One facet of multicultural education is the notion of equity versus equality in educational policies and practices. Federal legislation has attempted to address the inequality of resources and access to education through the passage of legislation such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Individuals with Disabilities Act (2004), Race to the Top Fund (2009), and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (2015). Federal funds and policies influence what happens at the state, district, and school levels. However, despite efforts from policymakers, educators, and the private sector, income and race-based stratification remains as equality only addresses part of the problem. Equity plays an equal and key role in a child’s education (Banks, 2016).

The following video is an interview of Dr. Karl Alexander as he shares the culmination of his 30-year study on the influence of socioeconomic status and race on youth growing up in Baltimore beginning in early 1980s. This longitudinal study began with children enrolled in the 1st grade and followed their progress (and life) until early adulthood. It’s an enlightening video that explains the intersectionality between race, socioeconomic status, and education–all components that comprise a culturally diverse learning environment found in many of our schools today.

Dr. Alexander’s video brings to the forefront the influence of socioeconomic status on student learning. I was first introduced to his work through a short video on the summer slide (e.g., summer learning loss, summer gap) and how summer break disproportionality affected low-income childrens’ (irrespective of race) rate of academic growth when compared to middle class children. The academic and socioeconomic trajectory of children has been found to be based in large part on the socioeconomic status of their home life growing up (Lareau, 2011). And I don’t mean to say that race does not also play a significant role because it does. However, it appears that socioeconomic status has a slight edge in the influence department.

National programs like Head Start and Summer Bridge to local programs such as summer school (remedial) and summer institute (enrichment) seek to provide support to eliminate or reduce summer slide for low-income and/or minority students. Thus, it’s important as educators that we are cognizant and remain vigil of the barriers that prevent our students from achieving their personal best. Though we cannot erase poverty, we can and must provide our students with the appropriate scaffolds and support they need. We need to help bridge the gap between socioeconomic status and student learning.

References

Banks, J. A. (2016). Cultural diversity and education: Foundations, curriculum, and teaching (6th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

It’s easy to point fingers while telling others what they need to change, but little good does that do for your credibility if you are not making the change yourself. It’s the whole pot calling the kettle black thing.

I did a Google search to see what kind of tools were out there for one to use as a self-assessment. Some surveys were the full-on-research-study-probably-someone’s-dissertation survey while others looked quite simple. Then there were the surveys that you could fill out, but the question was…where are your answers going? I mean, what’s the point if you don’t receive any feedback?

Scouring my library (it’s not exactly the George Peabody Library), I came across a book from my master’s studies. In it was a self-assessment survey that allowed the user to examine both classroom and school-wide practices. I reached out to the author of the book (Carl S. Grant) and he graciously gave me permission to use the survey as part of my blog series.

I created the surveys in two different Google Docs and I challenge you to complete the survey(s) honestly. No one is going to see your answers. In fact, the Google Docs are view only so you’ll have to make your own copy if you want to assess the level of multicultural components within your instructional practices or across your school.

• Action Research Activity (Classroom Level Assessment)
• Action Research Activity (School Level Assessment)

P.S. Speaking of the George Peabody Library, I wanted to share that I totally geeked out there last summer with a friend who is also a doctoral student with me in the program. Below is a picture of us right before we hit the books…

P.S.S. Yes, the library is just as amazing in person.

It’s been a few years since I’ve been to ISTE, but I love the fact that I can follow the sessions through snapshots posted by those in attendance. If you are interested in following along do a search in Twitter using #iste18 or #notatiste18.

I’ve been following Eric (@E_Sheniger) for I don’t know how many years, and I have to say that what he posts is #spoton. Take the image above as an example. Without a doubt, these are great questions to use as educators reflect on their teaching and role in whatever capacity they serve within their organizations. But what resonated with me is the fact that these questions can also be applied when considering culturally relevant teaching.

In particular, I like the first three questions. Let me tweak them a bit:

• What evidence do we have to demonstrate the impact of technology and innovation within our multicultural school environment?
• How are we making learning culturally relevant for our diverse student body population?
• How do we implement and support rigorous and culturally relevant learning tasks that help our students become future ready?

Going back to my previous post regarding the total school environment, the “curriculum should recognize and reflect students’ multiple identifications” (Banks, 2016, p. 30). Because my doctoral research focuses on technology integration, I think we need to consider how technology and innovation can be used to support a multicultural learning environment. An interesting article I recently read highlighted the fact that immigrant students are using technology to develop their own identities as well as cultivate a strong connection with families from their home countries. Lam (2012) challenges educators to develop an understanding of “role of digital media in immigrant students’ learning experiences outside of school…[in order to] develop digitally connected forms of pedagogy that are also culturally responsive” (p. 63).

We cannot deny the role of technology in the lives of students today. So why not harness that power for educational use? The literature reveals a significant gap between how students use technology outside of school versus inside of school (Bryant, Coombs, & Pazio, 2014; Ertmer, Ottenbreit-Leftwish, Sadik, Sendurur, & Sendurur, 2012; Hall, 2010). Perhaps the development of culturally responsive teaching practices can help bridge that gap for our culturally diverse and immigrant students?

Let’s put that discussion on the table, shall we?

References

Bryant, P., Coombs, A., & Pazio, M. (2014). Are we having fun yet? Institutional resistance and the introduction of play and experimentation into learning innovation through social media. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2014, 1–8. do:10.5334/jime.ad

Ertmer, P. A., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., Sadik, O., Sendurur, E., & Sendurur, P. (2012). Teacher beliefs and technology integration practices: A critical relationship. Computers & Education, 59, 423–435. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.02.001

Hall, G. E. (2010). Technology’s Achilles heel: Achieving high-quality implementation. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42, 231–253. doi:10.1080/15391523.2010.10782550

Lam, W. S. E. (2013). What immigrant students can teach us about new media literacy. Phi Delta Kappan, 94, 62–65. doi:10.1177/003172171209400416