Applying Culturally Relevant Strategies to Systemic Reform Los Angeles Unified School District

1. Applying Culturally Relevant Strategies to Systemic Reform Los Angeles Unified School District NCRESSt Conference Creating Opportunities to Learn Denver, Colorado Feb. 16-17, 2006 Presenters Noma LeMoine Ebrahim Maddahian Daniel Patton Randy Ross Liza Scruggs

2. Overview • Defining the problem (Randy Ross) • Framework (Ebrahim Maddahian) • Historical Background (Liza Scruggs) • Implementation (Noma LeMoine) • Program Evaluation (Dan Patton) • Discussion (All)

3. Defining the Problem Randy Ross Ph.D.

4. What the Research Says: • “There is a direct link between student achievement and the extent to which teaching employs the cultural referents of students” Geneva Gay, 2000 • “... for students who experience disproportionate levels of academic failure, the extent to which the students’ language and culture are incorporated into the school program constitutes a significant predictor of academic success” Jim Cummins, 1989

5. What happens when learning encounters are culturally relevant? • High attendance rate • Rigorous education program • Sustained academic achievement • Graduation from High School • Post-graduation success

6. ATTENDANCE • Attendance rates • Suspensions (and expulsions)

7. Attendance Rates (Secondary, November 2005) for African-American, Native American, and Latino Students are Lower Source: LAUSD, January 2006

8. In 2004-05, LAUSD Schools Suspended African-American Students at an Alarming Rate Source: LAUSD, January 2006

9. EDUCATIONAL RIGOR • College-Prep Curriculum • Special Education

10. Far fewer African-American and Latino Students Take College-Prep Courses Source: Jordan Rickles and Jeff White, “A-G Course Access and Completion,” Presentation to LAUSD Board of Education Educational Equity Committee, December 8, 2005, Program Evaluation and Research Branch

11. African American Students Suffer from Disproportionate Placement in Special Education Special Education Enrollment by Ethnicity, LAUSD, December 2004 Source: California Department of Education, Special Education Division.

12. ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT • Proficiency in Reading and Math • Passage of College-prep courses

13. Far Fewer African American and Latino Students Read Proficiently (Spring 2005) Source: LAUSD Board of Education, Educational Policy Unit, 2005.

14. Far Fewer African American and Latino students are Proficient in Math (Spring 2005) Source: LAUSD Board of Education, Educational Policy Unit, 2005.

15. Far Fewer Latino and African-American Graduates Complete a College-Prep Curriculum (2003-04) Source: California Department of Education, Educational Demographics Unit.

16. GRADUATION • Passage of high-school exit exam (CAHSEE) • Graduation rate

17. Over ¼ of African American Students in the Class of 2006 may fail to pass the California HS Exit Exam Source: LAUSD Board of Education, Educational Policy Unit, "CAHSEE FAILURE AND NON-GRADUATION: A PRELIMINARY PROJECTION," August 31, 2005

18. Fewer Latino and African-American Students Graduated from LAUSD in 2005 Source: LAUSD, January 2006.

19. Resultant Statement of the Problem • The gap in achievement for Latinoand African American students in LAUSD schools is wide in part because these students’ learning encounters with teachers are insufficiently aligned with their core cultural referents.

20. Theoretical Framework For a Culturally Relevant and Responsive Education Ebrahim Maddahian Ph.D.

21. Defining Culture from an Educational Perspective American Heritage Dictionary defines “Culture” as: • The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, beliefs, arts, and all other products of human work and thought characteristics of a community or population. • A style of social and artistic expression peculiar to a society or a class. • Intellectual and artistic activity, and the work produced by it. • The act of developing the social, moral, and intellectual faculties through education. • A high degree of taste and refinement formed by aesthetic and intellectual training. • The cultivation of the soul.

22. A careful analysis of this content includes the following elements: • Behavior patterns, • Belief systems, • Human work products, • Human thought products, • Art forms, and • Human’s social, moral, and intellectual development through learning that define a specific group of people

23. Learning Definitions: • Behavioral modification especially through experience or conditioning • The act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill • Knowledge or skill gained through schooling or study • The process by which we receive and process sensory data, encode such data as memories within the neural structures of our brain, and retrieve those memories for subsequent use

24. What do we mean by CRRE • A comprehensive system of education that incorporates student’s life experiences (emotional, social, cognitive and cultural) into schooling activities and processes.

25. Socio-Cultural Constructivism • Biological and psychological growth do not occur in isolation, but start at birth through social interaction that leads to cognitive development

26. Important Concepts • Zone of Proximal Development: The difference between independent learning without supervision and guidance and possible potential learning with guidance of a knowledgeable adult in collaboration with more able peers. (Vgotsky). • Children develop their cognitive abilities and psychological tools necessary for learning and problem solving through cultural and social interactions. (Ladson-Billings). • Teacher’s Role

27. Cultural Differences • People raised in different cultural environments may behave differently – yet appropriately - in the same situation. • They may show evidence of a different set of values about the same condition, may acquire the same knowledge in different ways and may demonstrate their learning in different modes. • Since students from diverse racial, religious, and geographical backgrounds exhibit unique deep-seated cultural traditions of learning and of making sense of the world around them, it is essential for educational systems and educators to not only respect and value students’ cultural backgrounds and histories, but also to build instructional strategies appropriate for and relevant to them.

28. Culturally Relevant and Responsive Initiative in Los Angeles Unified School District Chronology Liza Scruggs Ph.D.

29. Background • Facts about the District • Students • Ethnicities • Staff • Communities • Other Information

30. Background • June, 2001, Hayes resolution adopted authorizing the development of an Action Plan to address the needs of African American and other underachieving students in the LAUSD

31. Background • The Steering Committee • Coalitions • Conferences • The Action Plan - 5 Tenets, 95 Steps

32. Researchers/Scholars collaborated with LAUSD staff and community in 2001 about the relationship between culture, teaching and learning

33. Instructional Practice • Carol Lee • CRR Pedagogy • John Rickford • Standard English Learners • Roland Tharp • Classroom Ecology • Vinetta Jones • Secondary Math • Jomills Braddock • Policy

34. Teacher Quality, Standards and Parent & Student Engagement • Phyllis Hart • Standards, coaches • Sam Redding • Parents as partners • Reginald Clark • Parent Involvement • Jerome Freiberg • Student resilience

35. Background • December, 2002 Huizar, Hayes, Tokofsky resolution adopted which expanded the closing the achievement gap initiative to specifically address the needs of Latino and African American students and embed culturally responsive pedagogy into all district initiatives

36. Background • June 24, 2003, The Board adopted a motion/resolution to continue full support, implementation, and monitoring of the African Action Plan

37. School Policies That Promote Equity • Access to College Preparatory Courses • Elimination of Tracking and Remedial Courses • Professional Development on Culturally Relevant and Responsive Education and infusion into all instructional curriculums • Support to Meet Student Needs (SELs/ELs) • Infusing Instructional Strategies That Promote Equity & Access to Core Curricula • Continuous Assessment of the School Culture and Programs

38. L. A. Unified School DistrictImproving Opportunities to Learn Noma LeMoine Ph.D. Director, Academic English Mastery Closing the Achievement Gap Branch

39. The Action Plan For a Culturally Relevant Education Than Benefits African American Students and All Students

40. The Action Plans Tenets • Tenet 1 - Opportunity to Learn (student focused) • Tenet 2 - Opportunity to Learn (adult focused) • Tenet 3 - Professional Development • Tenet 4 - Parent Engagement • Tenet 5 - Evaluation and Monitoring

41. Action Plan Recommendations • Culturally Relevant and Responsive Instruction • A College-Prep Curriculum • Academic English Mastery for Standard English Learners • Highest Quality Teachers • Professional Development for all stakeholders • Parent Engagement • District Accountability • District Monitoring

42. Local District Implementation Local District Blueprints • Baseline data • Action steps • Allocation of Resources • Internal monitoring

43. Tenet 1Recommendations • Central and Local District offices will provide comprehensive professional development for administrators, teachers, counselors, and coaches on Culturally Responsive and Culturally Contextualized Teaching to ensure that instruction for African American students is relevant and responsive to their learning needs. • Principals, counselors, and teachers in every high school in LAUSD must work closely with parents and students to ensure that all African American students know of, have access to, enroll in, and pass a college prep curriculum, including A-G course requirements, honors courses, and AP courses.

44. Implementing TENET 1 • A-G Initiative • Special Education Initiative • Addressing disproportionality • Re evaluate AA Special Ed students • Ten School Pilot • Initiative to address attitudes and beliefs • Consortium of scholars • One million dollars allocated over 3 years • Algebra & Algebra Readiness Plan • 367 Math Coaches

45. Tenet 2Recommendations • Pursuant to its education of Standard English Learners (SELs), the district will continue to implement its Academic English Mastery Program (AEMP), which provides professional development for teachers and other school staff aimed toward improving the ability of schools to promote language acquisition in SELs. • The district must make every effort to ensure that African American children have equal access to the highest quality teachers and administrators within and across schools.

46. Implementing Tenet 2 • The Academic English Mastery Program • Small Schools Initiative • Human Resources • Changes in hiring practices • Changes in procedures for interviewing teachers

47. DISTRICT INTERVENTIONThe Academic English Mastery Program

48. Professional Development Program for Educating SELs • Fall Educational Seminar Series • Intensive Summer Institutes • Periodic Curricular Focus Courses • Technology Training Courses • A Weekend Professional Development Conference • Grade Level Student Achievement Teams (GSAT) • Grade level Collaboratives • Instructional Academies

49. Professional Development Outcomes • Teachers build knowledge and understanding of Culturally Responsive pedagogy • Teachers build knowledge and understanding of Linguistically Responsive Pedagogy • Teachers engage in collaboration and study of research-based instructional methodologies and infuse them into daily instruction • Teachers are provided with opportunities to discuss, evaluate, & modify, their instruction based on observed students outcomes

50. Tenet 3Recommendation • Where change is expected andneeded to improve African American students opportunity to learn, the LAUSD must make every effort to ensure that its staff –Central, Local District, and School– and the external support providers responsible for change, are adequately trained and have the pedagogical knowledge and skill to effectively enhance the academic achievement of African American students.