Week 1 Assignment – The Shifting Demographic Landscape of American’s Education System: Foundational Facts and Implications (51 Points)

Overview

The purpose of the Week 1 assignment is to become familiar with the course requirements, evaluate the shifting demographic landscape of America’s education system and the implications for diversity and equity of students in today’s schools, explore your awareness of self and others regarding your diversity knowledge as well as discuss barriers to educational opportunity and achievement for diverse populations. 

During this week’s activities, you will:

1.      Attend or view the recording of the weekly web conference.

2.      Participate in the Week 1 Discussion Board forum.

3.      View the Week 1 Videos.

4.      Complete the Week 1 Readings.

5.      Complete the Week 1 Quiz

6.      Submit the Diversity Knowledge Survey

7.      Identify barriers to educational opportunity and achievement.

8.      Work toward completion of culminating project and interim practicum/internship plan.

9.      Review the syllabus and plan accordingly to complete all assignments by the due dates!

Week 1 targets the following Course Learning Outcomes

·         CLO 1: Demonstrate the capability to support the development of culturally responsive practices among teachers and staff so they can recognize, confront, and alter institutional biases and diversity that results in student marginalization, deficit-based schooling and low expectations.

·         CLO 3: Engage in self-exploration and reflection of personal attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions regarding diversity and equity.

Week 1 Learning Outcomes

Candidates will:

·      W1LO 1: Critique historical context of inequality in schools. (CLO 1)

·      W1LO 2: Examine the role culture, ethnicity, race, social class, sex and gender distinctions, disability, marginalization, ethnocentrism and privilege relative to diversity and equity plays in the lives of students and their families in education. (CLO 1)

·      W1LO 3: Analyze and synthesize the impact of the nation’s growing racial diversity, class status, and socioeconomic status, on students’ school experiences. (CLO 1)

·      W1LO 4: Identify barriers and obstacles that separate families of minority students from schools (CLO 1)

·      W1LO 5: Document perceived knowledge of diversity and equity, and performance of culturally proficient leadership. (CLO 3)

*** IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING WEEKS 4 AND 5 ASSIGNMENTS ***

·          Week 4 Assignment 2 – Cultural Autobiography: In Week 4 you will submit a 3 to 5-page cultural autobiography paper. The purpose of the Week 4 Assignment 2 is guide you through a reflective process of your own cultural background and how your worldview has been shaped by family, role models and life experiences. It will also assist you in looking at one’s self as a cultural being and in recognizing the humanity in others. In this paper, you will examine your current cultural identity and identify what you will do to progress in your racial identity development.  This assignment is worth 40 points. Begin working on your cultural autobiography early, DO NOT wait until week 4! Refer to Module 4 for instruction and details.

·          Week 5 Assignment 2 – Culminating Project: In Week 5 you will submit a culminating project. This assignment is intended to be an implementable plan for educational equity in your school, district, or organization. The project can take the form of an equity audit or a strategic plan for diversity, equity, access, and excellence. You are to consider the approaches to equity, diversity, and cultural proficiency presented during the course to complete your project.

The culminating project will consist of two parts:

1.        Paper. A scholarly 4 to 6-page (plus title page and reference page) APA formatted paper.

2.        Presentation. A PowerPoint presentation developed to present your plan. 

This assignment is worth 94 points. Begin working on your culminating project early, DO NOT wait until week 5! Refer to Module 5 for instructions and details.

·          Week 5 Assignment 3 – Interim Practicum/Internship Log: In Week 5 you will submit your Interim Practicum/Internship Log documenting progress to-date.  The required number of hours and activities are determined by your course enrollment.

This assignment is worth 20 points. Refer to Module 5 for instructions and details.

Week 1 Assignment, Part 1: Web Conference (6 points) (W1LO 5, CLO 3)
Due Week 1

During this class, you can participate in weekly web conferences. At the beginning of your course, the professor(s) will provide a list of scheduled web conferences and the URL to access the sessions.

You do not need to download or purchase additional software to participate in the conferences. However, a headset with microphone and web camera is preferred equipment.  For further details, see the information sent to you by the professor(s) and/or Instructional Associate via weekly overviews, email, discussion board, and/or announcements.

Directions: After reflecting on the attended web conference or listening to the recording of the conference, post insights gained from the discussion.

Workspace

Week 1 Assignment, Part 2: Diversity Knowledge Survey (10 points) (W1LO 5, CLO 3)

According to Stephen Covey (1992), being more self-aware allows us to more fully understand the way we approach life and the people we encounter. As we become more aware of how we see ourselves, how we are treated, and perhaps how others see us, we will become more able to understand how others may see and feel about their treatment, others values and experiences, and their worldviews.  Without such self-awareness, we are likely to “project our intentions on others behavior and call ourselves objective” (Covey, 1992, p. 67).

The Diversity Knowledge Survey (Spradlin, 2012) below provides a means to identify the cultural imprints that affect your cultural self. This self-awareness will provide you with comparison points to use as you begin to discover differences and similarities between yourself and members of other cultural groups. It is this knowledge, this heightened awareness of self and others, that will help you create an openness to considering information that conflicts with your own worldviews.

Directions:

Circle the number which best assesses the extent of your knowledge of each topic:

1:              None          = complete unfamiliarity

2-3:          Minimal     = some familiarity

4-5:          Average     = ability to discuss the topic

7-8           Extensive   = ability to debate/explain/lead a discussion on the topic

MY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT...IS…                                                 None   Minimal    Average   Extensive

1.   Multicultural teaching philosophy and practices                                                    1        2    3        4    5        6    7

2.   African American culture, history, and text in the U.S.                                         1        2    3        4    5        6    7

3.   Special education issues and services                                                                       1        2    3        4    5        6    7

4.   Latino culture, history, and text in the U.S.                                                              1        2    3        4    5        6    7

5.   Civil rights legislation                                                                                                    1        2    3        4    5        6    7

6.   Standardized test bias                                                                                                  1        2    3        4    5        6    7

7.   Systemic racism in public schools                                                                              1        2    3        4    5        6    7

8.   Asian American culture, history, and text in the U.S.                                             1        2    3        4    5        6    7

9.   Native American culture, history, and text in the U.S.                                           1        2    3        4    5        6    7

10. Educational tracking policy and practice                                                                1        2    3        4    5        6    7

11. History of multicultural education reform in the U.S.                                           1        2    3        4    5        6    7

12. PL 94-142                                                                                                                      1        2    3        4    5        6    7

13. ESL programs and ELL                                                                                               1        2    3        4    5        6    7

14. Religious histories, doctrines, and practices other than your own                       1        2    3        4    5        6    7

15. Prominent people of color                                                                                           1        2    3        4    5        6    7

16. Bilingual education                                                                                                      1        2    3        4    5        6    7

17. Low income life circumstances                                                                                  1        2    3        4    5        6    7

18. Social class educational barriers                                                                                1        2    3        4    5        6    7

19. Racial identity development                                                                                      1        2    3        4    5        6    7

20. Multicultural education resources in your community                                          1        2    3        4    5        6    7

21. LGBTQ culture, history, and text in the U.S.                                                           1        2    3        4    5        6    7

22. Inter-cultural communication                                                                                    1        2    3        4    5        6    7

23. Oppression theory                                                                                                         1        2    3        4    5        6    7

24. School funding practices related to SES                                                                   1        2    3        4    5        6    7

25. Multicultural curricula and curriculum transformation                                         1        2    3        4    5        6    7

26. Women’s history, culture, and text in the U.S.                                                        1        2    3        4    5        6    7

27. IDEA and ADA                                                                                                             1        2    3        4    5        6    7

28. Affirmative action purpose and implementation                                                   1        2    3        4    5        6    7

29. Gender bias in education                                                                                             1        2    3        4    5        6    7

30. Title IX education guidelines                                                                                      1        2    3        4    5        6    7

31. Second language acquisition                                                                                      1        2    3        4    5        6    7

32. Effects of oppression on achievement and career                                                 1        2    3        4    5        6    7

33. Heterosexism                                                                                                                 1        2    3        4    5        6    7

34. Effects of privilege on equity                                                                                     1        2    3        4    5        6    7

35. Disability culture                                                                                                           1        2    3        4    5        6    7

36. Teaching diverse student populations                                                                      1        2    3        4    5        6    7

37. Conducting effective advocacy for educational equity                                       1        2    3        4    5        6    7

(Source: Spradlin, L. K. (2012) Diversity matters: Understanding diversity in schools (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Used with permission.)

Week 1 Assignment, Part 3: Barriers to Educational Opportunity and Achievement (15 pts) (W1LO 1, W1LO 2, W1LO 3, W1LO 4, CLO 1)

Directions: For part 3 of this week’s assignment, compose a two-three well-developed paragraph response to each of the following guiding questions. Use the readings, lectures, and videos, as well as your personal perceptions.

Guiding Question 1. Describe the diversity of students in today’s schools and discuss how that diversity can enrich a classroom.

Workspace 1.

Guiding Question 2. How can educators provide an equal chance for students to learn when they do not share the student’s language, culture, or live experiences?

Workspace 2.

Guiding Question 3. Respond to this quote by Maya Angelou, “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”

Workspace 3.

Week 1 Assignment, Part 4: Barriers to Educational Opportunity and Achievement – continued (20 pts) (W1LO 1, W1LO 2, W1LO 3, W1LO 4, CLO 1)

Introduction: Family/Student ability to participate (be successful) in a school/district due to prevailing policies, procedures, and practices in the school/district.  This activity, adapted from McIntosh’s (1988) work, is a way depicting a percentage of students moving forward with ease and a percentage of students who never move forward because of current educational practices.

Despite the verbal support for parental involvement among school educators, school norms that reflect hierarchy over reciprocity, limited resources, and a lack of knowledge about how to involve parents are key barriers.

Frequently (whether consciously or not) parents are kept at a distance when it comes to the education of their children. And although this may not be the intent, such distancing is magnified for minority parents, who are even further estranged due to the powerful barriers of difference (communication, customs, language, perspectives, representation, and so on) that may serve to restrict and inhibit their school involvement.

The ways parents perceive their role in their children's schooling is, in part, a function of how school officials treat them. On the surface, invitations from school administrators to parents may appear to be a search for collaboration—working together as coequals in the education of their children. The reality, however, is more often than not, these communications are requests from those who see themselves as providers, overseers, and experts in their fields to parents who they perceive to be unknowing, uncaring, or uneducated. The goal implied in this type of correspondence (which is more of an insult than an invitation) is to transmit the "absolute knowledge and expertise" from school personnel to the families about what is best for students.

School personnel seek to have parents fulfill their roles in the so-called partnership with schools, which, as school officials see it, is to simply agree and do whatever is being asked of them. This approach is a one-way model of provider–receiver service that decreases communication between families and schools, even when the goal is to increase parent involvement. Such patterns of communication place parents in a subordinate consumer/responder role as merely receptors of information and not in genuine participant roles in the schooling of their children.

Despite high verbal support for parent involvement among educators, school norms that reflect hierarchy over reciprocity, limited resources, and a lack of knowledge about how to involve parents in schools were key barriers.

Because dominant-culture students have strong political representation at the local, state, and national levels, as compared to low-income and minority students, schools and school officials have consistently chosen to place resources where they are believed to be capable of doing the most good. Such actions perpetuate the privilege of dominant-culture students who are most represented in educational, political, and legislative arenas. Federal school funding formulas continue to advantage these students. Gaps between opportunities to learn and students' appropriation of those opportunities are produced and maintained by the amount of resources and quality of instruction students receive. As such, working-class and poor students are often denied access to essential resources and quality instruction and thus knowledge in schools. It is common to find poor and minority students attending schools that offer limited educational resources, deteriorating buildings, restricted curricula, lowered expectations, and harsh and unwelcoming school climates.

Directions:

A.     Begin with demographic descriptions of eight diverse families and a list of 20 commonly utilized practices within a school/district. Then, identify the families that are not able to participate in each of the common practices.

B.     Reflect on the experience as a family member that could not participate relative to the prevailing policy, procedure, or practice of the school/district.

C.     Discuss the blatant differences in a child’s ability to participate within a school/district due to common practices and the impact on educational opportunities and academic achievement.

D.     Rewrite five of the commonly utilized practices to be inclusive of all students. For example,

·         “The parents of this family can easily attend our parent conferences held during the school day”

·         Changed to:

“Parent conferences are held in the afternoons and evenings to accommodate working parents and transportation is available.”

Family Descriptions

A. Sample Statements – Identify the family number(s) that corresponds to statements 1 through 20.

B. Reflect on the experience as a family member that could not participate relative to the prevailing policy, procedure, or practice of the school/district. The reflection should be two to three well-developed paragraphs making connections with the strategic concepts in the course readings, lectures, videos, and your personal perceptions.

Workspace:

C. In two to three well-developed paragraphs, discuss the blatant differences in a child’s ability to participate within a school/district due to common practices and the impact on educational opportunities and academic achievement. Your response should make connections with the strategic concepts in the course readings, lectures, videos, and your personal perceptions.

Workspace:

D. Rewrite five of the commonly utilized practices to be inclusive of all students.

For example,

·         “The parents of this family can easily attend our parent conferences held during the school day”

Changed to:

·         “Parent conferences are held in the afternoons and evenings to accommodate working parents and transportation is available.”

Workspace:

Rubric

Use the following Rubric to guide your work on the Week 1 Assignment.

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Status NEW Posted 24 Sep 2019 02:09 PM My Price 8.00

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