Assessments and Culturally Responsive Practices

Synthesis

Afflerbach:

One perspective on culturally responsive practices is that teachers should use them to bridge the gap between students’ experiences/context and the content that they are learning. To do so, teachers must find a way to discover their students’ “funds of knowledge and cultural practices” and use that knowledge to bridge the gap (323). Another perspective is that teachers should use this knowledge to help students navigate various discourses, such as the conventions for communicating with teachers in a particular school or the types of discussion inherent to a particular discipline. A third perspective argues that the other two are not sufficient. Instead, cultures and perspectives that are not mainstream should be incorporated into the classroom not only as a tool for students, but as a regular part of the curriculum. A few principles for culturally responsive practices with adolescents include: building relationships between teachers and students, respecting the multitude of cultural experiences that each person has, working with students to foster relevance, maintaining thorough knowledge of disciplinary knowledge (for the teacher), engaging students in several varied and authentic tasks within the discipline, and encouraging students to develop new understandings of content based on their own experiences.

Moje & Hinchman:

One issue that must be addressed before assessing adolescents’ reading is to define what adolescent reading is. Many people  presume that adolescents construct meaning from texts satisfactorily, so often assessments focus on using and reflecting on texts. However, some argue that it is important to measure basic comprehension because many adolescents struggle in the area of understanding. Within this balance, there are a variety of skills that adolescent readers can (and often do) use while reading, which helps create a definition of adolescent reading. Another issue is to determine whether assessment is successful, which can be addressed using three components. Assessments can measure cognitive aspects of reading, or what students do while they are reading and what meaning they construct from texts. Educators should also take into account how best to observe students’ reading, which helps determine what type of assessment is most suitable for a particular discipline or situation. Additionally, assessments should be constructed in such a way that interpretations of the data gained through them can be considered reliable inferences. Taking into account these issues, teachers can use the CURRV framework to determine the suitability of reading assessments. For adolescent reading, the following types of assessments are relevant: performance assessments (domain-specific, authentic tasks), teacher observation/questioning (framed to provoke the best insight), portfolio assessments (which can be in various forms), and high stakes tests (not usually very useful, but still very relevant to adolescent education).

Hinchman & Sheridan-Thomas:

It is important to remember that adolescent readers are still learning, both in the area of literacy and in the disciplines. Factoring this in, educators can use a content-area reading inventory (CARI) to assess how well students read content area texts. A CARI usually involves three steps: identifying necessary skills for a particular type of text, selecting valuable excerpts, and creating questions/prompts that provide valuable insights. Educators can evaluate students’ ability to use book parts, such as the table of contents and headings. Another area of content-area evaluation is interpretation of visual information, such as graphs and charts. Assessments can also focus on students’ understanding of the content vocabulary in a text. Additionally, students can be assessed on their ability to summarize key ideas and record their own understanding for further study. CARI assessments can help teachers understand whole classes, small groups, and individual students and use that data to inform their instruction. After administering a CARI, teachers can also help students use vocabulary self-awareness activities to help them monitor their prior knowledge and comprehension. To address some of the struggles that teachers may  discover, educators can use students’ strengths with out-of-school texts and media to foster background knowledge, relevance, and engagement.

Responses

The Afflerbach article mentioned that some educators “seek to make evident the power hierarchies inherent in school learning” that can make certain disciplines “accessible only to some students” (325). I’m very interested in this perspective. I absolutely think there can be complex relationships among obstacles in different fields, such as language, culture, or disability, that hinder some people’s and group’s tendency to succeed in that field. I would love to see more research and theory about how to help change these power hierarchies, or at least help our students have more access to all disciplines. Culturally responsive pedagogy is likely a good first step.

I’m really glad that I took the assessments course toward the beginning of graduate school. If I hadn’t, I think the Moje & Hinchman chapter and the Hinchman & Sheridan-Thomas chapter would have been a little overwhelming. I have learned firsthand that not all assessments are useful or suitable in all situations or with all students. I have also learned that various types of assessments are valuable in their own way, and it definitely takes both knowledge and practice on the educator’s part to be able to determine when and if to use each kind. And I have learned that good teaching is nearly impossible without some form of initial and formative assessment.

Questions

I feel like a lot of teachers probably aren’t often thinking about power hierarchies and marginalization of various cultures and perspectives in the classroom. How do you think we can help our fellow teachers understand and think about these issues more thoroughly?

What is a challenge that you face or think you will face with assessing students’ reading?

What is a type of reading assessment that you think would be particularly pertinent for assessing adolescent reading? Why?

To conclude the semester with my literacy for life class, I want to give them some strategies that they can use with the texts they read in content area classes like history, science, etc. What do you think would be a valuable assessment for me to use before doing so?

Week 12: Supporting English Language Learners

Synthesis

Garcia and Godina:
Research has shown that Hispanic students who are bilingual encounter more vocabulary and topics that are unfamiliar when they read in English than their monolingual peers. Research has also shown a correlation between ELLs success in reading English and their use of high-level vs. low-level reading strategies. Also, most ELLs make use of cognates to enhance their comprehension. The article recommends several areas of instructional support that help ELLs succeed. Schools should have high standards for academic and hold students accountable for achieving those standards. Staff development should always be linked to strategies for supporting ELLs. ELLs' sociocultural knowledge should be integrated into the curriculum, and examinations such as the AP exams should be offered in students' native languages. Students should receive "continued instruction in the native language" that focuses on content-area knowledge, and ELA should be offered as an ESL course (316). The article also recommends seltered instruction that integrates reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills with realia. In terms of writing approaches, teachers should focus on process writing that includes multiple-draft writing, student choice, open-ended prompts, etc.

Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas:  This chapter posits that teachers should focus on the language competencies that ELLs/EALs already have in their native language(s). Students should be both supported and challenged, and they should be provided varied opportunities for demonstrating learning. The CCSS imply that all secondary teachers should focus on supporting ELLs by designing lessons around discipline-specific language. Teachers should integrate explicit instruction that helps ELLs examine language closely, such as through discussions about "text structures, word study, and comprehension strategies" (24). Students should also do annotations while they read to track their own thinking in conjunction to the close reading activities. Additionally, ELLs should have "multiple and varied opportunities to engage in classroom conversations... and express their learning" (27). They should not just be on the receiving end of English language communication; they should also be speaking and writing in English to express their understanding of disciplinary concepts. To scaffold these conversations, teachers can have target vocabulary or phrases posted at the front of the room as a guide for students.

Responses

Garcia and Godina:

One section of the article discussed a study that showed that ELLs were struggling in classes that are lecture-heavy and teacher-fronted, classes in which the material was not relevant or interesting to them, and classes that lacked visual and hands-on experiences. That section reminded me of a saying that a professor of mine in undergrad had: "Good teaching is good teaching." If we teach with principles that we know are best practices (student-centric classrooms, establishing relevance, multimodality, etc.), it will benefit all of our students, so of course it will benefit our ELLs. Whenever I get stressed about supporting students who are having a particularly hard time, I try to remind myself that good teaching is good teaching. We just have to ask ourselves what aspect of good teaching might help our students the most.  

Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas:  This chapter recommends a strategy that involves "deconstruction of 'juicy sentences'" (25). I love this, since it helps all students understand language better. They must examine syntax, vocabulary meaning, word choice, etc., which both enhances their understanding of the English language and enhances their understanding of the content being studied. That aligns with what this chapter was saying about the importance of simultaneously fostering language learning and content area learning. ESL classes have their own merit, I believe, but most of the language development and most of students' learning happens in content-area classes. That's why we really need to equip content-area teachers to help students examine those "juicy sentences" the way a skilled ELA teacher would.

Questions

- How can we help ELLs when we lack school resources such as an ESL instructor?
- How do you usually differentiate for your ELLs?
- What ESL resources do you have at your school? Are they helpful with the way they are implemented, and do they align with what we read?
- What do you think of the term EAL vs. the term ELL?

Week 11: Supporting Struggling Adolescents

Summary

Fisher and Frey:

This article is about the use of the gradual release model with struggling writers in an urban school. It began with a “language experience approach” to help the writers understand the connection between speech and written language. The teacher also used interactive writing to foster “teachable moments” (400). Additionally, students worked with writing models to give them a starting point for their writing. One strategy that effectively utilized the gradual release model was generative sentences, to help students focus on word- and sentence-level writing. To develop fluency, students regularly practiced power writing sessions. Toward the end of the class, students began doing more independent writing. By the end of the semester, most students made significant strides in their reading and writing skills.

Hinchman & Sheridan-Thomas Chapter 5:

This chapter focuses on students who struggle with understanding how knowledge is explored and created within various disciplines. One issue that the chapter suggests teachers address is students’ literate identities, and it posits that having a literate identity of a “struggling reader” is one of the major hold-ups for students who struggle with academic literacies. To help these students, teachers should get to know them as readers, and then they should tailor instruction to those students’ goals. Also, teachers should be treating struggles as learning opportunities to be celebrated and “tackled head-on” (89). By addressing reading difficulties this way, teachers are creating a supportive environment in which students are better equipped to deal with the struggles they have with academic literacies.

Hinchman & Sheridan-Thomas Chapter 15:

This chapter provides specific strategies for helping readers who struggle with textbook comprehension. First, if possible, teachers should consider the features listed in figure 15.2 on page 271 if they have a say in choosing textbooks. Teachers should also engage students in pre-reading activities to increase their motivation and interest. Teachers can also use “text sets” or focus on critical literacy to build engagement with textbooks. Comprehension instruction should be embedded in lessons that focus on learning the actual content of the books. Also, strategies should be taught explicitly so as to increase the range of strategies that students are using regularly. For instance, teachers should explicitly instruct students how to use specific text features to explore the information on which they are focused. Teachers can also create interactive guides such as QARs to enhance students’ comprehension, since the ultimate goal is content area knowledge. Additionally, it is beneficial for teachers to use a gradual release of responsibility model with consistent strategy reinforcement when supporting students’ comprehension of textbooks.

Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas Chapter 18:

Differentiated instruction is defined as the “pedagogical responses teachers make to learner differences that they ‘encounter day by day and moment by moment’” (331). Teachers can modify one or more of four different areas to differentiate instruction: content, process, product, and assessment. Differentiated instruction is crucial to achieving success with the CCSS. The multiple intelligences model for differentiating instruction focuses on students’ strengths and modifying instruction to cater to those strengths. The universal design for learning model integrates technology to make students’ learning experiences customizable, but there is also a focus on high expectations for all students. The sheltered instructional observation protocol  involves explicit instruction and scaffolding to provide linguistic support for understanding. Within any or all of these models, there are various approaches teachers can take to differentiate instruction. They can help make texts relevant to individual students by linking texts to their interests and/or needs. Teachers can also create lessons that are multimodal to help students with various intelligences. Teachers should also activate students’ prior knowledge to help them make knowledge connections. In terms of grouping, teachers should be deliberate and vary the groups at various points within each unit. Teachers should set up lessons so that students can support one another with their own strengths.

Responses

I thought it was interesting that the teacher in the Fisher & Frey article used interactive writing with adolescents, but I’m excited about the prospect! While we’ve worked on writing as a whole class before, I’ve never used interactive writing the way that it was described in the article. I love the way it opens up different teachable moments and helps students examine language. I like the idea of having everyone writing on white boards together to keep them focused on the language. I would love to try this with my smaller literacy for life class; I think that they would benefit from it a lot.

I wish that I had had teachers who focused on reading strategies with textbooks. I feel like I did a lot of things intuitively when I made myself engage with the reading, but a lot of times I was just hunting for the answers to rote-level questions my teachers gave me. I love the idea of having a particular focus or question and reading the textbook to try to deduce information related to that. That’s a great opportunity to teach students strategies that they can use to dissect such a text, and having pre-reading activities in addition to a topical focus or questioning task would have really helped me engage with textbooks more as an adolescent.

I thought the chapter on differentiated instruction was really useful, especially in terms of discussing the different aspects of the learning situation that teachers can modify. Differentiation of instruction really is something that needs to happen on-the-fly, so I like the idea of having this list in my mind: content, process, product, and assessment. That way, I can mentally go through the list and figure out what I can modify to best help students who are struggling at any point in a lesson or unit. I think we as teachers also need to realize that differentiated instruction isn’t just for students on IEPs—a lot of teachers I know seem to have this impression. It should be an integral part of all good teaching.

Questions

- Have you used any of the strategies in the Fisher & Frey article? How do they work for you?

- What sorts of pre-reading strategies and activities do you have your students do with nonfiction texts like textbooks?

- What are some ways that you usually differentiate instruction?

Apparently this only saved as a draft at first? Oops, sorry about that!