Saturday, November 29, 2014
Reflection # 6: Missing the (Student Achievement) Forest for All the (Political) Trees: Empiricism and the Mexican American Studies Controversy in Tucson
I really enjoyed reading this article, as I work with an ethnically diverse population of students. In my own experience I have observed students' increased levels of interest when the topics apply directly to them, or reflect a student's culture and background. I will use this study to hopefully influence some of the history courses and teaching topics within our high school to increase student involvement.
Missing the (Student Achievement) Forest for All the (Political) Trees: Empiricism and the Mexican American Studies Controversy in Tucson
Marx, R., Cabrera, N., Milem, J., & Jaquette, O. (2014). Missing the (Student Achievement) Forest for All the (Political) Trees: Empiricism and the Mexican American Studies Controversy in Tucson. American Education Research Journal, 1084-1118.
This study focused on the Mexican American Studies program that was implemented in the Tucson school district, and later dismantled. The article focuses on the program's effectiveness in increasing student performance. Many have found that when students are learning about topics that relate directly to their lives, they are validated and thus preform better in all academic areas. This study had set out to find if this was a valid theory.
The study found that MAS students generally out-performed their non-MAS peers in the areas of AIMS test scores and graduation rates. This was counter-intuitive, as many of these students had lower GPAs earlier in their high school career, and then excelled in their junior and senior years while taking the ethnic studies course, surpassing the students who had higher GPAs consistently throughout high school. The evidence overwhelmingly supports the implementation of certain ethnic studies programs in schools with diverse student populations, especially underperforming students.
The findings move many to hold their own ethnic studies courses, similar to the Mexican American Studies class of interest. This is a tricky undertaking, as many schools and instructors are not prepared to take on such classes that may include controversial and touchy topics. Instructors need to be very well prepared to teach such a class and start with a small-scale plan.
This study focused on the Mexican American Studies program that was implemented in the Tucson school district, and later dismantled. The article focuses on the program's effectiveness in increasing student performance. Many have found that when students are learning about topics that relate directly to their lives, they are validated and thus preform better in all academic areas. This study had set out to find if this was a valid theory.
The study found that MAS students generally out-performed their non-MAS peers in the areas of AIMS test scores and graduation rates. This was counter-intuitive, as many of these students had lower GPAs earlier in their high school career, and then excelled in their junior and senior years while taking the ethnic studies course, surpassing the students who had higher GPAs consistently throughout high school. The evidence overwhelmingly supports the implementation of certain ethnic studies programs in schools with diverse student populations, especially underperforming students.
The findings move many to hold their own ethnic studies courses, similar to the Mexican American Studies class of interest. This is a tricky undertaking, as many schools and instructors are not prepared to take on such classes that may include controversial and touchy topics. Instructors need to be very well prepared to teach such a class and start with a small-scale plan.
Reflection #5: ‘‘I’m Not Going to Be, Like, for the AP’’: English Language Learners’ Limited Access to Advanced College-Preparatory Courses in High School
I found this article to be particularly interesting. Not many people really delve into the issues of ELLs not accessing the AP classes. I particularly found this article helpful in my situation, as I feel our students have been underestimated for quite some time. I have a senior graduating high school with Algebra 1 his highest level of math, making him very upset, as he wanted more out of his high school education, but we failed to set him up for success. These situations we put students in are many times completely unfair and inappropriate but seems like the easiest fix at the time. I know scheduling my students has been a huge struggle; we are working with a schedule that offers a specific math class only once throughout the day, making it necessary to plan around that class entirely.
With all of the challenges we face in scheduling students, we, the counselors and advisors need to work hard to schedule students into appropriate classes, as we are the determining factor. Students and parents rarely disagree with recommendations, so we need to challenge students, keep them engaged, and keep them interested in learning more.
With all of the challenges we face in scheduling students, we, the counselors and advisors need to work hard to schedule students into appropriate classes, as we are the determining factor. Students and parents rarely disagree with recommendations, so we need to challenge students, keep them engaged, and keep them interested in learning more.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
‘‘I’m Not Going to Be, Like, for the AP’’: English Language Learners’ Limited Access to Advanced College-Preparatory Courses in High School
Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. (2014). ‘‘I’m Not Going to Be, Like, for the AP’’: English Language Learners’ Limited Access to Advanced College-Preparatory Courses in High School.American Education Research Journal, 51(5), 848-878. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
This study dives into the complex issue of English Learners in the secondary environment. The main focus is to answer the question of why English Learners have such limited access to advanced classes. This may seem obvious: their English is not advanced enough to participate in mainly discussion-based classes, but the issue has much deeper roots.
To begin with, instructors at the secondary level need to ensure that their students are college-ready. It has been found that this simply does not happen, as students who are new to English have very limited schedules which include pre-determined classes. Students need to take all required credits, plus English Language classes, leaving little time for advanced classes or classes specific to their interests. When students have such limited time in the day, they are bound to miss out on higher-level courses.
Also, ELLs have been tracked to a tragic degree across this country. "Representation patterns in tracking also emerge for ELLs. Callahan’s (2005) study of a large rural high school in California found that fewer
than 2% of ELLs took the set of courses that would make them eligible for admissions to four-year colleges." Students lack of access to higher-level classes affects their interaction with more complex texts, academic language, and higher-level thinking tasks, such as class discussions around ideas. Classroom environments differ between high-track and low-track classrooms. While higher-track classroom teachers typically have a very close relationship with students, lower-track classroom teachers usually spend more time on classroom behavior, depleting that time to form the very important student-teacher relationship.
This study focused on ELLs in a large, suburban school. They narrowed the sample down to 8 students, as the students was longitudinal, and required 1) high achieving students and 2) students with the desire to go on to college. At Brighton High School, about 15.2% of all seniors typically take at least one AP course, but none of the 46 ELL seniors were taking an AP course, leading to the investigation as to why.
The main conclusions involved "recommended classes," lack of differentiation, a low habitus on the part of the student, and parents and students almost always acquiescing to the schools' class recommendation.
Once students exit the ELL sheltered classes, they are immediately directed into remedial classes, from which they can go to another remedial class or a regular class, from which they may go to another regular or advanced class, then honors level, and only then would they have the option to move on to AP classes. As we know, high school is only four years, lacking sufficient time to make one's way through all of these levels. These students start out at a disadvantage, and sadly their counselors and teachers often "protect" the students by placing them in a class that will not be too difficult for them. Once placed in a remedial or regular classroom (science for example), ELLs often adjust their expectations and may lose their high levels of motivation they originally had. Furthermore, the study mentions that it seems to be harder to change the ways of AP teachers specifically, because they hold a very high, consistent standard to their students.
In addition to this, students and parents almost always acquiesced to the schools recommendation. Students seemed to be unaware that they had any say in the classes they were enrolled in. Students did not question the counselor's decision, and did not speak up when they disliked a class, indicating that ELL students had a low level of confidence, feeling that they were not in control of these issues. Parents also usually agreed with whatever was recommended, without questioning class choices. The article also spoke to the students' habitus, which "involves an unconscious calculation of what is possible, impossible, and probable for individuals in their specific location in a stratified order" (Swartz, 1997, pp. 106-107). Students were found to have a diminished habitus, telling them that certain opportunities, such as scholarships and high-track courses were unavailable to them simply because it wasn't a possibility for them. Students weren't disappointed by not being accepted, because they never considered themselves eligible, which was the most telling finding of the study.
This study was an insightful look not into teaching techniques, but as to why ELLs aren't enrolling in higher level courses. The reasons found are largely a confidence issue and tracking issues; we need to work harder to increase confidence in these students and working to individualize students courses.
This study dives into the complex issue of English Learners in the secondary environment. The main focus is to answer the question of why English Learners have such limited access to advanced classes. This may seem obvious: their English is not advanced enough to participate in mainly discussion-based classes, but the issue has much deeper roots.
To begin with, instructors at the secondary level need to ensure that their students are college-ready. It has been found that this simply does not happen, as students who are new to English have very limited schedules which include pre-determined classes. Students need to take all required credits, plus English Language classes, leaving little time for advanced classes or classes specific to their interests. When students have such limited time in the day, they are bound to miss out on higher-level courses.
Also, ELLs have been tracked to a tragic degree across this country. "Representation patterns in tracking also emerge for ELLs. Callahan’s (2005) study of a large rural high school in California found that fewer
than 2% of ELLs took the set of courses that would make them eligible for admissions to four-year colleges." Students lack of access to higher-level classes affects their interaction with more complex texts, academic language, and higher-level thinking tasks, such as class discussions around ideas. Classroom environments differ between high-track and low-track classrooms. While higher-track classroom teachers typically have a very close relationship with students, lower-track classroom teachers usually spend more time on classroom behavior, depleting that time to form the very important student-teacher relationship.
This study focused on ELLs in a large, suburban school. They narrowed the sample down to 8 students, as the students was longitudinal, and required 1) high achieving students and 2) students with the desire to go on to college. At Brighton High School, about 15.2% of all seniors typically take at least one AP course, but none of the 46 ELL seniors were taking an AP course, leading to the investigation as to why.
The main conclusions involved "recommended classes," lack of differentiation, a low habitus on the part of the student, and parents and students almost always acquiescing to the schools' class recommendation.
Once students exit the ELL sheltered classes, they are immediately directed into remedial classes, from which they can go to another remedial class or a regular class, from which they may go to another regular or advanced class, then honors level, and only then would they have the option to move on to AP classes. As we know, high school is only four years, lacking sufficient time to make one's way through all of these levels. These students start out at a disadvantage, and sadly their counselors and teachers often "protect" the students by placing them in a class that will not be too difficult for them. Once placed in a remedial or regular classroom (science for example), ELLs often adjust their expectations and may lose their high levels of motivation they originally had. Furthermore, the study mentions that it seems to be harder to change the ways of AP teachers specifically, because they hold a very high, consistent standard to their students.
In addition to this, students and parents almost always acquiesced to the schools recommendation. Students seemed to be unaware that they had any say in the classes they were enrolled in. Students did not question the counselor's decision, and did not speak up when they disliked a class, indicating that ELL students had a low level of confidence, feeling that they were not in control of these issues. Parents also usually agreed with whatever was recommended, without questioning class choices. The article also spoke to the students' habitus, which "involves an unconscious calculation of what is possible, impossible, and probable for individuals in their specific location in a stratified order" (Swartz, 1997, pp. 106-107). Students were found to have a diminished habitus, telling them that certain opportunities, such as scholarships and high-track courses were unavailable to them simply because it wasn't a possibility for them. Students weren't disappointed by not being accepted, because they never considered themselves eligible, which was the most telling finding of the study.
This study was an insightful look not into teaching techniques, but as to why ELLs aren't enrolling in higher level courses. The reasons found are largely a confidence issue and tracking issues; we need to work harder to increase confidence in these students and working to individualize students courses.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Reflection #4
After reading "Secondary Teacher Attitudes Toward Including English-Language Learners in Mainstream Classrooms," I realized that providing PD to my peers may not necessarily by an easy task. This article brings up the great point that many teachers are simply too overloaded with the basic duties of being a teacher to listen to professional development that may ask more of them.
Another finding was that teachers may have a negative attitude towards any type of training or PD. We have all sat through useless trainings many times, in which we hear things we already know, and wish we could have been actually getting some work done. If I provide PD for my staff, I need to keep this in mind and work to make the trainings fun, useful, and directly applicable to our situation.
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