy

Asysteminwhichthetalentedarechosenandmovedaheadonthebasisoftheirachievement

—Merriam-WebsterDicBonary

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ASystemBuiltonInequality

MeritocracyIstheFounda6onfor…

•  Gradingprac6ces•  Academictracking•  Normreferencedtes6ng•  Schoolaccountabilityra6ngs•  Meritpayandevalua6on

MeritocracyMakesSensein…

•  Sales•  Commerce•  Athle6cs•  Talentcompe66ons

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ToxicSchoolCulture(Meritocracy)

“Educatorsbelievethatstudentsuccessisbasedonstudents’levelofconcern,aZen6veness,priorknowledge,andwillingnesstocomplywiththedemandsoftheschool,andtheyar6culatethatbeliefinovertandcovertways.Educatorscreatepoliciesandproceduresandadoptprac6cesthatsupporttheirbeliefintheimpossibilityofuniversalachievement.”

—PetersoninCromwell,“IsYourSchoolCultureToxicorPosi6ve?”EducaBonWorld(2002)

Egalitarianism

1:abeliefinhumanequalityespeciallywithrespecttosocial,poli6cal,andeconomicaffairs

2:asocialphilosophyadvoca6ngtheremovalofinequali6esamongpeople

—Merriam-WebsterDicBonary

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Founda6onoftheDemocracy

“Weholdthesetruthstobeself-evident,thatallmenarecreatedequal,thattheyareendowedbytheirCreatorwithcertainunalienableRights,thatamongtheseareLife,Liberty,andthepursuitofHappiness.—Thattosecuretheserights,Governmentsareins6tutedamongMen,derivingtheirjustpowersfromtheconsentofthegoverned,—ThatwheneveranyFormofGovernmentbecomesdestruc6veoftheseends,itistheRightofthePeopletoalterortoabolishit,andtoins6tutenewGovernment….”

—U.S.DeclaraBonofIndependence

EgalitarianSystems

HealthySchoolCulture(Egalitarian)

“Educatorshaveanunwaveringbeliefintheabilityofalloftheirstudentstoachievesuccess,andtheypassthatbeliefontoothersinovertandcovertways.Educatorscreatepoliciesandproceduresandadoptprac6cesthatsupporttheirbeliefintheabilityofeverystudent.”

—PetersoninCromwell,“IsYourSchoolCultureToxic

orPosi6ve?”EducaBonWorld(2002)

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LearningAc6vi6es?

Ananalysisofresearchconductedovera35-yearperioddemonstratesthatschoolsthatarehighlyeffec6veproduceresultsthatalmosten6relyovercometheeffectsofstudentbackgrounds.

(Marzano,WhatWorksinSchools:TranslaBngResearchIntoAcBon,2003)

TheAchievementGapIsaProductofOurThinking!

PausetoThink!

•  IsyourculturealignedwiththefundamentalpremiseofaPLC?

•  Wouldyoudescribeyourschoolasmeritocra6coregalitarian?Pleaseprovideevidenceforyouranswer.

•  DotheeducatorsinyourschoolblameunderperformingstudentsorstrategizetoservethembeZer?

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Mindset

Theestablishedsetofaltudesheldbysomeone

—Merriam-WebsterDicBonary

TwoClashingMindsets

Superiority Vic6m

SuperiorityMindset

“IcontendthattheBme,scholarship,effort,andresourcestoaddresstheachievementgapweredoomedtofailfromtheirincepBonbecausetherearepeoplewhohaveavestedinterestinbeingdefinedassuperiortoothersandtheywillseektoprotectit.Icallthisthesuperioritymindset.”

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ComponentsoftheSuperiorityMindset

•  Paternalism–Theneedtofeelsuperiortoregularhumanfolly

•  Compe;;on–PersonalandgroupvalueisbasedontheabilitytobebeZerthanothers.

•  StandardBearing–Thebeliefthatmyconstructisthebestandonlyconstruct,andIdefinemyselfandothersthroughthatlens

DoesInequalityBotherYou?

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PausetoThink!

•  Howdidthesephotosmakeyoufeel?

•  Didyoufindyourselfangryoroffended?Didyoufindyourselfunaffected?

•  Rankthesephotosinorderoftheirlevelofoffensivenessfrommostoffensivetoleastoffensive?

Vic6mMindset

“IndividualandcollecBveresponsibilitytochangecondiBonsisdifficult.ThereisasenseofcomfortthatcomesfromframingothersaspredatorsandoneselfasavicBm.IcallthisthevicBmmindset.”

ComponentsoftheVic6mMindset

•  Irresponsibility•  Lowmo6va6on•  Lowexpecta6ons

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PausetoThink!

•  Howdidthesephotosmakeyoufeel?

•  Didyoufindyourselfangryoroffended?Didyoufindyourselfunaffected?

•  Rankthesephotosinorderoftheirlevelofoffensivenessfrommostoffensivetoleastoffensive?

Libera6onMindset

“TheliberaBonmindsetisanunwaveringsetofcollecBvebeliefsandacBonsrootedinthegoalofachievinghighlevelsofacademicandsocialsuccessforallstudentsdespiteinternalorexternalbarrier.”

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ThreeComponents

•  Equality

•  Responsibility

•  Advocacy

Equality

Thebeliefthathumanpoten6alisnotafunc6onofpersonalcharacteris6cssuchasrace,gender,economicstatus,homelanguage,na6onalorigin,ordisability

Responsibility

Thebeliefthatwewillholdourselvesaccountablefornurturingeachstudenttohisorherpoten6alandtoteachresponsibilityandself-empowermenttoourstudents.Wewillaccepttheresponsibilitytodevelopourprofessionalknowledge,prac6ce,andsystemstoberesponsivetotheneedsofourstudentpopula6on.

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Advocacy

Thebeliefthatpeopleanden66esoutsideofschoolmustplayanac6veandsuppor6veroleindevelopingourstudents.Wewillholdothersaccountableforsuppor6ngoureffortstoproperlyeducateourstudentsthroughac6vepar6cipa6on,financialsupport,posi6vepublicity,providingexperiences,andlegisla6on.