Heading: BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Cultural Inquiry Process
Broadening Perspective on Enrichment in Education
Rebecca Sobel
George Mason University
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BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Setting and Puzzlement
As Anna runs into class for our enrichment literacy circle she breathlessly blurts
out, “Hey! Those G/T center kids said they don’t have some of these vocabulary words
for the word master test, how come our group has them?” My answer comes in a
somewhat frustrated tone, “Their teachers decided to only give them the first half for
now, I let our group have them all at once because you can make better connections
having all the words and because you are so smart and talented” (I wanted to add “and
you should tell those G/T kids that!” but I didn’t.) Anna, one of the brightest students I
work with in my enrichment groups, definitely sees a divide between the Advanced
Academic center classrooms at our school and the “base” school classrooms because she
labels the kids as different from herself, it is obvious by her tone she sees them as smarter
or knowing more. All Anna’s classmates are in fourth grade, go to lunch together, go to
recess together, and go on field trips together but there is a divide in the way the students
think of themselves as “base” or “center” kids. Our gifted “center”, is comprised of
classrooms where identified students get a “highly challenging instructional program that
follows the Program of Studies. Differentiation in the depth, breadth, and pace of
instruction is designed to meet the needs of advanced learners with a strong emphasis on
higher level thinking skills” (School Website, 2011). I often wonder how this differs
from how our base schoolteachers see their classrooms.
My school is a public school in a suburban area outside of a large metropolitan
city. The school, originally built in 1939, currently has a diverse population of about 800
students. Over 20 languages are spoken by participants in the school community with the
demographics of the overall school breaking down to 61% Caucasian, 21% Asian, 9%
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Hispanic, 3% African American and 6% labeled as “other nationalities”. Our school also
has 9% of its students on free and reduced lunch and 9% of the students labeled as
Limited English Proficient (LEP) (school website, 2011). Our Advanced Academic
Center serves children in grades three through six; students are either in an exclusive
Advanced Academic class, where they are not mainstreamed, or they are in the “base”
school. Because not all schools in the county have an Advanced Academic Center,
students from neighboring elementary schools who score high enough on the advanced
academic placement (AAP) tests come to our Advanced Academic center. Surprisingly,
approximately 51% of our school population is made up of students in the third through
sixth grade Advanced Academic Center. Of the 49% in the base school 12% of students
receive pull out services for AAP in the areas of either reading or math (School Website,
2011). These students are identified to participate in the pull out programs by test scores
and teacher recommendation.
The community surrounding my school is fairly wealthy, or could be considered
upper middle class. The area has a median household income of $134,00 and the median
home or condo value of approximately $624,000. This area is very family-oriented with
over 74% of the households reporting one child or more. Over 92% of the residents over
age 25 have graduated from high school and 56% of these residents have received a
bachelor’s degree or higher (County Website, 2012); proving the high value education
plays in our area. Our middle to upper class population make up the majority of our
school and seem to be very involved and these families making up most of our PTA. We
have a small lower-income apartment community that our school serves with many
families in this neighborhood coming from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Families
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living in these apartments usually reside in this community because this is all they can
afford (and several families live together in one apartment), or this is an affordable place
of residence in the district to go to this specific school. According to several local real
estate agents, our school’s neighborhood is one of the most requested areas in the county
to live. Parents value the programs at the school including the Junior Optimist Club, the
Math and Science Olympiad programs and the Mentor Program (School Website, 2011).
Parents also acknowledge the AAP Programs at our school. The school has both a level
IV AAP program in grades three through six in which students are immersed in all
subject areas in exclusive AAP classrooms for advanced work, and a non-immersion
AAP program for students in levels I, II and III in which the Advanced Academic
Resource teacher (AART) works with regular classroom teachers, specialists and
individual students to differentiate enrichment based on need.
Although the school has a strong community feel with parents, students and
teachers working together to create a cohesive environment, I often feel there is a split
between the students and parents in the AAP program versus the students and parents
solely involved in the base part of the school; this “labeling” of students creates a divide
in our school community. It seems as parents view the AAP center as a place for kids to
get a better education and there are also some that feel if their child is not in the center
they will not do well in the rest of their school career. Parents, begin calling our school
when their child is in the early primary grades in order to figure out what they can do to
get their child in the center. I believe that part of this push to be in the AAP center comes
both from the culture of the area of the country our school is located as well as from the
ideas certain cultures hold about education. I have also noticed that our Advanced
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Academic center has some diversity, but is very limited in the number of African
American and Hispanic children. Although our community is made of up mostly
educated upper middle class families, we have a growing population of diverse students
coming from the lower income apartments. While this population of many English
second language learners is not huge, it is recognizably increasing.
Currently I am a resource teacher for students in grades kindergarten through
grade six. I primarily do intervention with students in kindergarten, first and second
grade, and also work with our AART to help enrich third through fifth grade base school
students in the area of literacy. In addition, I support the AART and the reading
specialist by looking at data and finding instructional materials that can assist our
teachers and specialists, help with sixth grade AAP literacy groups as well as help all
teachers with student testing when needed. Working with all grade levels of the school
began my interest in several puzzlements about the AAP program. First, I often wonder
how students, parents and teachers view the AAP programs and the effects they have on
the school and community. I assume from what I see and hear on a daily basis that there
is a divide between our center and base population, and would like to figure out what can
help close this gap for the community as a whole. Second, I am curious about the student
population in the center versus the base school and why it seems like there is much less
diversity in the center compared to the base school, especially for our Hispanic and
African American students. Through data collection and analysis I will attempt to find
answers to these questions as well as propose interventions ensuring our school
community as a whole builds a cohesive environment valuing enrichment for all students.
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Framing the Study
As I began to delve deeper in to the Cultural Inquiry Process (Jacob, 1999) I
generated some ideas about the way culture may be affecting the divide between the AAP
center and base population of my school; I also wanted to continue to look deeper into
why our Advanced Academic center does not seem to have a lot of representation from
the African American and Hispanic populations. I began to wonder more about the way
parents from different cultural backgrounds viewed education, and if having a child
labeled as gifted and put in a gifted program was something parents pushed for because
they wanted it for their child, for themselves or for their culture. I also wondered how
much the culture of the community played into the attitudes of those involved in
Advanced Academic or base school, since the culture of the general population in our
area is very competitive when it comes to jobs, money, and even material possessions. I
am concerned that this competitiveness for the “gifted” label plays a role in the selfesteem of the students. Next, to assess the reasons why African American and Hispanics
were not represented in our AAP population I asked myself several more questions. In
what ways might in-school identification be made better in order to serve all students?
Were parents of these cultures aware of what the AAP program was all about? Did our
school’s “young scholars” program take precedence over AAP enrichment programs
because it was specifically designed for minorities? Did the African American and
Hispanic families feel comfortable discussing their children’s progress and ability with
the teachers and administrators?
Jacob’s Cultural Inquiry process helped me to better frame the questions I would
ask about the puzzlements at my school. Most of my assumptions seemed to be based
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6
around my schools current practices so I began to ask how my schools culture might be
contributing to my puzzlements (CIP 3.2). I assumed my school’s community of
teachers, parents and students did feel a divide between AAP and “base” school.
Looking closer at recognizing what types of competition may be contributing to this split
as well as what issues ability grouping or tracking bring to our problem would hopefully
give me a better idea of where this divide is coming from and how we can deal with it to
make our community more cohesive (CIP 3.2.1, 3.2.2). I also wanted to find out more
about the under represented cultures. Looking at our instructional curricula for ELLs, as
well as looking at the programs for minority learners may give a better picture of why
African American and Hispanic students are not represented well in the AAP center (CIP
3.2, 3.2.3). Finally I wondered if there was a mismatch between teachers’ expectations
and their ideas of culture and giftedness contributing to the lack of ability to educate,
enrich and properly identify our ELL and more culturally diverse learners (CIP3.3).
Researching deeper into my puzzlements allowed me the opportunity to view the
ideas, opinions and studies of those before me who may have had similar concerns. I
began looking at research on gifted programs and how they affect the attitudes and
opinions of parents and children. An article written by David G. Myers and Jack Ridl
(1981) addressed my thoughts about the competitiveness that a danger in labeling
children as gifted or not gifted could contribute to the development of an attitude that
“gifted means better”. They added that the branded superiority may also lead to the
opinion too much contact with those who are non-gifted may decrease potential. Also, in
a chapter written by Kaufman and Sternberg (2007), the authors discuss the issues of the
current reliance on IQ tests to determine students who are gifted. Because educators are
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7
allowing these tests to weigh the heaviest in the determination of what children are gifted
they are only looking at this tested intelligence, when in reality actual giftedness includes
more including characteristics like creative productivity and leadership ability. Kaufman
and Sternberg also discuss the idea that giftedness is often determined early in a child’s
school career, yet should be reassessed throughout the child’s school years because as
students get older the context of giftedness changes. In Scott Willis (1998) article, he
discusses the divisions between gifted and regular classroom learners. His interviews of
several leaders of the gifted community allow for a better understanding of the needs in
both gifted and regular classroom situations. King, Kozleski and Lansdowne’s (2009)
wrote about the underrepresentation of students of color in gifted education and discussed
ways for principals to confront this issue. King et al. comments schools should be
thinking about giving teachers professional development opportunities based on
multicultural and culturally responsive practice, examine and adopt culturally responsive
definitions of giftedness, broaden the meaning of gifted to go beyond those who achieve
high grades or test scores, and assess and consider the demographics of students
accessing gifted programs on a year to year basis. Like Kaufman and Sternberg King et
al. agree that we need to begin to ask questions like are parents and/or teachers
recognizing strengths of students change as these children age and why shouldn’t we
reassess our student’s abilities?
In a research study by Donna Ford (1998), the underrepresentation of minority
students in gifted education was examined. In this article Ford confirms my guess that
many of the instruments adopted by the school or school district including tests,
checklists and nomination forms do not always afford minority students an opportunity to
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8
perform their best. She discusses the underrepresentation of African American, Hispanic
and American Indian students, and the overrepresentation of the Asian learners. Ford
also confirms that minority families often face barriers to school involvement. In her
2011 article, on “Learning from Latino Families”, Susan Auerbach validates Ford’s ideas
as she discusses the culture differences of Latino families, and offers ways for schools to
explore their own biases in order to better connect with this community and overcome
cultural barriers. Alexinia Y. Baldwin, agrees there is an underrepresentation of minority
students in our gifted programs. She delves into the placement and expectations put on
minority students, the curriculum they are offered, community support, brain research
and current testing. Baldwin concludes that all of these areas should be looked at more
closely to help the needs of our growing population of diverse students. These ideas
could present a partial understanding of why our school appears to have an
underrepresentation of minority students in our gifted program.
Because culture is going to play a part in the decisions and attitudes of teachers,
parents and students, involved in both gifted and non-gifted education, it will be
important for all of these groups to look at their own biases in order to bring the
community closer together. Etta Hollins (2008) discusses the idea that schools are
shaped by cultural practices and values that reflect the current society. Allowing the
teachers a chance to explore their own beliefs is a key step to encouraging a cohesive
community between cultures. Larry Ferlazzo (2011) empowers educators in his article
“Involvement or Engagement?” He explains that it is a school’s responsibility to build
relationships and create a comfortable environment for all families. Creating this type of
engagement may be helpful in bridging some of the gaps in my school’s gifted program.
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BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
To try and understand the feelings our school had about the AAP program, I
interviewed and/or surveyed several students and teachers in my school as well as sent a
survey out to parents.
I checked our school website for data and also went online to
some of the county “underground” communities to look at the opinions of parents on our
county’s current AAP program, how cultures were fairly or unfairly represented and how
the program affected their children. In the end, I hope to gain more data to help bring
some answers to my puzzlements that may either confirm or disprove my assumptions.
My research connections and current data will lead me to develop an action plan and
intervention model to be used to create ideas for bridging the gap between the AAP
center and base school as well as help bring more awareness to our teachers on the
limited minority representation in our gifted center.
Data and Analysis
In order to delve deeper into the CIP strand 3.2and 3.3 and get to the bottom of
how culture could be affecting my school I needed to gather some data from the students,
the parents and the teachers from surveys, interviews and websites. I tried to do my best
to triangulate the data in this study in order have a better chance of sustaining the
suggested interventions. I also created a chart focusing on the specific questions that
related back to Jacob’s CIP process.
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Triangulation of data
Student
Engage All Three
Areas to Promote
Change,
Sustainability &
Empowerment
Home
School
Data collection related to CIP Questions
Research Question, Puzzlement or
information sought
1. Why is there a divide between the AAP
center and base school populations of
our school community?
2. How is my schools culture contributing
to the puzzling situation?
3. How may competition of the current
school community and ability grouping
contributing to the puzzling situation?
4. Why is the African American and
Hispanic culture underrepresented in our
school’s AAP program?
5. How does our curriculum for English
Language Learners and programs for
minority learners contributing to this
puzzling situation?
6. How is the mismatch between teachers’
expectations and ideas of culture and
giftedness contributing to the lack of
ability to educate, enrich and identify
culturally diverse students?
Student
Surveys
Data Source
Parent
Student
Surveys
Interview
Teacher
Interview
Parent or
School
Websites
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
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Students were quite eager to discuss their opinions of our school, their classes and
the AAP center. I met with three different groups of students about their feelings and
opinions of the make-up of our school and how they felt about being part of our AAP
program or not being part of the program. The first group I questioned were students in
the base school in grades three through six who may or may not receive enrichment pull
out for either reading or math. I gave them the survey (Appendix A) and then expanded
on some of the questions through a group interview. I was surprised that most of the
students didn’t feel badly or divided being in the base school or AAP center; to them it
didn’t seem to really matter. They felt like the students in their grade levels all really get
along even though they were not in the same program. The students in the base school
did agree that being in the AAP center meant “learning more and learning faster”. They
told me they were okay with not learning as quickly as well as not having as much work
as they thought the AAP center had. One of the 4th grade students said, “When I moved
here last year the school never even told us about the AAP center, but I am glad because I
am good where I am.” Another student stated she was okay with just getting pulled out
of her class for Language Arts enrichment because she really likes to do after school
sports and activities and, “I could never do all the AAP center work and do my sports, I
would never make it.” Although the opinion of most of the students was that they didn’t
care about being in the AAP center, I could tell from the way they discussed the work and
the pace of the center that in their minds they definitely saw a difference and according to
my survey six out of eleven students do not feel as if they are as smart or creative as the
students in the AAP program. Two third grade students actually said they did see a
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divide in their grade level and often times the kids in the AAP center may “act like they
are smarter”. One of the third graders stated it was hard to make friends with the AAP
kids when he went into their classroom for advanced math because they “already have
their own groups and we seem to be intruding on them”. My initial assumption that the
base school students feel a large divide from the AAP center was not completely
confirmed. The kids overall do see a small divide, but according to the student answers
and my interviews the divide was not an issue for our fourth through sixth graders. Most
of these students discussed the value of a balance between academics and outside
activities. They think of themselves as good students who have opportunities to enjoy
activities outside of school without being overly stressed out. Our third graders did feel a
bit more of a divide than the other grade levels in our school community and also were
the only grade level that answered yes to wanting to be in the AAP center and believing
their parents wanted them to be in the AAP center. Overall, the majority of students did
feel less smart than the AAP center students. They seem to have the idea that AAP
means smart and don’t grasp the full concept of what Advanced Academic means.
Meyers and Ridl (1981) discuss the attitudes that many parents and children labeled
“gifted” carry with them. Myers and Ridl state that parents and students often perceive
themselves as better or entitled and feel that their potential may deteriorate if they have
“too much contact with the non-gifted” (p.31). Over 80% of the students surveyed wished
there were no AAP centers and all students could just be mixed in regular classrooms. In
the future a question to ask is, how can we ensure our non-AAP students understand the
differences in the two programs and the reasons for the differentiation?
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Interestingly enough the AAP students who were given a similar survey
(Appendix B) felt a larger divide between the AAP center and the Base school. Also,
70% of the students surveyed felt they were smarter and more creative than the students
in the base school. Thus, confirming a statement from our non-AAP students that “kids
in AAP think they are smarter than us”. Half of our AAP students wanted to be a part of
the program and all of the students believed their parents wanted them to be a part of the
program. One-fifth grade student spoke up when answering this question by stating,
“why do you think I am here? If it were up to me I would be back at my neighborhood
school with the rest of my friends.” Another students said, I wouldn’t be in the AAP
center if it were not for my parents, they pushed hard for me to be in the program. I now
had even more confirmation of at least a small divide between AAP and base school and
a definite divide in how the students thought about themselves academically. The
majority of AAP students felt that the program met their needs but at the same time, 62%
wished that all students would just be mixed in the same classroom that it best meets their
needs as students. Willis (1995) quotes Bessie Duncan, program supervisor for gifted
and talented education for Detroit Michigan Schools, “According to surveys, gifted
students like being with their non gifted peers…although they enjoy special opportunities
to develop their strengths, they feel uncomfortable when they are kept separate all the
time” (p.3) One interviewed student who differed from the majority and said he couldn’t
be in the base school “because those kids don’t learn as fast as I do”. Willis (1995) also
says, that it depends on how gifted a child is to actually understand if they can be served
in a regular classroom. He goes on to say, “The top two present of students need
acceleration” (p.2). This leads me to another future question: Are we as a county
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focused on only identifying the truly gifted students in our AAP program or are all our
“good” students allowed to participate in AAP? For full student response summaries of
the base and AAP students see appendix (A and B).
A Sample of Total combined student responses of both base and AAP:
I feel that the student in the base
school are divided from the
students in the AAP center
Huge Small
No
divide divide divide
33%
62%
5%
I wish there wasn’t and AAP
Center and that we were all mixed
in the same classrooms
My parents really wanted
me to be a part of the AAP
center
I really wanted to be a part
of the AAP Center
True
False
Yes
No
Yes
No
62%
38%
67%
33%
43%
57%
I also gathered information from parent surveys (Appendix C and D) about parent
opinions on the AAP Center. Although I did not get many parent responses the ones I did
get helped me to gather data in this area. No parent surveys from African American or
Hispanic families were completed. Parents, in general were very supportive of their
child’s placement in the school community. Parents of AAP students were not shy in
answering that their children were smarter than the students in the base school, 83% or
five out of six parents felt this way and the majority of base school parents thought their
children were just as smart as the AAP students. All of the AAP parents stated they
wanted their children to be in the AAP center; whereas only one third of the base school
parents surveyed had any interest of their child being a part of the center. I wonder if the
parents who want their child in the center are aware of the definition of true giftedness or
want the center for other reasons like competitiveness in the community or because their
child gets straight A’s; this is a question I can definitely look into in the future. Over half
of the AAP center and base school parents were both in favor of keeping the AAP center
as an option for students, which is quite different from the idea of the students in which
over 60% wanted to be a part of classes without an AAP center. The opinion of parents,
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15
especially the AAP center parents, of wanting to keep the center could come from what
Willis (1995) says is a fear that that teachers with a diverse student population will not be
able to meet the needs of the brightest among them, or possibly use the gifted students as
tutors to their peers. The parents did however agree with our students that the AAP
center causes a small divide within our school community. Overall the AAP parents and
base school parents seemed satisfied with the challenges their children are receiving.
In addition to the survey, I scoured the Internet “underground” County websites
where parents post thoughts and opinions about the AAP programs. Many of the posts on
these forums are where parents openly discuss the push to get their child into the AAP
centers. The people posting shared test scores and thoughts on how those with lower than
average test scores are getting into the program and ruining it for the rest of the so called
“smart children” who did well on these tests. They discussed the privilege of having
children in the APP program and some parents even discussed prepping their students for
years before they have to take the AAP entrance exams in first and second grade. The
forums I read helped me to understand the amount of competitiveness in the county and
how this in turn can affect the way parents and students interact with one another. It gave
me a view on how some parents perceive education for their children at a young age and
seem to “push” them into being labeled gifted. This brought me to wonder about the
background and culture of these posters and made me further question the roles parents
play in the way students feel about themselves and their education.
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Total combined parent responses of base school and AAP parents:
AAP Parent Response Parent Response
Demographics
Base School and AAP Pullout Parent Response
Demographics
When interviewing the teachers at my school, I looked their opinions on the AAP
Center and whether or not they thought this was the best way to serve our students
(Appendix E). Our AAP teachers truly believe in the AAP program. I interviewed three
AAP teachers and three base teachers. All of the AAP teachers stated the majority of the
students in their classes needed to be challenged and have a faster work pace. They felt
these students might be bored in a regular base class. One teacher said, “Many of the
kids in AAP have a gift, they truly want to be in school and work to their highest
potential, they love a challenge.” A third grade teacher did state that coming into the
program was difficult for some students as the transition from second grade to third grade
AAP, but eventually they do get the hang of the expectations. All third through fifth
grade teachers also said they have several students who are very stressed about their
workloads and were concerned for these children. When asked about the culture and
diversity of their students, the teachers said they really didn’t notice, but did say when it
was brought tot their attention they do see mostly Caucasian, Asian and Indian students
in the program. They were unsure about why the African American and Hispanic kids
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
17
were not candidates except to say that they probably didn’t do well on the tests or don’t
understand the language well enough to be in the program. In Baldwin (2004), Ford
(1998), King et al. (2009) and Kaufman and Sternberg (2007) all authors noted that the
current ways we test to identify our gifted students does not well serve our minority
students and ELLs. Ford specifically states African American, American Indian and
Hispanic students have a history of performing poorly on these tests (p.8). Kaufman and
Sterrnberg (2007) state, “African American, Hispanic American and Native American
Indian students’ chances of identification for and inclusion in gifted programming are
well below the chances for the population as a whole” (p. 400). Teachers agreed that the
current system to get into the AAP program has its issues. For example, parents with the
right resources to have their child tested privately in addition to the scores they get on the
tests taken in the classroom. They also see many parents appealing the decisions made
about entrance to the AAP center, and these parents are also the ones that have the
resources and understandings to do so. All AAP teachers also agreed that there is a need
for better screening for the AAP program. They said this was obvious especially in our
school where there are three or four AAP classes to every two base school classes. They
think parents and students should better understand the AAP program and that just
because a child gets all A’s does not mean they are a candidate. Willis (1998) says
looking at the top two percent of students or those who have an IQ of over 145 need
special academic classes. Baldwin (2004), Ford (1998), King et al. (2009) and Kaufman
and Sternberg (2007) all agree that alternative assessments must be used in addition to the
current methods of IQ testing our students, in order to properly identify our truly gifted
pupils. At this current time, even staff members and administrators have not been fully
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
18
trained in what gifted means and students are often pushed through to our gifted classes
on parent request, we as a school are serving many more students in our gifted
classrooms than that top two percent. Teaches agree parents need more background on
what true advanced academic behavior looks like. All of our teachers also concurred that
our more diverse ELL learners, especially the Hispanic families, have little knowledge of
our AAP program and what it could mean for their child. Auerbach (2011) discusses the
importance of engaging families especially those of more diverse cultures. She says
building a support organization for some of our more diverse learners through a parent
liaison and/or parent outreach programs will help bridge the gap in communication.
Auerbach states, “ The chance for interaction among often-isolated parents and between
parents and staff not only raises comfort levels but also enhances the social capital of
immigrant families, giving them greater access to information and support” (p.19). In
addition, the teachers said our more diverse populations of students get put into out
“Young Scholars” program. Although this program is supposed to prepare students for
AAP, often the students just stay in the young scholars program. Teachers think parents
don’t know enough about these programs to discuss their child’s continuing options.
The non-AAP teachers I interviewed felt more of a divide between the two parts
of the school. Although they believe in the AAP program for most of the students who
qualify, they do think that there should be more of an effort to collaborate. They know
that many of their students learn at a slower pace, but still feel like even their ELL
learners could benefit from some of the curriculum and strategies used by the teachers in
the AAP center. In Willis (1995) he again references Bessie Duncan and her belief that
teachers should meet the needs of their brightest students and “bring the others along”
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19
(p.2). One of the third grade base school teachers stated, “I know some schools in our
county are piloting using the same language arts program in their AAP and base schools,
and although they are not moving at the same pace, the student in the base school are
learning to really stretch themselves as thinkers.” All base-school teachers were
frustrated at times when parents pushed for an appeal for their kids to be in the AAP
center. One of the teachers stated, “Don’t parents realize that when their students are
successful, motivated and confident about their academics in the base school, they are not
doing their child any favors to try and push them harder to be in the AAP center.”
Another teacher stated that a parent had told her they were going to appeal the AAP
placement decision because their daughter was bored in the base school. The teacher
stated, “To me boredom is a direct sign of not being gifted, a truly gifted student would
challenge themself in any academic setting.” Base and AAP teachers agree parents do not
fully understand the true meaning of advanced academics. Overall the non-AAP teachers
thought they had a good grasp on their students needs, although they all felt they could
use support with their ELLs. The non-AAP teachers also thought their students who
were receiving pull out services for enrichment could use a more time in their allotted
subject area. The base-school teachers were happy with what their students were learning,
but felt that using some of the AAP strategies could benefit their students and hoped that
in the future there may be more opportunity to collaborate with the AAP teachers.
Although I did not touch too much on the idea of culture when interviewing the
students, an interesting conversation arose with one of my AAP sixth graders that seemed
pertinent to my puzzlement. This student stated in our conversation that in his
neighborhood (the before mentioned lower income apartments), the Hispanics didn’t care
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
20
about school, they never did their assigned work and it wasn’t important to them to learn
the English language. I asked him how he knew this, and he said because every day the
Koreans (like him) would get home from school and have to stay inside and complete
their work, whereas when the Hispanics got home they just ran wild in the neighborhood.
His opinion was that the Hispanic parents didn’t care what the children did and put no
emphasis on school or the future. I asked him if he knew a lot about the Hispanic culture
and he said, “no”. I tried to help him understand he was making assumptions about this
culture and that every culture had different ways of expressing ideas, especially the idea
of academic success. It was an interesting conversation and I wondered if some of our
teachers could also have the same lack of knowledge about cultures. I knew from their
interviews that both AAP and base teachers wanted more strategies for their ELLs of
diverse populations. Hollins (2008) states a teachers understanding of culture can
directly affect the “meaningful and productive learning experiences for their students”
(p.135). In her chapter on cultural diversity Hollins discusses a need for teachers to
discover the understanding of cultural diversity by first exploring his/her own practice
with their diverse population of students in the classroom. With this new understanding
of one’s own definitions of culture, more productive opportunities for our underserved
diverse populations can be explored. This information could begin to give a clue that as a
general school community we are uneducated and possibly haven’t explored our own
assumptions about diversity and culture.
Through gathering this data I learned that there is at least a slight divide between
the AAP and base schools. From my surveys and interviews it would appear that this
divide could stem from the culture the school has built over the years. The parents and
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
21
students do not seem to grasp the true meaning of advanced academics, there has been a
breakdown in communication between the school and the parents and students and the
AAP center is thought of as the place for all “smart” kids. Students are beginning to see
themselves as smart AAP students or not so smart regular students and kids feel pressure
from their parents and peers in early AAP grades to enter the center. Parents, especially
those of our younger students want their kids in the AAP center and many will appeal
until this need is met. The AAP label is encouraging an unneeded competitiveness in a
community that thrives on competition. A better way for parents to understand the
meaning of advanced academics through communication from the school directly is
needed. The underrepresentation of African American and Hispanic students in AAP is
not quite as clear. The lack of representation of some of our minority students is
confirmed through research as most likely stemming from the mismatch between what
teachers believe and what our current assessments show versus the true meaning of
gifted. New or additional options for identifying gifted students are needed and
professional development is a necessity to fully understand how to recognize our gifted
children. It is also apparent our teachers and students may have their own ideas about
culturally diverse students and the programs in which they should participate. Using my
data, I created a plan to help my school build on its current successes and create a more
cohesive school community for all of our teachers and families.
Intervention/Action Plan
Although our school continues to thrive, the information I discovered has led me to
put some interventions into place; however because of the limited time frame for this
study I have not been able to see the impact of most of these interventions. In addition, I
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
22
created an action plan outlining a time frame for executing the proposed interventions
with hope that we can make our school the best environment possible for all students.
In order to change our school culture by achieving more cohesiveness in our school
community and ensuring that all our teachers are on the same page is the first
intervention to be put in to place. All grade level teams have currently been asked to set
up a “site” on the technology program “One Note”. One Note will allow all teachers to
share plans and data in real time. AAP and base teachers will meet together on their
Collaborative Learning Teams (CLTs) to collaborate on their One Note Site. They will
create and plan units eventually including all subject areas and connect these to the
county standards. Teachers can upload all types of documents they use in their teaching
including videos, lesson plans, assessments and worksheets. All teachers on a team (both
AAP and base) will have access to the subject area documents and be able to use these
with all students when deemed appropriate. At a recent staff meeting the present feeling
about this intervention from our staff members is this is really bringing grade levels
together. Teachers have to work together to get the site in place and at the same time
now have a record for planning and a place to store all assessments, videos, and
documents used for teaching subject area units. Teachers like the idea that they can build
on this site from year to year and that the base and AAP teachers can now see one
another’s resources without formally meeting. A second intervention to change our
school culture is currently in the works. It began with a discussion with the school’s
kindergarten team about the importance of parent communication especially with or ELL
families. The team thought it would be beneficial to put some parent liaisons in place to
try and reach some of our ELL families who may not be involved in the school. Our
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
23
thought is that bringing these families into our school as early as kindergarten may help
build more trust with the school and make parents feel more comfortable. Having a
liaison would give our ELL families someone in the community to go to if there was a
want or need that couldn’t be addressed directly with the teacher or administrator. Susan
Auerbach (2011) says outreach efforts that are small and more informal give affirmation
“that schools care for families as human beings and recognize the importance of
relationships as the foundation of school and family partnerships” (p.20).
The next intervention began a week ago when I met with our school’s AART to
discuss my project at a weekly CLT meeting. We decided that we would continue to
monitor our ELL students as well as the young scholars program. At the end of this
school year we will look at Young Scholars progress and process, and question whether
or not the students should remain in the Young Scholars program or be looked at to
receive AAP services. We will speak to teachers and assess if the test scores from the
county AAP tests match the way the teachers see the students’ abilities as well as look at
our Gifted Behavioral Rating Scale (GBRS) and consider other types of portfolios or
documentation can we put together to show the giftedness of some of these students. At
this time I have also discussed the need for better communication about the AAP program
with our school community including our ELL families. The AART and I will meet to
brainstorm a better way of outlining the enrichment programs in order to help families
better understand how these programs function and what Advanced Academics really
means. We will bring our ideas to our administrators and ensure that the information we
provide is translated into languages that meet the need of our community.
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
24
Over the summer and into next school year I will be discussing the following
interventions. Because our base and AAP classrooms are often separated, I would work
with our School Improvement Team to make sure all grade levels have more activities to
come together. To help us do this we can tap into what Moll calls “funds of knowledge”.
The “funds of knowledge” are the cultural practices or knowledge that help families
survive. Inviting parents into our classrooms to share their knowledge with particular
grade levels will help us embrace cultures other than our own and bridge the gap we see
in our school. I will also be sharing some of the parent and student surveys with the
guidance counselors and work with them to make sure we do not have students feeling
stressed or pushed to hard bay their parents. We will discuss doing a lesson/s not only for
students on how to deal with academic pressure and ideas of what “smart” really means,
but also maybe a parent workshop or document outlining language to use with their child
if he/she is feeling pressure or stress about their academics. I will also, work with the
Administration and the AART to create some workshops for our teachers outlining how
other cultures may show their gifts. Exploring our own cultural biases and having more
discussion on culture can play a big role in allowing teachers to see our school
community and families through a different lens. Teachers should see the big picture of
how ELL students and diverse populations may not do well on the type of testing we as a
county administer. Ford states, “Heavy or exclusive reliance on tests poses major
problems for our African American, Indian and Hispanic population.” Fords then
continues, “…issues affecting the reliability and validity of tests can result in biases
against minority students” (p.8). As teachers participate in staff development
opportunities, they will hopefully gain some knowledge about self-directed strategies that
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
25
can be used in addition to current assessments to identify gifted learners. In an article by
King et al. (2009), they discuss several ideas to help teachers identify our more
underrepresented cultures. Teachers, according to King et al. should have training in
multicultural and culturally responsive practice as well as be able to examine various
meanings of giftedness and how this may look for students in differing backgrounds and
culture (p.18). Teachers should be reminded to look past their own schema and
knowledge and embrace the diversity of the children they teach by learning a little about
those cultures. In addition to workshops and professional development, I will work with
Administration, Reading Specialist, AART and ESOL teachers in order to help classroom
teachers come up with better strategies to meet the needs of their ELL students.
Sometimes teachers get frustrated with the students who may not be first language
learners and who seem behind in our curriculum. Modeling for teachers along with
giving them tools to use in the classroom may help teachers become more comfortable
with their ELL students and the cultures they bring to the classroom. Professional
development on culture will be the key for teachers to begin to identify with their diverse
classroom communities, building trust and creating a learning environment that
empowers all students. Bazron, Osher and Fleischman (2005) conclude in their article on
creating culturally responsive schools that “Embracing the strengths and addressing
diverse leaning needs of our increasingly multicultural, multilingual student population
requires major transformation of our current school practices” (p.84).
Monitoring Interventions (Actual and Planned)
In order to monitor the proposed interventions, I will work closely with the
administration and other support specialists at my school. I have met with my
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
26
administrators and AART in order to share some of the results from this study. At this
time, our short-term goals will be to monitor our current ELL students who have been
identified for the Young Scholars in order to see if they are eligible for enrichment
services. The Young Scholars program has been successful for our diverse student
populations but it is rare that these students are further identified for enrichment. Grade
level teams will also begin to meet to look at curriculum standards and resources. In
order to share resources with teams and specialists, both base and AAP teachers will
create a curriculum plan for literacy, math social studies and science on the technology
program One Note. Teams will add important documents for all subject areas including
worksheets, videos, assessments and book recommendations. Both base and AAP
teachers will now have access to one another’s documents. Our Kindergarten teachers
will also reach out to parents who would make good liaisons to some of our ELL families
and prepare them to take on this role.
For our long term goals over the summer and into the beginning of next year we
will be looking at making changes for families to better understand and be a part of the
programs our school offers. Goals include parent resources including adding more parent
liaisons for our ELL students as well as guidance lessons providing information for
parents and students on managing time and workload stresses. Also in order to help
teachers with strategies for ELL students, we will provide opportunities for professional
development related to ELL students and culture. In addition we will begin to look at
ways to document student achievements by showing work through portfolios or other
methods in addition to the county AAP testing. The following chart outlines goals and
time frame:
27
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Intervention
Time frame
Person
Evaluation
Creating a better structure for the explanation of the AAP program for
parents, this will be created through a brochure and/or parent packet with an
full explanation of the program with frequently asked questions (also
translated into languages for or ELL families)
Begin discussions at
for implementation
now with
implementation goal
September 2012
School year 20122013
AART and Enrichment
resource teacher
Monitoring of phone calls to the school
specifically fielded by the AART about
the program and if our ELL families have
higher participation at AAP informational
meetings
Family and teacher survey
Fall 2012
Guidance Counselors
Student survey prior to first guidance
lesson discussing academic stress, second
survey to be given after follow-up lesson
Quarterly beginning
in Fall 2012
Administrators and
Specialists in the area of
AAP, Reading, ESOL and
Resource
Cultural competency survey in the
beginning of the year and again at the end
of the year.
Begin discussions
Summer 2012 with
School Improvement
Team
Will begin to monitor
now and will discuss
this at the schools’
next data discussion
in the beginning of 4th
Quarter April 2012
Ongoing beginning in
March 2012
Administrators/School
Improvement Representatives
Portfolio documentation compared to
student testing documentation – looking
at discrepancies
AART, classroom teachers
with students in the YS
program
Monitoring if there are students eligible
to move from Young Scholars to
enrichment services
All classroom teachers and
specialists (as applicable)
Observations by Administrators and
Specialists at Collaborative Learning
Team meetings.
Ongoing beginning
April 2012
Help from Admin/ESOL and
Kindergarten teachers
Meetings with Liaisons to get feedback
from ELL families and their needs to feel
trust and connection in the school
community.
More programs that bring specific grade levels together as a cohesive school
with participation from base and Advanced Academic classrooms involving
both students and families
At least one guidance lesson in the beginning of the school year dealing with
academic stress and discussing feelings with teachers and parents. In
addition a parent packet on making academics less stressful for children to
be send home with students following the lesson. Follow up lesson midyear for a check in.
Quarterly Staff Development on culture. One workshop to specifically
emphasize/recognize the gifts our ELL students bring with them to school
that may not be recognized by county assessments and other options to show
documentation of the strengths of these students. Other three workshops
targeting strategies to help teachers better understand the cultures in our
school and how to most effectively reach these students and families.
Student Portfolios for ELL Students to provide documentation of progress
potentially showing eligibility for enrichment or other intervention services
Monitor ELL students identified for the Young Scholars Program to ensure
they are given ample opportunity for participation in inclusive and pullout
enrichment services
All grade level teams will use the technology program One Note to discuss
and map out a plan of the curriculum standards. Both base and AAP center
teachers on the specific grade levels will have access to the document
ensuring the sharing of resources including but not limited to assessments,
worksheets, plans (including county ECART documents), book
recommendations and videos
Parent liaisons to be put in place for ELL students beginning in
Kindergarten
Admin/Specialists/classroom
teachers/families
28
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Conclusions and Implications
In conclusion, I found that our teachers, who are extremely knowledgeable about
curriculum, know little about the culture of their students and additionally have little training in
cultural aspects of an education setting. Teachers have few strategies for dealing with ELL
students and most of our teachers fell like they can’t get through to these students so only
specialists should service them. Our school also relies heavily on county assessments for the
placement of AAP students and ELL students and families don’t have consistent parent liaisons
in the community to build connections in the school. In addition, I found kids feel pressure
about enrichment workloads and are often pressured by parents about academics. Sometimes
trying to be competitive with the other kids in the class really stresses kids out. Although I
initially assumed that our school community felt a large divide between the base and the AAP
Center, it turned out that the parents and students do see a divide, but it is small. Another
interesting finding was the younger students in 3rd grade base school feel more of a divide, feel
they have to be more competitive and didn’t feel quite as smart as their AAP counterparts.
However as the kids moved up in grade level they felt much less of a divide, more confident in
their academic development and much less competitive with their peers. It would be interesting
to find out if the 3rd grades have these feelings because it is the first year they are separated and
they may not have as much of an understanding of what the AAP program really entails. Yet,
even though our overall school community sees the grade levels as fairly cohesive we can still
continue to improve by adding interventions to bring our school teams and grade levels closer
together. In the future I hope I can look more at how the culture of my school impacts both our
community and teacher practice. In addition much more information is needed on reasons for
lack of cultural representation in Enrichment centers. It seems like first and foremost our current
29
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
assessments are not meeting the needs to identify our more culturally diverse students as gifted.
It will be interesting to explore and learn about other options that can help teachers understand
more about how culturally diverse students engage in the classroom. Also I am looking forward
to finding our if professional development and discussing strategies to deal with diversity helps
our teachers monitor and assess students in more affective ways to future impact the
underrepresented cultures in our AAP programs. And, I am interested to find if creating an early
intervention for our ELL families with parent liaisons and overall better communication will help
our parents feel more comfortable engaging in the school culture. Many questions still remain
unanswered but I have been able to begin the process of solving some of my puzzlements.
Reflection
When reflecting on this project, I definitely learned that research is very intense and often
can hit upon touchy subjects. I think that completing research on an entire school community is
very difficult but that looking into practice can be extremely enlightening. I feel like I tried to
take on too much for one short-term research assignment and almost wish I had focused on a
classroom instead of the school – but I learned a lot even though I was extremely overwhelmed.
I had never really thought about putting a cultural perspective on some of the questions I had
about my school and teacher practice, but learning about this process has now helped me to see
my assumptions through a new lens. Culture brings a new depth into answering questions – and
it seems like culture is one of the topics least discussed in school environments (even though our
schools are so culturally diverse). By looking at a school wide issue I had a lot of data to gather
and people to interview. I would love to take on a research project like this in my school that
would go over a longer period of time; I feel like I could be more focused and get more
feedback. I got some interesting results and got to find out a bit about some of my puzzlements,
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
30
but I wish I had the time to dig deeper into the thoughts and opinions of the school community.
Next time I would complete parent interviews along with parent surveys. All in all I enjoyed the
process and really enjoyed talking to the teachers and students at my school. I learned that a
standing culture had been created over time in our school community and as employees and
students we all seem to just fall into it. No one ever asks opinions or tries to make too many
changes because at our school what we have been doing works. We go by that old thought of,
“if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. Unfortunately teachers have fallen into routines and as the
population of our school has become more diverse, we have not made shifts in our practice to
keep up with the changing culture.
From the data I collected, I can see that even at our highly regarded school there are
always ways to improve. Culture and education are interwoven in the school environment, but
culture is often not recognized fully. I learned that as a school community I can help bring the
topic of culture into more of our discussions and assist teachers in not only identifying their own
thoughts on culture but identifying what works with students. Bringing appropriate and
meaningful professional development to the staff members at our school will be the first key to
bringing awareness of the large part culture plays for both ourselves, our students, and their
families. Having better ways to recognize culture can help in creating a background for
understanding our students and their families and open the doors for better communication. We
need to begin to engage all of our families by building relationships based on trust. It is time that
our highly educated competitive teachers, who are literally always on the go, take time to step
back and look at the importance culture can play in creating a cohesive, engaging school
community.
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
31
I hope that by using some of the interventions I planned, this study can have an impact on
the culture of my school. I am hoping that through this plan our teachers parents and students
will engage in better communication, build a higher level of trust and understand one-another on
a different level. As our teachers begin to learn more about culture and bring their knowledge to
their classrooms they will be able to create more meaningful and productive environments for
students and parents. This study and the data collected will help my school to take a step back,
look at our current practices and ways to improve, use and modify the interventions provided and
build a more cohesive community for all involved.
32
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Appendix A
Survey 1
1. The base school meets all of my needs as a student.
a. Yes it meets all my needs
b. It somewhat meets my needs
c. It does not meet my needs
2. I do not feel as smart or creative as the students in the Advanced Academic
program
True
False
3. I feel as if the students in the base school are divided from the students in the
AAP center.
a. There is a huge divide
b. There is a small divide
c. There is no divide
4. I really wanted to be a part of the AAP center.
Yes
No
5. My parents really wanted me to be a part of the AAP center
Yes
No
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
33
6. I receive AAP pull out for math and/or reading and find that this is enough to
challenge me.
a. I am not challenged
b. I am somewhat challenged
c. I am challenged just enough
d. I am challenged too much
7. I wish there wasn't an AAP center and that we were all mixed together in the
same classrooms.
True
False
8. Write the best thing about base school.
9. Write the worst thing about base school.
34
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
The base school meets all of my needs as a student
Yes, it meets all my
needs
It somewhat meets
my needs
It does not meet my
needs
6 55%
5 45%
0 0%
I do not feel as smart or creative as the students in the Advanced Academic Program
True 5 45%
False 6 55%
I feel as if the students in the base school are divided from the students in the AAP Center.
There is a huge
divide
There is a small
divide
There is no divide
I really wanted to be a part of the AAP center
2 18%
8 73%
1 9%
35
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Yes 4 36%
No 7 64%
My parents really wanted me to be a part of the AAP center.
Yes 4 36%
No 7 64%
I recieve AAP pull out for math and/or reading and find this is enough to challenge me.
I am challenged too
much
I am challenged just
enough
I am somewhat
challenged
I am not challenged
I do not receive
AAP pull out
services
I wish there wasn't an AAP center and that we were all mixed together in the same classroom.
0 0%
6 55%
3 27%
1 9%
1 9%
36
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
True 9 82%
False 2 18%
My grade level is
3
4
5
6
4
3
2
2
36%
27%
18%
18%
37
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Appendix B
Survey 2
1. The AAP Center meets all of my needs as a student and is a better place for me
to learn than the base school.
a. The AAP center meets my needs as a student and is the only place I think I would be able to learn
b. I am learning in the AAP center, but I think the base school could meet my need too
c. I think the base school would meet my needs as a student better than the AAP center
2. I feel much more smart and creative than the students in the base school
True
False
3. I feel as if the students in the base school are divided from the students in the
AAP center.
a. There is a huge divide
b. There is a small divide
c. There is no divide
4. I really wanted to be a part of the AAP center.
Yes
No
5. My parents really wanted me to be a part of the AAP center
Yes
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
38
No
6. As a student in the AAP center…
a. I am not challenged
b. I am somewhat challenged
c. I am challenged just enough
d. I am challenged too much
7. I wish there wasn't an AAP center and that we were all mixed together in the
same classrooms.
True
False
8. Write the best thing about AAP Center.
9. Write the worst thing about AAP Center.
39
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
The AAP Center meeta all of my needs as a student and is a better place for me to learn than the base school.
The AAP Center
meets my needs as a
student and is the
9 90%
only place I think I
would be able to
learn
I am learning in the
AAP Center, but I
think the base
1 10%
school could also
meet my needs
I think the base
school would meet
my needs as a
0 0%
student better than
the AAP Center
I feel much more smart and creative than the students in the base school.
True 7 70%
False 3 30%
I feel as if the students in the base school are divided from the students in the AAP Center
There is a huge
divide
The is a small
divide
There is no divide
I really wanted to be part of the AAP Center
5 50%
5 50%
0 0%
40
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Yes 5 50%
No 5 50%
My parents really wanted me to be a part of the AAP Center
Yes 10 100%
No 0 0%
As a student in the AAP Center...
I am challenged too
much
I am challenged just
enough
I am somewhat
challenged
I m not challenged
I wish there wasn't an AAP center and that we were all mixed together in the same classrooms.
1 10%
5 50%
3 30%
1 10%
41
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
True 4 40%
False 6 60%
My grade level is
3
4
5
6
2
2
3
3
20%
20%
30%
30%
42
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Appendix C
Survey 3
1. The base school meets my child’s needs (this includes any AAP pull out programs they
may receive).
a. Yes, it meets all my child’ s needs
b. It somewhat meets my child’s needs
c. It does not meet my child’s needs. The AAP center and the challenges provided would be
better for my child
2. Being in the base school causes my child to feel less smart or creative than those children
in the AAP center.
True
False
3. I feel like the students in the base school are divided from those students in the AAP
center.
a. There is a huge divide
b. There is a small divide
c. There is no divide
4. I really wanted my child to be a part of the AAP center.
Yes
No
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
43
6. As a parent of a student in the base school I feel my child is…
a. Challenged too much
b. Challenged just enough
c. Somewhat challenged
d. Not challenged
7. I wish there wasn't an AAP center and all students were all mixed together in the same
classrooms.
True
False
10. My nationality
a. Caucasian
b. African American
c. Hispanic
d. American Indian
e. Asian
f. Indian
g. Middle Eastern
11. My child is in Grade
3
4
5
6
44
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
The base school meets my child's needs (this includes any AAP pull out programs they may receive).
Yes, it meets all my
5 56%
child's needs
It somewhat meets
4 44%
my child's needs
It does not meet my
child's needs, I feel
that the AAP Center
0 0%
would be a better
placement for my
child
Being in the base school causes my child to feel less smart or creative than those children in the AAP center.
True 3 33%
False 6 67%
I feel like the students in the base school are divided from those students in the AAP center.
There is a huge
divide
There is a small
divide
There is no divide
I wanted my child to be part of the AAP Center
0 0%
5 56%
4 44%
45
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Yes
2 22%
No
4 44%
No opinion 3 33%
As a parent of a student in the base school - or student who receives only pull out services for AAP (Level II and III)
I feel my child is...
Challenged too
much
Challenged just
enough
Somewhat
challenged
Challenged too
much
I wish there was not an AAP center and that all students were mixed together in the same classrooms.
True 4 44%
False 5 56%
My Nationality
1 11%
5 56%
3 33%
1 11%
46
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Caucasian
African American
Hispanic
American Indian
Asian
Indian
Middle Eastern
Other
My child is in grade
3
4
5
6
3
3
2
1
33%
33%
22%
11%
4
0
0
0
2
2
1
0
44%
0%
0%
0%
22%
22%
11%
0%
47
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Appendix D
Survey 4
1. The AAP center meets my child’s needs.
a. Yes, meets all my child’ s needs
b. Somewhat meets my child’s needs
c. Does not meet my child’s need
2. I feel my child is smarter or more creative than the students in the base school
True
False
3. I feel like the students in the AAP center are divided from those students in the base
school.
a. There is a huge divide
b. There is a small divide
c. There is no divide
4. My child wanted to be a part of the AAP center.
Yes
No
5. I wanted my child to be a part of the AAP center.
Yes
No
No opinion
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
6. As a parent of a student in the AAP center I feel my child is…
a. Challenged too much
b. Challenged just enough
c. Somewhat challenged
d. Not Challenged
7. I wish there wasn't an AAP center and that we were all mixed together in the same
classrooms.
True
False
10. My nationality
a. Caucasian
b. African American
c. Hispanic
d. American Indian
e. Asian
f. Indian
g. Middle Eastern
11. My child is in grade
3
4
5
6
48
49
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
The AAP Center meets my child’s needs.
Yes, it meets all my
child's needs.
It somewhat meets
my child's needs.
It does not meet my
child's needs
4 67%
2 33%
0 0%
I feel my child is smarter or more creative than the students in base school.
True 5 83%
False 1 17%
I feel like the students in the base school are divided from those students in the AAP center
There is a huge
divide.
There is a small
divide.
There is no divide.
My child wanted to be part of the AAP center.
1 17%
5 83%
0 0%
50
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Yes 5 83%
No 1 17%
I wanted my child to be a part of the AAP center.
Yes
6 100%
No
0 0%
No opinion 0 0%
As a parent of a child in the AAP Center, I feel my child is...
Challenged too
much
Challenged just
enough
Somewhat
challenged
Not challenged
0 0%
4 67%
2 33%
0 0%
51
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
I wish there was not an AAP center and that all students were mixed together in the same classrooms.
True 0 0%
False 6 100%
My Nationality
Caucasion
African American
Hispanic
American Indian
Asian
Indian
Middle Eastern
Other
My child is in grade
3
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
50%
0%
0%
0%
33%
17%
0%
0%
52
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
3
4
5
6
1
2
2
1
17%
33%
33%
17%
53
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
Appendix E
Sample Teacher Interview Questions
Do you think there is a divide between the base and AAP center?
Do you think the base and AAP programs are getting the same education? What is
different? Do you think one is more superior?
Do you think students feel pressure for the divide between AAP and base schools?
Are our programs culturally diverse?
Do we do a good job at identifying our students for AAP? Do we have all cultures
represented?
Why do you think there is an underrepresentation from some cultures?
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
54
What are some of your biggest challenges?
Do you think you have an understanding of your ELLs and culturally diverse students? Do
you feel like you have a good grasp on your own culture?
Add anything else about our school culture and base, AAP and pull out enrichment
programs…
55
BROADENING PERSPECTIVES
References
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