Partners in Urban Research Seminar: Cultural Relevance in Education

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Partners in Urban Research SeminarCultural
Relevance in Education

• CoRAL Network
• Facilitators
• Deanna Cooke Daniel Jones

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Panel Outline

• Overview of the PURS Process
• Cultural Relevancy as the Guiding Principle
• Presentation of Specific Research Projects
• Kids2College Program and Evaluation
• Parents Focus Group Project
• Assessment with RHB Middle School Teachers
• Overall Discussion

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PURS Overview

• Focused on Education
• Collaborative between CBOs and University
  faculty staff
• Partnership building
• Training in the tenets of CBR
• Project Development
• PURS Process
• Readings
• Discussions of own interest
• Attempt at Consensus on projects

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Procedures

• 6 to 14 CBO and University based members
• Recruitment through CoRAL University Partnerships
• Most participants received stipends for
  participation
• Met bi-weekly for first 1 semester
• After projects were developed we met monthly as a
  whole group
• Also, met as needed with project-based subgroups

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Principles of our Research

• Relevant to multiple groups, yet Respectful of
  group differences
• Inclusive of multiple methodologies and/or
  methodologies that best fit the research question
  and context
• Action oriented
• Participatory research, or community-based
  research
• Building the capacity within the research
  location so that it is sustainable

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Cultural Relevancy

• The incorporation of culture into the classroom
  in ways that students can self identify and can
  better understand the way that culture influences
  the broader society.
• We assert that culture has an impact on student
  achievement among African American and Latino
  children.

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Research Projects
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PURS and Kids2College Improving Cultural
Relevancy in College Awareness Programs
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Background Information Kids2College

• Provides 6 week college awareness program
• Target elementary and middle schools with high
  concentration of minority and low-income students
• Use local college students as facilitators
• http//kids2collegedc.org/

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Scope of Work PURS K2C

• Improve cultural relevancy through additive
  component of college awareness curriculum
• Analyze the impact of this cultural relevancy
  component

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Action Steps

• Identify images of people of color in diverse
  careers
• Revise survey evaluation instruments
• Conduct analysis of pre and post evaluation
  surveys
• Assist with larger evaluation of K2Cs Washington
  regional programs

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Culturally Relevant Images

• Preliminary Research
• Students identified a limited number and very
  commonly known careers (e.g., doctor, athlete)

Research Question whether students simply did
not see people like them in these fields and
thus did not identify it as a true career option
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Culturally Relevant Images

• Study Activities
• Identify images of professionals from diverse
  backgrounds in a wide range of careers
• Provide activity developed with images to
  subgroup of program participants
• Compare answers on post survey about career
  options between those who received the images and
  comparison group

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K2C Handout

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Revise Survey Instruments

• Activities
• Examine current surveys and student responses
• Align pre and post surveys
• Add questions to reflect key components of
  curriculum

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Revising Survey Instruments

• Determine Goals of Survey
• Include questions that are in line with these
  goals
• Ask questions in a way that elicits the
  information that you are seeking
• Make sure terms are understood or clearly defined
• Put questions in logical order

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Future Activities

• PURS and K2C discussing continuing activities
  after May 2005
• Conducting analysis of pre/post evaluation
  surveys
• Larger evaluation of K2Cs regional programs

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Riverdale Elementary School

• Partners in Urban Research
• Deanna Cooke
• Daniel Jones
• Ana Patricia-Rodriguez
• Dianne Samu

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Riverdale Elementary The Context

• Elementary School
• In District 2 of the Prince Georges County
  Public School System.
• Majority of students are of Latino background and
  have parents who are recent immigrants.

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Riverdale ElementaryThe Problem

• Strained parent teacher interactions
• Breakdown in communication
• Parents felt disrespected
• Not allowed inside schools during school hours
• School Rules viewed as unreasonable
• Students being locked out on cold days

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Why Immigrant Groups Fail in School

• Schools Often Fail to Educate
• School Failure and the Education of Immigrants
• Idea of bilingual education is often vehemently
  opposed
• Breakdown in Communication
• Language barriers

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Parents Take a Stand

• Contacted media resources
• Radio
• Newspaper
• Contacted educational resources
• Dr. Katz
• Contacted community resources

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A Plan of Action

• Research the background of what has happened
• Based on background information create questions
  that can be used in a focus group
• Get together a focus group
• Run a focus group that is primarily discussion
  based
• Analyze findings

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Methodology

• Step 1 Contact parents to participate
• Daniel Head of parents group made contact
• Step 2 Facilitate Discussion groups
• Translator
• Step 3
• Look at analyze findings

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Focus Group Questions

• What changes have been made at Riverdale? Qué
  cambios se han hecho en la escuela Riverdale?
• What have these changes meant to the experience
  of you and your children? Qué han significado
  estos cambios para usted y sus hijos?
• What commitments are you waiting to be
  implemented? Qué falta por cumplir por parte de
  los administradores de la escuela?
• Are you in need of before and after school care?
  Necesita usted cuidado de sus hijos antes y
  después de clase?
• What would this care look like? Cómo quisiera
  que fuera este servicio?
• Parents at Riverdale have been actively involved
  in changing their school, something that many
  people are not able to do. What have you
  personally gained from this experience? Los
  padres de familia de la escuela Riverdale se han
  comprometido a cambiar su escuela, algo que mucha
  gente no ha podido hacer. Qué ha logrado usted
  personalmente de esta experiencia?

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Thoughts Challenges

• Reconciling expectations with actual findings
• Providing data to parents themselves
• Head of parents group

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Ronald H. Brown Middle School Teacher Assessment

• RHB and Georgetown University Relationship
• History
• Projects
• Classes

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Why talk about Culture at RHB?

• The Community Context
• The School Context
• The role of Teachers in transmitting culture

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The survey

• Focused generally on the GU/RHB relationship with
  2 questions added regarding culture
• What do you teach about culture?
• What do you want GU to help with in teaching
  about culture?

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Findings

• Teachers focused on culture in social studies
  courses, but few others
• The discussions of cultures in these classes may
  not relate directly to the students themselves
• Teachers wanted more focus on culture of the
  students

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Reflections on PURS
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Reflections on PURS

• Process
• Came to consensus
• Could work more deliberately on projects that
  relate to program participants
• Time consuming to do collaborative research
• OTHERS

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Overall Reflection on PURS