Talent Development for ALL Students: Rising to the Challenge Frank C. Worrell School Psychology Program, Graduate School of Education University of California, Berkeley

November 1, 2018 Longfellow Middle School Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent’s Speaker Series: Equity and Excellence in Education

Overview

� The Achievement Gap

� Some History

� Talent Development

� What Should We Do?

THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP

The Achievement Gap I

�   Students from some racial/ethnic groups (e.g., African Americans, American Indians, Latinos, and some Asian Americans) perform at substantially lower levels academically than their peers from other ethnic groups (European Americans, some Asian Americans).

Not Limited to the United States

�  Explaining the Achievement Gap Between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Students: An Analysis of PISA 2009 Results for Australia and New Zealand ◦  Song et al. (2014)

2007 Reading and Math Scores

Reading Scores 1992 – 2017

Reading Scores by Ethnicity

2017 Reading Scores

2017 Reading Scores by Gender, Poverty Level, and ELL Status

2017 Mathematics Scores

Educational Attainment

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

African Am

American Ind

Asian Am

European Am

Hispanic Am

2017

High School Undergraduate Graduate

Median U.S. Incomes

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

African Am American Ind Asian Am European Am Hispanic Am United States

2016

Propublica’s Miseducation Index (https://projects.propublica.org/miseducation/)

�  Used civil rights data from the U.S. Department of Education to build an interactive database. Contains more than 96,000 individual public and charter schools and 17,000 districts. 

�  Provides information by district on a variety of indicators: ◦  Achievement gap ◦  Disciplinary disproportionality ◦  Opportunity gap ◦  Segregation index

College Enrollment and Graduation Rates

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

High Inc Enroll

High Inc Grad

Low Inc Enroll

Low Inc Grad

Low Inc Kipp Enroll

Low Inc Kipp Grad

The Achievement Gap II �  The achievement gap is real. �  Multiple potential causes: ◦  Historic discrimination ◦  Distribution of resources and skilled teachers ◦  Opportunity gaps ◦  Differential levels of poverty

�  Effects are the same. �  Gaps are closing slowly – will take 60 to 110

years to close at current rate (Reardon & Portilla, 2016).

SOME HISTORY

History1

� Columbus stumbled upon America in his search for Asia in 1492. ◦  Population estimates: 8 million to 112 million ◦  2010 Census: 5.2 million including multi-ethnic

(2.9 million excluding mixed individuals)

�  First individuals of African descent in North America were not slaves: ◦ Mid-1600s slavery codified in law

History II

�  July 2, 1776: Declaration of Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

� Not reality, but an aspiration that we have still not met.

History III

� 1845: The US annexed the Republic of Texas (which had seceded from Mexico).

� 1846 to 1848: Mexican-American War �  Feb 2, 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ◦ Gave US 55% of Mexico’s territory: �  Arizona, California, western Colorado, Nevada,

New Mexico, Texas, and Utah

◦  “Paid” Mexico $15 million.

History IV �  May 18, 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson ◦  Homer Plessy, an African American shoemaker (1/8th

Black) refused to leave the “Whites only” railcar. ◦  Challenged Louisiana’s Separate Car Act of 1890 on

14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause

�  Supreme Court Decision (7 to 1, [1]) ◦  The [Louisiana] Act does not violate the 13th

Amendment (prohibiting slavery) or the 14th Amendment granting ”full and equal rights to African Americans.” ◦  Goal of the 14th amendment was legal equality, not

social equality. �  “If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution

of the US cannot put them upon the same plane.”

History V �  1954: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS �  Question: ◦  Does the segregation of public education based solely on

race violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?

�  Unanimous Decision of the Supreme Court: ◦  Separate but equal educational facilities for racial minorities

is inherently unequal violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment �  "nor shall any State [...] deny to any person within its jurisdiction

the equal protection of the laws". (1868)

�  Fall, 1968: BUSD voluntarily integrates its schools.

Random Digit Dialing Survey (New American Media, 2007)

� 350 African Americans ◦  Interviewed in English

� 400 Asian Americans ◦  Interviewed in English, Mandarin, Cantonese,

Korean, Vietnamese, or Tagalog

� 355 Hispanic Americans/Latinx ◦  Interviewed in English or Spanish

� Margin of error (5%)

Annual Household Income

61%

39%

32%

68%

38%

62%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Asians

AfricanAmericans

Hispanics Lessthan$50,000

$50,000or more

Educational Attainment

49%51%

17%83%

12%

88%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Asians

AfricanAmericans

Hispanics Less thana collegedegree

Collegedegree orhigher

The criminal justice system in the United States favors the rich and powerful. “Strongly agree” answers only

27%

71%

45%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Asians

AfricanAmericans

Hispanics

Belief in the “American Dream”: If you work hard… you will succeed in the United States. “Strongly agree” answers only

64%

44%

74%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Asians

AfricanAmericans

Hispanics

Every American – Black, Hispanic, Asian or White – has an equal opportunity to succeed. “Strongly agree” answers only

43%

30%

59%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Asians

AfricanAmericans

Hispanics

Tailwinds and Headwinds (David Stevens, BUSD)

Successful Students:

Struggling Students:

Tailwinds

Headwinds

Headwinds

Tailwinds

Protective and Risk Factors of Student Performance

LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN

Langston Hughes (1936)

Let America be America again,… (America never was America to me.)…. I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek— And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Talent Development 1

Talent Development II

�  Taking students and moving them from where they are to a higher level of performance.

�  Is the goal of education, generally.

Necessary Ingredients

� Ability in Domain (not always known) � Task Commitment/Effort � Motivation � Persistence � Development (effective instruction) � Opportunities �  (Chance)

Talent Development Megamodel (Subotnik et al. 2011)

Ability/Potential

Competency

Expertise

Artistry, Scholarly Creative Productivity

Talent Development Is A Journey (Olszewski-Kubilius et al., 2018, May)

WHAT DO WE DO?

Societal Level Solutions

� Eliminate poverty

� Eliminate racism and discrimination

�  Fund all schools equitably

Level of Schools and Teachers (Visible Learning, John Hattie [2009])

�  Formative evaluation �  Microteaching �  Teacher clarity �  Teacher-student relationships �  Teaching meta-cognition �  Vocabulary programs �  Repeated reading �  Creativity �  Phonics �  Comprehension �  Classroom management �  Classroom climate

Individual Factors Increase Motivation

�  Student Belonging (and Engagement) �  Self concept/Self-esteem �  Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation �  Performance or mastery orientations in

classroom �  Attributions �  Self-efficacy and future orientation �  Entity (fixed) versus incremental (malleable)

views of intelligence �  Protection of self-worth (quadripolar theory)

Four Big Ideas

� Make Schools “Rich” � Teach About History

� Highlight Multiple Identities � Emphasize Hope

MAKE SCHOOLS RICH

Resource-rich Adult-rich Support-rich

California College Preparatory Academy: UC Berkeley’s Charter School Partner

SMART Supports (Weinstein & Bialis-White, 2016)

�  S: Schoolwide, Strengths-Focused, Stigma-Free, with Second Chances

� M: Multidomain and Multicultural � A: Aligned and Adaptable � R: Relational, Responsive, and Research-

informed � T: Time and Tiered Intervention

SMART Supports

TEACH ABOUT HISTORY

Du Bois: Impeccable Reputation (Worrell, 2014)

�  author, editor, essayist, historian, journalist, lecturer, scholar, sociologist, statesman, teacher, and writer .

�  One of the foremost intellectuals on culture in the 20th century.

�  One of the greatest African American leaders in the 20th century.

Context and Opportunity �  Great Barrington insulated Dubois from the

anti-Black prejudices and racism of his period. ◦  Racism was more prevalent against Irish than Blacks

in Great Barrington.

�  He was allowed to attend school (was the only African American in high school) and outperformed classmates.

�  The high school principal had him take college preparatory classes: algebra, geometry, Latin and Greek).

�  Playmate’s mother bought his school books.

Fisk: Opportunity accepted �  The fact of being Black and poor became salient

when he finished high school. �  Wanted to go to Harvard, but GB’s high school

diploma did not meet Harvard requirements. �  Went to Fisk on a scholarship provided by four

churches and arranged by a classmate’s father. �  Entered as a sophomore and completed in 3

years. �  Experienced segregation, discrimination, racism

in South that he had not experienced in GB.

Persistence �  Applied and got accepted to Harvard as a junior,

not as a grad student. �  Chance: Harvard was in process of diversifying

and was giving scholarships to African Americans.

�  Got his first failing grade, which he raised to a C by the end of the semester – task commitment, effort, and pesristence.

�  Graduated Harvard in1890 cum laude and was one of five graduating students selected to give a talk at commencement.

�  Received a scholarship to do his Masters at Harvard.

�  In 1895, he became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard.

HIGHLIGHT MULTIPLE IDENTITIES

DEMOCRACY IS NOT AS EASY AS MANY OF US THINK IT IS

All men are created equal, …unalienable Rights, ….Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ASPIRATION

Identity Profiles (Worrell et al., 2010, October)

Low Ethnic Identity

High Ethnic Identity

Low Other Group Orientation Alienated Separatist

High Other Group Orientation Assimilated Dual

Dual Identities III: Clusters of Ethnic Iden & Other Grp Or

Attitude to Teachers

School Belonging

GPA

Identity is More than Ethnicity

Low Ethnic Identity

High Ethnic Identity

Low Other Group Orientation Alienated Separatist

High Other Group Orientation Assimilated

Dual (Ethnicity +)

Which bucket are you? (David Stevens, BUSD)

Who Am I?

Race

Gender

Ethnicity

Socioeconomic Status

Disability Status

English Learner Status

Household Education

Status

Living Situation

All of them (David Stevens, BUSD)

I Am Race

Gender

Ethnicity

Socioeconomic Status

Disability Status

English Learner Status

Household Education

Status

Living Situation

These “buckets” interact with each other (David Stevens, BUSD)

Hope �  A feeling of expectation and a desire for a

certain thing to happen ◦  Synonyms include aspiration, ambition, aim, goal, plan,

design.

�  The Audacity of Hope ◦  Did Obama’s fourth grade teacher see a future

President in front of her. ◦  Need to treat every student as a potential future

leader.

�  Hope Theory (Snyder, 2002) ◦  Pathways: Ability to envision routes to one's goals. ◦  Agency: One's belief, motivation, and confidence, that

one can accomplish one's envisioned goals.

Dixson et al. (2017)

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN Robert Frost (1916)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; …. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION.