Multicultural education

Full-service community schools (FSCSs) are a holistic, multifaceted reform strategy aimed at improving the educational life experiences and outcomes of underserved student populations (Sanders, 2016; Sanders & Galindo, 2020), designed to provide more equitable educational experiences (Sanders et al., 2018). Black, Native American, and LatinX children represent three-quarters of children living in poverty today, because of systemic inequities and racial disparities that these groups have experienced for decades (Gennetian & Yoshikawa, 2021). The purpose of this study is to document the evolution of a full-service community school, as well as its alignment to the highly effective community school (HECS) model. Richardson’s (2009) HECS model was implemented to identify the relationship between leadership, collaborative partners, and organizational development, and their ability to produce beneficial outcomes and, ultimately, a highly effective FSCS. The research site was the Achievement Centers for Children and Families (ACCF), a long-standing, full-service community school located in Delray Beach, Florida. Data for this qualitative case study were collected using an oral history methodology which included interviews and document analysis.

Drawing on historical case study methodology informed by critical perspectives of education, this study examines the decision by Tucson United School District (TUSD) to ban its nationally recognized Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in 2012. Framing public education as a site of contestation for equality and democratization, the ban is examined within a five-phase historical context of the struggles of Chicanos for equity in the USA. The research questions address the dismantling of the program in terms of the ongoing historical disparities between the education of Chicanos and Anglo Americans in Tucson, diverse stakeholders’ perspectives on equality and inequality in the decision making, and the response of stakeholders who supported the program to the attempts to dismantle it. The theoretical framework of this study intersects Critical Race Theory and its corollary Latino Critical Theory, Critical Multicultural Pedagogy that centers Critical Pedagogy and Historical Discourse Analysis that focuses attention to the use of power in educational decision making.
The interview data from nine study participants who were closely affiliated with the MAS program and selected historical documents and archival data were analyzed to uncover Anglo and Chicano perspectives on education for Mexican Americans in Tucson. The analysis revealed that the differences between Chicano and Anglo perspectives on equity and the role of education in facilitating equality for Chicanos laid the groundwork for the conceptualization of the MAS program by its supporters, and the rationale for its banning by its opponents. The interview data revealed that all participants contextualized their work in the MAS within the history of struggle for Chicano education, they represented a cohesive “Dream Team” committed to implementing a program grounded in critical and culturally relevant pedagogies, and that initial marginalization provided them the space for unimpeded development of the program. Participants’ responses further revealed evidence of the deep psychological toll, intellectual energy demands, and civic engagement required of MAS supporters in the face of this particular episode in the ongoing history of the struggle for Chicano educational equity. The implications for critical multicultural education programs operating within culturally hegemonic policy and social contexts are examined.

The problem of this study was to provide a theoretical
model for crosscultural and interdisciplinary teaching
in the humanities to help lead students toward a greater
understanding and appreciation of cultures different from
their own and to help lessen potential conflicts based
upon such differences. Intended for teachers of community
college students, the theoretical model might be useful
in teaching in four-year institutions. It was designed to
allow students to examine together the content from several
disciplines in the humanities in terms of being representative
of differing cultures. The pilot model for the
theoretical model was a comparative study of the Chinese
bandit novel and the American gangster film, chosen as
representing two extremes in cultural polarity and found
to share a number of parallels. It was assumed that if these two very unlike cultures produced art forms sharing this
number of similarities, it should be possible to find
similarities between the culture elements of cultures
generally considered less different from one another than
these two. The method of developing instructional procedures
and techniques in utilizing the theoretical model
was demonstrated by use of the content of other disciplines
chosen to represent other cultures. It was concluded
that the theoretical model can be applied in teaching in
the humanities. It is hoped that more studies of this
kind can help in resolving potential cultural conflicts.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and to explore the perceptions and experiences of selected educators on the infusion of multicultural education into the language arts curriculum in Broward County, Florida, Public Schools. This study also sought to discover the best practices of those language arts teachers who did infuse multicultural education into their curriculum. Little empirical data exists which elicits the views of language arts teachers about the infusion of multicultural education into the curriculum. Limited research on the middle school level is available. A qualitative single-case study design was used. The study was conducted at multiple sites; and the primary sources of data were interviews, document analyses, and researcher participant and nonparticipant observations. The sample of 48 participants was selected from 9 Broward County, Florida, Public Schools, including 6 middle schools. The sample included middle school language arts teachers, as well as principals, assistant principals, media specialists, teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), directors of multicultural education, and multicultural resource teachers. Based on the analysis of data, the perspectives and experiences of most teachers were multidimensional. Eight categories of findings relating to the perspectives of language arts teachers on the impact of multicultural education into the curriculum emerged: (a) multicultural education implementation; (b) the theoretical approaches used by language arts teachers to infuse multicultural education into the curriculum; (c) the impact of multicultural education on students, teachers, and the instructional process; (d) social and organizational factors that impact the infusion process; (e) the availability of resources, the authenticity of materials, and challenges encountered in the infusion process; (f) teacher needs; (g) the significance of the affective domain factors that teachers bring to the experience; (h) and standards and matrices. Overall, the participants in this study felt that the experience of teaching and learning from a multicultural perspective was enormously valuable to the self-concept, academic achievement, and the cultural appreciation among their students. The findings indicate that the curriculum that is presented or practiced is gradually moving beyond the lowest level of the additive approach toward a multicultural approach to infusion as suggested in the literature. Most practitioners are at Grant and Sleeter's (1999) single-group studies approach to multicultural education infusion which looks at the infusion of a single ethnic group.

The purpose of this survey study was to measure and compare the levels of cultural sensitivity of novice and experienced teachers of ESOL in the public schools of Palm Beach County, Florida, as measured by Margaret L. Ford's Teacher-Student Interaction Instrument (TSI). Correlational statistics (t-tests, ANOVA's, crosstabulations, c2 significance tests, and multiple regression analysis) were used to determine: (1) if novice and experienced ESOL teachers were distributed differently along Banks' levels of ethnicity, as measured by the TSI, (2) whether four demographic variables (age, gender, regional tenure, and ethnic group identification) were significantly correlated to TSI scores, and (3) if the demographic variables and teacher experience were significantly correlated with TSI score in a predictor model. The responses of 126 elementary and secondary ESOL teachers who completed the 42 item Likert scale questionnaire and seven biodata items, were used to do the analyses. The predominant TSI scores of respondents were in the categories of Biethnicity and Multiethnicity, with only 8.7% in level three, Ethnic Identity Clarification; and no respondents were in the guardedly ethnocentric lower levels, Ethnic Psychological Captivity and Ethnic Encapsulation. No statistically significant correlations were obtained in the comparison of each variable with TSI score (level of ethnicity ) or combined in the multiple predictor model. The higher percentages and ranges of TSI scores than previously reported in the literature appear to confirm the efficacy of: (1) the inclusion of core courses in multicultural education in teacher preparation programs, (2) the continued requirement of 30 to 300 hours of multicultural education workshops for inservice teachers, and (3) the use of the TSI as a survey instrument, a screening tool to indicate levels of cultural sensitivity, or as an item bank for fruitful discussion among teachers on matters relating to cultural diversity. Research suggests that the variables examined in this study may be used more effectively as predictors of cultural sensitivity if an additional measure of previous multicultural experience is also obtained.

Dogmatism is an uncritical, rigid way of thinking that correlates strongly with prejudice. Prejudice is an attitude, usually unfavorable, toward individuals or groups, arrived at through an uncritical thought process and a disregard of the facts. Dogmatism, because of its connection with prejudice, vitiates students' chances for learning. Dogmatism in teachers creates an inequitable distribution of education to the extent that marginalized minority students are shortchanged educational opportunities. The nature of dogmatism and its impact on education is covered in the literature. Moreover, pedagogical and andragogical strategies which utilize the cognitive and affective domains to heighten critical thinking ability and empathy for others are also addressed in the literature. A Strategic Prejudice-Reduction Framework, the Dogmatism Diminution Model (DDM), was developed, implemented, and evaluated in a university setting. The DDM is not designed to be a discrete course; rather it is meant to be infused within a multicultural education class. The key features of the DDM are its domains, the Cognitive, Reflective, Emotive, and Active through which the course content is relayed. The Cognitive and Emotive domains of the DDM correspond to the cognitive and affective literature, the Reflective domain corresponds to the literature on critical thinking, but the Active domain of the DDM is not associated with the behavioral domain of the literature. Instead it is related to the research on service learning. Three hypotheses were tested. Two dealt with the DDM and the third with a demographic correlate of dogmatism. In order to determine the effectiveness of the DDM, Milton Rokeach's (1960) Dogmatism Scale was administered in a pretest/posttest design. The data were submitted to an ANCOVA and subsequently to a post hoc Scheffe test to determine between which pairs of groups differences in means occurred. ANCOVA was used to compensate for the effect that the pretest might have on the results of the posttest. The comparison of means among the four groups identified a significant reduction in the level of dogmatism at the alpha = .05 level between the DDM group and the Control group as well as one of the other two experimental groups. However, in a paired-score comparison of the treatment group itself, no significance was found with the sample of 31 subjects. This could be attributed to a lack of power in the sample size. Finally, a Pearson Product Moment Correlation of .154 was significant at the 95% confidence level between the variables of dogmatism and degree of religiosity.

This study explored the relationship between critical theories and student achievement. The study applied the principles of Critical Discourse Analysis and Critical Pedagogy in studying the impact of artistic and hegemonic communication on student achievement. The purpose of the study was to critically analyze the language discourse of educational leaders and to determine the extent to which the language discourse contributes to the persistence of the achievement gap and the continuing marginalization of diverse groups of children. This research study offers a practical set of recommendations on how to use the process of critical discourse analysis to arrive at more adequate solutions to the problems that contribute to the achievement gap. It demonstrates how an uncritical acceptance of textual communication from powerful sources such as state departments of education makes educational leaders responsible for the academic failure of children. This study was therefore concerned with finding a process to interrupt hegemonic communication and allow for more democratic use of language that accommodates the multiple realities of the school system. The Research Design used in this research process incorporated data analysis at the state, district and school site levels. The processes of critical discourse analyses were used to scrutinize the language of verbal and written texts and observation data for socio-political relations and ideology embedded in the language. The study found that at the federal, state and district levels hegemonic language was used to assert the worldview of educational accountability and standardization. In contrast to the federal, state and district data, the school site data revealed the use of critical discourse to counteract hegemonic communication and give voice to the multiple realities that exist. This study highlights the fact that educational leaders, including the crafters of educational policies and related documents, skillfully use language to advance their particular perspective. The study demonstrates how educational leaders can implement artistic leadership to open up the spaces in the discourse to interrupt hegemonic communication and eventually close the achievement gap.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the development of preservice teachers' beliefs in regard to diversity concepts and issues. The current study finds a positive development in preservice teacher candidates' professional beliefs about diversity as shown through observations, interviews, and document analysis at the beginning and end of upper division coursework in an elementary education degree program that infuses diversity throughout the program. Reflection is at the core of the goals of the college of education in which this program resides. Findings from this study revealed that through reflection and discourse, a majority of the senior students did show development in their professional beliefs about diversity concepts and issues. These findings may add to literature on program evaluation in the study of diversity concepts and infusion throughout upper division coursework. This study was limited due to an extremely low response rate and other spurious factors.

Drawing on the principles of critical multicultural education and teacher learning, this mixed methods study examined the contributions of a professional development program (the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Program - HEP) to teacher's knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and the role of contextual factors such as school support, HEP support, years of teaching experience, and grade levels in mediating teachers' practices concerning Holocaust and human rights education...The findings revealed that from the participants' perspectives, the HEP contributed to their content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, attitudes, and classroom practices. ... Participants also reported learning about age appropriate curriculum resources and about useful pedagogical approaches such as personalization, discussions, and analysis. The participants reported developing a sense of efficacy and positive attitudes towards Holocaust and human rights education, and also designing curriculum with integration of diverse perspectives and various instructional strategies. Regression analysis did not reveal any significant variance in teachers' practices based on the above mentioned contextual factors ; however, the interview data revealed the HEP's collaboration after professional development, school and community support, and teachers' own dispositions toward Holocaust and human rights education as additional contextual factors that influences teachers' practices.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1975 has made a profound impact on millions of children with disabilities who now enjoy their right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). It is the goal of national policy, endorsed by Congress, to ensure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities. With the enactment of IDEA, it ensures that all children, who participate in special education programs, have equal access to education. However, since IDEA's inception, a disproportionate number of African Americans children have been placed, or rather, misplaced in special education programs. African American students are three times more likely than Whites to be placed into categories as needing services in special education programs, making them subject to less demanding schoolwork, to more restrictive classrooms, and to isolation from their peers. For the purpose of this study, the goals were (a) to determine if there is disproportional representation of Black students and male students in the three categories of Educable Mentally Handicapped, Emotionally Handicapped, and Specific Learning Disabled and (b) to address whether the factors school districts' socioeconomic status, minority rate, and racial composition of instructional and administrative staff predict the representation of Black students and male students who participate in special education programs. A quantitative method, including the three disproportionality calculation methods of Composition Index (CI), Risk Index (RI), and Odds Ratio (OR), was employed to respond to the six research questions and test six corresponding null hypotheses. Sixty-seven school districts in the State of Florida were identified for data collection and analysis.