EDSS 541: RR 1

According to the first Focus On article, http://cc.csusm.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=449803, the Asian and Pacific Islanders  (API) students, the statistics inform us that API students are the most successful among the other six groups.  Instructional strategies suggested for this groups include, learn the students’ cultures and have the students learn the classroom norms, unspoken norms and expectations of what they need to do to be successful clearly written out and make sure the students understand.  Also the curriculum strategy suggested for API students was curriculum inclusion in your lesson plans.  Specifically, my content area is science; therefore I would need to include some knowledge about how the API race may have some genetic differences that would make them targets for racism. I would also find this curriculum resource helpful; “Scholastic’s teacher’s guide offers several elementary and middle school lesson plans that draw on various subject areas to teach about APIs. http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/asian-american/tguide.htm

According to the Focus On article, http://cc.csusm.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=449804,

 the Black students are achieving widespread across social economic status groups below White students.  The article questions the reader why is this happening still. It is a “wake-up call” for educators and policy makers to include Black history and Black contributors that faced racial adversity and became successful citizens. As a teacher, it is my job to inspire all my students that they can be successful citizens.  Therefore it is very important to research science contributors of all races and include them in my biology lessons for my students to identify themselves with.  Also the article notes the importance of the teacher’s bias and expectations of the Black student versus the White student, by mentioning the work of “Harvard researcher, Ronald F. Ferguson, the Tripod Project,” which provides the educator some structure and guidance on how to self-examine your teaching practices. What I found really interesting about this article is the mentioning of the student performance is higher when their teacher is the same ethnic group. I did see this during my CP1 experience where the dominant ethnic group on the school campus was Hispanic. The students performed and showed more initiative and interest in the classes who were taught by Hispanic teachers.

                According to the Focus On article, http://cc.csusm.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=449807,

the Hispanic students are becoming the majority minority, and they still have the highest dropout rate amongst other minority groups.  The NEA research suggests a resolution by “increasing the quality and quantity of ESL teachers is absolutely critical to bridging educational gaps for Hispanic students.” Also the article mentions the importance of incorporating “cooperative learning strategies, such as Jigsaw, Think-Pair-Share, Three-Step Interview, and Round Robin Brainstorming in lessons, have proven to raise motivation and achievement in Hispanic students.”  I saw this when I was teaching cooperative learning laboratory exercises and tests during my CP1 experience. The students were definitely more interested in talking about science when they could discuss the content with their peers.

                The Focus On article about Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgendered Persons (GLBT), http://cc.csusm.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=449806, focused on the bullying and harassment that these students face on a daily basis and how as an educator we can provide them a safe environment to learn.  The article mentions, “Addressing anti-GLBT bias requires more than simply banning the use of certain slurs, however. It requires teaching about how terms originated and how they can take on different meanings in different contexts, including quite harmful meanings that the speaker may not have intended.  Unfortunately I have not have the experience in the student teaching practice to interact with this group, however I do know that most of the schools now have a support system for this group through a school club.

The Focus on article, the American Indian / Alaska Natives (AI/AN) http://cc.csusm.edu/file.php/11320/AchievementGapResources/indianfocus.pdf is their groups’ achievement gap, started very high in elementary grades and the gap does close as the students enter middle and high school grade levels.  The article suggests this may be due to the immersion programs that have been offered to this subgroup.  Such programs and advice for educators are developed from the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE), William Demmert, a renowned American Indian scholar and policy advisor, and the Oksale Native Teacher Preparation Program that is partnered with three institutions: Northwest Indian College (NWIC), which serves the Lummi tribe; Washington State University (WSU); and Western Washington University (WWU).   My experience with this group has been minimal, however I agree with the proposed teaching methods of teaching content to the students in their native languages.  This task would be daunting for teaching candidates to become fluent in more than two languages, however I think the world of education is moving in that direction.  One of my career goals is to become bilingual, because I see the importance of being able to communicate effectively to all my students, their families and their communities.

The last Focus On article, http://cc.csusm.edu/file.php/11320/AchievementGapResources/womenfocus05.pdf  is about the academic success of women and girls, states that they have achieved great advancements in graduation rates and math and science test scores.  The push now is for women to achieve in the physical sciences and higher levels of math such as calculus. Also women can work towards higher career goals of advancement in graduate education.  I think women now have such great role models to look at every day while they are in the professional and educational areas.  As an educator I have to mindful of gender biases during my instructional activities and planning.  Such areas to focus on are how often I call on girls/boys, seating arrangements, wall displays, calling on students, and the curriculum shows an equal amount of men and woman scientists.  I could tell that my students were perceptive to the idea that girls can like science and not be afraid of science when I student taught two courses of biology last semester. The girls as well as the boys, at first were afraid to voice their thoughts and observations but after they felt comfortable especially the girls saw a woman can be successful in a science career by my example.