Minority Student Achievement and the Desired Characteristics of Equity Programs in Diverse Schools with Predominantly White Faculty TCNJ Educational Leadership Immersion Program Kathleen DeCristofaro

Significance & Application No Child Left Behind mandates schools that are dependent on federal funding to address gaps between student subgroups. “100%proficient by 2014”

Significance & Application All programs supported by NCLB dollars must be research based and research supported… …yet little research exists to support equity-based organizations and services.

Purpose of the Study Determine the characteristics of an exemplary equity program. Provide an analysis of the extent to which selected diversity and equity organizations’ public domain literature reflect the desired characteristics of exemplary programs.

Step One Develop a criterion tool to analyze equity program documents for the prevalence of desired characteristics of equity organizations. Methodology

Methodology Step Two Conduct a content analysis of the equity organizations’ web pages using the developed criterion.

The Selected Programs Anti-Defamation League’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® INSTITUTES Beyond Diversity Resource Center Respecting Ethnic and Cultural Heritage (REACH) Center Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (SEED) The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond

The criterion tool… Fourteen criterion in five areas… 1.Guiding Principles (3) 2.Purposes (2) 3.Processes (4) 4.Personal/Professional Development (2) 5.Evaluation (3)

Findings high Programs contained a high prevalence of these criteria: Guiding principle of a system- wide collaborative effort. Guiding principle of critical multiculturalism. Purpose of developing a non- racist, anti-discriminatory identity.

high prevalence continued… Processes include a curriculum that addresses stereotyping, and assimilation. Processes include a curriculum that addresses differentiated and multicultural instruction. Professional development training components that includes the district phases of non-racist identity development.

low Programs contained a low prevalence of these criteria: Guiding principle that it is an expectation among teachers that all students are capable of high academic achievement. A purpose of attaining academic achievement at high levels that is equitable between student subgroups.

low prevalence continued… Processes that engage parents of minority students and the local minority community to promote collaboration. Processes that provide structural academic support for minority students. Professional/personal development that includes cultural immersion experiences.

low prevalence continued… Evaluation (internal or external) of the programs’ services that measure…. academic achievement student attitudes school personnel attitudes and practices

Discussion What do schools need to do? Within the context of NCLB guidelines, do the conditions exist for these programs to be more widely implemented in schools?

The key is evaluation and analysis…and attention. It is our moral obligation to address educational inequity and to evaluate our own role in its legacy. Thank you

Questions