
Leticia Smith-Evans; NAACP Legal Defense Fund
 lsevans@naacpldf.org
 Milaney Leverson; Eau Claire Area School District
 mleverson@ecasd.k12.wi.us
 Kent Smith; WI PBIS Network, Eau Claire Area School
District
 smithk@wisconsinpbisnetwork.org


ODR – Office
Discipline Referral

OSS – Out of
School Suspension

SES – Socioeconomic Status

CRT – Culturally
Relevant Teaching
 Cultural Capital –
Ways of behaving, talking, interacting valued by dominant society
 Culture – similar language, beliefs, norms, values, behaviors and material objects held by a unique group of people.


Congruent behaviors, attitudes and policies that come together
 In a system, agency or among professionals
 To work effectively in cross-cultural situations

The capacity to function effectively in cultural contexts that differ from your own
 Awareness of your culture and the influence it has on those around you


Brown v. Board of Education
 “with all deliberate speed…”

Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education
 “There is no reason why such a wholesale deprivation of constitutional rights should be tolerated another minute.”
*

National and State Data showing need for CR
Practices

District 1 (~15000)
120,0%
100,0%
80,0%
60,0%
40,0%
20,0%
0,0%
% Enrollment 08-09 Suspension % 08-09 Attendance Rate 08-09 HS Completion
Rate
Black
Hispanic
White


School discipline rates are at their all time highs:
 Students are being removed from school at nearly double the rate of the early 1970s.
 2006 projections from US Dept. of Education:

3.3 MILLION students suspended at least once each year

109,000 students EXPELLED each year http://ocrdata.ed.gov


2006 Projections from US Dep ’ t of Ed.:

African-American students nearly 3 times as likely to be suspended and 3.5 times as likely to be expelled as white peers.

Latino students 1.5 times as likely to be suspended and twice as likely to be expelled as white peers.
http://ocrdata.ed.gov


It ’ s not race; it ’ s poverty.

These are students from more challenging communities.

There are just a few difficult students who are driving the data.

These are students in under-resourced schools with big class sizes.

Its poor parenting, negative parenting, or parents don ’t value education

This is a result of negative peer culture.
*

White students:

Smoking

Vandalism

Leaving without permission

Obscene language

Objective Offenses
African-American students:

Disrespect

Excessive noise
 Threat

Loitering

Subjective Offenses

 Disproportionality begins at referral
 Administrative consequences appear to be distributed rationally in general

But when disaggregated, see significant disproportionality
 African American and Latino students are more likely to receive harsher punishment for same ODR than white students

1.
What do we know about the Hmong culture?
2.
About Native American cultures?
3.
About Middle Eastern cultures?
4.
What about white culture?

 Stereotyping & unconscious bias
 Cultural disconnect
 Misperceived actions on the part of both students and educators
 Lack of proper professional development in culturally responsive teaching, de-escalation, etc.

WE STILL CAN’T TALK ABOUT RACE!


Things we were taught in the past such as:

Not talking about race
 Not SEEING color (“my classroom is colorblind”)

Not talking about differences
 Not being aware of what the practitioner’s background brings to the class
 Not attending to the presence and role of whiteness
…ALL contribute to the problem

PBIS addresses School Wide Behaviors, but does not impact the classroom level systems without direct instruction.
Development of Universal supports for behavior lay foundation for Academic supports that take place in the same setting.
Culturally Relevant Instruction is not only best practice but essential to the success of ALL students.
Is one part of reducing disproportionate representation in discipline data

*


Embedding Culturally Relevant Teaching practices in
Classroom and School-wide expectations and instruction
 Frequent Review of Data
 Examine practice and challenge the status quo


EVERY person has a cultural and racial identity

Staff MUST respond actively & positively to changing social, economic and cultural patterns

Behavioral standards are tied to the dominant culture

Behavioral interventions that are culturally responsive are more effective

IT IS ESSENTIAL TO TEACH the “cultural capital” needed to succeed


Teachers intend the best for their students

Cultural mismatches MUST be examined before selecting a behavior intervention as they can lead to inappropriate behavior
 Behavior occurs in a context
 the relationship between the student, teacher, peers, classroom, instruction and material

It is easy to misinterpret or misread behavior

Parent and family involvement is CRUCIAL for success

Guiding Questions Linked to Classroom
Systems and Universal School-wide Systems

Practitioner Culture:
What cultural expectations do you bring to the educational setting?

What is your culture in relation to education, interactions and school?
 (values, beliefs, traditions, customs, worldview, conversational styles, non-verbal language and parenting styles)

What are the historic experiences/implications of your culture?

What are the differences/dissonances between your culture and the student ’ s?

Are you expecting one-way accommodation from the student for any cultural differences? Why?

What accommodations are you expecting?

Student ’ s Culture:
What cultural expectations does the student bring to the educational setting?

What is the student ’ s culture in relation to education, interactions and school?
 (values, beliefs, traditions, customs, worldview, conversational styles, non-verbal language and parenting styles)

What are the historic experiences/implications of the student ’ s culture?

What are the cultural characteristics of this student that are strengths in the educational environment?

What have you determined to be motivating & reinforcing to this student?

What are the parents ’ /caretakers ’ view on the student ’ s behaviors of concern?

Classroom Instruction:
What is the teaching style, materials, content, structure, etc?

How are your methods of instruction designed to meet the cultural strengths & learning styles of the student?
 How have you explicitly taught this student the “ cultural capital ” needed to succeed in school?

How do you elicit high expectations for this student?

How have you clearly demonstrated & explained to this student expected behavioral responses?
 How do you include this student ’ s interests & background in your instruction?

The Classroom Context/Ecology:
What is the cultural environment of the individual classroom based on identified best practices?
 How is your classroom based on collaboration
& cooperation rather than competition?

How is your classroom based on praise & reinforcement rather than punishment?

How does your classroom environment allow for movement & interaction?
 How does your classroom environment honor student strengths, including this student?


Teach students - not a subject or grade level.
 Maximize academic learning time.

Have students earning their own achievement.

Keep students actively engaged in learning.

High quality and rigorous instruction and high expectations for ALL students.


Clearly state positive expectations.
 Create a climate of positive expectations for all.

Establish effective management techniques.

*


Recall your Tier I training to, at each team meeting, review the Big 5 and look for patterns

Even deeper data analysis means to disaggregate data

By subgroups: race, sped status, SES
 Review for patterns DOES NOT mean quick a fix

 A measure should be used for students who are
“internalizers”

No externalizing behaviors to show up in ODR data, but teachers have concerns

Such tools should be systemic in use as well as researched with regards to cultural bias.
 Screening data is considered along with Big 5 + 2 and
ODR data on student for pattern


This is essential at the beginning, but even more so as need for intervention increases.

Schools must value families and whatever level of support they have to offer.
 Script/consent process

Vital at entrance to Tier II intervention for the family to understand HOW the intervention works as well as their role in the intervention

(Initially referred to as Mismatch Checklist)

Brief interview between school and family

Gauges family PERCEPTION of mismatch
 Geared to gather the family’s perspective on:

Student/school relationship

Student/classroom relationship

Behavior concerns

 Provides starting point for discussions based on degree of mismatch

Then utilize the guiding questions to determine how to enhance practice
 Becomes paramount as a student moves into higher tier interventions and wraparound is considered
 Enhances partnership and communication

 Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) helps us understand WHAT the student is getting from the behavior.
 Need family perception:

Why the behavior continues

What the student gets from the behavior
 FBA is about changing our system to modify student behavior. Perception is vital.

 Teams members selected by the family

Include natural supports, not just school staff

Team should reflect family values based on their perceptions of what is important to them and respecting their natural supports

Progress on goals is based on measures of perception and data (ODR, DPR, attendance, grades, etc.)


In next slide, consider the information presented.

How do you address this information with staff?

How do you start creating change based on this one piece of information?
*
Take 7 minutes to do this.

…is emerging. There is no “best practice”… YET
 Research shows that CRT practices must be a part of a system to be lasting.

smithk@wisconsinpbisnetwork.org
mleverson@ecasd.k12.wi.us

Suspended Education
 www.splcenter.org/getinformed/publications/suspended-education

APA Zero Tolerance Report
 www.apa.org/ed/cpse/zttfreport.pdf

PBIS Indiana
 www.indiana.edu/~pbisin

 http://www.naacpldf.org
 Guiding Questions: Lisa Bardon, PhD. University of
Wisconsin – Stevens Point

Cultural checklist: Eau Claire Area School District adapted from University of Wisconsin – Green Bay