Equity and Deeper Learning:Equity and Deeper Learning:Making high standards and powerful learning opportunities available Making high standards and powerful learning opportunities available to to AllAll Students Students

Pedro A. Noguera, Ph.D.Pedro A. Noguera, Ph.D.New York UniversityNew York University

Pervasive inequality makes the pursuit of equity difficult, but essential Equity is:

Addressing the needs of all students - Academic and social

Compensating for disadvantagesRecognizing that children learn in different ways and at

different pacesStaying focused on outcomes – academic and developmental

Child and Family Poverty in the U.S.

DeNavas-Walt, C., Proctor, B. D., & Smith, J. C. (2010). Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P60-238,.Washington, DC.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Available at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p60-238.pdf

The Failure of Policy

NCLB moved us forward by requiring schools to produce evidence of learning, but:

Ignored standards related to the conditions required for learning

Provided insufficient guidance on how to expand learning opportunities

Narrowed focus of curriculumRelied on pressure as strategy to improve schools Largely ignored the non-academic needs of children

Impact of test-based accountability on teaching and learning

Led to more scripted teaching aligned to “packaged” curriculaGreater emphasis placed on low level “testable” skills, rather than higher order thinking in low-income schools

Limited opportunities for “deeper learning”.Distorted the use of testing - used to measure and monitor achievement, rather than to improve teaching and learningOverlooked importance of delivering high quality instruction, particularly for vulnerable groups

When conditions associated with poverty (e.g. poor nutrition, exposure to violence, family and housing instability, etc.) are ignored, it significantly reduces the likelihood of educational success.

Under the right conditions, Poor children are capable of learning and excelling, but…

A framework for pursuing equity

Child Development – a holistic approach to learning (social and emotional factors) and the need for differentiation

Neuroscience – elasticity of brain requires the use of strategies to promote cognitive development and mitigate harmful factors in the environment

Understanding and responding to the way students are affected by:

Family Peers Community Society

Toxic stress impacts learning

Increasing evidence for the “toxic stress” hypothesis – Stressors associated with poverty increase wear and tear on cardiovascular

and HPA axis-> hypothesized to be “biomediator” of impact on brain development and function

Children exposed to higher levels of poverty for longer periods of time have greater difficulty with

• Attention• Working memory• Inhibitory control

Trauma exposure in military vs. urban Detroit

Type Ohio National Guard

DETROIT

Combat 46.5% (n = 1151) 10.9% (n = 146)

Fire/explosion 31.9% (n = 790) --

Rape/sexual assault 10.1% (n = 251) 19.1% (n = 256)

Shot or stabbed 8.3% (n = 205) 15.7% (n = 210)

Held captive 0.6% (n = 15) 6.1% (n = 82)

Mugged/badly beaten/ threatened w/ a weapon

38.2% (n = 946) 38.4% (n = 515)

Transportation accident 30.1% (n = 744) 31.0% (n = 416)

Other accident 18.4% (n = 456) 17.1% (n = 229)

Natural disaster 17.5% (n = 433) 21.5% (n = 288)

Sudden unexpected death 70.6% (n = 1747) 79.5% (n = 1068)

Caused injury/death 12.4% (n = 307) --

Witnessed death/human suffering

54.0% (n = 1337) 36.2% (n = 486)

Learned of other’s illness/injury

76.3% (n = 1889) 73.6% (n = 988)Karestan Koenen in collaboration with Kate Walsh

Legend

% Poverty

PERCPOVERT

0.00 - 20.00

20.01 - 40.00

40.01 - 60.00

60.01 - 80.00

80.01 - 100.00

") CSRP Participant Home Address

!( Homicides

Legend

% Poverty

PERCPOVERT

0.00 - 20.00

20.01 - 40.00

40.01 - 60.00

60.01 - 80.00

80.01 - 100.00

") CSRP Participant Home Address

!( Homicides

Legend

% Poverty

PERCPOVERT

0.00 - 20.00

20.01 - 40.00

40.01 - 60.00

60.01 - 80.00

80.01 - 100.00

") CSRP Participant Home Address

!( Homicides

The overlap

Students experiencing higher exposure to crime had more difficulty with attention and impulsive behavior.

• Children who were more anxious/sad were especially vulnerable.

Five Essential Ingredients for school improvement

- A coherent instructional guidance system - Ongoing development of the professional capacity of staff - Strong parent-community-school ties – to mitigate effects of poverty- A student-centered learning culture/climate - Shared leadership to drive change

Expand access to high standards and high quality learning opportunities

Language Arts - The Common Core State Standards create a staircase of increasing text complexity. Students are expected to both develop their skills and apply them to more complex texts.

The standards require students to systematically acquire knowledge in literature and other disciplines through reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

English teachers will still teach their students the literature and literary nonfiction texts that they choose. However, because college and career readiness overwhelmingly focuses on complex texts outside of literature, the standards also ensure that students are being prepared to read, write, and research across the curriculum, including in history and science.

See: Common Core, Culture and Argumentation in the Disciplines by Carol Lee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkxQ9VYP0Gs

Adams scholarship winners 2014Brockton HS

Math standards

The standards are designed to support a student's ability to learn and apply more demanding math concepts and procedures. The middle school and high school standards call on students to practice applying mathematical ways of thinking to real-world issues and challenges. In particular, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and critical-thinking skills are interwoven into the standards.

Students in control of learning at Hollenbeck Middle School, LA

English language learners and students with learning disabilities

In order for ELLs and students with disabilities to meet high academic standards they must acquire conceptual and procedural knowledge and skills in mathematics, reading, writing, speaking and listening. For this to occur their instruction must include:

Supports services designed to meet their unique needs. Fidelity in the implementation of the Individualized

Education Plan (IEP). This must include annual goals aligned with grade-level academic standards.

Teachers and specialized instructional support personnel who are prepared and qualified to deliver high-quality, evidence-based, individualized instruction and support services.

Bronx Academy of Language and Technology

The standards will only lead to improvement if we focus on engagement

Behavioral EngagementPreparationPersistenceInstrumental Help-seeking

Cognitive EngagementDeep ProcessingMeta-cognition

Affective EngagementInterestValue

Utilize strategies that are effective at engaging students in learning

1. Active learning, interactive classroom, on-task learning

2. Draw on prior knowledgePersonalized learning plans Inquiry-based pedagogical strategiesSimulations and experiential learningSocratic seminars and debateProject-based learningStudent leadership in the classroomPublic presentations of student work

Teachers focus on evidence of learning• Make expectations clear and standards explicit

• Model and expose students to high quality work

• Utilize diagnostic tools to check for understanding

• Learn about their students interests in order to make lessons culturally relevant

• Expect students to revise and resubmit work

• Solicit feedback and questions from students

• Analyze student work with a focus on evidence of competence and mastery, and with a willingness to reflect on efficacy of methods

Align the skills of teachers with the needs of students

Provide access to mentors and content area coaches – selected based upon a record of effectiveness and an ability to work well with colleagues

Provide time for observation and feedback – from veteran teachers and knowledgeable administrators

Provide time to plan and collaborate with colleagues and learn from student work

Don’t assign new teachers to teach the most challenging classes

Neuroscience and intervention

“Lure of neuroplasticity” - the rapid development in childhood of the neural substrate of EFs -> explosion in the number of products that claim to “train the brain” (Rabipour & Raz, 2013).

Efforts to improve children’s executive

function:

Laboratory-based game-like computer-based training administered to individual children (Loosli,Buschkeuhl, Perrig, & Jaeggi, 2012; Mackey, Hill, Stone, & Bunge, 2011),

Clinically oriented training targeting children with difficulty (such as those children with ADHD) (Klingberg et al., 2005),

Interventions targeting children’s classroom, home environments (Diamond et al., 2007).

Recent advertisement for Webinar in Education Week:

“Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison believe new video games like Crystals of Kaydor and Tenacity can measure student learning in real time while literally rewiring kids' brains to help them pay better attention and improve their behavior.”

Utilize CSRP and other intervention programs to promote resilience

Communities and schools can make big difference by investing in universal preschool.

School leaders (and teachers, students) can actively capitalize on classic neuroscientific finding: The “social buffer” hypothesis –

The presence of supportive adult dramatically reducesbiological stress response as well as experience of anxiety for individuals facing major challenge or stressor

Old Paradigm Intelligence is innate Job of schools is to

measure intelligence and sort accordingly

Students expected to meet requirements of school, failure is normalized

Discipline used to weed out the “bad” kids

New ParadigmIntelligence and ability

are influenced by opportunity

It is the job of school to cultivate talent and resilience among students

Schools organized to meet student needs and resources are allocated based on need

Discipline used to reinforce pro-social values and norms

Need for a paradigm shift

Systems to facilitate school effectiveness Diagnostic assessment

Early intervention procedures

Ongoing evaluation to insure quality control

On-site, ongoing professional development for teachers

Shared leadership

Cultural Changes:Supportive relationships between teachers and students

Willingness among teachers to share ideas, curricula, materials

Peer culture where it is “cool to be smart”

Partnerships between school, community and parents

Strategies that support teaching and learning

Undoing the effects of NCLB Broaden and deepen the curriculum Move away from scripted teaching and move toward

greater teacher responsibility in curriculum development and lesson design

Ensure greater opportunities for “deeper learning”. Use assessment to diagnose learning needs and to

provide feedback on how to improve teaching and learning

Place priority on the development and implementation of high quality instruction of instruction, particularly for vulnerable groups

A holistic vision of school capacity building to achieve equity in outcomes