Working Toward Equitable Education

MATC Synthesis Paper

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree in Teaching Curriculum

Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University

Nani Vercruyssen
November 18, 2020
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“Across the U.S., a gap in academic achievement persists between minority and

disadvantaged students and their white counterparts.” (Ladson-Billings, 2006) Working in a

Title I school, I am driven by closing the achievement gap and moving my students towards

greater success in life. Sometimes that means working on behavior and character traits, other

times it is academics. This doesn’t just mean my neediest students, it is all of them. But my

neediest students stayed closest to my heart. I was alway and still am searching for ways to help

them, engage them, and motivate them. Somehow no matter how much schooling, professional

development, or training you have as a teacher, you always feel behind the curve or in search of

more information, answers, and best practices to help your unique students. But when I searched

for a Masters program, I couldn’t find anything that really fit what I was interested in learning

about. And if it did, it seemed like the program was dated or I didn’t feel confident that I would

get a quality education. I hate easy classes where I do not truly learn and grow. So I searched

until I found Michigan State University.

The more I looked into the Master of Arts in Teaching Curriculum (MATC) program, the

more I loved what it offered. I had a particular interest in technology and ways in which

technology could be used with young learners. I wanted to know, was it good to use technology,

or is it bad for their brain and development? Would it make my teaching more engaging? Deep

down I also loved that I would be able to further explore my passion of teaching reading and

literacy but that I would also get to learn more about how to better support my English Language

Learners. My school is full of students who speak other languages at home or move to our

school from the Philippines. I found my program, I found the one.

Curriculum
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When I dove into the program in my first semester, I was shocked by how much I didn’t

know or hadn’t considered about the curriculum being taught at our school. In Artifact 1, p.2-5

from TE 818, I discuss the three types of curricula that all schools teach. The explicit, implicit

and the null. From there I began to learn more about how what even is not said or learned has an

impact on our students.

During this semester I also took TE 848, Writing Assessment and Instruction, where I

learned about ways to support my students in the revising process of their writing pieces. By

giving more specific prompts or asking different questions, I can make tasks easier for students

to follow, and more importantly give the writer specific feedback. “Specific evaluation criteria

are not always genre-related. For example, criteria of clarity (Is there anything difficult to

understand?) and detail (Where could I add information to make it more interesting?)”

(MacArthur, 2013, p.220). This class was instrumental in providing ideas for how to restructure

the way that I went about teaching and guiding students in their writing as well as shaping my

thinking for writing progression. I hadn’t considered how fundamental letter formation, sounds

and spelling were in a students ability to produce writing and convey all of the ideas from their

head to the paper and how disruptive it can be for students when they are struggling in one of

these areas. I learned about how technology and text to speech could be used to aid in different

phases of writing so that students can produce more meaningful work.

TE 807, Professional Development and Inquiry continued my quest for learning about

equitable teaching strategies. Artifact 5, my final paper, shows my revised philosophy as well as

noting high leverage teaching practices and demonstrating my ability to participate in the peer

coaching cycle. Participating in this cycle is significant because it shows how, beyond the scope
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of this MSU program, I can gain meaningful feedback and insight in a focused manner from

peers and colleagues.

During TE 870, we focused on Curriculum Design and Development in Schools which

deepened my understanding of what curriculum is and helped me to develop ideas for effective

planning for curricular reform and professional development. Our text, Leading Curriculum

Development by Jon Wiles goes over the role, reflection, and job of someone in a leadership

role. There are changes that I hope to advocate for or help to provide resources such as those

included in the book at my school which can lead towards greater effectiveness of

implementation of new curriculum and teaching strategies.

Technology

One part of the program I was looking forward to was learning more about the

technology available which could be helpful for engagement, differentiation or even teacher

productivity. In TE 831, Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology I was able to conduct

three tech tool reviews which led to be very useful once distance learning went into effect due to

COVID-19. I reviewed the Remind app for a new way to communicate digitally with parents

and Seesaw and Class Dojo for learning management systems (LMS). I currently use Seesaw as

my primary LMS with my students this year. The time spent discovering features, creating

assignments and reviewing the tech tool made it easier to focus on the curriculum and finding

ways to transfer classroom activities into remote activities. I found new ways to create groups

which allowed me to differentiate assignments and cultivate individual learning experiences and

work for students virtually.

In CEP 813, Electronic Portfolio and Assessment we focused on designing an assessment

tool which could serve as a checklist for all assessments to determine if the assessment would
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lead students toward success and give the teacher necessary information about students

knowledge to guide future instruction. Artifact 6, Assessment Design Checklist 3.0 clearly

aligns to MATC standards because it is making sure that my assessments allow students to apply

their knowledge in a new situation, have the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge in multiple

ways and is accessible to all learners (struggling, EL or SPED). Even though the class was

rooted in technology, it’s focus on meaningful use of technology and assessment to think of ways

to support ALL students.

CEP 805, Learning Math with Technology was my last technology class before switching

my focus of learning to ELL and ESL instruction. While only focused on one subject, I was able

to build a library of resources specific to the needs of 2nd grade instruction. I built a google site

(artifact 4) which linked specific math tech tools, games and resources for each domain. I found

websites and programs which would support students learning in and out of the classroom. My

struggling learners often do not have support at home to practice or have not had enough

exposure to certain math skills and concepts and require more time and practice to master a

standard. These sites will help to provide specific practice for concepts taught throughout the

year.

Multicultural Education and Multilingual Literacy

As mentioned in my introduction, I work at a school with many students classified as

English Learners (EL). I felt that I got a lot of great resources from the technology classes that I

took, but was still struggling to support my EL students, so I changed my concentration. In TE

845, Language Diversity and Literacy Instruction, Dr.Patricia Edwards allowed us to present a

mini professional development on topics we learned about in our class. Each student’s focus was

slightly different. Mine was on strategies for improving literacy in young ELL students as seen
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in Artifact 3. I appreciated multiple aspects of this project because it helped me practice and

grow as a teaching professional to present ideas and have a Powerpoint ready. It also was useful

work because it helped to prepare me to share what I learned with people at my school. My two

biggest ahas during this class were that second language learners, especially young ones can

benefit from things that English learners do when they are growing up and that as students are

learning to read and comprehend in English they should first focus on meaning making.

First, I hadn’t considered that the way young children such as toddlers and preschoolers

learn and pick up language could be the same ways that a Non-English Proficient student can

begin to learn the language with songs, picture books with labels and rhyming. Rhyming is

something that students begin learning how to do much before second grade, but we don’t

continue it too much. These activities could introduce great vocabulary development for a new

student.

Second, I learned that “Reading instruction should focus on meaning-making rather than

getting text details right” (David Freeman & Yvonne Freeman,2000). Too often teachers focus

initially on fixing mistakes and students comprehending and getting everything right. We have

students jump into the deep end reading passages which are above their level, which for some

purposes can be useful. But when they are given rigorous texts, we also need to ask the right

questions and develop the students to begin making sense of the words they are reading before

asking specific questions about the text. I found in my classroom that I would get students to

decode words or begin to read more fluently, but when asked about what they read they had no

clue or could not answer the questions. So I changed my expectations and line of questioning to

go back and have the students first tell “What do you remember?” (Hansen,1989) Now I can ask

the right questions to get my students thinking about the words they are reading and getting in
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the habit of asking questions, predicting, and engaging with reading rather than performing it

(decoding) to a teacher. This whole class helped me to think of ways to adapt and change my

instructional practices for far behind students that maybe didn’t necessarily relate to grade level

state standards but rather learning progression. This helped me to focus on the child and provide

differentiated instruction and learning opportunities that I would not have before.

In FLT 807, Foreign Language Teaching Methods I worked collaboratively with group

members to go through a jigsaw activity in readings, creating a presentation, and sharing out

information on a particular domain. This course stressed the importance of learning content and

language together rather than in isolation. Students can benefit from this simultaneous learning.

Content Based Instruction “(CBI) promotes negotiation of meaning, which is known to enhance

language acquisition (students should negotiate both form and content)” (Lightbown & Spada,

1993).

Most recently, in TE 892 ESL Classroom Practices and Literacy Instruction, I learned a

lot about bilingual education and shifting my mindset to make sure I see my EL students for

what they are able to do and what they bring to the table rather than seeing them from a deficit

perspective. Artifact 2, the Dual Learner Case Study Part 1, displays me working with students

to learn more about their educational journey, language practices and beliefs as well as fostering

relationships with the student and families. This project in itself was very eye opening to the

qualification process for becoming an EL as well as testing. I administered the World-Class

Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) practice tests in all four domains (listening,

speaking, reading, and writing) and familiarized myself with students current performance,

appropriate level according to the WIDA Can Do statements, and made goals for next steps and

plans for accommodations. Going through this process helped me to better understand my
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students, their history and family values, the students language abilities, and appropriate

scaffolding. It is so easy to slip into the wrong mindset when working with EL students or

emergent bilinguals. It is easy to lump students together and make assumptions about

experiences and abilities. This is something that was brought to the front of my mind and I hope

to continue to be cognizant not to do it for all of my students. They all have their own history,

family values, and language repertoires. These things will shape how they connect to new

learning in the classroom. The project also shed light on some of the parent and student stigma

and beliefs around language instruction which are present at my school. So I want to empower

students in the school setting by leveraging translanguaging and “provide students with

supportive and safe environments where the fear of failure is mitigated by the sense that with

errors come new opportunities to learn” (Walqui & Bunch, 2019).

Conclusion

I believe that in order to be a successful teacher, you have to be reflective, passionate,

and have a desire to learn more about your students to better support them. You must reflect

upon your students, your teaching and your curriculum and make changes accordingly. This

program forced me to read and learn more teaching strategies, reflect upon my own beliefs and

practices and learn to have a better eye for understanding what is happening in my classroom and

school. Through the teachers and professors in this program, I feel empowered to engage in my

school community in a more active way and take on new opportunities or challenges both inside

and outside of the four walls of my classroom. I came into the program wanting to know more

so I could be a better teacher, and I am leaving the program having accomplished that. Learning

is ongoing and will never stop, but I have more skills and confidence to rise to new challenges

and provide more equitable education for my students.

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References

Graham, S., MacArthur, C., & Fitzgerald, J. (2013). Best Practices in Writing Instruction.

Guilford Publications.

Hansen, J. 1989. “Comprehension Questions to Make Reading and Writing Connections.” In

Graduate Seminar in Literacy. Fresno, Calif.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the Achievement Gap to the Education Debt: Understanding

Achievement in U.S. Schools. Educational Researcher,35(7), 3-12.

doi:10.3102/0013189x035007003

Lightbown, P. M. & Spada, N. (1993). How languages are learned. NY: Oxford University Press.

Walqui, A., & Bunch, G. C. (2019). Amplifying the curriculum: Designing quality learning

opportunities for English learners (p. 33). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.