Closing the Achievement Gap: A Metaphor for Children Left Behind

The educational landscape of the digital age: Communication practices pushing (us) forward

“…This is a dual focus on developing disciplinary ways of thinking while being flexible in bringing in ideas from outside the discipline. This suggests the value of developing curricula that break traditional boundaries and are driven more by the interests of the learner (and of the teacher) than the typical top-down, lock-step, standard curricular structures we have become stuck within (Giroux, & Schmidt, 2004).…”

Effective Educational Practice: A Crucial First Step in Addressing the Needs of Traditionally Overlooked Students

“…Funding in public school districts often reflects social and racial stratification (Biddle & Berliner, 2002;Condron & Roscigno, 2003), and poor and racially diverse students encounter inequities in the schooling experiences themselves (Fram, Miller-Cribbs, & Van Horn, 2007;Giroux & Schmidt, 2004;Kozol, 1991). In EFFECTIVE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 13 addition, the standardized tests that are common measures of student learning are often ineffective measures of culturally or racially diverse students' capabilities (Baker, 2005;Garcia & Guerra, 2004;Sternberg, 2007) and subsequently promote misguided responses, especially heavy remediation (Armstrong, 2010;Bomer, Dworin, May, & Semingson, 2008;Boykin, 1985;Gorski, 2007Gorski, & 2008Lundy, 2003;Rogalsky, 2009).…”

“…Students from poor and racially diverse populations are not likely to have educational experiences that reflect equity in access to excellence in education (Fram, Miller-Cribbs, & Van Horn, 2007;Giroux & Schmidt, 2004;Kozol, 1991;Rubin, 2008;Worthy, 2010). These students regularly encounter a poor educational fit and their key needs are often overlooked in traditional school settings.…”

“…Ironically, while the goal of reform initiatives that rely heavily on standardized tests was intended to reduc inequalities, emphasis on high stakes testing may instead exacerbate them. These initiatives fail to account for teacher inexperience, lack of school and community resources, and poor learning environments of many impoverished urban and rural students (Giroux & Schmidt, 2004). Standardized tests often fail to provide opportunities for poor and racially diverse students to demonstrate their advanced potential (Sternberg, 2007), may be culturally biased, often lack in quality, and do not accurately measure how or what minority or disadvantaged students have learned (Baker, 2005;Garcia & Guerra, 2004).…”

“…These challenges include background factors such as poverty (Arnold & Doctoroff, 2003; Case, Fertigl, & Paxson, 2006;Rouse & Fantuzzo, 2009) and cultural differences (Bourdieu, 2008;Delpit, 2006;Garcia & Guerra, 2004;Jaeger, 2011;Lareau, 2003;Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Rothstein-Fisch & Greenfield, 2000;Sternberg, 2004Sternberg, & 2007, as well as greater systemic inequalities such as funding (Biddle & Berliner, 2002;Condron & Roscigno, 2003), inequitable schooling experiences (Fram, Miller-Cribbs, & Van Horn, 2007;Giroux & Schmidt, 2004;Kozol, 1991), low teacher perspectives and expectations (Armstrong, 2010;Delpit, 2006;Garcia & Guerra, 2004), and low-quality curriculum (Baker, 2005;Freire, 2009;Garcia & Guerra, 2004) that lacks cultural relevance & responsiveness (Banks, 2006;.Despite these challenges, classrooms can support equity in access to excellence in education for traditionally overlooked students by (1) holding high expectations of all students while simultaneously providing high levels of support (e.g. Delpit, 2006;Howard, 2001;Ladson-Billings, 1992;Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Swartz, 2009), (2) affirming and capitalizing on student culture and strengths, and (3) developing student efficacy and sense of empowerment (e.g.…”