Raising Achievement of Ethnic Minority Children

This paper is intended to explore and report upon the topics posited by Tyrone C. Howard in his book, Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in Americas Classrooms. Closely examining each and every chapter as they come and how the structure of this book gives a detailed framework and guidance system for novice and experienced teachers to take their pedagogical skills to more diverse and multicultural levels. Also, this paper will review a few lessons or projects that can be adapted and used within my personal educational institute in order to create

Children are now growing up in a time when the cultural and ethnic structure of our country is quickly changing and in some areas groups of people who were formally considered as the ‘ethnic’ minority make up the majority of the population.

Strand also investigates ethnicity and achievement in education, he compared the progress of Indian, African-Caribbean and white British pupils in their secondary education. Strand found that Indian children made more positive progress than the white British students but African-Caribbean pupils fell even further behind. Strand found the Indian’s success was due to both material and cultural factors such as high aspirations and dedication to homework, low levels of truancy and exclusion and good resources at home such as computers and private tutoring.

Many cultural groups are entitled to maintain their traditional attitudes, values, and especially languages; the lack of educational achievement and improvement is sometimes caused by the problem of a different

*assess the impact of their policy including staff, pupils and parents of different racial groups

nclusive, diverse and cultural competency (“Talking about practice,” 2012. para. 1.) are key words currently being used in reference to education in Australian school environments (Victoria State Government: Education and Training, “Unity through diversity,” 2014. para 1.). For these terms to become actionable, wider community support is often necessary, not exclusively confined to community supporting service clubs and business, but also from involved parents. The following essay will question the actuality of Australian schools’ claims of being inclusive, diverse and/or culturally competent educators, and will show why having no obvious bigotry in a Primary School, doesn’t mean it is not there.

The underachievement of white working boys in the education sector remains a social problem here in the UK, Why? The reason being, as Sir Michael Wilshaw (Chief Inspector of Ofsted) outlined that these group of individuals make up two thirds of the British pupils which in affect makes them are the largest group therefore the attention should be directed at remedying the issue. PISA outlined that countries such as Finland, Hong Kong, Iceland…. Are all working better to support their disadvantaged pupils in comparison to students here in England receive.

These systemic obstacles that create circumstances that hinder the education attainment of the poor can be changed, their limits lessened, by positive actions to elevate living conditions – given the school system promotes and

Legislations and codes of practice help us to better understand the school policy in which we work. We are not expected to know all the details of each and every code and legislations but as a practitioner working with children, we need to identify the main one that has to do with promoting equality and valuing diversity in school. We need to show that we are aware of them in our practice. Each school must produce a range of policies which formally sets out the guideline and procedure for ensuring equality. These must take into account of the rights of individuals and groups within the school. Policies should also provide guidance for staff and visitors to the school on ways to ensure inclusive practice. There may be a number of separate policies or they may be combined. Policies must include ways that schools work in relation to:

If the parents are able to successfully guide their child through the elements of being an ethnic minority, it allows them to develop a strong ethnic identity (Wakefield & Hudley, 2007.) It seems that if Keisha’s teacher is able to cater to the needs and values of minority students, it could create awareness and sensitivity in the classroom. By creating an environment to reflect and support the values of ethnic minorities, there might be a better understanding amongst the students. The school does a good job including Keisha’s identity as a minority. They could continue supporting her by allowing her to be a part of both her ethnic group and the main culture represented in the class and or

The United States of America is known for being a country filled with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Likewise, the student population in schools is just as diverse as it continues to grow. Lynch (2015) notes that schools are expected to teach their students “how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base” as this will help “facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world” (para. 8). Educators must be able to provide for the diverse needs of students and are expected to equip students with skills that can lead to healthy development as it can affect higher levels of student achievement and students have more opportunities of success in their future. Providing students with tools and skills requires an awareness and acceptance of their ethnic identity. Once students have developed self-acceptance about their ethnic identity, they can begin to feel empowered and motivated to do well. Through cultural empowerment, students of color can develop intrinsic motivation and achieve academic success.

It seems that the original research, which Demie (2005) reports of, sought to cast light upon the following complex issues: indicators, by which it was possible to assess the achievement of school-age children with Black Caribbean ancestry, and elements of the educational environment, which contributed to the achievement of high learning standards in regard to the group selected. It seems that the research questions were defined causally in order to share the elements of “good practice” between all British schools as part of the educational policy.

expectations for all students can combat marginalization. The schools included in a study by Ragland, Clubine, Constable, Smith, Council of Chief State School Officers and Texas University (2002) set measurable and high goals for all of its students, while minimizing formal categories and labels. This enables faculty and staff to focus on creating educational opportunities for the students and assess areas for improvement in student and teacher performance. Without tracking and labels, the focus is on the individual, where it belongs, regardless of race or socio-economic status”, ( Carbone II,Steven,2010)

Diane Abbott, a London member of Parliament (2002) stated ‘there is a silent catastrophe happening in Britain’s schools in the way they continue to fail Black British children’ due to the increasing number of black pupils being permanently excluded from schools. Adolph Cameron, head of the Jamaican Teachers'

or her best, so it is important to me to find out if racism is the