Chapter 7: Learning to Teach for Civic Engagement: Opportunities and Constraints for Three Teachers in One Urban Elementary School

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (13) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Shira Eve Epstein ◽  
Brett L. M. Levy
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Elementary School ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Civic Education ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
School Context ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Urban Elementary School

Context Civic education is marginalized in many U.S. schools. It is especially rare in elementary schools and in schools serving low-income students of color. Although professional development opportunities in civic education for teachers are limited, these experiences can positively influence teachers’ conceptions of teaching for civic engagement. There is a need for quality professional learning to promote civic education in schools. Focus of Study This chapter explores three elementary school educators’ experiences learning about teaching for civic engagement (TfCE) during their time in a university-based online course on the topic and while they were teaching low-income students of color in a public urban elementary school in the northeastern United States. In the context of the university course, we ask the following related research questions: (1) How do three elementary school teachers conceptualize teaching for civic engagement? (2) How do they perceive their readiness to teach for civic engagement in their professional context? Research Design We used the qualitative methods of document analysis and interview. Specifically, we collected and analyzed nine course assignments and conducted two extended interviews with each of the three participants. Findings We found that during the course, the teachers adopted valuable ideas about developing students’ abilities to identify, deliberate, and act on public problems— demonstrating broadened visions of TfCE. They also described various aspects of their school context that they perceived as unfriendly toward such pedagogy, including an emphasis on high-stakes assessment. Referencing contextual constraints as well as opportunities for TfCE, they expressed varied forms of readiness to enact civic-oriented instruction. Recommendations These findings suggest that to support TfCE, teacher educators should dedicate coursework or other forms of professional development to TfCE, address teachers’ differentiated responses, and confront the absence of civic education in schools.

Teacher Turnover in High-Poverty Schools: What We Know and Can Do

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Simon ◽  
Susan Moore Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Teacher Turnover ◽  
School Context ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
High Poverty Schools ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Poor

Background/Context Over the past three decades, teacher turnover has increased substantially in U.S. public schools, especially in those serving large portions of low-income students of color. Teachers who choose to leave high-poverty schools serving large numbers of students of color usually transfer to schools serving wealthier, Whiter student populations. Some researchers have interpreted this trend to mean that “teachers systematically favor higher-achieving, non-minority, non-low-income students.” These ideas have influenced policy analysis concerning high-poverty schools but offered little guidance for those who would address this problem. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This article presents an alternative explanation for turnover—one grounded in organizational theory and substantiated by an emerging line of research. In doing so, it reframes the debate over what fuels high rates of teacher turnover in high-poverty schools and provides advice for policy makers and practitioners, as well as recommendations for productive possibilities for future research. Research Design This article reviews six studies analyzing turnover as a function of school context rather than as a function of student demographics. Based on the patterns regarding what factors influence teacher departures across these studies, we pursue these predictors by summarizing what is known about them and how each supports teachers’ work. Findings/Results The six overarching studies reviewed here collectively suggest that teachers who leave high-poverty schools are not feeing their students. Rather, they are feeing the poor working conditions that make it difficult for them to teach and for their students to learn. The working conditions that teachers prize most—and those that best predict their satisfaction and retention—are social in nature. They include school leadership, collegial relationships, and elements of school culture. Conclusions/Recommendations The poor working conditions common in America's neediest schools explain away most, if not all, of the relationship between student characteristics and teacher attrition. This is important because, unlike demographic characteristics of students, working conditions can be addressed. Policy makers and practitioners have many options for improving aspects of the school environment, and, although more research can inform this work, much is already known about what matters to teachers as they are deciding whether to continue teaching in their schools.

Feminist Response to Campus Sexual Assault in the Republican Era

2019 ◽  
pp. 171-201
Author(s):  
Donna Coker
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Campus Climate ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Campus Culture ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Campus Sexual Assault

Feminists working to prevent and respond to campus sexual assault should encourage universities to adopt an intersectional public health approach that incorporates Restorative Justice. An intersectional framework responds to the ways that the general campus climate for students of color, LGBTQ students, foreign nationals, immigrants, and low-income students shapes experiences of sexual assault and help-seeking. An intersectional framework also addresses the risk that implicit bias will infect school investigations and hearings. Feminists should also encourage schools to reject “Crime Logic” thinking and the related belief that campus assaulters are irredeemable “predators.” The predator narrative is based in misapplied research and is contradicted by the results of more sophisticated longitudinal studies. Finally, feminists should encourage schools to adopt Restorative Justice (RJ) alternatives. An RJ approach supports victim healing and autonomy, encourages the student who caused harm to take responsibility for repairing the harm, and enables larger changes in campus culture.

The Development of Capacity for Data Use: The Role of Teacher Networks in an Elementary School

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Farley-Ripple ◽  
Joan Buttram
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Elementary School ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Context ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Network Approach ◽  
Teacher Networks ◽  
Social Network Approach

Background Amid calls for increased data use, there is little research or policy guidance for how to build schools’ capacity to leverage data to improve teaching and learning. Building on previous research highlighting the social nature of data use, we contend that in order to understand how capacity develops, research must focus on relationships and networks that support educators’ practice, conceptualizing capacity as socially embedded. Purpose This article explores the development of data use capacity in an elementary school through a social network approach. Our analysis focuses on the structure of data advice networks, the characteristics of perceived experts in the network, and the productiveness of the network in terms of influencing beliefs and practice. Population Data come from a sample of 42 educators from an elementary school exemplified by its district as a strong user of data to improve teaching and learning. Participants completed a survey about their data use beliefs, practices, and school context, as well as a social network questionnaire indicating from whom they sought advice on using data. Research Design We used the survey data to identify characteristics of the schools’ data use networks using descriptive statistics and social network analysis (SNA). SNA was also used to develop measures of structural location in those networks, which were then used to predict similarities in teachers’ beliefs and practices around data use. Findings Findings reveal that data use networks are influenced by the larger professional structure of the school, with data advice being from colleagues who are part of their larger professional network. Network structure reveals few highly central “advice givers” and many “advice seekers” connected by teachers and leaders who serve as brokers of advice. We find that brokers may play an important role in developing shared practices, given that the indirect relationships they support are predictive of shared data use practices. Conclusions This research is among the first to explore data use through a social network approach and offers early evidence about how educators’ networks enable schools to build capacity for data use. Our findings have implications for the design of professional development, for professional development for school leaders, and for successful implementation of reforms related to data use.

Hope in the Lives of Low-Income Students of Color: A Qualitative Study of Experiences in a Work-Based Learning Program

2020 ◽  
pp. 089484532093743
Author(s):  
Mary Beth Medvide ◽  
Maureen E. Kenny
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Hope Theory ◽  
Youth Of Color ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Catholic High School ◽  
Phenomenological Methodology ◽  
Collective Belief

This study explored the experiences of low-income students of color who participated in a work-based learning (WBL) program while attending a Catholic high school. Historically, research on student outcomes in WBL programs has been mixed, and few studies have provided insights into how low-income youth of color can benefit. This study utilized a phenomenological methodology to capture hope among these youth and to delineate these students’ lived experiences within their relational, organizational, and sociocultural contexts. The results showed participants’ goal setting and motivation were fostered by a sense of connection to others at school and a collective belief that success was possible for all students despite whatever challenges they faced. The participants also discussed hopes for the future within the context of workplace support, religious faith, and past hopelessness. The results provide avenues to design WBL programs that consider students’ supports and barriers and further contextualize hope theory.

Financial Aid: A Broken Bridge to College Access?

2007 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRIDGET TERRY LONG ◽  
ERIN RILEY
Keyword(s):  
Financial Aid ◽  
College Access ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Financial Aid Policy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Aid Policy

In this article, Bridget Terry Long and Erin Riley argue that in recent years, U.S. financial aid policy has shifted its emphasis from expanding college access for lowincome students toward defraying the costs for middle- and upper-income families. They explain how loans, merit-based aid, and education tax breaks are increasingly replacing need-based aid and discuss how the declining role of grants may disproportionately disadvantage students already underrepresented in higher education. They document the rise in students' unmet financial needs over the past decade, showing that low-income students and students of color are especially likely to face substantial unmet need even after taking into account all available grants and loans, as well as family contributions. In response to these trends, the authors call for a greater emphasis on need-based aid, especially grants, to reduce the role of cost as a barrier to college access.

scholarly journals “College for All? These Kids Can’t Dig Ditches”: Confronting the Leadership Challenges for Justice-Based Reform in Underperforming Schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-111
Author(s):  
Randall F. Clemens
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Change Agent ◽  
Public High School ◽  
Underperforming Schools ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Leadership Challenges ◽  
Urban Public High School

The case explores the challenges of school leaders to facilitate social justice–based reforms for low-income students of color who attend underperforming schools. In particular, it examines the 1st-year experiences of Principal Yolanda Lopez at Kennedy High School, an underperforming and underresourced urban public high school. Lopez is tasked with improving college access and readiness among all students. As the year progresses—and pressures mount from various stakeholders—she questions the viability of sustained reform and her own role as a change agent within a complex and often unjust system.

Social Justice Teaching Through the Sympathetic Touch of Caring and High Expectations for Students of Color

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leticia Rojas ◽  
Daniel D. Liou
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Segregated Schools ◽  
Perceptions Of Fairness ◽  
Education School ◽  
Social Justice Teaching

This 1-year qualitative study examined the ways in which nine social justice–oriented teachers in racially segregated schools defined and fostered sympathy with low-income students of color. These teachers reportedly defined sympathy on the basis of caring and high expectations, which challenged traditional notions of sympathy as a teacher cue for low ability and lowered expectations for learning. Building upon W. E. B. Du Bois’s concept of sympathetic touch, the findings of this study revealed that the teachers fostered sympathy through perceptions of fairness in educational opportunities, education as a method to challenge class oppression, the use of curriculum to communicate caring, and high expectations to promote students’ histories, self-respect, and preparation for a more just future. The results of these findings have implications for how society currently views teacher effectiveness, and future discussions regarding teacher education, school accountability, and teacher evaluation.

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