Isaac's Case Study: A Consequence Of Testing ALL Students

The special education programs in the United States have been designed to help children with special needs learn easier and fit in better with the education program. Unfortunately, many minority students get caught up in the mix and don’t get the proper attention they deserve. Furthermore, minority students are seriously over-represented in the educational programs. Many minority students are misdiagnosed and put into special education programs when in fact; they do not have a learning disability. This has become a growing problem in this country because it is seen as the easy way out. Schools all over the U.S. are doing this in order to not have to properly test and evaluate students for learning problems.

Overcoming stereotyping is a challenge educators can encounter when it comes to ensuring that teaching strategies are appropriate for culturally diverse children. Some educators may compare one child to another child that comes from the same cultural background and use the same teaching strategy. One way to overcome this is to make sure that educators know each of the students individually instead of comparing one to another or relying on stereotyping. “To truly engage students, we must reach out to them in ways that are culturally and linguistically responsive and appropriate, and we must examine the cultural assumptions and stereotypes we bring into the classroom that may hinder interconnectedness.” (Teaching Tolerance, 1991) Once they know more about each of the students then they can avoid stereotyping and adjust their teaching strategy to meet the individual needs of the students in the classroom.

Schools systematically subjugate minority and black students when a school’s enrollment contains a huge racial majority. If students have no exposure to persons of different ethnicities, cultures, races, and religions, then these students will experience culture shock when they confront “other” people. Even in our class, we talk about black and minority students as another group, one that differs from “us.” We think about the inequalities in school systems as problems we need to fix, not as problems that have influenced our thinking and affect us as prospective teachers. For example, a white graduate student with

African Americans are not the only ethnicity group to be singled out with behavior. Racial and ethnic minority students report experiencing low teacher expectations, having less access to educational resources, being placed on lower educational tracks, and being steered toward low-paying employment (Kozol, 1991; Olsen, 2008).This low expectation is causing

Currently, general education classrooms have increasingly become diverse with both disable students and students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In order for educators to ensure that they effectively teach these classrooms, meet the needs of each student both successfully and individually, effective research that is based on strategies need to be implemented. The U.S. Department of Education suggest that, the current school-age population is becoming more diverse as time passes, yet, majority of the teachers in these schools are white non-Hispanic women. According to another report by The Condition of Education in 2006, American schools are portraying increased diversity and growth. The report suggested that, forty two percent of students in public schools were ethnic or racial minorities in the year 2003; this increased from twenty two percent since 1972. Owing to these reasons, teachers in these schools are expected to educate a diversified class of students including those that come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Teachers are therefore, required to implement a number of key strategies that will ensure that every student in specific classroom feels that he or she belongs there (Worrell, 2010).

The life outcome that Wes Moore, the author, had was different from the other Wes More. He was doing bad in his education as well with his interactions with the family. Every teacher declared that Wes was a poor student and was unmotivated to pay attention in class. The teachers came to conclusion that Wes had a problem socializing, however; Wes “was a victim of a monocultural educational environment that alienates and denigrates him” (Sue, 230). The school staff was unable to see that the problem existed within the institution/ environment and not on Wes, because they were focusing only in one culture which made Wes feel as an outsider. The

Were they really concerned about Jerry’s success? Lindsey, Robins, and Terell (2009) denounces, “this system of oppression existed because those who benefited from existing practices felt no need to address disparities” (p.75). Standard 5 of the Florida Leadership Standards mandates, “promotes school and classroom practices that validate and value similarities and differences among students”. An inclusive learning environment could have resulted in empathy. If the students could understand that everyone reacts differently, some problems could be avoided. Moreover, a differentiated classroom could have guided Jerry’s effort to use a positive approach to attain his academic goals. Teachers could have used a differentiation approach to keep Jerry’s attention in the task and away from distractors. Tomlinson and Allan (2000) describe the differentiated classroom as flexible. They continue explaining the principle, “all students consistently work with “respectful” activities and learning arrangements” (p. 7). However, differentiation takes time and effort. It was easier to have an associate to look for Jerry’s negative behavior to evidence that he did not belong in the regular setting. This way, the faculty continues the teaching and learning process as if the students were homogenous. Since most of the students benefited, there was no need in the educator’s mindset for change to address disparities or achievement gaps.

These solutions center on teacher training. Teachers typically refer children for remedial education testing. For this reason, they are also the first line of defense against the misplacement of African American children. In order to meet the needs of black males, educators ought to develop understanding of their culture. Teachers must be trained to adjust their teaching strategies for culturally different students in class. For instance, rather than emphasizing the deviant characteristics of the black male culture, teachers should focus on the needs which all ethnic groups have in common, such as the need for artistic expression. Educators ought to inform their students about black lifestyles and challenges. They should do this on a regular basis, and not only in special

Furthermore, stays at a friends house while his mother works from 1:00am to 5:00am. Per documentation the patient presents with mannerism of throwing his head back, laughing at inappropriate times, and throws his hands over eyes to talk. The patient presented with these behaviors during the time of assessment. According to collateral the patient reports to "Ms. Mitchell, principal at Tabernacle Elementary School, that he was going to kill himself and others." Collateral reports that patient cut himself with a broken razor from a pencil sharpener. Further, the patient reports that he is useless and that no one likes him nor does he have anyone to play video games with. The patient expresses these thoughts during the assessment. According to collateral the patient has multiple incidents with his behavior since 2013. As noted, "Some of these behaviors including pulling string out around neck from sweatshirt, smashing milk in cafeteria, kicking others students, swinging a waffle bat at another student, inappropriate language and hitting a student on the bus." The mother expresses that the patient does not see a need to go to school and wishes to stay home.

The argument Tyrone C. Howard tries to make in his article, Powerful Pedagogy for African American Students A Case of Four Teachers, is that effective learning occurs when different cultural background and experiences are incorporated in teaching. He shares that the rate at which African-American students learn is fifty fifty on part of the teachers as well as the students. While Howard believes that there are many quandaries to be addressed in the schooling system, only a part of it is reflected in the academic underachievement of African-American students. Howard states, “socially and emotionally, African American students struggle to adjust in US schools” (page 180, paragraph 2). This is not to say that African-American students have learning disabilities, but more so the teachers. The problems faced by African-Americans, too often are identified, but not addressed. Perhaps, the reason for this lies in the cultural and racial disparities in the US education system. A lot of African American children are sent to elite white schools because parents believe this is a better way for their children to obtain a good chance of moving up the social ladder. However, often times, these schools fail to supply such need and the children struggle because of the difference in ethnicity. People typically tend to believe that their way of life is better than others. What is worse is when children are taught that their culture is inferior in comparison to others. Being submerged in one 's

They lack necessary motivation to excel academically. I’m quite sure that most young people in the area lack positive role models, that can influence their life decisions. Consequently, all the resources for the children are limited or outdated. On page 83 and 84 the author clearly illustrates too the reader the conditions of the classrooms and the desires of the instructors to have the basic necessities, like water in the chemistry lab. The writer really struck a nerve with me, when he mentioned that “ In the seventh grade social studies class the only book that bears some relevance to black concerns-its title is The American Negro-bears a publication date of 1967”. For, example I never experienced conditions similar to the students in the article, but I can relate to the lack of quality materials. Educators requiring that student receive instruction from a 30-year-old book that have inaccurate information. In addition, being denied access to materials about your heritage is a form of injustice. All students should be exposed to literaturary materials that explore various ethical backgrounds. Especially, in areas that have predominate racial demographics. For the most part, the families are victims of discrimination that is deeply imbedded into the fiber of this Midwestern

Consider talking with other professional personnel who specialize in multiculturalism (Dray & Wisneski, 2011, p. 33). Share your interpretations in a spirit of collaboration to learn from family members about their expectations and norms for behavior (Dray & Wisneski, 2011, p. 33). After teachers have considered alternative explanations and developed a different interpretation of a situation, they are able to change their behavior (Dray & Wisneski, 2011, p. 33). Educators should view

Social, cultural and political changes have immense influences on the education sector. This has been witnessed from the onset African and Asian immigration into the United States from 1954 till present times. During the last quarter of the 20th century, immigrants to the US were denied education and those who received education did so under great threats. The dominant view of society about immigrants during this period was extremely negative and rejecting; thereby not deserving of an education. Currently, the education has been made affordable to everybody due to changing atmosphere of unprecedented social change. In education, this change resulted in the legal dismantling of segregated education for African American children (Collins, 2008). As African American children integrated the schools in the United States, they came to school with the stigma of slavery and the negative attitudes held by the agents of the educational institution. Attitudes and held perceptions were the catalyst for constructions such as biased assessment and the retardation paradigm. From these constructions emerged practices in special education that held large numbers of African American students captive in not only the educational milieu, but also limited their work potential. For this reason, the sociopolitical landscape as a context for curriculum, instruction, and assessment has continued to play a significant role in the education

As a result of cultural mismatching, teachers can interpret students’ regular behavior as a form of misbehavior. Chamberlain (2005) states “how we define ADHD is in some ways a matter of tolerance” (p. 9). In addition, the way teachers judge cultural

During the late 1960’s, America had entered into a period of cultural definition especially with the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement. Although the term “multicultural education” had not come into play yet, the idea that the U.S needed to reexamine their efforts of educating diverse groups was emerging. During this time inequality especially among minority groups in comparison to the white dominant culture became a social issue (Banks 1999). Before the arrival of this reform multicultural education was displayed in the classroom as having minorities adapt to the predominant culture. Teachers during this time felt it would be more beneficial for minorities to adapt. However, many parents of these minorities begin to argue that the