Blog Post #4 - Danielle Leigh

One approach that would be useful is to educate staff on cultural responsiveness.  While I was in Warren administrators became aware of culturally responsive teaching and had all staff receive training on how African Americans learn, as African Americans were our biggest minority group.  One of the principals in the district who was African American and had training, trained all staff on how to educate African Americans based on their culture.  We were taught many culture traits of African Americans and how they differ from what the majority of white teachers do.  For example, African American adults tell their children to not look them in the eye when they are in trouble, but when they come to school they get reprimanded for not looking the teacher in the eye when they are in trouble.  I believe the training made teachers aware of the topic, but for the most part did not change how teachers taught students.  A recent study done at Yale University found that teachers need support in understanding family struggles as they may relate to child behaviors, especially when the teacher and child are of different races (Gilliam, 2016).  To make this an effective approach I believe teachers need on going professional development on culture responsiveness and how it pertains to their teaching of minority students.   

Another approach that would be beneficial would be for the teacher, staff, and/or principal to make contact with student families regularly.  “When children and their parents are respected and valued, the entire learning environment benefits by creating a supportive and improved school climate (Jimenez & Graf, 2008, p. 160).”  Many families with students with disabilities feel uncomfortable in meeting and talking to teachers because they are not knowledgeable about special education or how to help their child.  By meeting and talking to parents on a regular basis this will allow teachers to have a better understanding of the student.  It is very rare that you see a child having severe issues when the teacher and parent have a good relationship.

The RTI process in schools would also be very beneficial in reducing the number of minority students being labeled with a disability.  Although RTI is the law, through my experience and conversation with other teachers the majority of schools are not using this process and no one is holding them accountable.  “Most researchers would agree that accountability is a critical problem in education (Jimenez & Graf, 2008, p. 160).”  If teachers were held accountable by their administrators to implement and track interventions with fidelity, I believe this would help with over identification of minority students.  On a positive note, most Trumbull county schools are currently getting trained on the RTI process.