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89
Cultural Proficiency
Rowland Unified has offered its teachers training in English Language
Development and English Learner strategies. It has established EL Leads at every
school site, serving as the key person to assist classrooms with addressing EL student
needs. The Bilingual Department at the district level has made consistent effort to
implement a Master Plan that complies with state law and also addresses EL
instructional needs at school sites. Despite these efforts, Hispanic ELs continue to
lag behind their non-Hispanic EL counterparts. According to the responses received
from some of the interviewees, some of the teachers attributed this achievement gap
to a lack of interest on the part of the Hispanic students’ families. “It’s obvious, the
parents don’t care; they don’t come to parent meetings or take interest in their kids’
learning. Yet you do see the parents of our other EL group participating and
interested.” The inquiry team found both a cultural knowledge gap and negative
teacher attributions towards Hispanic EL students as identified in the previous quote
which impacts the Hispanic EL academic achievement at RUSD. Cultural
proficiency is defined as, “a way of being that enables both individuals and
organizations to respond effectively to people who differ from them” (Lindsey,
Robins, & Terrel, 2003, p. 5).
Current literature identifies the importance of educators understanding
sociocultural theories of learning in order to adequately address diverse learning
needs, in this particular instance, Hispanic EL student needs. RUSD is implementing
research based, effective teaching practices to enhance Hispanic EL lesson delivery.
Object Description
| Title | An alternative capstone project: A gap analysis inquiry project on the district reform efforts and its impact in narrowing the Hispanic EL achievement gap in Rowland Unified School District |
| Author | Molina-Solis, Lesette Wendy |
| Author email | lwm5995@lausd.net; molinaso@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education (Leadership) |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-01-19 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-28 |
| Advisor (committee chair) |
Rueda, Robert S. Marsh, David D. |
| Advisor (committee member) | Escalante, Michael F. |
| Abstract | The purpose of this case study was to conduct a gap analysis for the pervasive underperformance of Hispanic English Learner (EL) students in Rowland Unified School District. This qualitative inquiry project looked at educational practices from elementary through middle school throughout the district and how these aligned to district initiatives for narrowing the gap. Through the use of interviews, observations and surveys, the authors gathered information to develop perceived root causes and then formulate solutions to present to the Superintendent and her executive board.; The process of change, district support and cultural proficiency all contributed to the existing Hispanic EL achievement gap in Rowland Unified. Despite the district’s efforts in addressing the students’ needs via district wide initiatives supported from a grant through the Ball Foundation, high beliefs in collaboration and de-centralized nature of the district, Hispanic EL student needs were not adequately being addressed. In actuality, the fairly recent programs identified to address EL needs had not been fully implemented by all district stakeholders. Although district level personnel demonstrated much support and commitment to addressing EL student needs, the decentralized nature of the district hampered the implementation with fidelity of EL classroom strategies. Lastly, a sufficient percentage of staff members had perceived assumptions about their students’ academic progress. The staff overwhelming demonstrated limited cultural proficiency about their students’ home life, background and knowledge base to adequately aid their students in gaining access to the classroom curriculum. In addition to sustaining and ensuring implementation of research based effective teaching practices for ELs, staff members need to increase their understanding of their students’ cultural background through guidance and increased accountability from the district. |
| Keyword | Hispanic EL; achievement gap; gap analysis |
| Geographic subject | school districts: Rowland Unified School District |
| Geographic subject (county) | Los Angeles |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 2001/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3802 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Molina-Solis, Lesette Wendy |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-MolinaSolis-4309 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume14/etd-MolinaSolis-4309.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 96 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 89 Cultural Proficiency Rowland Unified has offered its teachers training in English Language Development and English Learner strategies. It has established EL Leads at every school site, serving as the key person to assist classrooms with addressing EL student needs. The Bilingual Department at the district level has made consistent effort to implement a Master Plan that complies with state law and also addresses EL instructional needs at school sites. Despite these efforts, Hispanic ELs continue to lag behind their non-Hispanic EL counterparts. According to the responses received from some of the interviewees, some of the teachers attributed this achievement gap to a lack of interest on the part of the Hispanic students’ families. “It’s obvious, the parents don’t care; they don’t come to parent meetings or take interest in their kids’ learning. Yet you do see the parents of our other EL group participating and interested.” The inquiry team found both a cultural knowledge gap and negative teacher attributions towards Hispanic EL students as identified in the previous quote which impacts the Hispanic EL academic achievement at RUSD. Cultural proficiency is defined as, “a way of being that enables both individuals and organizations to respond effectively to people who differ from them” (Lindsey, Robins, & Terrel, 2003, p. 5). Current literature identifies the importance of educators understanding sociocultural theories of learning in order to adequately address diverse learning needs, in this particular instance, Hispanic EL student needs. RUSD is implementing research based, effective teaching practices to enhance Hispanic EL lesson delivery. |
