Research On Academic Success And The Diversity

Nieto& Bode mentioned that young people felt the need to de-emphasize their identity, culture, or language in school. Yet this de-emphasis may have had negative consequences for their learning. (Nieto& Bode, 2008) I became more proud of my origin and background. Especially throughout this semester, my perspectives on race, diversity, and equality have altered to a better understanding. I become more proud of my own culture and being who I really am. Also, I learned that as a teacher I should be more aware of culture diversity in classroom. I should take my diverse background as an advantage because it helps me to “design an appropriate instructional strategies to ensure equal outcomes for diverse students.” (CSU San Marcos, 2017, p.4)

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).

A school setting provides opportunities where issues of social justice, oppression, and discrimination can be addressed. According to Bemak and Chung (2009), students of color and economically disadvantaged students are likely to have low academic achievement, in comparison to their White middle class counterparts. These disparities in academic

Growing up in Washington D.C. in an area with high poverty, STI and HIV rates, and low high school graduation rates, I was afforded an opportunity to attend a prestigious private school in Northern Virginia. While I was grateful to be able to receive a wonderful education in a safe environment, I always understood that many of my peers in the Black community did not have this privilege. Particularly, supportive faculty members encouraged me to pursue an accelerated math track so that I would be prepared when I pursued a STEM career. As I reached a high math level AP Calculus BC, I was one of five girls and the only black student in this course. I realized that as I pursued a career that requires high level math and science, due to educational disparities, my classroom’s racial and gender demographic will become my norm. Initially, I did not view this fact as a potential source of motivation to help bridge this gap. Instead, this observation led to loneliness, insecurity, and depression because no one else in the classroom innately related to me, not just in this math course, but for over 14 years in one school, the loneliness can become psychologically damaging. Yet, this damage was the cost of a invaluable education and the juxtaposition of emotional suffering and academic preparation allowed me to graduate top 10 in my graduating class in college.

Indicator 1b: Teachers treat students equitably and with dignity. They recognize the individual differences, and they account for these differences in practice.

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.

Community and diversity are two of the most prominent factors colleges and universities use to attract students. At Temple University, it is easy to see that the school tries hard to implement these words into our heads whether it be succeeding or failing in reality. Temple makes it known in their mission statement, policies, and standing proof that they surely uphold the title as being one of the most diverse schools in the nation. However, after reading the chapter about Rebekah Nathan’s experience in My Freshman Year, I recognized her assessment among freshman is similar to that of my own granted it had not been completely

The Diversity Achievement Program is a 2 part program sponsored by the office of Diversity & Inclusion designed to provide support for students from underrepresented populations. This program recognizes the challenges of attending Marietta College, a Predominantly White Institution located in Washington County, Ohio. This program prepares students to confront a variety of challenges they may face while on campus and in the community. The primary goal is to ensure each student is successful academically, personally, socially, and professionally. To achieve this mission, the transition program, mentoring program, and tutoring programs have been created.

I learned that I will need to understand the issues facing my students inside and outside of the classroom. By having this understanding, I hope to be able to form real relationships with my students, make learning relevant to each student, and be able to provide the necessary support to make them successful learners. I want to be a resource and/or participant in my students’ life rather than just a spectator and/or teacher teaching about diversity. I realized that my previous perception would have left some students struggling in my classroom. I would have overlooked students’ needs if I only concentrated on teaching diversity in my classroom. I believe that this experience has made me grow as an educator and made me realize how I need to understand the complexities faced by my students in order for me to become successful in the classroom and to become an effective teacher.

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.

To sit down and choose one salient and defining aspect of my education was like asking me to choose which one of my Godchildren I love more—nearly impossible. Thinking though some defining events in my schooling, many of the events that stuck out to me were those related to my race. This came as a huge surprise to me because I had a very non-conventional schooling experience. Due to my dad’s job I attended 5 elementary schools, 2 middle school and 1 high school in 5 different states. In each state and through every move, we lived in a fairly affluent area and I attended a school with a GreatSchools rating between 8 and 10. The schools weren’t lacking diversity by any means but they were also far from exceptionally diverse. It is for this reason that I chose to analyze how my race has affected my education, is continuing to affect my education, and will affect my impact and experience as an aspiring educator.

With such a diverse student population, achievement gaps have become apparent in data collected in various internal and external reports on student achievement. Students from racial backgrounds,

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.

According to the dictionary diversity can be described as, “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements: variety; especially: the inclusion of different types of people (such as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization” (Diversity, 2017). Some of the general notions of diversity is that it simply pertains to race, gender, and class but these groups are continuing to expand. Diversity also includes religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, etc. In this paper I would like to discuss different types of student affairs programs in higher education, their impacts on students, and implications of diversity in a selected law case.

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