Blaire Cholewa, Ph.D – Kean University

1. The Achievement Gap and School Counselors: Preparing School Counselors to Play a Role in Culturally Responsive Education Blaire Cholewa, Ph.D – Kean University Ellen Amatea, Ph.D & Cirecie West-Olatunji, Ph.D- University of Florida

2. Chronic Underachievement • Persistent differences in academic achievement between low income, culturally diverse students and their White peers (Planty et al., 2008; U.S. Department of Education, 2007) • Discrepancies in drop out rates between culturally diverse students and their White peers (Planty et al., 2008; U.S. Department of Education, 2007) • Disproportionate referrals for special education (Blair & Scott, 2002; Skiba et al., 2008) • Disproportionate number of discipline referrals, suspensions and expulsions (Gordon et al., 2000; Skiba et al., 2002)

3. Cultural Dys-synchronization • U.S. education is based on the norms and values of White, middle and upper class (Boykin, 2001; Foster et al., 2003) • Cultural discontinuity theory examines the disconnection between the education system and the students’ home(Irvine, 1990; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Moll & Gonzalez, 2004) • Failure of some educators to recognize culturally diverse students’ ways of knowing, speaking, and interacting(Moll & Gonzalez, 2004; Nieto, 2004) • Cultural dys-synchronization has been linked with psychological distress in culturally diverse students (Brody et al., 2006; Fisher et al., 2001; Murdock, 1999; Wong et al.,2003)

4. Culturally Responsive Educational Practices • Culturally responsive educational practices bridge the existing disconnection between the school and home • These practices combine: • culturally based pedagogical and instructional methods (Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1994; King, 2005; Nieto, 2004a) • culturally responsive classroom management and teacher-student interactions (Brown, 2003, 2004; Bondy, et al., 2007; Weinstein et al., 2003, 2004)

5. The Impact of Culturally Responsive Educational Practices • The research suggests the low-income, culturally diverse students of teachers who implement these practices are related to: • significant academic gains (Foster, Lewis, & Onafowora, 2003, 2005; Foster, 1997; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Pransky & Bailey, 2002; Vogt, Jordan, & Tharp, 1993) • Positive increases in aspects of psychological well-being (Cummins, 1996; Diaz-Greenberg, 2001; Howard, 2001; Ladson-Billings, 1994)

6. Relationship among Cultural Dys-synchronization, Psychological Distress and Academic Outcomes Cultural Dyschronization Education Psychological Distress Academic Outcomes

7. 21st Century School Counselor • ASCA calls for school counselors to serve as: • Leaders, • Advocates • Consultants (ASCA, 2003) • School counselors work toward equity and social justice (Bemak & Chung, 2005) • Consultant role is increasingly important with low-income, culturally diverse students.(Amatea & West-Olatunji, 2007; Bemak, 2000; Brown & Trusty, 2005). • School counselors receive extensive relational and multicultural training and yet are often absent from conversations regarding teacher instruction. (Cholewa & West-Olatunji, 2008; Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992 ).

8. Three Recommendations for Counselor Educators • Creating School Counselor Trainee Buy-in and Commitment • Preparing Trainees to Deal with Potential Teacher Resistance • Curricular Activities

9. Creating School Counselor Trainee Buy-in and Commitment • Stress the significance of school counselor’s indirect service roles: leader, advocate, consultant • Increase trainee’s awareness of cultural dys-synchronization • Provide basic knowledge of culturally responsive educational practices • Provide knowledge and skills around leadership and consultation • Foster trainees’ agency

10. Preparing the Trainee to Deal with Teacher Resistance • Emphasize the collaborative nature of consultation and the importance of partnering with teachers • Facilitate trainees empathy towards teachers- putting themselves in the teacher’s shoes • Provide examples of collaborative interventions with teachers including: • Story Circle • School wide readings with reading groups • Online discussions • Examples of Outcomes: Paige Allison

11. Curricular Activities • Conscious Raising Activities for Trainees • Story Circle (Clay, Olatunji & Cooley, 2001) • Circles of Diversity • Horatio Algiers By the Bootsraps (DeRosa, 1994) • Create opportunities counselor trainees to practice the implement culturally responsive strategies in their own large group counseling. This will: • Solidify the concepts of culturally responsive educational practices • Facilitate trainees ability to consult with teachers on this topic having actually done so themselves.

12. Curricular Activities • Partner with teacher education and educational leadership departments and create interdisciplinary assignments • Create and implement in-class role plays around consultation skills • Require counselor-teacher consultation experiences in practica/internships

13. Future Research • Further inquiry into the psychological impact of culturally responsive teachers on their students • Evaluate existing leadership training initiatives that have been incorporated into school counselor education programs • Intervention studies to examine ways to facilitate collaborative partnerships between school counselors and teachers

14. Selected References • Amatea, E., & West-Olatunji, C. (2007). Joining the conversation about educating our poorest children: New leadership roles for school counselors in high poverty schools. Professional School Counseling, 11, 81-89. • Cholewa, B. & West-Olatunji, C. (2008). Exploring the relationship among cultural discontinuity, psychological distress, and academic outcomes with low-income, culturally diverse students. Professional School Counseling, 12, 54-61. • Clay, L., Olatunji, C., & Cooley, S.  (2001). Keeping the story alive: Narrative in the African-American church and community. Educational Resource Information Clearinghouse, ERIC No: ED462666, pp. 1-9. • DeRosa, P. (1994). Diversity training: In search of anti-racism. Peacework, 240, 1-4. • Foster, M., Lewis, J., & Onafowora, L. (2003). Anthropology, culture, and research on teaching and learning: Applying what we have learned to improve practice. Teachers College Record, 105, 261-277. • Fisher C. B., Wallace S. A., & Fenton R. E. (2000). Discrimination distress during adolescence. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 29, 679–695.

15. Selected References • Irvine, J.J. (1990). Black students and school failure: Policies, practices, and prescriptions. New York: Praeger. • Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. • Nieto, S. (2004). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education, (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn Bacon • U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2007). The Condition of Education 2007 (NCES 2007-064). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing • Wong, C. A., Eccles, J. S., & Sameroff, A. (2003). The influence of ethnic discrimination and ethnic identification on African American adolescents’ school and socioemotional adjustment. Journal of Personality, 71, 1197–1232.

16. Contact Information Cirecie A. West-Olatunji, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Counselor Education University of Florida 1204 Norman Hall PO Box 117046 Gainesville, FL  32611 352-273-4324 cwestolatunji@coe.ufl.edu Blaire Cholewa, Ph. D Assistant Professor Department of Counselor Education Kean University 306 Hennings Hall 1000 Morris Ave Union, NJ 07083 (908) 737-3859 bcholewa@kean.edu Ellen Amatea, Ph.D Professor Department of Counselor Education University of Florida 1202 Norman Hall PO Box 117046 Gainesville, FL 32611 352-273-4322 eamatea@ufl.edu