diversity in teacher education programs in literacy and reading: a nationwide investigative study
DESCRIPTION
The world is becoming increasingly more diverse in our nation’s classrooms. One critical aspect of respecting diversity as well as using it as a means to strengthen students’ educational experiences and academic outcomes is how the issue of diversity plays out in American teacher education programs in literacy and reading. International Reading Association’s (IRA) Committee on Learning Diversity has undertaken a national study to examine this issue.TRANSCRIPT
Michigan Reading Association Annual Conference Lightning The Way For Literacy
Sue Ann Sharma, Ph.D. & Tanya S. Wright, Ph.D. March 9, 2013
Diversity in United States Teacher Education Programs in Literacy and
Reading: A Nationwide Investigative Study
International Reading Association, Learning Diversity Committee
Introduction
Racial/Ethnic Diversity in U.S. Schools
English Language Learners in U.S. Schools
Racial/Ethnic Diversity of U.S. Teachers
82.9
6.9
7.2
1.3 0.2 0.5 0.9
Percentage of U.S. Teachers by Racial/Ethnic Diversity in 2007-2008
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander American Indian/Alaska Native
IRA Standard 4: Diversity
Candidates create and engage their students in literacy practices that develop awareness, understanding, respect, and a valuing of differences in our society.
Studying Teacher Education: AERA Report • Teacher candidates are a homogenous population
with limited experience interacting with people from different backgrounds to their own.
• Enter teacher prep programs with negative or deficit attitudes about those who are different from themselves.
• Limited evidence of whether activities aimed at reducing prejudice have long-term results on the instruction that teacher candidates provide.
Cochran-Smith, M. & Zeichner, K. (2005). Studying teachers education: The report of the American Education Research Association (AERA) panel on research in teacher education. Lawrence Erlbaum, 7(3). 20-27.
Studying Teacher Education: AERA Report
• Candidates placed in urban settings with diverse students for field work gain more complex understandings of cultural and experiential differences than candidates in suburban settings.
• Teacher preparation programs are at different points in preparing teacher candidates to address diversity.
Cochran-Smith, M. & Zeichner, K. (2005). Studying teachers education: The report of the American Education Research Association ( AERA) panel on research in teacher education. Lawrence Erlbaum, 7(3). 20-27.
Teacher Education for Equity and Democracy
Equitable Access Democratic Participation & Advocacy for Equity
Recruit & admit More diverse teacher candidates Candidates committed to multicultural democracy and equity
Early fieldwork In multiple classrooms, Inquiry-based to disrupt deficit theorizing, In communities to learn culture of students
Inquiry into school and community patterns of inequity
Professional coursework Self-analysis, Socio-cultural framework for teaching & learning, Teaching strategies linking what students bring to academics
Strategies for building multicultural democracy in classroom, Nature of institutional discrimination in society and schools
Student teaching In culturally diverse and/or low-income schools, with plenty of time and support
In classrooms that support democratic decision-making, With teachers that model advocacy stance
On-going professional development Practice-based inquiry with support Activist teacher networks
Sleeter, C. E. (2001). Preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools: Research and the overwhelming presence of whiteness. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2), 94-106.
Defining Diversity
The dimensions of diversity range from generic facets involving race, culture, religion, language, and gender identity, including differences related to learning interests, capabilities, and disabilities.
Multicultural Education
Teaching Teacher
Educator Dispositions
Theoretical Framework
Investigation Objective
How are literacy teacher educators faring with IRA’s
Standard 4: Diversity?
Research Questions
• Question 1: What are the beliefs and values teacher educators hold about diversity as it relates to teacher preparation programs?(survey)
• Question 2: How do teacher educators describe the experience they provide around diversity? (narrative description)
• Question 3: What influences shape literacy teacher educators’ teaching practices and developing beliefs about literacy and learning? (focus groups)
Methodology
Mixed-Methods
Quantitative
Logistic Regression
Modified Sign Tests
Bonferroni Corrections
Qualitative
Constant Comparative Method
Inter-Rater Reliability Cronbach’s Alpha .83
Survey Distribution
Participant Demographics
Institution Student Profile Institution Location Profile
Data Sources • Accreditation
Status • NCATE
• Institution Profile • Student
Population • Location
• Faculty Profile
Part 1: Institutional Information
• Life Experiences • Childhood • Adulthood • Work Life
Part 2: Faculty
Background
• Promotes • Diversity
Knowledge • Assessment
Understandings • Field
experiences
Part 3: Program Level
—Undergraduate
& Graduate
• Provides • Choice in
Addressing Diversity Issues
Part 4: Course Level
—Undergraduate
& Graduate • Describe
Innovative • Assignments • Experiences
Narrative Description
Research Question 1: Quantitative Results
What are the beliefs and values teacher educators hold about
diversity as it relates to teacher preparation programs?
Value of Diversity in General Value With Regard to Specific Areas of Diversity
Agreement
Disagreement 88.2
11.8
Agreement
Disagreement
Development of Diversity Awareness
Religion & Sexual Orientation
Sign Test Analysis
Reality is Relative to Experiences
Strong Logistic
Regression
Suburban
D=.95
Urban
Logistic Regression Analysis
IRA Standard 4: Diversity Valued by Teacher Educators
Teacher Educators Most Strongly Agreed
Institution of Employment Values
Diversity
IRA Standard 4: Diversity
P> .000000000000000000001 with Bonferroni Corrections
Modified Sign Tests
Instructional Practices Taught to Support Learning Among Diverse Students
Under Graduate
Relevant Curriculum
Differentiated Instruction
Adapt Approaches
for ELL
Graduate (P<.000001)
Relevant Curriculum
Differentiated Instruction
Adapt Approaches
for ELL
✔
✔
✔ ✔
✔
X
Coursework that Develops Diversity Awareness
Curriculum That Promotes Diversity Understanding
Complexity of Learning for ELL Students
Awareness of Responsibility to Educate About Diversity
(p< .0001)
Research Question 2: Qualitative Results
How do teacher educators describe the experiences they
provide around diversity?
Participant Narrative Demographics
Institution Student Profile Institution Location Profile
Narrative Response
Response Doesn’t
Answer the Question
(13)
Direct Engagement
(20)
Indirect Engagement
(40)
Both Direct & Indirect
Engagement (16)
Cronbach’s alpha 0.833
Indirect Engagement
Multicultural Literature
Observation of Diverse Learners Through Video
Readings Focused on
Diversity Cultural Studies
Planning Lessons That Include
Responding to Student Diversity
Indirect & Direct Engagement
Simulations
Reading Disabilities
Language Delays
Auditory Challenges
Interpreting Writing & Reading Errors
Direct Engagement
Tutoring Students
Field Placement
Family Literacy Events
Cultural Studies
Interview Project
Limitation
Low Number of Survey
Respondents N=201
Selection Bias
Conclusion
• Teacher educators value addressing diversity • Demographics and location of teacher preparation institutes influences one’s diversity lens
• Next Steps: – Find Ways to learn exactly what is happening and how it is enacted in the field
• Conduct focus groups by institution size – Urban, Suburban, and Rural
Focus Group Questions
• Briefly describe your teacher candidate profiles and the kinds of populations your teachers will serve.
• Describe the complexities that your teacher candidate face when meeting the needs of diverse learners.
• Describe what you do to prepare teacher candidate to meet the needs of diverse learners both at the program level and the courses you teach.
• Describe what challenges you face in preparing teacher candidate to met the needs of diverse learners.
• Specifically, can you speak to preparing teacher candidate to meet the needs of ELL, religious and sexual orientation and any other areas of diversity?
• What else would like to add to our discussion?
Educational Significance
• All students would benefit from higher education programs that cultivate diversity and multiculturally responsive teachers.
• This research is significant to the enhancement of instructional support for the advancement of teaching diversity.
Between Teacher and Child
I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.
Ginott, H. (1975). Teacher and child: A book for parents and teachers. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Acknowledgments
• International Reading Association Committee for Diversity of Learning – Linda Akanbi, Ed.D. – Susan Grogan, Ph.D. – Abha Gupta, Ph.D. – Wendy Kasten, Ph.D.* – Julie Kidd, Ed.D. – Sue Ann Sharma, Ph.D.* – Diana Sisson, Ed.D. – Lynn Smolen, Ph.D. – Tanya Wright, Ph.D.
• Principal Investigators*
• Quantitative Analysis Team – Yeaton Clifton, Ph.D. – Sue Ann Sharma, Ph.D. – Tanya Wright, Ph.D.
• Qualitative Analysis Team – Abha Gupta, Ph.D. – Julie Kidd, Ed.D. – Nedra Cossa – Heather West – Wendy Kasten, Ph.D. – Sue Ann Sharma, Ph.D.
• Literature Review Team – Tanya Wright, Ph.D. – Marliese Peltier – Chad Waldron
Contact Information
Sue Ann Sharma, Ph.D. [email protected]
Tanya S. Wright, Ph.D. [email protected]
Presentation can be found online at www.slideshare.com
References • Banks, J. (1993). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and
practice. Review of Research in Education, 19, 3-49. • Cochran-Smith, M., Davis, D., & Fries, K. (2004). Multicultural teacher education: research,
practice, and policy. In Banks, J. A. (Ed.), Handbook of research in multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 931–936). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Cochran-Smith, M. & Zeichner, K. (2005). Studying teachers education: The report of the AERA panel on research in teacher education. Lawrence Erlbaum, 7(3). 20-27.
• Darling-Hammond, L. & Bransford, J. (Eds.). (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Douglas, F. (1845). Narrative of the the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. New York, NY: Signet Classics. 2005 Print.
• Gay, G. (2010). Acting on beliefs in teacher education for cultural diversity. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1-2), 143-152.
• Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (2nd ed.). London: Taylor & Francis.
• Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of culture: Selected essays. New York, NY: Basic Books.
• Ginott, H. (1975). Teacher and child: A book for parents and teachers, New York, NY: Macmillan.
References • Hollins, E. & Torres-Guzman, M.E. (2005). Research on preparing teachers for diverse
populations. Cochran-Smith, M. & Zeichner, K. (Eds.). Studying teacher education the report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education: (pp.477-544). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• International Reading Association's Standards for Reading Professionals (2010). Retrieved from http://www.reading.org/General/CurrentResearch/Standards/ProfessionalStandards2010.aspx
• Ladson-Billings, G. (1998). Preparing teachers for diverse student populations: A critical race theory perspective. Review of Research in Education, 24(2), 211-247.
• Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2002). Teacher sorting and the plight of urban schools: A descriptive analysis. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24(7), 37-62.
• Lenski, S. D., Crumpler, T. P., Stallworth, C., & Crawford, K. M. (2005). Beyond awareness: Preparing culturally responsive preservice teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly,32(2), 85-98.
• Lucas, T. Villegas, A. M., & Freedson-Gonzalez, M. (2008). The culturally responsive teacher: Preparing classroom teachers to teach English language learners. Journal of Teacher Education, 59(4), 361-373.
• Miles, M. B, Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
References • Menken, K., & Antunez, B. (2001). An overview of the preparation and certification of teachers
working with limited English proficient students. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse of Bilingual Education. Retrieved July 30, 2013. www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=ED455231
• National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). The conditions of education. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/
• National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). The conditions of education. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/ analysis/2011-index.asp
• Reardon, S.F., & Bischoff, K. (2011). Income inequality and income segregation. American Journal of Sociology, 116(4), 1092-1153.
• Shudak, N. J. (2010). Diversity in teacher education: A double helix. Academic Questions, 23(3), 348-355.
• Simonds, B. K., Lippert, L. R., Hunt, S. K., Angell, M. E., & Moore, M. K. (2008). Communication and diversity: Innovations in teacher education. Communication Teacher, 22(2), 56-65.
• Sleeter, C. E. (2001). Preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools: Research and the overwhelming presence of whiteness. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2), 94-106.
• Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Tatum, A. W. (2003). Professional development for teachers of African American adolescents. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 30(1), 42-52.
• Villegas, A. M. & Lucas, T. (2007). The culturally responsive teacher. Educational Leadership, 64(6), 28-33.