Sequoya Research Brief
2
1 Introduc)on African American students across the United States consistently have lower standardized test scores on reading assessments than their white, Asian, and Hispanic counterparts (NCES, 2011). Nationally, African American students in grade 8, for example, averaged 27 scale score points lower than white students (NCES, 2009). Statistics such as these underscore the dire need to transform education across the United States in order to better meet the academic needs of African American students, especially in reading which is the foundation for all other academic subject areas. Figure 1: Average reading scale score of 8th graders by sex and race/ethnicity: 2009 Educators report that minority and low-income students often fall behind their middle-class classmates during summer months because they are not exposed to enrichment activities designed to strengthen their academic skills (Alexander et al, 2007). Furthermore African American low-income parents are less likely to have the economic and social capital necessary to hire tutors during the school year as a method of supplementing classroom instruction (Lareau, 2003). What then can be done to strengthen the reading scores of African American students if teachers continue to be unsuccessful with these students in the classroom and parents often lack the economic and social capital to provide academic enrichment? A Case for Culturally Relevant Enriched Programs Researchers (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Delpit, 1993; Feger, 2006) contend that curriculum and pedagogy, including adolescent literature, that are culturally relevant – inclusive of African American cultural capital and cultural contributions to literature and other academic fields - will lead to better academic outcomes and increased school engagement for African American students. Mainstream adolescent literature often excludes texts by and about African Americans, and traditionally trained teachers are not always versed in pedagogical practices that meet the specific needs of minority populations. Exposing students to summer and after-school enrichment programs should be considered as an effective method of infusing cultural and historical knowledge with culturally relevant literature in order to increase the reading levels and interests of African American students. Programs such as the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools® are designed to strengthen the cultural awareness and academic skills of African American students through curriculum and instruction that are culturally relevant and highly engaging. RESEARCH BRIEF Fall 2011 Sequoya Mungo University of North Carolina at Charlotte Culturally Relevant Enrichment Programs’ Positive Impact on Reading Levels of African American Students: Implications for District and School Level Administrators SOURCE: U.S. Department of Educa)on, Na)onal Center for Educa)on Sta)s)cs. (2011). Digest of Educa/on Sta/s/cs, 2010 (NCES 2011015), Chapter 2 . “African American students across the United States consistently have lower standardized test scores on reading assessments than their white, Asian, and Hispanic counterparts (NCES, 2011). Nationally, African American students in grade 8, for example, averaged 27 scale score points lower than white students (NCES, 2009).”
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Introduc)on
“African American students across the United States consistently have lower standardized test scores on reading assessments than their white, Asian, and Hispanic counterparts (NCES, 2011). Nationally, African American students in grade 8, for example, averaged 27 scale score points lower than white students (NCES, 2009).” 1 A
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Transcript of Sequoya Research Brief
1
Introduc)on African American students across the United States consistently have lower standardized test scores on reading assessments than their white, Asian, and Hispanic counterparts (NCES, 2011). Nationally, African American students in grade 8, for example, averaged 27 scale score points lower than white students (NCES, 2009). Statistics such as these underscore the dire need to transform education across the United States in order to better meet the academic needs of African American students, especially in reading which is the foundation for all other academic subject areas.
Figure 1: Average reading scale score of 8th graders by sex and race/ethnicity: 2009
Educators report that minority and low-income students often fall behind their middle-class classmates during summer months because they are not exposed to enrichment activities designed to strengthen their academic skills (Alexander et al, 2007). Furthermore African American low-income parents are less likely to have the economic and social capital necessary to hire tutors during the school year as a method of supplementing classroom instruction (Lareau, 2003). What then can be done to strengthen the reading scores of African American students if teachers continue to be unsuccessful with these students in the classroom and parents often lack the economic and social capital to provide academic enrichment?
A Case for Culturally Relevant Enriched Programs
Researchers (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Delpit, 1993; Feger, 2006) contend that curriculum and pedagogy, including adolescent literature, that are culturally relevant – inclusive of African American cultural capital and cultural contributions to literature and other academic fields - will lead to better academic outcomes and increased school engagement for African American students. Mainstream adolescent literature often excludes texts by and about African Americans, and traditionally trained teachers are not always versed in pedagogical practices that meet the specific needs of minority populations. Exposing students to summer and after-school enrichment programs should be considered as an effective method of infusing cultural and historical knowledge with culturally relevant literature in order to increase the reading levels and interests of African American students. Programs such as the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools® are designed to strengthen the cultural awareness and academic skills of African American students through curriculum and instruction that are culturally relevant and highly engaging.
RESEARCH BRIEFFa
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Sequoya MungoUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte
Culturally Relevant Enrichment Programs’ Positive Impact on Reading Levels of African American Students: Implications for District
and School Level Administrators
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Educa)on, Na)onal Center for Educa)on Sta)s)cs. (2011). Digest of Educa/on Sta/s/cs, 2010 (NCES 2011-‐015), Chapter 2.
!
“African American students across the United States
consistently have lower standardized test scores on
reading assessments than their white, Asian, and
Hispanic counterparts (NCES, 2011). Nationally,
African American students in grade 8, for example,
averaged 27 scale score points lower than white
students (NCES, 2009).”
2
READING Research cont.
What are Freedom Schools?
CDF’s Freedom Schools® are summer and after-school enrichment programs designed to increase students’ interests in reading and help them develop positive attitudes about learning (Children’s Defense Fund, 2011). Freedom Schools have served more than 90,000 students nationally since 1995 and base their curriculum on the following five core components:
• High quality academic achievement• Parent and family involvement• Social Action and civic engagement• Intergenerational servant leadership
development• Nutrition, health, and mental health
(Children’s Defense Fund, 2011)
In 2010 The Center for Adolescent Literacies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte conducted research to study the impact of Freedom School’s on the reading levels of African American Students (Children’s Defense Fund, 2011; Taylor et al, 2010). Researchers used The Basic Reading Inventory (BRI) to measure students’ reading levels pre and post Freedom Schools® summer programs in Bennettsville, South Carolina and Charlotte North Carolina in 2010. The BRI indicated that students showed significant gains on the post-test (Taylor et al, 2010). As evidences by Figure 2 over half of the students’ scores improved over the course of about two months, and another 38.6 percent maintained their reading levels, which is significant considering many students’ reading levels decrease over the summer months (Alexander & Olsen, 2007; Taylor et al, 2010).
Figure 2: Change over )me on the BRI independent measure
The success of Freedom Schools® highlights the impact that culturally relevant enrichment programs have on the academic outcomes of African American students, who constitute over 90% of the Freedom School population (Taylor
et al, 2010). The increased presence of Freedom Schools, and similar programs, has the potential to transform reading levels and educational outcomes in general for African American students. School district and school level administrators responsible for adopting and implementing enrichment programs should consider the following:
• Culturally relevant summer and after school programs strengthen reading skills and reading interests for African American students.
• Proven effective curriculum and instruction of Freedom Schools can be implemented in traditional classrooms in order to increase students reading levels
• Further research at the school and district level might yield correlations between test scores and student participation in culturally relevant enrichment programs
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!References
Aud, S., Hussar, W., Kena, G., Bianco, K., Frohlich, L., Kemp, J., Tahan, K. (2011). The Condition of Education 2011 (NCES 2011-033). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Blake, M. E. & Sickle, M.V. (2001). Helping linguistically diverse students share what they know. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 44(5), 468-475.
Champion, T.B., Rosa-Lugo, L.I., Rivers, K.O., & McCabe, A. (2010). A preliminary investigation of second- and fourth-grade African American students’ performance on the Gray Oral
Reading Test-Fourth edition. Topics in Language Disorders, 30(2), 145-153.
Craig, H. K., & Washington, J. A. (2004). Grade-Related Changes in the Production of African American English. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 47(2), 450-463.
DOI:10.1044/1092-4388(2004/036)
Fogel, H. & Ehri, L.C. (2006). Teaching African American English forms to standard American English-Speaking teachers: Effects on acquisition, attitudes, and responses to student use.
Journal of Teacher Education, 57(5), 464-480.
Johnston, J. (2010, August). Early reading results show substantial improvements in reading skills. Vanderbuilt University. Retrieved from:
http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2010/08/early-results-show-substantial-improvements-in-reading-skills/
Jonsberg, S.D. (2011). What’s (White) teacher to do about Black English? The English Journal, 90(4), 51-53.
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (2011). Even start facts and figures: Student achievement and school accountability programs. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/sasa/esfacts.html.
Pittman, R. (2007) Improving spelling ability among speakers of African American Vernacular English: An intervention based on phonological, morphological, and orthographic
principles. Ph.D. dissertation, Texas A&M University, United States -- Texas. Retrieved April 20, 2011, from Dissertations & Theses @ Texas A&M System.(Publication No. AAT
3281137).
Terry, N., Connor, C., Thomas-Tate, S., & Love, M. (2010). Examining Relationships Among Dialect Variation, Literacy Skills, and School Context in First Grade. Journal of Speech,
Language & Hearing Research, 53(1), 126-145.
Toppo, G. (2008, May). Study: Bush’s reading first program ineffective. U.S.A. Today. Retrieved from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-05-01-reading-first_N.htm.
U.S. Departent of Education (2003). Guidance for the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Programs. Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
U.S. Department of Education (2009). The second evaluation of the Improving Literacies through School Libraries program. Retrieved from:
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/other/libraries/libraries09.pdf.
U.S. Department of Education (2011). National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Selected Years 1992-2009 Reading Assessments, NAEP
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Suggested Cita,on: Mungo, S. (2011). Culturally relevant enrichment programs’ posi>ve impact on reading levels of African American students: implica>ons for district and school level administrators. (UERPC Research Brief 2011) CharloHe, NC: University of North Carolina at CharloHe, College of Educa>on, Urban Educa>on and Research and Policy Collabora>ve.
Submission Guidelines: The Urban Educa>on Research and Policy Collabora>ve accepts manuscripts for review and publica>on considera>on for the Research Brief series. SubmiHed manuscripts should not exceed 1,000 words and must conform to the guidelines outlined in the 6th Edi>on of the Publica0on Manual of the American Psychological Associa0on. All manuscripts will undergo a blind review and refereed process. The review process takes approximately 3-‐4 weeks. Manuscripts can be submiHed for review via e-‐mail to Dr. Chance Lewis ([email protected]).
Correspondence regarding this report may be sent via e-‐mail to: [email protected]
Adapted from Taylor, B., Medina, A., & Lara-‐Cinisomo, (2010). Freedom School Partners Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools Program® evalua)on report. The Center for Adolescent Literacies at UNC CharloZe. p. 12.
! References
Alexander, K., Entwisle, D., & Olsen L. (2007). Lasting consequences of the summer learning gap. American Sociological Review, 72 (2), 167-180.
Children’s Defense Fund. (2011). CDF Freedom Schools® Program. Retrieved from http://www.childrensdefense.org/programs-campaigns/freedom- schools/
Delpit, L. (2006). Other people’s children: cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: The New York Press. Ladson-Billings, G. (2009). The dreamkeepers: successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Lareau, A. (2003). Unequal childhoods: class, race, and family life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
U. S. Department of Education National Center for Educational Statistics. (2011). Eighth grade students scale scores on national standardized reading tests by race/ethnicity: 2009. National Assessment of Educational Progress
Taylor, B., Medina, A., & Lara-Cinisomo, (2010). Freedom School Partners Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools Program® evaluation report. The Center for Adolescent Literacies at UNC Charlotte. Retrieved from Children’s Defense Fund website:!http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-
research-data-publications/data/charolette-fsp-evaluation-report.pdf!!
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“Educators report that minority and low-
income students often fall behind their middle-class classmates during
summer months because they are not
exposed to enrichment activities designed to
strengthen their academic skills
(Alexander et al, 2007).”
!
