Writing about Diversity Writing about Diversity and and

Social JusticeSocial Justice

Dr. Laurence Musgrove

Associate Professor of English

Saint Xavier UniversitySaint Xavier University

Chicago, IllinoisChicago, Illinois

More than any other group, middle-class black students show the greatest academic improvement when they aren't trapped in high-poverty schools, according to a Tribune analysis of Illinois test scores.

from “Test scores, poverty are entwined”by Jodi S. Cohen and Darnell Little

Chicago Tribune, July 4, 2005

1

Purpose of Presentation

Describe use of service learningin fall 2004

first-year research and writing course on diversity and social justice

In elementary schools where fewer than half the students are low-income, nearly 62 percent of middle-class black students passed last year's state reading test.

That's nearly 12 percentage points higher than how they fared in predominantly poor schools.

No other group of students -- whites, Hispanics or low-income blacks -- posted as great an improvement, the analysis showed.

2

Description of Course

Honors English First-Year Writing

Focus on Writing Research

Topic: Diversity and Social Justice

Interdisciplinary

Three Writing Assignments• Individual Diversity• Gender and Sexuality• Race, Class, Education

Service Learning Experience

But few black children have the option of attending a low-poverty school.

In Illinois, three out of every four black students are enrolled in schools where most children are poor.

3

Selected Learning Objectives

Understand the concept of diversity and its value in personal and public

life

Understand the connections between race, class, and literacy

Understand the value of personality type

Understand the concept of culture

Educators say the high concentration of black students in poor schools is one of the biggest barriers to closing the stubborn gap in test scores between white and African-American students, an issue at the forefront of national education reforms.

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Purpose of Service Learning Experience

Provide students with real “text” that supports learning objectives of course

Provide students with “counter-cultural” experiences

Make visible influence of “class” discrimination in U.S. education

There are few middle-class black neighborhoods large enough to support an entire school, leaving most black families in the state, regardless of income, in schools with high percentages of low-income students.

About 73 percent of the state's black students last year attended predominantly low-income schools, compared with 10 percent of white students.

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Research Project 3

Race, Class, Education, and Social Justice

Honors English Seminar Saint Xavier University

Not surprisingly, the trend extends beyond Illinois.

Nationwide, more than 60 percent of black and Hispanic students attend high-poverty schools -- where more than 50 percent of students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch -- compared with 30 percent of Asians and 18 percent of whites, according to the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University.

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Service Learning Assignment

Tour Two Public Elementary SchoolsBoth Predominately African-AmericanClass Differences

Honors English Seminar Saint Xavier University

Many experts believe that most high-poverty schools in Illinois have subpar test results in part because the schools lack resources to deal with the problems that accrue when poor children are clustered together.

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Service Learning Assignment

Tutor elementary students in each school on short math or writing assignment

Honors English Seminar Saint Xavier University

These schools typically struggle with higher mobility rates and the difficulties that come when children have unstable home lives.

Students may have untreated health issues such as asthma, behavioral problems and other challenges that can make it harder to learn for all children, even those from wealthier families.

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Results

Some students still failed to get beyond issues of race

Administration at one school had trouble finding time for tutoring

Some students resented assignment

Some students thought experience was limited

Some students better understood class influence on literacy

Honors English Seminar Saint Xavier University

Conversely, minority students in low-poverty schools are exposed to higher expectations from peers and teachers, less student and staff turnover, and greater academic competition, often pushed by parents determined to see them succeed, according to education experts.

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Revisions

Increased attention to “privilege”

Better highlight issue of “education as social equalizer”

Focus on one school

Evaluations from teacher and students

Honors English Seminar Saint Xavier University