Date: October 24, 2012 To: Elementary MITs From: Lori Johnson RE: Follow up on achievement gap questions

Hi MITs, Your positive attitude and thirst for knowledge to help your students achieve will serve you well. In our last few classes (Methods and Literacy) we've had questions come up on addressing the achievement gap. The purpose of this email is to provide you some information on the achievement gap, to build your schema and percolate your thoughts, so that we can learn more about helping all students achieve. First I want to address the academic language of the discussion (I'm modeling here - think TPA), then I will share some research on the topic about causes and evidence of the gap that you are seeing in Spokane, and lastly I want to begin the discussion on a process for remedying the gap. I've set aside some time in our November classes to further this discussion. Let's start with the academic language of the achievement gap. Some people feel "achievement gap" is not a sensitive term to the students who are not achieving, as it blames them for their lack of achievement. The term "opportunity gap" has been introduced as a more PC term, inferring the problem with students who don't meet or exceed standards is due to lack of opportunities. While I plan to offer solutions of what you (and all teachers) can do to overcome the gap, I don't want to infer a solution in the term, so I plan to use "gap" referring to the disparity between students in various subgroups defined by race, ethnicity, special education status, and income level (Armstrong, Baxter, Craig, King, and Quinn, 2009). Other terms we use in class, readings, and online discussions that are necessary to understand this issue include: engagement, enjoyment, connections, authentic, challenging, expectations, and culturally relevant instruction. You will see how each of those terms relates to strategies that can be used to decrease the gap. Chris shared an experience from his school where the teachers met and looked at data from the spring for his class of sixth graders, all sixth graders in the school, and data on where his students were in reading, writing, and math in previous grades. He learned the "achievement gap" at his school is real, as groups of his students are not making the gains and meeting the standards at the same level as their Caucasian peers. The groups of his students with a gap in their achievement are: African American, and/or have IEP's, and/or come from households meeting the federal guidelines for poverty. Melinda shared about the gap at Arcadia with her third grade students who receive free or reduced breakfast and lunch. Megan pointed out her one student who goes without his basic needs being met is the only child in her class receiving free or reduced meals and he is the only child not meeting standard.

Some of you hear about the gap specific to your students, for others it is a grade level, grade band (i.e. 4-6) or whole (K-6) school issue. In your weekly reflections more than a few of you have stated that you've heard teachers blame the gap on things including: the students' background, current home life, relative newness to the country, English is not their native language... A few have heard your teachers change lessons, targets, and standards for gap students because "they'll never be able to meet standard". Whether you notice the gap for one student or the majority of your students, you can make a difference. The gap is a nationwide crises and I will share research about causes, evidence, and strategies you can use in your classrooms to work to eliminate the gap. Before sharing the research explaining what is perpetuating the gap, it's important to know that our current public education system was shaped by predominately white middle class citizens who considered themselves successful products of the education system. Acknowledging that teachers' instructions and expectations are helping sustain the gap, is admitting that you as a teacher can reduce the gap with your instructions and expectations. Research on possible explanations for the gap generally attributes one or more of the following: poverty, social structure of our capitalistic society, inequitable schooling/teaching practices, heritability/difference in cognitive abilities, inequitable investment or distribution of resources and individual or institutional racism. I'll briefly define each explanation. There is a lot of research showing the impact of poverty on achievement. This deals with Maslow's hierarchy of needs and other factors. In addition to students of poverty lacking adequate and nutritional food, they can lack housing, clothing, and medical and dental care. The neighborhoods where students of poverty live impact their learning, as well as struggles within their family. The social structure of our capitalistic society is believed by some researchers to impact students' achievement. You've probably heard sayings about the poor will continue to be poor and the rich continue to be rich, because it's what they know or were born into. You may have heard that we need people to work: at McDonald's, picking apples, or collecting garbage, so we will need workers with little education or options to do that work. Research about students not achieving because they inherited a certain I.Q. or level of intelligence based upon their race is available as well. Overt racism within the school system or society is seen as another contributing factor in lack of achievement. This ties in with some teachers often low expectations of students of color. The research on inequitable investment of research describes how the allocation of school funding and resources within districts and schools contribute to the gap. Some of these explanations for the gap overlap, with poverty occurring in almost all. At this point I want to caution you that while low SES/poverty refers to a group of students who live in poverty and are not achieving, we can't group all students of poverty expecting their backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences to be similar. "With poverty, comes diversity" (Knapp, 2001) and so knowledge of students (KOS) is of paramount importance. Ladson-Billings (1994) says effective teaching begins with building good relationships. Therefore, KOS and the positive, inclusive learning environment you create are key strategies in helping to eliminate the gap.

You may remember me saying that one of the good things to come out of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation was the shift in expectation from teachers teaching curriculum, to teachers teaching their students. Farrington and Nagoaka (2009) state that "some well meaning teachers are unable to bridge the gap between their learning goals and the students in their classrooms." This won't be you. Already you're seeing the importance of knowing your students and building positive relationships with them. I know it's difficult when you are only there two days a week, however you can build positive relationships with your students and learn about them during that time. There is a preponderance of research about how creating a classroom environment with high expectations for all can decrease the gap. You are learning about pedagogy that is culturally relevant. Since we know that students whose background includes a culture of poverty are not similar, you may wonder how you can meet all of your students needs. According to Knapp (2001) researchers have intensified their search for cross-cutting principles that govern effective instruction for diverse populations of students. Please don't worry that during your first year of teaching we expect you to learn about every one of your students' ethnic backgrounds and design something akin to an individual education plan for each. The research that I've been reading points to the following ways teachers can reduce the achievement gap in their classrooms: 1) academic rigor - your classes should be challenging, enjoyable and engaging, 2) culturally relevant teaching, 3) high expectations, 4) clear communication of procedures and expectations, 5) KOS, and 6) a learning environment where everyone is welcomed, accepted, and supported. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2002) concluded students who often saw what they were doing as both work and play were more likely to go on to college or successfully transition to work. So, the notion of "enjoyment" in the work students do is a key factor in their success. Mihaly further states, challenge gives children vision and direction, focus and perseverance. Support gives the serenity that allows them freedom from worry and fear." Your instruction should be appropriately challenging relative to your students' existing skills and understandings (Farrington and Nagaoka, 2009). That way your instruction will allow students to access unfamiliar content, while you are providing the support they need. Providing challenging instruction by using higher order thinking skills in literacy and math can be as appropriate in high poverty settings as in more advantaged settings (Knapp & Associates, 1995; Means, Chelemer, & Knapp, 1991). You may have heard that students can't be taught higher level thinking skills without the basics and the basics should be broken into individual skills that are taught separate from the content. As I've said in our Literacy class, teaching skills within context will allow your students to make connections and have greater gains in achievement. Corbett, Wilson & Williams (2002) tell of students who were successful in one teacher's class, when they had not been successful elsewhere. The teacher made science interesting. While not all of the science content was engaging, the teacher used thought provoking, rather than recall questions, interjected humor and games, incorporated students' strengths into what they were asked to do and recast content in real-life situations. In order to do this, the teacher had to know his students; more than just what their test scores were. He had to know their strengths and know how his content intersected with his students' reality.

The last strategy, of utilizing culturally relevant teaching methods, includes the use of high expectations, clear communication of procedures and expectations, KOS, and a learning environment where everyone is welcomed, accepted, and supported. Think back to the articles you read by Geneva Gay as well as her presentations two weeks ago at Whitworth. Culturally relevant instruction should include high expectations, multiple opportunities to learn, and engagement. It is more than just telling students what they should be doing, although clearly stating your expectations is very important. It's teaching and practicing procedures. If your students aren't demonstrating the appropriate behaviors in your classroom, it's because you haven't done a good enough job of teaching it to them. To say that your students are at an age where they should know how to act appropriately is only acceptable if all of them demonstrate the appropriate actions. Dr. Gay, during her morning presentation to you, pointed out that conflict happens, and it's important to teach appropriate ways to deal with conflict because it will happen. She also suggested the importance of differing ways and multiple opportunities to practice concepts. Students work to achieve based on your expectations and the relationship that you have with them. If you expect them to achieve at a high rate, they will. It will however, take more than wishing it and telling them they can. It will take clear expectations, modeling, practice, more practice, and a learning environment where they are supported and a valued member. Of the many articles and chapters I read recently on the gap, one connects specifically with literacy and our conversations on social justice and critical literacy theory. I'm attaching it. The chapter is on culturally relevant teaching (Ladson-Billings, 1994). It provides a window into different teachers' classrooms. While you are reading the article, please think about where you currently see yourself (what connections are you making to the teachers/classrooms in the reading)? Where do you wish to be (cite the classroom/connections)? and How will you get there? I will leave you with a quote from Michael Knapp (2001) in his chapter on Policy, Poverty, and Capable Teaching. "Capable teaching is not allocated by quota through systems of public education; it is discovered, constructed, learned-and the conditions that support the process of discovery, construction, and learning can be enhanced." So, continue your thirst for knowledge and ways to meet your students where they are in order to provide the instruction that will help them achieve their dreams.

References Armstrong, K., Baxter, A., Craig, A., King, G., & Quinn, L. (2009) Paper on Poverty for project. L4L: UW, Seattle, WA group

City, E.A., Elmore, R.F., Fiarman, S.E., & Teitel, L. (2009). Chapter 1, The Instructional Core. In Authors, Instructional Rounds in Education (pp.21-38). Cambridge MA: Harvard Education Press. Corbett, H.D., Wilson, B., & Williams, B. (2002). Excerpts from Effort and excellence in urban classrooms: Expecting-and getting-success with all students. N.Y. New York: Teachers College Press. Farrington, C., & Nagaoka, J. (2009). In Authors. From High School to the Future: Rigor in high school classrooms-the Instructional Challenge. Chicago: Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago. Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching. Journal of Teacher 53 #2 March/April, 2002. AACTE. Education. Vol.

Knapp, M.S. (2001). Policy, poverty, and capable teaching: Assumptions and issues in policy design. In B.J. Biddle (Ed.), Social class, poverty, and education: Policy and practice. New York: Routledge Falmer. Knapp, M. S., & Associates (1995). Teaching for meaning in high-poverty classrooms. Teachers College Press. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). Culturally relevant teaching. In The Dreamkeepers: teachers of African American Children. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Scherer, M. (2002). Do students Care About Learning?- A conversation with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Educational Leadership (September, 2002). New York:

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Lori Johnson Elementary MIT Coordinator Whitworth University