Recruiting, Preparing, Retaining and SupportingCulturally Competent Educators

Jean Haar, Candace Raskin, Timothy Berry—Minnesota State University, Mankato

Disrupting the Racially Predictable Achievement Gap in US Schools:

Recruiting, Preparing, Retaining and Supporting Culturally Competent

Educators

Outcomes:

✤ Understand the current racial disparity in academic performance between white students and students of color.

✤ Learn how the College of Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato is working to intentionally shift their approach to recruit, prepare, and retain teachers and leaders who are culturally competent.

✤ Review the program components and research on the impact of the Institute for Courageous Principal Leadership at Minnesota State University, Mankato in the development racial equity leaders.

National Trend

MNTrend

• White children have outperformed African American and Hispanic children consistently

since 1975.

• This reflects a 36-year trend - making the data predictable as well as consistent.

• To be specific, NAEP data reports no significant change in the width of the gap in

achievement levels between students of color and White students.

• 2014 data reveals a pattern for predictable racial disparity that mirrors our national

pattern.

• In the last five years, in both math and reading, the data reveals a steady and

unchanged racial discrepancy between the achievement levels of White and Black

students, where White students show results that are approximately 30 percent higher

than Black students.

Data Depicted Story of Racial Disparity in Performance

*National data comes from National Assessment of Educational Progress (2013) *Minnesota data from Minnesota Department of Education (2014)

ActionsRecruit, Retain, Prep and Support

Teacher Prep Leadership Prep College Prep

Recruit • Teachers of Tomorrow (ToT)

• Admissions policies

• Faculty• Curriculum

• Recruitment position and work

Retain • Department goals• University priority pilot

for ToT

• Personalized advising• Faculty engaged in

racial conscientiousness

• Review Professional Education process

• Monitor policies, procedures

Prep • Culturally responsive instruction and educators

• Focus on ALL students understanding racial identity and how it translates to teaching

• Minneapolis/MSU Transformational Principal Academy

• St. Paul Principal Leadership Development

• Transforming culture• Intercultural

Competency and Development Advisory Board

• Interactive theatre of Isms

• Cultural competency sessions

Support

• Scholarships• Licensure exam

prep/edTPA support

• Institute for Courageous Principal Leadership

• Racial Equity conference

• Reorganization of support services

• Support for faculty/program initiatives

The power of language lies in how words are defined!

What is your identity?

✤ Culture?

✤ Ethnicity?

✤ Race?

Culture

✤ Culture - as a macro level concept, is the way that people agree to live and behave within a given society. This includes the accepted and valued beliefs, traditions, policies, practices, behaviors, and rules of that society. These acceptances are based on contexts such as religion, geography, language, and natural resources.

Ethnicity

✤ Ethnicity – An intersection of ancestry, color, culture, and nationality. This is usually reflected by such factors as religious practices, food choices, language/dialect, and music expressions.

Race

✤ Race - It is important to define race as a social construct that means skin color. In some cases, groups are identified by ethnicity (i.e. Asian American). There is no scientific evidence or support for placing human beings into different racial categories.

Diversity

✤ Diversity – recognizing the ways in which all individual persons can have characteristics that are unique and distinguishable even within same cultural, ethnic, and racial groups. This is consistent with the concept of intersectionality found in Critical Race Theory (CRT).

Privilege

✤ Privilege - An invisible package of assets and advantages which can be counted on but remain oblivious to groups who have such advantages. Examples include dominant cultural groups such as heterosexual males, Whites, able bodied, etc.

Example: In the United States, peo-

ple can have the ability to see

racism as something which puts people of color

at a disadvantage, but

not to see one of its corollary

aspects, White privi-lege.

Keys To Cultural Competency

✤ Macro and micro level intersection

✤ Understand dominant culture impact on marginalized groups

✤ Raise consciousness in order to reduce disparity

✤ The power of language lies in how words are defined

Example: Race consciousness and racial equity practice is necessary for one to be culturally responsive.

The Institute for Courageous Principal Leadership at Minnesota State Mankato is making a difference toward changing the

predictable achievement trajectory for children of color.

✤ The Center for Engaged Leadership provides comprehensive programming for Minnesota K-12 principals now “in the field”. Faculty members presently work with over 180 principals from 16 urban, suburban and rural districts in our Institute for Engaged Principal Leadership.

Principal Institute’s Mission

Every participating leader ensures, access, fairness, equity and

opportunity—every child, every day.

Principal Institute Vision

In an era of unprecedented educational challenge and need, further prepare principals to lead

with fearlessness, skill, self knowledge and racial competence

so that under their leadership, EVERY child fully achieves.

Confidence Courage Results High Student Success for All

Knowing SelfKnowing my purpose

– my “Why” – my beliefs

Knowing research proven best practices

Strategically implementing best

practices with fidelity

The data shows increased student

achievement

Now I’m gaining confidence in my

leadership

Which allows me to lead courageously

I’m resilient in my leadership

Resulting in high student achievement

for all

Raci

al Equit

y

Evidence of Impact

 Institute for Courageous Principal Leadership - Research Study

A Systemic Model for Interrupting Racism in Minnesota Schools:Dedicated to Race Equity, Consciousness, Engagement and Collaboration to Mobilize Action

Leading Courageously for Racial Equity 2nd Annual Conference With a commitment to preparing leaders who disrupt the predictable achievement trajectory for children of color in Minnesota schools, the Department of Educational Leadership held its second annual conference: “Leading Courageously for Racial Equity.” Panels, presentations and performances helped stimulate honest discussions on a topic many others avoid.

Next Steps

✤ Support ongoing actions from Intercultural Competency and Development Advisory Board

✤ Reinforce culturally response teaching, research, advising, and service

✤ Monitor and adjust procedures and policies

✤ Promote and support culturally responsive professional development

✤ Align college level work with university strategic direction and performance measures

Questions and Conversation

Presenter Info

Dr. Jean Haar, Dean College of Education Jean.haar@mnsu.edu

Dr. Candace Raskin, Professor/Chair, Dept. of Educational Leadership candace.raskin@mnsu.edu

Dr. Timothy Berry, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Educational Leadership timothy.berry@mnsu.edu