A "good teacher" is not necessarily a good teacher everywhere with everyone. In other words, teachers who are very effective with white middle class native English speaking students may not experience the same success with Hispanic students. Therefore, rather than seek teacher candidates who fit a certain general profile to work in schools with a high Hispanic population, it would make more sense to select and train those individuals who are most appropriate for this particular population.
Knowing this should cause us to rethink what is meant by highly qualified. That term is relative--depending on the situation. Plus, the best and brightest as determined by the scores on assessment tests given to teacher candidates as well as their grades are not good predictors of success with the Hispanic student population.
We obviously need to do some rethinking if we are going to better serve our Hispanic learners.
Showing posts with label assessments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label assessments. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
It Will Benefit All of Us
It is to the benefit of all of us to address this challenge and opportunity to better serve our Hispanic learners. The Hispanic populaton is the fastest growing minority population in the U.S. due more to a high fertility rate than to immigration. It is also the youngest population. Therefore, the dismal academic statistics surrounding our Hispanic learners will not only have an impact on their own personal lives but to all U.S. citizens as the Hispanic population becomes a huge part of our future.
The staggering statistic that only about 1/2 of our Hispanic learners are graduating from high school and only a small percentage are going to college let alone graduating from college is of deep concern. Yet, the statistics don't look very promising way before high school when Hispanics score much lower on assessments than their Anglo peers in elementary school.
While we discuss in future postings specific things we can do it is important to keep a few things in mind. First, Hispanic learners do not come to us as "empty slates." We need to look for their assets rather than focus on deficits which too many assessments tend to do. Second, research results from one context usually don't transfer over to another. In other words, what works for Anglo native English speakers won't necessarily be the answer for Hispanic learners. Third, it is important to remember that Hispanic learners are as different from each other as any other group of students. Each student has his/her own personal culture. Yet, the more we learn about the Hispanic culture in general while learning about students' individual cultures could give us clues on how to better serve our Hispanic learners.
The staggering statistic that only about 1/2 of our Hispanic learners are graduating from high school and only a small percentage are going to college let alone graduating from college is of deep concern. Yet, the statistics don't look very promising way before high school when Hispanics score much lower on assessments than their Anglo peers in elementary school.
While we discuss in future postings specific things we can do it is important to keep a few things in mind. First, Hispanic learners do not come to us as "empty slates." We need to look for their assets rather than focus on deficits which too many assessments tend to do. Second, research results from one context usually don't transfer over to another. In other words, what works for Anglo native English speakers won't necessarily be the answer for Hispanic learners. Third, it is important to remember that Hispanic learners are as different from each other as any other group of students. Each student has his/her own personal culture. Yet, the more we learn about the Hispanic culture in general while learning about students' individual cultures could give us clues on how to better serve our Hispanic learners.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)