Micromessaging and
Nontraditional Student Success
Claudia Morrell
© NAPE-EF 2011
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What are examples of Inequitable Access?
(Check all that apply)
Compared with low-poverty U.S. campuses, highpoverty U.S. campuses have:
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

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More teachers educators in areas outside their certification
subjects
More serious educator turnover problems
More educator vacancies
Larger numbers of substitute part-time educators
More limited access to computers and the Internet
Inadequate facilities (such as science labs)
More dirty or inoperative bathrooms
Lower teacher salaries
Presentation Goal
To create knowledge among participants of
the complexity of issues of equity in our
culture and their impact on educators
ability to increase the recruitment,
academic performance, and program
completion of a greater number of
students in non-traditional programs.
3
Objectives
After completing this presentation, you will be able to
demonstrate awareness of:
• the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity and its
continued focus on equitable access
• micromessages, micro-inequities,
and micro-affirmations and the promising practices in
Texas that led to the program development
• apply a simple scientific process to evaluate your own
teaching practices and that can be used to apply and
assess the impact of increasing micro-affirmations in the
classroom
4
National Alliance For Partnerships in Equity
1990
NAPE founded; by 2011 scaled to 40 member states.
2002
NAPE Education Foundation launched.
Mission: Provide equity and diversity solutions for educators to help every student
fulfill his or her potential through access to the entire career spectrum.
2007 -2012
• $2.5 M from NSF for STEM Equity Pipeline Project in 12 states.
– Involved over 1200 organizations
– Conducted research-based training with over 2000 educators, and
– Trained school-based teams in 300 schools
– Impact is powerful yet isolated – sustainability is unclear due to lack
of longitudinal investment and silos
NAPE’s Lines of Business
National Alliance for
Partnerships in Equity
Professional
Development:
STEM Equity
Pipeline
Provide tools and
curricula for
educators through
conferences,
presentations,
webinars, and
formal training
Research
and
Evaluation
Technical
Support
Public
Policy and
Advocacy
Develop reports.
Identify researchbased promising
practices.
Provide input to
others’ research.
Develop tools and
resources for
education
agencies.
Provide consulting
services.
Offer expertise on
issues pertaining to
access, equity, and
diversity.
Work with federal
agencies.
Educate legislators
on career equity and
diversity issues.
Develop policy
briefs.
Alert membership to
legislative or policy
issues.
Professional Development for Educators:
STEM (including CTE) Access, Equity, Diversity
STEM Equity PipelineTM
Program
Improvement
Process for
Equity in STEM
Institutional
program that
improves
enrollment,
retention &
completion of
girls & underrepresented
populations in
STEM courses
STEM Equity
Teacher
Training
STEM Equity
Counselor
Training
Tools &
Resources
Training teachers
to use pedagogy
that improves
enrollment,
retention &
completion of girls
& underrepresented
populations in
STEM courses
Coaching
counselors to
encourage girls
and underrepresented
populations in
STEM careers
Tools to support
teachers’ &
counselors’
learning and
assist their
students, e.g.,
camps, partner
orgs, books
Percentage of Employed STEM Professionals Who Are Women, Selected
Professions
60
Percentage of Women
50
40
30
20
10
0
Biological scientists
Environmental scientists Computer programmers
and geoscientists
Chemical engineers
Electrical and electronics
engineers
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009, Women in the labor force: A databook (Report 1018) (Washington, DC), Table 11.
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Women are less likely than men are to declare
a STEM major in college.
Intent of First-Year College Students to Major in Science and Engineering Fields, by
Gender, 2006
35
Physical sciences
Mathematics/ statistics
30
Engineering
Computer sciences
Percentage
25
Biological/ agricultural sciences
20
15
10
5
0
Female
Male
Source: Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology. Data derived from Cooperative Institutional Research Program,
Higher Education Research Institute, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, The
American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 1990 through Fall 2006, www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/heri.htm.
9
STEM Equity Pipeline
Program Improvement Process For Equity TM
Share
Explore
Phase One - Orientation
Phase Two – Data and
Root Cause Analysis
Phase Three –
Implementation and
Evaluation
Assess
Act
Assess
Organize
Assess
Discover
Assess
Select
NAPE-EF 2011©
NAPE-EF 2011
As we select the strategy (ies) as
interventions remember to…
1. Define the problem
2. Identify a process for the validation of your assumptions
of the causes. i.e. collect data and ask why?
3. Select a strategy
4. Implement
5. Assess/measure impact
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We want strategies that:
• Are based on solid data collection and
analysis
• Lead to an equitable classroom environment
• Consider and integrate research-based social
and cultural issues
• Counteract micro-inequities by building
micro-affirmations
• Be based on observations, reflection, and
data
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Formation of the Micromessaging
Program
High Tech High
Heels Program
Blueprint
• Dallas-based
program founded by
the Women of TI
(Texas Instruments)
through the Women
of TI Fund
• One year project to
build the program
involving a wide
diversity of expertise
at multiple levels
Micromessaging
Program Delivery
• NSF-funded in
Maryland
• Program includes
multiple partners
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High Tech High Heels
Teacher Professional Development
•
Since implementation in the first
district in 2003, Advanced
Placement (AP) Physics test pass
rates have improved for both girls
and boys:
— 4x tests passed by girls
— 4x tests passed by African
Americans
— 6x tests passed by Hispanics
• After Equity Training in the second
district, the number of AP tests
passed by girls more than doubled.
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
Girls
Boys
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
2002-03
2009-10
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Assumption #1
Every educator is in the classroom
because she or he cares for her or his
students and wants each and every one
to be successful.
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Assumption #2
When individuals make remarks that offend
someone based on their race, gender,
class, ethnicity, ability, etc., they do it
unintentionally. This is called innocent
ignorance. Addressing this requires
openness, education, and communication,
not criticism or judgment.
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Assumption #3
Every student deserves access to an
inclusive, equitable educational
opportunity, regardless of gender, race,
class, religion, (dis)ability, sexual
orientation, and so on.
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Unconscious Bias
Culture
Behavior
Bias
Self Efficacy
Micromessages
Accumulation of
(Dis)Advantage
Micro-Messaging
MICRO-MESSAGES
Small, subtle, semi-conscious messages we
send and receive when we interact with others
MICRO-INEQUITIES
Negative micro-messages we send other
people that cause them to feel devalued,
slighted, discouraged or excluded
MICRO-AFFIRMATIONS
Positive micro-messages that cause people to
feel valued, included, or encouraged
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Tech Alert October 27, 2011
Dear Members and Readers,
Please accept our sincere apologies for
the headline in today's Tech Alert: "With
the Arduino, Now Even Your Mom Can
Program." The actual title of the article is
"The Making of Arduino."
IEEE Spectrum
Why Think About MicroMessaging?
Intent
Teacher
Micro-messaging
Engagement
with students
in the STEM
classroom
Impact
Student
Performance
Small and seemingly insignificant behaviors may
result in unfavorable learning outcomes
Impact is More Important Than Intent!
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Key Micromessaging Elements
•
•
•
•
Verbal (What is said)
Para-Verbal (How it’s said)
Non-Verbal (Body Language)
Contextual (Who or what else is present;
culture, artifacts, etc.)
• Omission (what is not said or not done)
• Praise and Criticism (feedback messages)
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© NAPE-EF 2011
E
Examining the Small
Consider for a moment a specific
incident when you were being…
• unintentionally discouraged or hurt by
something SMALL someone said or did.
• deeply valued by your colleague or family
member in a SMALL yet powerful way.
- How did you know? What did that
person do to communicate your value?
© NAPE-EF
2011
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Guess the Cues
Which is an example of a verbal cue?
• Chronically mispronouncing select student names.
• Don’t tolerate girls calling out answers but tolerates that
behavior from boys
• Discipline boys more than girls for similar behavior
• Consistent use of generic “he” or “man” to represent both
men and women
• Avoiding eye contact with female student; only looking
at male students
• Only use males as examples of scientists
Guess the Cues
Which is an example of an omission cue?
• Chronically mispronouncing select student names.
• Don’t tolerate girls calling out answers but tolerates that
behavior from boys
• Discipline boys more than girls for similar behavior
• Consistent use of generic “he” or “man” to represent both
men and women
• Avoiding eye contact with female student; only looking
at male students
• Only use males as examples of scientists
Guess the Cues
Which is an example of a nonverbal cue?
• Chronically mispronouncing select student names.
• Don’t tolerate girls calling out answers but tolerates that
behavior from boys
• Discipline boys more than girls for similar behavior
• Consistent use of generic “he” or “man” to represent both
men and women
• Avoiding eye contact with female student; only looking
at male students
• Only use males as examples of scientists
Negative Bias = Micro-Inequities
•
•
•
•
•
Often Unconscious
Usually Unintentional
Subtle
Pervasive
Powerful
© NAPE-EF 2011
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Positive Bias = Micro-Affirmations
Micro-messages we send that
validate and recognize other people
in positive and supportive ways.
© NAPE-EF 2011
29
Micro-Affirmations for Learning
Which of the following are examples of sending Micro-
affirmations that you might use?
• Interrupt micro-inequities you observe
• Plant micro-affirmations
• Assign females and males to activities by skill not gender
• Affirm students for their effort, not by perceived attributes
• Allow “wait time” before calling on students
• Implement a system for calling on students, such as using
shuffled index cards containing students’ names
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Impact of Micro-Affirmations
on Girls in STEM
• Increased their willingness to take risks
• Enhanced creativity and innovation
• Increased levels of engagement in complex
tasks and open-ended thinking
• Improved caring about learning
• Increased interest in STEM and
development of girls’ STEM-identity
31
© NAPE-EF 2011
The Role of Parents in Micromessaging, Equity
and Access
So, young women might have equal access to
non-traditional careers, but they certainly do
not have equitable access.
An equity approach takes bigger social and
educational conditions into account—such
as the influence of parents, media, and
culture in general.
Educating parents so that they can encourage
students through affirmations to consider
non-traditional careers can be an important
ally!
The educator as classroom
scientist
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Let’s Review:
STEP 1: Define the problem (Set up
your hypothesis!)
•
Recruitment
•
Retention
•
Pass rate
•
Grade performance
•
Classroom Climate
34
Let’s Review:
STEP 2: Identify a process for the
validation of your assumptions of the
causes (Collect data and ask why?)
35
Suggested Strategies for
Gathering Data
• Peer classroom observation
• Gender reverse review of physical
space
• Observe your students with a checklist
for micromessages
• Review curriculum and lesson plans for
contextual clues
• Learn more !
© NAPE-EF 2011
36
Let’s Review:
STEP 3: Select a strategy – (define
independent and dependent variables)
(See www.napequity.org for researchbased root cause document)
37
Let’s Review:
STEP 4:
• Implement
STEP 5:
• Assess/measure impact (Share)
Revise STEP 1:
• Define the problem (Revise your
hypothesis!)
38
Did You Learn About…?
After completing this presentation, do you have more
awareness of: (Mark √ for Yes or X for No)
• the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity and its
continued focus on equitable access
• micromessages, micro-inequities,
and micro-affirmations and the promising practices in
Texas that led to the program development
• applying a simple scientific process to evaluate your own
teaching practices
• applying this process to assessing the impact of increasing
micro-affirmations in the classroom
39
Questions?
• What information, training or resources
would you like to more about?
“Diversity Trumps Ability Every Time.”
Page (2007). The Difference:
How the power of diversity creates better groups, firms, schools, and societies.
For more information
About NAPE and the STEM Equity Pipeline
www.napequity.org
www.stemequitypipeline.org
Claudia Morrell
cmorrell@napequity.org
For further professional development
Debra Hsu
debra.hsu@so.mnscu.edu
Eva Scates-Winston
eva.scates-winston@so.mnscu.edu
Al Hauge
al.hauge@state.mn.us