Culturally Responsive Instructional
and Disciplinary Practices
WE CAN’T TEACH WHO WE DON’T KNOW
DR. LISA WILLIAMS
OFFICE OF EQUITY AND CULTURAL
PROFICIENCY
The objectives of today’s session include:
 Examine the demographic features of the population
of students attending BCPS.
 Examine the understanding of “behavior” as a social
construction.
 Discuss the implication of cultural mismatch.
 Identify ways to eliminate or minimize instances of
culturally unresponsive behaviors.
Enrollment by race/ethnicity
 Between 2007 and 2019, enrollment in public
elementary and secondary schools is projected to:





Decrease 4% for students who are White;
Decrease 4% for students who are Black;
Increase 36% for students who are Hispanic;
Increase 31% for students who are Asian or Pacific Islander;
Increase 13% for students who are American Indian or Alaska
Native
Our Changing Minority
Enrollment
4
Multiracial
0.00%
Hispanic
0.67%
Asian
1.80%
American
Indian
0.10%
Hispanic
5.92%
Multiracial
2.95%
African
American
11.70%
American
Indian
0.38%
Asian
5.99%
African
American
38.78%
Hawaiian/
Pacific
Island
0.00%
Caucasian
45.92%
Caucasian
85.73%
BCPS in 1980 *
American Indian
Asian
African American
Hawaiian/ Pacific Island
Caucasian
Hispanic
Multiracial
BCPS in 2010
* Categories for Multiracial and Hawaiian/Pacific Island were not tracked in 1980.
Division of Curriculum and Instruction – May 23, 2011
Hawaiian/
Pacific
Island
0.06%
American Indian
Asian
African American
Hawaiian/ Pacific Island
Caucasian
Hispanic
Multiracial
English Language Learners (ELL)
Students, 1999-2010
5
4,500
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
Division of Curriculum and Instruction – May 23, 2011
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Homeless Students
6
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
*
*2010 data is year to date
Division of Curriculum and Instruction – May 23, 2011
Free and Reduced Meal
Students (FARMS) 1989-2010
20,147
13,408
15,000
10,360
20,000
11,491
25,000
17,753
10,000
5,000
0
Division of Curriculum and Instruction – May 23, 2011
42,011
37,816
35,929
34,851
33,125
32,312
29,277
28,317
28,452
28,826
28,590
27,496
30,000
23,636
35,000
25,483
40,000
30,782
45,000
35,528
50,000
40,806
7
What is challenging behavior?
What is disruptive behavior?
How do you know…
 When behavior has moved from challenged to
disruptive?
 When behavior has moved from disruptive to
challenged?
 How do you manage the subjective nature of the
issue?
Complicating an already Complicated
Proposition
 Culture mediates our perceptions
 Values
 Believes
 Behaviors
 Language
 Mores
Cultural Mismatch
Do you
know it
when
you see
it?
Why you need to know it when you see
it: Data Describing Disciplinary
Disparities?
 Classroom Management
◦
◦
“Violations of implicit interactional codes” (Vavrus & Coles,
2002)
Interactions of some teachers/some students?
 Cultural Disparities
◦
◦
Cultural misinterpretations
Lower or different expectations
 Influence of stereotypes
◦
◦
◦
How are African American boys perceived?
Different standards of “boys will be boys”
Differential standards for “respect”, “loitering”, “threat”
Do you ever see perceptual mismatches?
How do you
handle it when
you do?
What Behaviors are Students Referred For?
By Race
Of 32 infractions, only 8 significant differences:
 White students
referred more for:
Smoking
Vandalism
Leaving w/o permission
Obscene Language
 Black students
referred more for:
Disrespect
Excessive Noise
Threat
Loitering
Alternative Explanations of
Disciplinary Disproportionality
 Do black students misbehave more?
No supporting evidence
◦ May in fact be treated more severely
for same offenses
◦
Is Disciplinary Removal Effective?
 30-50% of students suspended are repeat offenders
◦ “Suspension functions as a reinforcer...rather than as a
punisher” (Tobin, Sugai & Colvin,1996)
 Use of suspension correlates with
◦ School dropout (school level) (Raffaele-Mendez; Ekstrom,
1986)
◦ Juvenile incarceration (state level) (Skiba et al)
The Case for Culturally Responsive Practices
How do culturally responsive practices work to
effectively help us navigate the teaching and
learning process
 Allows us to root decisions in a shared sense of
reality.
 Relationally based teaching and learning- the “who”
matters just as much as the “what.”
 Requires recognition of the perceptions and
experiences of students.
What are some requisite considerations if we are
to be culturally responsive
 Shared language
 Shared understanding
 Consistent consequences
 Use of praise
 Attention to building the internal locus of control
I fundamentally believe that educating
all children, even those who are poor
and non-white, is an achievable goal, if
we truly value all children, Of course,
that is the real question: Does
American society truly value all of its
children?
-PEDRO NOGUERA, CITY SCHOOLS AND THE
AMERICAN DREAM
Thanks for your attention
DR. LISA WILLIAMS
OFFICE OF EQUITY AND CULTURAL
PROFICIENCY