From At-Risk to At-Promise: Changing How We Describe, Teach & Reach Our Children
The Delta
Teacher Efficacy Campaign (DTEC) is proposing a paradigm shift in how our
students are both perceived and taught, a change in language to help lead the
movement for better educational outcomes for these students. We want to replace
the term “at-risk” with “at-promise,” for that is what these students represent—the
promise of brighter futures, improved outcomes, raised expectations, and
odds-beating lives that happen when we improve the quality of their education.
DTEC is an innovative collaboration between the Delta Research and Educational
Foundation (DREF) and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (DST) to enhance
teacher effectiveness that promotes learning and achievement for all children
along with uniting educators and community stakeholders as active change agents
for education. We have received generous funding from the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation to support this imperative.
Our quest is nothing less than to change our children’s lives and futures. And
to do that, we must focus more on their potential for achievement and progress
than on the risks they face for falling through the cracks. Dr. Paulette C.
Walker, president of DST, is an acclaimed multicultural education expert who
has written about the need to upgrade our terminology from “at-risk” to
“at-promise.”
“Far too often, children of color are viewed through dark-tainted glasses that
see them as children at risk. In order for them to be viewed as children at
promise, we must alter the lenses or change the glasses,” Dr. Walker stated in
an article co-written with Martha S. Lue Stewart for Florida Educational
Leaders.
Dr. Walker explains that these students face challenges related to the impact
of high-stakes testing, the effects of demographic change, family poverty, a
lack of culturally-responsive teachers, a lack of cultural-community
connection, and issues related to access to technology.
DTEC was created to address the issues related to culturally-responsive
teachers and the vital connection between a student’s culture and classroom
dynamics. This past spring, DTEC offered free professional development training
to 180 certified Pre- K through 6th grade teachers in urban school communities,
aiming to give other teachers an opportunity to strengthen and improve their
effectiveness.
Beginning in August and extending through October 2015, DTEC is partnering with
local organizations in 40 communities nationwide to convene “Call to Action”
Town Hall meetings. The goal is to substantially increase awareness among
education supporters and expand the ranks of educational change agents in each
target community.
We’re working to raise awareness of teacher efficacy, which increases teacher
confidence and competency for successfully reaching and engaging with all
students, particularly those who are at-promise, to help them achieve and
succeed academically.
By doing this work through DTEC, we are creating a vibrant and impactful community of collaboration that leads to educational change and progress for our students. Teachers who have experienced our training share how it helps them become more aware of and sensitive to their students’ cultures, aptitudes, and potential and has given them tools that help them teach various subjects more effectively. They talk about how they can better relate to their students and the students’ parents and what a positive impact this is having.
Research shows that teachers confident in their own and their students’
abilities to achieve produce the strongest students able to achieve the best
academic results. Teacher efficacy is about building confidence and
awareness—of the teachers in themselves and their abilities to meet the many
daunting challenges of teaching, and of the teachers in the students’ abilities
to achieve and succeed. This translates into the students having more
confidence in themselves—and everybody wins.
We believe that any student can be motivated and educated to achieve academic
success. As Dr. Walker says, we must all shift our perspectives and become
change agents to move our children from at-risk to at-promise.
Dr. Johni Cruse Craig is project director for DTEC. For more information about DTEC, the upcoming community town halls, and the work of the Delta Research and Educational Foundation, visit www.deltafoundation.net. Dr. Craig also encourages everyone to follow the Congressional Black Congress' Education Day events on September 16th.
Read more: http://www.forharriet.com/2015/09/from-at-risk-to-at-promise-changing-how.html#ixzz3lu9hQ0IW
Follow us: @ForHarriet on Twitter | forharriet on Facebook