Robert L. Green, Ph.D
Sept. 29, 2013
3rd Annual Scholastic FACE Symposium
Fort Lauderdale, FL
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Environment & its Impact on Human Behavior
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Expectations – How it Shapes Human Behavior
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Literacy – Opens the Door to the World
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Student Achievement – Our Goal
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The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. Wes
Moore, Random Housing Publishing Group, 2010
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The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of
America’s Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson,
Random House Publishing, 2010 (Bill Russell)
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Thomas & Alberta Green, R.L. Green
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Albert Terhune, R.L. Green
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Expectations:
◦ A belief system by which we abide to elicit behaviors from
those who we want to succeed, i.e., our students, our
children, our grandchildren and other family members.
◦ A belief system that becomes a philosophy of life; the way
we live, the way we treat people and in any school setting
the way we treat our students
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Expectations:
◦ Teacher Expectations – Rosenthal and Jacobson
◦ School-wide Expectations: Beliefs that are held by the staff
as a whole about the learning ability of the total student
body
◦ District-wide Expectations: Beliefs that are held about an
entire school system, e.g., Benton Harbor, Michigan, vs.
Okemos, Michigan
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Dr. Lois Bridges, author and editor, Make
Every Student Count, cites the importance of
early literacy
“Providing children strong literacy education
in the early years leads to better outcomes
later on,” such as:
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K-5 experiences
Middle school experiences
High school experiences
College or university life experiences
But it must begin early in the home
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1950 Detroit, Michigan
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The impact of the entire family can make a difference. Parents
can and should encourage their sons and daughter to help each
other. Even though my father only finished fourth grade and my
mother the 9th, they knew importance of reading and access to
books. They encouraged their children to help each other
academically.
 I am a living testament to the value of sibling support. I was
the 7th on nine children. With the help of my brothers and my
sisters, I was reading at the age of 4.
 My sister Lethia gave me, at the age of ten, two books by
Richard Wright – Black Boy and Native Son. That helped me
understand the kind of world I would live in.
 Families create and build beliefs about academic success and
teachers reinforce that belief
 Being able to read early opened the doors of life and enabled
me to become a good student
 109 degrees from Thomas and Alberta Green - my eldest
brother has eight girls: 4 Ph.Ds/4 M.Ds
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Worked with Martin Luther King, Jr., a scholar/activist in 1965-66
Focused on reading for families primarily in southern parts of the
United States, Alabama, Mississippi, and one northern urban
community, Chicago, Illinois
King always emphasized that if one can learn to read the Bible, one
can read other books and the newspaper.
This way, you can keep up with the politics of life and the nation by
reading
RLG wrote a literacy proposal for SCLC at King’s request
It was funded for $700,000 to conduct a reading project in the
Lawndale section of Chicago, IL in 1966 for adults and children
Project was funded and was received gladly by the community
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This past summer in Clark County School District,
Dr. Beverly Mathis conducted a project on early
literacy with kids ranging from 3-5 years of age
The following children were involved:
◦ Low-income families
◦ Limited access to books
◦ Parents who were motivated, but not highly educated
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Project lasted 3 weeks and will continue
throughout the school year
Focused on letter sounds, letter names, sight
words, and story telling by teachers
Parents were encouraged to sit through this
learning experience with the children – some
parents had limited reading skills
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CCSD Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky is
encouraging teachers and principals in the
district to push 3rd graders to be reading at a
3rd grade level
On October 8, 2013 there will be a major PTA
meeting at one of the challenged elementary
schools in Clark County to address parent
involvement and literacy achievement
RLG is involved in the planning of this
meeting
Individuals district wide have been invited to
participate
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Currently working in very low-income areas with the Clark
County School District at the elementary school level
Children reflect many aspects of poverty in terms of dress,
personal care, and often experience many tragedies that
occur in urban communities (sleeping in class)
Poverty need not be a barrier to learning. There are
children schools who despite poverty are doing well
academically
My experience has taught me that the real barriers to
learning are:
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Indifference
Rejection
Poor instruction
Low expectations for student success
High expectations on the part of teachers and
administrators and quality instruction can lead to positive
student achievement
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Research indicates that parent involvement:
◦ Affects Child’s school readiness and performance
(McNeal, 1999)
◦ Children reflect greater social and emotional
development (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997)
◦ Children with rich home literacy environments
demonstrate higher levels of reading, knowledge, and
skills at kindergarten entry (Nord, Lennon, Liu, &
Chandler, 2000)
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TIPS FOR PARENTS ON EARLY LITERACY
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Read to your child at an
early age and at least once
a day
Encourage your child to
recite your words
Encourage older children to
read to younger children
Encourage all family
members to take turns
reading to children
Read stories to children
with personal excitement
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Reading to your child
expands their interest in
the world around them
Children who are read to
frequently learn to read
more quickly
Organize reading times for
your child each day – early
in the morning, after lunch,
or at bedtime
Take your child to the
library frequently and at an
early age
Parents Can Make a Difference
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National Assessment for Educational Progress
(NAEP) scores of Hispanic and African American
males nation wide at the 4th and 8th grade levels
indicate that they are low achievers when
compared to other student groups
Students who perform poorly on the NAEP usually
perform poorly in the classroom, which can lead
to the following:
◦ Failure to be promoted on a year-to-year basis
◦ Becoming discouraged from their classroom and school
experience
◦ Becoming a potential drop-out
◦ Dropping out of school
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I’ve discussed three major factors that
influence student achievement:
◦ A positive environment
◦ High expectations
◦ Early literacy training
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These characteristics facilitate positive
student achievement at every level
Conversely, a challenging environment, low
expectations, and limited literacy experiences
often leads to low academic achievement
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A very successful student of RLG who is involved in education - Bridgescape
Program. One of the major focuses of this program is to strengthen literacy
skills of unsuccessful students who dropped out of schools.
Earvin Magic Johnson
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Robert
Green&
& Associates
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Robert
L.L.Green
Providing
Scholarship
andand
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K-12K-12
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Providing
Scholarship
Consulting
Services
to Improve
Education
http://robertlgreenassociates.com/
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New Book Content
Forthcoming Books
At the Crossroads of Fear and Freedom
From revelations about the Civil Rights movement to current
insights about education reform, Dr. Green’s autobiography is a
compelling story about the fight for justice – past and
present. Read more about Crossroads here.
Expect the Most – Provide the Best
Dr. Green and two of his associates co-authored a chapter in A
Call for Change, a 2012 anthology published by Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt. Read more about A Call for Change here.
Dr. Green and three associates have produced a book that
explores how high expectations, innovation and digital
technology can reduce achievement gaps. Scholastic Inc. will
publish this book in 2014.