The International Observatory on Academic Achievement - Documentary search

File number :
CS-ISC-31e

Bibliographic reference :
Lewis, A., & Paik, S. (2001). Add it Up: Using Research to Improve Education for Low-Income and Minority Students. Washington: Poverty and Race Research Action Council.

Abstract :

The fact of the matter is that even today, ethnic minority students and/or students with low socio-economic status are more at risk of experiencing academic difficulties, not to mention being the victims of discrimination within school systems (e.g., less competent teachers, higher suspension rates). However, some underprivileged schools are meeting the challenge of ensuring success for all students successfully. Developed by the Poverty and Race Research Action Council (United States), this guide provides determining elements for achieving this objective. These elements were drawn from the experience of various schools and research results that supported their success. For the most part, this study involved elementary schools participating in the Title 1 programme.

A Good Start
(1) Helping parents understand how their children’s social and learning
abilities develop.
(2) Providing quality preschool experiences, including well-paid and
well-prepared staff.
(3) Increasing the emphasis on cognitive skills such as early literacy, while maintaining strong parent involvement.
(4) Making sure the transition from preschool to grade school is seamless and smooth for everyone, including children, parents and teachers.
(5) Analyzing evaluations of children’s school readiness, checking for bias that could prematurely label children.

Setting the Course
(1) Setting academic achievement of all students as the school mission.
(2) Developing a clear vision of the mission and means to be preferred.
(3) Including everyone — teachers, parents and students — in carrying out the mission.
(4) Organizing all efforts around student progress.

Helping Children Succeed by Helping Families
(1) Understanding and adequately implementing parent involvement requirements under relevant programmes.
(2) Using non-traditional forms of communication to reach out to parents.
(3) Creating a partnership-based school environment that considers
parents and the community as part of the family.
(4) Cultivating an ethos of respecting and cultivating family cultural values and traditions.
(5) Making various student and family community-based services available at school.

Ensuring Quality Teaching
(1) Makeing sure each school has an equitable distribution of competent
teachers.
(2) Implementing a quality, collaborative, instructionally-focused school environment.
(3) Giving schools the autonomy and support to create consistent professional
learning environments for teachers.
(4) Holding teachers primarily responsible for student academic achievement school-wide.

Setting and Supporting High Achievement Standards
(1) Aligning curriculum, instruction and assessment to high standards for all.
(2) Directing programmes, instruction, assessment, professional development and the use of resources, including time, to meeting standards.
(3) Using data to drive needed changes in instruction.
(4) Creating small learning environments.

Ways to Tell if a School is Serious about Teaching Reading and Math
(1) It emphasizes pre-reading skills in preschool and kindergarten programmes.
(2) It insists that teachers are knowledgeable about the most current research on early literacy and mathematics learning and use that knowledge in their classrooms.
(3) Its teachers know to use the dexterity of language-minority children
with their own language in building their skills in English.
(4) Students having difficulty learning to read are diagnosed early and immediately, and are given appropriate, high-quality interventions.
(5) It provides extra learning time to avoid making students repeat a grade.

Using Assessment as an Effective Tool for Accountability
(1) Making sure that administrators and teachers understand that different assessments are needed for different purposes.
(2) Aligning classroom assessments to the curriculum.
(3) Using a variety of assessments to determine students’ capacities properly and avoid making uninformed, crucial decisions about individual students.
(4) Using assessments to monitor the quality of instruction.

Ensuring Equity and Inclusion
(1) Ensuring that all students are meeting at least grade-level standards, no matter what it takes.
(2) Monitoing school policies and practices in order to determine their fairness.
(3) Adopting discipline policies that focus on prevention and applying them consistently.
(4) Using the diversity of students’ families and communities.
(5) Ensuring that all students are included, paying particular attention to at-risk students and students struggling with learning the language of instruction, and implementing help mechanisms.

Ways to Make Reforms Stick
(1) Make sure policies, missions and efforts are aligned within and across grade levels.
(2) Set goals, monitor them, and make corrections.
(3) Publicize the success of implemented actions.
(4) Develop a long-term vision.

Links :
http://www.prrac.org/

Key Words :
Poverty, Socio-economic Status, Ethnic Groups, Language Groups, Equity, Parent Participation, School-family-community Partnership, Literacy, Numeracy, Implementation, Teacher Recognition, Professional Development, Research Results, Assessment, Preschool, Primary, Elementary, Newsletter6

Monitored Countries :
United States