THEME
Funds of Knowledge/Community Resources
UPDATE
2008 LeadScape Summer Institute
NOTICE
Universal Designs for Learning Professional Learning Module Now Available
SPOTLIGHT
2008 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting
PEOPLE IN EDUCATION
Dr. Jean Anyon
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing Practices in Households and Classrooms, edited by González, Moll & Amanti
TOOLS YOU CAN USE
NIUSI On Point: Keeping the Faith & Climbing One Mountain at a Time
RESEARCH BASED PRACTICE
Code Switching
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE UPDATE
Tempe LeadScape Schools Developing Professional Learning Schools Program
FEATURED NIUSI DISTRICT WORK
Redesigning Urban Education for Equity and Inclusivity: Lessons from Large Urban School Districts
FEATURED NIUSI-LeadScape PRINCIPAL WORK
Dain Butler
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
FEATURED WEBSITE
http://www.nmai.si.edu/
DID YOU KNOW …
UPCOMING EVENTS
21st Annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education
Working Forum on Men in Early Childhood Education
Secondary Transition State Planning Institute: Building for the Future
FOR PARENTS
Free Multicultural Library
FOR STUDENTS
Empower Yourself and Educate Others Through Knowledge of Your Family History
Funds of Knowledge/Community Resources
We would like to draw your attention to this new section of eQuiNews. When crafting our newsletter we have always chosen a theme to guide our work. In March, Learning is 24/7 was our theme; in February it was Literacy; and in January, we used Placement. This month we wanted to foreground the theme. Our purpose is two-fold. First, we think it creates a more coherent publication, aiding you, the reader, in understanding our decisions for featuring certain events, people, and resources. Second, and more importantly, since eQuiNews is published to serve your needs, we want to invite you to help us make decisions about up-coming themes.
This month our goal is to spotlight the importance of funds of knowledge that families and children bring from their own experiences and cultural histories as well as the wealth of community resources that exist in ways that may not be readily apparent. Inherent in our mission to improve education for all students is the idea that students, families, and communities offer and have access to funds of knowledge that provide a cultural resource at all levels of schooling (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005). We hope this edition of eQuiNews will expand your understanding and efforts to network with the students, families and communities. The notion of funds of knowledge helps us all to increase our awareness of the ways in which knowledge and understanding about the world is expressed uniquely within homes and communities. In turn, this approach allows us to anchor learning within the cultural contexts and experiences of children and families, enhancing their access to school curriculum.
Please send us thematic ideas for up-coming issues of eQuiNews at niusileadscape@asu.edu. Our goal is to create a newsletter that can be an invaluable resource to you and your work.
González, N., Moll, L.C., & Amanti, C. (Eds.). (2005). Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing Practices in Households and Classrooms Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
2008 LeadScape Summer Institute
LeadScape principals from around the country will be gathering in Seattle for our 3rd Principal Institute July 14-16. The Institute will focus on Instructional Designs for Inclusive Schools, Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Supports, and Student Voice. Presentations and tools created for this Institute will be posted at www.niusileadscape.org.
Universal Designs for Learning Professional Learning Module Now Available
Our new professional learning module on Universal Designs for Learning (UDL) was developed by the National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI) for on-going renewal and systemic change for school and school systems. The concept of Universal Design foregrounds equitable opportunities and access to spaces, information and participation for all by creating environments and products that accommodate as many individuals as possible from the beginning. This module leads participants through UDL activities and short informational presentations that focus on applying UDL across the curriculum, designing inclusive classroom learning environments, assessing students' ongoing progress, adjusting instruction, and addressing legislation that impacts curricula and assessment utilized in schools.
Find this module and many more online at urbanschools.org.
2008 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting
Shifting Landscapes: ELL Special Education Placement in English-only States
Dr. Alfredo Artiles, Edward Fierros and Amanda Sullivan presented Shifting Landscapes: ELL Special Education Placement in English-only States (Artiles, Sullivan, Fierros, & Klingner, 2008) at the American Educational Research Association 2008 annual meeting. The authors compared trends in ELL special education placement that occurred before and after language support programs were drastically reduced in Massachusetts, Arizona and California. The paper reported preliminary findings of a study commissioned by the UCLA Civil Rights Project. The authors are currently completing analyses about the educational experiences of this emerging population. Specifically, Artiles, Fierro and Sullivan are examining the impact of English-only initiatives on Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) placement patterns, and opportunities to learn (e.g., discipline referrals/suspension/expulsions, proportion of certified teachers, and teacher-student ratio). Contact Dr. Artiles at alfredo.artiles@asu.edu if you are interested in obtaining a copy of the presentation.
Understanding the Current Context of Minority Disproportionality in Special Education: Federal Response, State Activities, and Implications for Technical Assistance
Amanda Sullivan, Anne Smith, and Elizabeth Kozleski presented Understanding the Current Context of Minority Disproportionality in Special Education: Federal Response, State Activities, and Implications for Technical Assistance. This presentation highlighted data on disproportionality from the 2007 State Performance Plans (SPPs), which are submitted by states as a way to provide information on their progress towards implementation of Part B and describe how they will improve such implementation. Kozleski and Sullivan conclude that while disproportionality has consistently been documented in a number of studies, considerably less attention has been given to conceptual and contextual issues, and even less to federal, state, and district responses and their outcomes. Attention to these dimensions of the institutionalization of disproportionality over time may help the field to focus on the unintended consequences of how special education is constructed in buildings.
To access the 2007 State Performance Plan (SPP) Analyses, visit the Regional Resource and Federal Center Network (RRFC) at http://www.rrfcnetwork.org/content/view/248/358/.
Dr. Jean Anyon, a professor of urban education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, is a prolific writer and researcher who uses a critical lens to explain how the confluence of social class and race in education contributes to the historical inequities of public education. Through her scholarship in the field, Anyon has advocated for school reform that would address the unique issues of urban areas on a sociopolitical and socioeconomic plane, challenging the policymakers, community members and education professionals to see how trends in the public economy continue to stifle our ability to transform urban education and urban communities.
In two of her books, Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform and Radical Possibilities: Public Policy, Urban Education, and a New Social Movement, Anyon argues that in order to implement sustainable reform in urban education, we need to change the economic policies that prevent school reform from having positive life consequences for low income urban students. She examines six issues that contribute to the inequities and injustices in urban areas: federal minimum wage, job policy, tax policy, comparative worth laws, transit and public transportation, and zoning. Through her intimate knowledge of economic trends in the United States, Anyon reveals how the policy on minimum wage maintains poverty in urban areas. She also scrutinizes the political and social processes of the corporate tax law in the United States, highlighting the consequences from a decrease in the collection of corporate taxes on urban education and urban living.
As a critical theorist, Anyon highlights how urban schooling reproduces the achievement gap trends in wealth, education, and sustainability within our larger society. She wants educators and policy-makers to understand that real school reform must begin with real social change, which can be achieved by promoting funding for schools and community within urban areas, creating services that would include urban communities in the planning and implementation of curriculum, and disrupting the myth that schooling (and literacy) will ensure a poverty-free life by discussing other viable options like vocational training.
Jean Anyon is making an indelible mark on the field of education and the urban communities in which she works by creating a new paradigm from which to understand and combat educational inequities.
Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing Practices in Households and Classrooms Edited by Norma González, Luis C. Moll & Cathy Amanti
In an attempt to challenge preconceptions of students from working class or poor communities, González encourages teachers to deepen their understanding of students' home lives and family histories. By engaging in home visits, teachers will discover that their students' funds of knowledge are embedded in their language, cultural practices, and life experiences. This practice encourages teachers to view the everyday uses of language and action as constructing knowledge, to represent communities in terms of the resources they possess, and to harness this knowledge for the classroom. If teachers view their students' home lives in terms of strengths and resources instead of as deficits, the students' prior knowledge, from their local history and community contexts, becomes the impetus for building a richer, more relevant, and culturally responsive curriculum.
The authors also challenge us to rethink the notion of culture, disrupting an idea of culture as static, bounded or sameness. They even suggest that the word culture be done away with altogether because it implies certain generalities among groups that could feed stereotypes and prejudices. If each student is seen as an individual with a unique set of strengths and experiences, all students and teachers can begin to learn together and from each other. For those of us who focus on students with disabilities, this book has particular relevance since it reminds us to link our classroom practices to the lived experiences of our students. Further, it helps us to explore the nature of early intervening services that both focus specifically on student learning needs and scaffold those needs from familiar experiences to support oral as well as written language development.
NIUSI On Point:
Keeping the Faith & Climbing One Mountain at a Time: Reflections of Two Mothers on their Children's Educational Journeys
When families get involved in their children's education, the students achieve more, stay in school longer, and engage in school more completely (e.g., Henderson & Mapp, 2002), but too many families of children, both with and without disabilities, do not enjoy good relationships with school personnel. Many families do not find the services and supports they need to maintain secure and stable family lives, ensure that their children learn and achieve, and guarantee that the family has access to accurate and appropriate information about how to support their children's learning.
In this OnPoint we share the accounts of two mothers who have faced many challenges posed by schools and other human service agencies. Despite these challenges, discouragements, and setbacks, these two families endured, met the challenges, and developed a remarkable resiliency.
We celebrate all the families that have struggled with these same obstacles in the years since these mothers began their journey. Through our work, we are also intimately aware of the fact that there are still families for whom these stories will sound too familiar. We challenge educators and other service personnel to change the stories. If even one family faces such continued challenges, the situation is too urgent to be ignored.
You can view this and other NIUSI On Points at www.urbanschools.org/publications.
Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Annual synthesis 2002. National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools. (http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-syntheses.html)
Many people think code switching is when someone switches languages within sentences (for example in English and Spanish, pásame el stapler [hand me the stapler]), between sentences (Ella llegó primero. Right? [She was here first. Right?]), or both. More accurately, code switching is a process of languages in contact, something that happens in bilingual communities where children grow up speaking and using two languages or dialects to reflect their identities and realities. This is why it is important to conceptualize codeswitching as community-based and acquired through membership within a bilingual or bidialectical community. In multi-lingual communities, teachers may notice that their students use more than one language to express ideas, describe events, or engage in banter.
Many people don't understand this as a normal language process, and it is often misunderstood as signaling confusion or lack of proficiency in either or both of the languages or dialects. This can occur in classrooms both through verbal interaction and in students' writing. Teachers need to acknowledge codeswitching as a valuable bilingual verbal strategy employed by students. When encountering student writing samples or verbal responses that include switches between languages or dialects, teachers should consider what purpose the switching may serve for the student and utilize the student's language resources to deepen the communication rather than rejecting it. Such rich use of language should be embedded in the practices of a classroom to support students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Thirty years ago Guadalupe Valdés-Fallis (1978) wrote an influential essay for Language and Education: Theory and Practice entitled "Code Switching and the Classroom Teacher." In this article,Valdés-Fallis challenges teachers to do more than accept a child's home language as a resource. She argues that teachers need to also develop a deep understanding of the practices of bilingual students as a way to disrupt the misrepresentation of language practices of bilingual students from every linguistic community.Faltis, C., & Sayer, P. (2006). Spanglish: from olla podrida to tasty menudo y más. Paper presented at X Symposium on Applied Linguistics, Universidad de las Americas, Puebla, Mexico.
Valdés-Fallis, G. (1978). Codeswitching and the Classroom Teacher. Language and Education: Theory and Practice, 4, pp. 1-31.
Tempe LeadScape Schools Developing Professional Learning Schools Program
The Urban Professional Learning Schools Initiative, a five year partnership between our Tempe, Arizona LeadScape schools and Arizona State University (ASU), is developing three Professional Learning Schools (PLS). These schools are focused on teacher preparation and on-going professional learning in urban school settings, where veteran teachers and teacher candidates can apply the research-based teaching strategies they are learning. This partnership also entails working closely with LeadScape to provide a comprehensive approach to supporting Tempe Schools' efforts to engage in more inclusive practices.
In the Initiative’s first year, participating principals and teachers visited Professional Learning Schools that are apart of partnership network established by the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center to see a model of an effective PLS program. To further create a foundation for implementing professional learning schools, principals and teachers participated in two symposia featuring directors of PLS programs from across the nation. In March, Dr. Ellen Brantlinger, Professor Emeritus from Indiana University and Dr. Wanda Blanchett from the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center spoke to our Urban Professional Learning School participants and invited guests about important issues to address in urban schools, spotlighting features of good solutions. In April, Dr. Marleen Pugach of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Dr. Betty Epanchin of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro outlined their programs' journeys as they restructured their schools' teacher preparation programs to create Professional Learning School programs.
NIUSI-LeadScape is excited to be working in partnership with the Urban Professional Learning Schools Initiative to help Tempe Elementary Schools develop a sustained, inclusive urban school district, where ongoing learning and fresh ideas support academic success for all students.
Redesigning Urban Education for Equity and Inclusivity: Lessons from Large Urban School Districts
Twenty authors, connected in a variety of ways to the ten years of National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI) work, are working on an edited book currently titled Redesigning urban education for equity and inclusivity: Lessons from large urban school districts. Based on our ongoing initiatives in 12 of the largest urban school systems in the US along with the research and experiences of members of our Advisory Board, authors of our On Points, and ongoing collaborations with the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems, the Centre for Urban Education at the University of Manchester, data from all 50 states in the US as well as our own GIS maps, we have identified five key themes that shape this book: (1) Systemic Reform as a Work in Progress; (2) Democraticizing Schools, Bureaucratizing School Systems; (3) Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (Curriculum and Instruction); (4) Culturally Responsive Leadership; and (5) Emancipatory Policy.
Each chapter in this book opens with a case study that is drawn from authentic situations and is used to anchor and frame the issues discussed within each chapter. With a focus on how schools and systems address the challenges of supporting educational opportunities and access for students at the margins, including students with disabilities, we hope that this book provides a wealth of lessons learned in transforming the work and practices of schools and practitioners.
FEATURED NIUSI-Leadscape PRINCIPAL WORK
Congratulations to Dain Butler, who just accepted a position as Director of Accountability for the Alamance-Burlington School System (ABSS) in North Carolina! Dain has been with LeadScape for about a year as Principal of Alexander Wilson Elementary School. His thoughtful and systematic implementation of increasingly inclusive practices has been effective in moving Wilson toward more comprehensive inclusion.
Those of us who know Dain are not at all surprised that he was chosen for this particular position; Dain's organization skills and data-focused systems are notorious. He will be a great asset to the ABSS district in this position. We are pleased that he will also continue to work with the LeadScape project in his new capacity.
Best of luck to you in your new position, Dain!
"It is through recognizing that the internal diversity within populations is as great as diversity between populations that we can come to acknowledge that the distinctions we make between peoples are arbitrary and, at times, capricious." -Norma González
As part of the Smithsonian Institute, The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is dedicated to the preservation and study of Native Americans' cultures at The George Gustav Heye Center in New York, the Cultural Resources Center in Maryland, and NMAI on the National Mall in Washington D.C., all of which have been brought together online for equitable access by people worldwide.
Unlike many museums, the NMAI uses many Native methods in the handling, documenting and displaying artifacts. Equally important as the culturally sensitive care and display of the artifacts is the collaborative nature of the exhibits between the NMAI and the Native Americans. Native peoples of North and South America, Hawai'i, and the Caribbean partner with the NMAI to create exhibits that will protect their cultural traditions while they are being shared with public, a practice many believe is a way for Native Americans to empower future generations.
Over 800,000 artifacts are presented in their online exhibitions, including works of artistic, religious and historical significance as well as many contemporary audio, video and photography pieces. There are over 90,000 photos available for use in educating people about current and historical practices of Native peoples.
The website is a vast resource for connecting to the Native American Community. With online programs and activities, anyone can help break down stereotypes by becoming educated and helping preserve Native cultures.
According to The American Indian Digest (Russell, 1993) there are approximately two million self-declared Native American Indians, representing 319 federally recognized tribes in the United States today. There are also 208 federal and over 30 state recognized reservations.
Below you will find a link that will direct you to a map that shows the American Indian and Alaska Native areas reported or delineated for Census 2000. The map contains related graphics that reflect Census 2000 data. To view it it, please click here.
Despite the numbers of indigenous peoples, many of the native languages are quickly disappearing. According to the Handbook of North American Indians Languages, "in 1995, there were approximately 209 native North American languages still spoken, perhaps roughly half the number that existed five hundred years earlier. This number is misleading, though, because many of these were spoken by only a handful of elderly speakers, and only 46 were spoken by children."Influenced by the grass root efforts of many tribes to revitalize their language as part of the preservation of their cultural practices, the Bureau of Indian Education has made it one of their main goals to increase cultural awareness and language in their schools. Indicative of these efforts are the many books and traditional stories from the myriad of tribes being published in native languages, with Navajo being one of the most prolific. There are even websites available to help you learn some of these indigenous languages, where you can download the appropriate fonts to make your writing accessible to native readers.
To learn more about North American indigenous peoples you can view the 2000 US Census or the report Characteristics of American Indians and Alaska Natives by Tribe and Language: 2000.
For more information on indigenous language revitalization, please visit The American Indian Language Development Institute, Center on Indian Education, Indigenous Language Institute , The Takic Language Revitalization Project and Native Language of the Americas.
Russell, G. (1993). The American Indian Digest. Phoenix, Arizona: Thunderbird Enterprises.
21st Annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education
May 27-31
Orlando, Florida
Coronado Springs Resort
Culturally responsive educational practices are necessary in higher education as well as elementary and secondary schools. However, diversity is largely ignored and rarely embraced on college campuses nationwide. Because of the structure of institutions of higher learning, racial and ethnic issues must be addressed both in and outside of the classroom. The 21st Annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education offers a chance to dialogue with colleagues to brainstorm ideas for implementing change. Some topics to be addressed include:
For more information or to participate in this conference, visit their website at: www.ncore.ou.edu.
- Institutional Change
- Recruiting and Retaining a Culturally Diverse Faculty, Staff, and Student Body
- Enhancing the Quality of Life for Culturally Diverse Students on Predominantly White Campuses
- Understanding and Valuing Differences
- Enhancing Teaching and Learning in Culturally Diverse Classroom Environments
- Enhancing Positive Outcomes of Cultural Diversity on Campus
- Managing and Preventing Incidents of Racial and Ethnic Conflict on Campus
- Understanding and Meeting the Unique Needs of Different Racial and Ethnic Groups on Campus
- Creating Valuable Linkages Between the University and the Community, and
- Unique Racial and Ethnic Conditions and Experiences
Working Forum on Men in Early Childhood Education
May 20 - 23
Honolulu, Hawaii
Sheraton Waikiki Hotel
Gender roles related to caring for young children are changing world wide. The Working Forum on Men in Early Childhood Education provides an opportunity to discuss these changes with people of many cultural backgrounds. Research has proven that there are great benefits from gender balance and men's participation in the early lives of children; however, many barriers still exist.
To identify strategies for achieving gender balance, sessions will discuss the historical context, myths and stereotypes that inhibit men in early childhood education, what barriers these have created, and stories of what others have done that was successful.
For more information or to register, visit their website at: www.worldforumfoundation.org.
Secondary Transition State Planning Institute: Building for the Future
The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities, National Post-School Outcomes Center, National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center, and National Association of State Directors of Special Education's IDEA Partnership are hosting the Secondary Transition State Planning Institute May 7-9 in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Hilton Charlotte University Place.
The Institute will investigate common areas of need identified through analysis of the 2007 State Performance Plans (SPP)/ Annual Performance Reports (APR) data related to transition services. State teams will share information with other states and discuss technical assistance received or needed for improvement. Professional development will be available on topics such as drop-out prevention strategies, other secondary transition education and services, and post-school outcome data collection and how to use the data derived from state capacity building plans, state performance plans, and annual performance reports.
For more information or to register, visit their website at: www.nsttac.org.
Language barriers are becoming more prevalent in schools today. In fact, the Chicago Public School system has a student population that speaks 73 different languages. The International Children's Digital Library is providing tools to help students from all backgrounds to overcome the language barrier while gaining a respect for diverse perspectives and ideas. Their website offers a free on-line collection of children's literature containing 2412 outstanding historical and contemporary multicultural books in 41 languages. Over a million visitors from 166 countries worldwide have utilized this library!
Users can search for literature by providing a variety of keywords: language, country, genre, character type, length, recently added, award winners, illustrator, age group appropriateness, time periods, emotions, title, author, keywords and featured books, any of which aids the users in finding the most relevant text for their needs. This resource truly creates accessibility to a global society of learners and accommodates a wide range of interests and needs. This website allows children to learn in their native language and their second language while gaining valuable knowledge about their family, community and national heritage. For some students, books representative of their culture and language are not available in the country in which they live. This website reduces these obstacles by creating a global learning community, where adults and children explore diversity through literature together.
Empower Yourself by Educating Others about Your Family History
Learning is a cultural practice that does not begin and end at the front lawn of a school, especially when considering the importance of discovering your family and community history. Like school knowledge, you can enhance your understanding of cultural traditions and heritages by participating in practices that preserve your rich history. One way this naturally occurs is through storytelling. Many of you can probably recount, with excitement, the countless hours you have spent listening to the older generations in your families and communities retell stories that have been passed down through the generations, bringing your ancestors and your family history to life in the present. Cooking with your parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents is another practice that can lead to a deep understanding of the uniqueness of many cultures, especially when the cooking is accompanied by storytelling. When you help your parents in the kitchen you not only learn how to cook, but you are also learning about dishes that are unique to the sustainability of your culture.
What are some other things you could do to share your memories with the younger generations in your family or to engage your parents and grandparents in the new practices that define how you will shape your culture and heritage? Maybe you know a story or a dance or how to make a certain art or craft. Those things are part of your heritage that you should take pride in. You learned those things from someone in your life or you have re-imagined a traditional practice. Either way, you can share that knowledge! You can be the vehicle for continuing the traditions of your family. People outside of your family could also benefit from the knowledge you have to share. One website, www.storycorps.net allows people from all backgrounds to share their life experiences with others who would like to hear or learn from them.
This summer vacation why not research your own family history? You can learn a lot from the local library, neighbors in your community and family members. Interview your parents, grandparents, or other family members. They are a valuable source of knowledge about your family and personal history. There are also many websites available to help you create a family tree such as genealogy.com, familysearch.org, and ancestry.com.
You can only know where you are going if you know where you have been. From this knowledge you will gain a stronger sense of self which will help you reach your goals in the future. Knowledge of your own background can help you to fight stereotypes and prejudices others may have of your culture.
eQuiNews reflects the collaborative relationship between the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt), the National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI), and NIUSI-LeadScape. With a new issue every month, eQuiNews can communicate with the broadest audiences and provide the most innovative, vital and current information on issues in education, school reform, cultural diversity, disproportionality, inclusive practices, and much more. eQuiNews will keep you informed of the work of these projects as well as other news and information in related fields.
For questions or comments about this newsletter, please email the editors of this newsletter - Angela Clark-Oates (aclarkoa@mainex1.asu.edu).
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To view the past issues of EquiNews, please visit http://urbanschools.org/enews/2007_archives.html