Multicultural Initiatives: Ronald Ferguson - Helping Students of Color Meet High Standards

What's this blog about?

I teach several courses under the broad topic of "Multicultural Education," prioritizing social justice issues of access, power/privilege, & narrowing the academic achievement gap. I am a person of color and I almost always have a white co-teacher. We include topics, such as: racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, ethnocentrism, deculturalization, transforming curriculum, etc. This is a place where I post information that we teach; lesson plans for activities; and resources we use and/or which are shared with me by my adult students.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Ronald Ferguson - Helping Students of Color Meet High Standards

In a course, Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap, that my colleagues, Elli Stern/Jennifer Wolfrum, and I teach, we ask participants (teachers, counselors, administrators, tutors, nurses, etc.) to get into a group and "become the expert" on an article that we have assigned for homework. To this end, we then ask the group to construct a graphic organizer, mnemonic, or other visual aid to help "teach" the other groups about the article.

Ferguson’s article outlines that the most effective teaching occurs when a teacher has high expectations or high-perfectionism and also provides a high level of support or high help. This teaching practices sends a message to students that they will all get their and that the teacher is going to help get them there.

Ferguson’s work that found that teachers who held a high expectations, high help philosophy were most successful in closing the gap resonated with me. This philosophy is based on the assumption that all children have the ability to learn and that my job as their teacher is to show them how to do it. To be successful, I have to be mindful of each child’s learning style and cultural experience.

In a course, Understanding Self-Efficacy, that my colleagues, Elli Stern/Jennifer Wolfrum, and I teach, we ask participants (teachers, counselors, administrators, tutors, nurses, etc.) to get into a group and "become the expert" on an article that we have assigned for homework. To this end, we then ask the group to construct a graphic organizer, mnemonic, or other visual aid to help "teach" the other groups about the article.

“…combining cheerful helpfulness with pressure for producing correct answers is an anti-racist strategy for raising achievement and narrowing achievement gaps.”