High School : The Best Of Times

Essential to the work of school administrators and other school leaders is the support of diversity, equity and accessibility within a school’s culture. In order to do so, they must set the tone for how to consider diversity, equity and accessibility with faculty, students, parents, school stakeholders and themselves. Throughout this course, Diverse Learners, our learning has focused on conducting and applying research as it relates to the education of diverse learners. In this reflection, I will discuss what I have learned about diversity and student achievement.

Within the past ten years, the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) has doubled. An increase of more than 2 million ELL students in the U.S schools, left professionals within the field of education with no choice but to face the challenge of understanding cultural differences. In addition to this, educators must understand how these differences affect students’ language development, learning style, academic achievement and most importantly, his or her performance on standardized tests. These differences must be understood, valued and respected by all service providers, especially those who are involved in the decision making process concerning the placement of students in special educational programs. (Roseberry-McKibbin, 2014).

“What it takes for English Learners to Succeed?” is an article written by Jana Echevarria, Nancy Frey, and Doug Fisher that illustrate concepts that will allow English Learners to become fluent in English. The purpose of this article is to discuss four accessible teaching practices that will allow English Learners in U.S. classroom to become academically successful and attain fluency in English. To clarify, the authors use access, climate, expectations, and language instruction as the practices that will eliminate education inequality and enable students to be able to fully participate in rigorous course work without excluding English Learners. Ultimately this provides an approachable school reform, creates additive integration of multicultural perspective and approach and lastly brings a way for language diversity to be seen in the classroom.

It also showed us that value in education comes in different forms. For example, students like DeAndre valued education but didn’t think the education he was receiving was the best approach for him. It may appear the DeAndre was uninterested in learning but in reality he was interested in learning things that could help and resonated with his cultural history. I was enlightened by the way this article helped to highlight different types of students in a positive light. I resonate with this article because I went to a high school where students were labeled as noncompliant or “acting white”. I fell that more educators should read this article to get a well-rounded view of all their students especially those in the minority community. Furthermore, after reading this article I began to brainstorm alternatives to making school more appealing to all categories of students. According to the Boston Globe a new idea called community schools are entering discussions about better school models. The Boston Globe defines community schools as “both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities”. This idea sounds great to me because not only does it address the needs of the student

“Where inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national origin minority-group children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open its instructional program to these students.” (Smith, 1990)

Diversity on college campuses has increased, which has let people assume that racism decreased and acceptance expanded gradually, however minorities still face prejudice and discrimination. Harvard University presented a research where they gathered college students from 4 particular public universities and questioned them about the social behavior they have experienced or witnessed. In the contrary, they discovered that college students have encountered racist comments or negative facial expressions towards them from Caucasians (Caplan, page 31). This has led to propositions for instance, improving social conduct between children in school, more gratification in regard to one’s culture and positive outlook toward the culture of others because America’s obsession with race and racial attitudes continues to affect individuals emotionally. It is urgent to spread diversity at a younger stage of life, for upcoming children that are starting school. The need of role models around the nation is necessary and relevant to help multicultural education in the schools. Diversity has become significant since people all over the country are passionate about others knowing where they come from and making it possible of a more diverse society in the future.

Through the reading of Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development and A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota I have not only learned about the experiences of others, but have also gained a deeper understanding of my own racial and cultural identity and how that relates to other identities around me. In learning this information, I feel that I will not only be able to understand and relate better to my future students, but also understand their backgrounds and how they are affecting them presently. Therefore, I will be able to teach to individuals in the way they need me to, but also create a more welcoming and inclusive environment (racially, culturally, and otherwise) in my future classroom. The information I have read has helped me to understand my own racial and cultural identity, how it relates to the identities of my future students, and what I can do to make educational institutions more racially and culturally inclusive.

America’s schools are challenged to meet the academic and interpersonal needs of all students regardless of culture, race, or ethnic background. Hawley and Nieto (2010) claim that race and ethnicity significantly impacts students’ learning in their article, “Another Inconvenient Truth: Race and Ethnicity” (p. 66). They contended that educators should be “race and ethnicity -responsive” to effectively understand the challenges students from diverse races and cultures face (Hawley & Nieto, 2010, p. 66). Moreover, the article noted that schools should have practices in place that promote an inclusive, supportive, and enriching learning environment for all students including students from different races and ethnicities.

When these non-English-speaking children arrive at their local school for the first time, they will unfairly be expected to perform at the same level academically as their English-speaking peers, and this will be a big challenge for them because they will have a hard time understanding what their teachers are teaching and what their textbooks are saying. In addition, learning the English language is especially important for young English language learners who have recently immigrated to the United States because they have an additional and serious responsibility beyond just adding a new language; once they do begin to pick up the language, they will more than likely have to take on the role of translator for their parents and will become the sole line of communication between their non-English speaking parents and the school’s teachers, guidance counselors and administrators.

Diverse cultures within the United States are rapidly developing and growing and the educational sector is the number one target to ensure that English –learners are receiving adequate education. Within the educational sector there are administrators and teachers who are involved in students lives on a daily basis to ensure that education is equal. In order to achieve the vital objective of equality, socio-cultural influences on ELL students, bilingualism and home language use, parental and community resources, and partnerships between families and schools all have to be considered to provide an opportunity for equal education.

The students that make up the school are mostly Latino, African American, West Indian and white. Language is the medium through which students gain access to the curriculum. (Tamara Lucas). For example, Maria was placed in a dual language classroom, since arriving from Mexico and when she entered middle school that was taken away. The teacher in her English class needs to realize it takes second language learners longer to develop fluency in academic English than in conversational English. (Tamara Lucas). Ms. O’reilly should take this inconsideration when it comes to the strategies used in the classroom. Social interaction will help Maria’s language development and a method that can be useful to promote social interaction is the use of group work. Using group work will allow Maria to not only expand her English skills but also learn from the other students. Tamara Lucas states; “Scaffolding learning for ELLs requires teachers to consider the relationship between students’ linguistic abilities and the tasks through which they are expected to learn”. Ms. O’reilly has set the goal of having all the students to be on the same level at the end of the school year, this might not be a realistic goal since each child comes from different backgrounds and learn at different speeds. Different scaffolding strategies should be use to accommodate the ELLs in her classroom. Group work, sharing about ones culture, knowing the child’s mother tongue and creating a comfortable environment where the students can raise their hand or ask questions without feeling dumb or like an

As a teacher who is working with English Language Learners, I will be interacting with students from all sorts of backgrounds. In order to support these students as people first and students second, I need to be aware of some of the concerns they might be facing at home. I also want to learn what I can do as a teacher to help students. Jose Antonio Vargas talked about how his principal and superintendent became a part of his support system in his adult life. While it may not be possible to support all of my students for the rest of their lives like Vargas’s example, it is important to build relationships with the

“What it takes for English Learners to Succeed?” is an article written by Jana Echevarria, Nancy Frey, and Doug Fisher that discusses four accessible teaching practices that will allow English Learners in U.S. classroom to become academically successful and attain fluency in English. To clarify, the authors use practices such as access, climate, expectations, and language instruction to eliminate educational inequality and enable students to be able to fully participate in rigorous course work without excluding English Learners. Ultimately, this provides an approachable school reform, creates additive and transformative approach, as well as integration of multicultural perspective and lastly brings a way for language diversity to be seen in the classroom.

In order to establish an effective role in high school student lives, teachers must create a positive environment in the classroom, engage the students with a variety of materials, and provide different variations of learning techniques that will accommodate the needs of every student (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010). While also, displaying the personality of a culturally competent teacher that is able to effectively incorporate diversity in her curriculum. On the other hand, some teachers lack the ability to influence their students, and cultivate a positive learning environment. These teachers typically do not incorporate theorist ideas and techniques for creating a meaningful classroom environment (Flinders & Thornton, 2013). For that reason, students lose interest

Once students and teachers are aware of cultural differences, they become aware of racism and can fight to eradiate it. Through their unbiased understanding of the differences between cultures and races, they are able to come to a point of acceptance of themselves and others. If you noticed in my previous paragraph, I mentioned the different types of diversity. Diversity emphasizes how different students and teachers are, but when explored in a classroom, can be used to reveal our similarities. Once students and teachers grasp the concept of diversity, displayed through everyday interactions with diverse groups of students and teachers, racism begins to disappear. In addition, positive sense of self can be developed once students and teachers have an understanding of their own uniqueness through experiences and understanding of diversity. Once teachers and students