Title: The Achievement Gap and School Counselors: Preparing School Counselors to Play a Role in Culturally Responsive Education
1The Achievement Gap and School Counselors
Preparing School Counselors to Play a Role in
Culturally Responsive Education
- Blaire Cholewa, Ph.D Kean University
- Ellen Amatea, Ph.D Cirecie West-Olatunji, Ph.D-
University of Florida
2Chronic Underachievement
- Persistent differences in academic achievement
between low income, culturally diverse students
and their White peers - (Planty et al., 2008 U.S. Department of
Education, 2007) - Discrepancies in drop out rates between
culturally diverse students and their White peers - (Planty et al., 2008 U.S. Department of
Education, 2007) - Disproportionate referrals for special education
- (Blair Scott, 2002 Skiba et al., 2008)
- Disproportionate number of discipline referrals,
suspensions and expulsions - (Gordon et al., 2000 Skiba et al., 2002)
3Cultural Dys-synchronization
- U.S. education is based on the norms and values
of White, middle and upper class - (Boykin, 2001 Foster et al., 2003)
- Cultural discontinuity theory examines the
disconnection between the education system and
the students home (Irvine, 1990 Gay, 2000
Ladson-Billings, 1994 Moll Gonzalez, 2004) - Failure of some educators to recognize culturally
diverse students ways of knowing, speaking, and
interacting (Moll Gonzalez, 2004 Nieto, 2004)
- Cultural dys-synchronization has been linked with
psychological distress in culturally diverse
students (Brody et al., 2006 Fisher et al.,
2001 Murdock, 1999 Wong et al.,2003)
4Culturally Responsive Educational Practices
- Culturally responsive educational practices
bridge the existing disconnection between the
school and home - These practices combine
- culturally based pedagogical and instructional
methods (Gay, 2000 Ladson-Billings, 1994 King,
2005 Nieto, 2004a) - culturally responsive classroom management and
teacher-student interactions (Brown, 2003, 2004
Bondy, et al., 2007 Weinstein et al., 2003,
2004)
5The Impact of Culturally Responsive Educational
Practices
- The research suggests the low-income, culturally
diverse students of teachers who implement these
practices are related to - significant academic gains (Foster, Lewis,
Onafowora, 2003, 2005 Foster, 1997 Gay, 2000
Ladson-Billings, 1994 Pransky Bailey, 2002
Vogt, Jordan, Tharp, 1993) - Positive increases in aspects of psychological
well-being (Cummins, 1996 Diaz-Greenberg, 2001
Howard, 2001 Ladson-Billings, 1994)
6Relationship among Cultural Dys-synchronization,
Psychological Distress and Academic Outcomes
Cultural Dyschronization Education
Psychological Distress
Academic Outcomes
721st Century School Counselor
- ASCA calls for school counselors to serve as
- Leaders,
- Advocates
- Consultants (ASCA, 2003)
- School counselors work toward equity and social
justice (Bemak Chung, 2005) - Consultant role is increasingly important with
low-income, culturally diverse students. (Amatea
West-Olatunji, 2007 Bemak, 2000 Brown
Trusty, 2005). - School counselors receive extensive relational
and multicultural training and yet are often
absent from conversations regarding teacher
instruction. (Cholewa West-Olatunji, 2008 Sue,
Arredondo McDavis, 1992 ).
8Three Recommendations for Counselor Educators
- Creating School Counselor Trainee Buy-in and
Commitment - Preparing Trainees to Deal with Potential Teacher
Resistance - Curricular Activities
9Creating School Counselor Trainee Buy-in and
Commitment
- Stress the significance of school counselors
indirect service roles leader, advocate,
consultant - Increase trainees awareness of cultural
dys-synchronization - Provide basic knowledge of culturally responsive
educational practices - Provide knowledge and skills around leadership
and consultation - Foster trainees agency
10Preparing the Trainee to Deal with Teacher
Resistance
- Emphasize the collaborative nature of
consultation and the importance of partnering
with teachers - Facilitate trainees empathy towards teachers-
putting themselves in the teachers shoes - Provide examples of collaborative interventions
with teachers including - Story Circle
- School wide readings with reading groups
- Online discussions
- Examples of Outcomes Paige Allison
11Curricular Activities
- Conscious Raising Activities for Trainees
- Story Circle (Clay, Olatunji Cooley, 2001)
- Circles of Diversity
- Horatio Algiers By the Bootsraps (DeRosa, 1994)
- Create opportunities counselor trainees to
practice the implement culturally responsive
strategies in their own large group counseling.
This will - Solidify the concepts of culturally responsive
educational practices - Facilitate trainees ability to consult with
teachers on this topic having actually done so
themselves.
12Curricular Activities
- Partner with teacher education and educational
leadership departments and create
interdisciplinary assignments - Create and implement in-class role plays around
consultation skills - Require counselor-teacher consultation
experiences in practica/internships
13Future Research
- Further inquiry into the psychological impact of
culturally responsive teachers on their students - Evaluate existing leadership training initiatives
that have been incorporated into school counselor
education programs - Intervention studies to examine ways to
facilitate collaborative partnerships between
school counselors and teachers
14Selected References
- Amatea, E., West-Olatunji, C. (2007). Joining
the conversation about educating our poorest
children New leadership roles for school
counselors in high poverty schools. Professional
School Counseling, 11, 81-89. - Cholewa, B. West-Olatunji, C. (2008).
Exploring the relationship among cultural
discontinuity, psychological distress, and
academic outcomes with low-income, culturally
diverse students. Professional School
Counseling, 12, 54-61. - Clay, L., Olatunji, C., Cooley, S. (2001).
Keeping the story alive Narrative in the
African-American church and community.
Educational Resource Information Clearinghouse,
ERIC No ED462666, pp. 1-9. - DeRosa, P. (1994). Diversity training In search
of anti-racism. Peacework, 240, 1-4. - Foster, M., Lewis, J., Onafowora, L. (2003).
Anthropology, culture, and research on teaching
and learning Applying what we have learned to
improve practice. Teachers College Record, 105,
261-277. - Fisher C. B., Wallace S. A., Fenton R. E.
(2000). Discrimination distress during
adolescence. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 29,
679695.
15Selected References
- Irvine, J.J. (1990). Black students and school
failure Policies, practices, and prescriptions.
New York Praeger. - Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers
Successful teachers of African American children.
San Francisco Jossey-Bass. - Nieto, S. (2004). Affirming diversity The
sociopolitical context of multicultural
education, (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA Allyn
Bacon - U. S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics. (2007). The Condition
of Education 2007 (NCES 2007-064). Washington,
DC U.S. Government Printing - Wong, C. A., Eccles, J. S., Sameroff, A.
(2003). The influence of ethnic discrimination
and ethnic identification on African American
adolescents school and socioemotional
adjustment. Journal of Personality, 71,
11971232.
16Contact Information
- Cirecie A. West-Olatunji, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor
- Department of Counselor Education
- University of Florida
- 1204 Norman Hall
- PO Box 117046
- Gainesville, FL 32611
- 352-273-4324
- cwestolatunji_at_coe.ufl.edu
Blaire Cholewa, Ph. D Assistant
Professor Department of Counselor Education Kean
University 306 Hennings Hall 1000 Morris
Ave Union, NJ 07083 (908) 737-3859 bcholewa_at_kean.e
du
Ellen Amatea, Ph.D Professor Department of
Counselor Education University of Florida 1202
Norman Hall PO Box 117046 Gainesville, FL
32611 352-273-4322 eamatea_at_ufl.edu