Victor Davis EDD 9800 Dr. Morote Fall 2012

Hofstra University, B.S Business Computer

Information Systems

Hofstra University, M.A Secondary Education Social Studies

College of St. Rose, Post Graduate Certification in Educational Administration and Leadership, SBL & SDL

Dowling College, Doctoral Student Fall 2012

East Islip High School, Secondary Ed. Teacher, Social Studies

About Me

About Me

Conference

Join us for the 40th Annual Conference of the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) and be one of nearly 6,000 attendees from across the country participating in workshops, visiting over 250 exhibits, fellowshipping and networking with other members and friends of the nation's premier association of African American educators.

November 14-18, 2012, Nashville, TN

The National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) is the

nation's premiere non-profit organization devoted to furthering the academic success for the nation's children - particularly children of African descent. Now in its 38th year, NABSE boasts an outreach to more than 10,000 preeminent educators including teachers, administrators, superintendents as well as corporate and institutional members. Founded in 1970, NABSE is dedicated to improving both the educational experiences and accomplishments of African American youth through the development and use of instructional and motivational methods that increase levels of inspiration, attendance and overall achievement.

“Education is a civil right”

National Association of Black School Administrators (NABSE)

Mission Statement

How are the new pedagogical shifts in ELA and

Mathematics in the new Common Core Learning Standards addressing the achievement gap of African American Males in grades 9-12 in the areas mathematics and ELA

Problem Statement

Independent Variables: Pedagogical Shifts in ELA/ Literacy: 1. Balancing Informational & Literary Text: Students read a true balance of

informational and literary texts. 2. Knowledge in the Disciplines : Students build knowledge about the world

(domains/ content areas) through TEXT rather than the teacher or activities 3. Staircase of Complexity: Students read the central, grade appropriate text

around which instruction is centered. Teachers are patient, create more time and space and support in the curriculum for close reading

4. Text Based Answers: Students engage in rich and rigorous evidence based conversations about text.

5. Writing From Sources: Writing emphasizes use of evidence from sources to inform or make an argument.

6. Academic Vocabulary: Students constantly build the transferable vocabulary they need to access grade level complex texts. This can be done effectively by spiraling like content in increasingly complex texts.

Variables Measured

Independent Variables: Pedagogical Shifts in Mathematics: 1. Focus: Teachers significantly narrow and deepen the scope of how time and energy

is spent in the math classroom. They do so in order to focus deeply on only the concepts that are prioritized in the standards.

2. Coherence: Principals and teachers carefully connect the learning within and across grades so that students can build new understanding onto foundations built in previous years.

3. Fluency: Students are expected to have speed and accuracy with simple calculations; teachers structure class time and/or homework time for students to memorize, through repetition, core functions.

4. Deep Understanding: Students deeply understand and can operate easily within a math concept before moving on. They learn more than the trick to get the answer right. They learn the math.

5. Application: Students are expected to use math and choose the appropriate concept for application even when they are not prompted to do so.

6. Dual Intensity: Students are practicing and understanding. There is more than a balance between these two things in the classroom – both are occurring with intensity.

Variables Measured

Dependent Variables:

1. Academic achievement of African American males in grades 9-12 in ELA on New York State achievement tests as reported on the New York State school report cards

2. Academic achievement of African American males in grades 9-12 in Mathematics on New York State achievement tests as reported on the New York State school report cards

Variables Measured

Quantitative Research Analysis: I will be analyzing the new New York State School Report

Cards to perform a statistical analysis of the new data versus data from previous years New York State School Report Cards prior to the new shifts in pedagogical models from the new Common Core Learning Standards. I will be looking to see how the shifts have effected the achievement gap of African American males in the areas of ELA and mathematics

Qualitative Research: I will be conducting interviews with principals and

superintendents in charge of curriculum and instruction, to ascertain how the new pedagogical shifts are effecting the achievement gap of African American males at their schools in the subjects of ELA and mathematics.

Methodology

African American Male Achievement: Using a Tenet of Critical

Theory to Explain the African American Male Achievement Disparity: (Palmer, Maramba 2011) Although African Americans continue to demonstrate a desire

for education, Black male enrollment and completion rates in higher education are dismal when compared to other ethnic groups. Researchers and scholars have noted various theories and philosophies responsible for the academic disengagement of African American men in higher education. This article provides a new contextual lens for understanding the academic disengagement of Black men using a tenet of critical theory as a method to explain the African American male achievement disparity. Additionally, this research offers employable strategies and activities that may encourage Black male achievement.

Literature Review

Leaving Us behind: A Political Economic Interpretation of NCLB and the

Miseducation of African American Males: (Donnor, Shockley 2010) The purpose of this article is to discuss the misalignment between public school

assessment policies and teaching practices in accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), and the human capital, curricula, and soft-skill needs of the global economy. The authors suggest that changes regarding the nature of learning, how it is assessed, and the skills taught are critical to the educational and social success of African American males. This article consists of four sections. The first section explains federal elementary and secondary education reform practices that have been mandated by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). For the purposes of this article, the authors focus their discussion on NCLB on how Title I schools are affected, because the majority of school age Black males attend schools with this government designation. The second section articulates the divisions of labor and soft-skills needed in the global economy. Section three highlights the divergences between NCLB, the occupational competencies for high-tier employment, and the skills determined to be important in the knowledge economy. The authors conclude the article by discussing the effects current federal educational policies will have on African American males' opportunity to participate in the post-industrial workforce.

Literature Review

New Visions of Collective Achievement: The Cross-Generational

Schooling Experiences of African American Males: (Hucks, 2011) The purpose of this study was to allow African American

males across generations to share their perceptions of the factors that affected their schooling experiences and influenced their achievement in and beyond school. Individual interviews were conducted with men and boys within the context of their home environment; outside of the schools the boys attended. The participants' schooling experiences call for establishing a model of collective achievement that captures and delineates the engagement and investment of the multiple stakeholders involved in their education. Such a model will bring about a higher level of multiple stakeholder accountability that would likely improve students' schooling experiences and increase the academic and life outcomes for African American males.

Literature Review

Pursuing Racial Equity in Our Schools: Lessons Learned from

African American Male Teachers in a Suburban School District In a "Multicultural Teaching and Learning" course, racial equity is one

of the many issues explored. When discussing racial equity in our schools, teacher education students in the course focus their attention on such issues as the achievement gap, referrals to special education of African American and Latino males, the racism of low expectations. When faced with these issues, the mostly White student population is often times silent, color-blind, or oblivious to the racialized dynamics of schooling. In an effort to expand student understanding of racial equity, but also explore the complexity of race in schools, seven African American male teachers in a suburban school district were interviewed. As a result of these interviews, it is apparent that racial equity conversations must also assist teacher education students in understanding the relationships between African American and White teachers.

Literature Review

Palmer, R. T., & Maramba, D. C. (2011). African American Male Achievement:

Using a Tenet of Critical Theory to Explain the African American Male Achievement Disparity. Education And Urban Society, 43(4), 431-450.

Hucks, D. (2011). New Visions of Collective Achievement: The Cross-Generational Schooling Experiences of African American Males. Journal Of Negro Education, 80(3), 339-357.

Donnor, J. K., & Shockley, K. G. (2010). Leaving Us behind: A Political Economic Interpretation of NCLB and the Miseducation of African American Males. Educational Foundations, 24(3-4), 43-54.

Simmons, R. (2010). Pursuing Racial Equity in Our Schools: Lessons Learned from African American Male Teachers in a Suburban School District. AILACTE Journal, 733-47.

References