Cultural+Proficiency+at+Wilshire+Elementary

Below are listed the six stages of cultural proficiency as offered by Nuri-Robbins et. al. in a 2007 article entitled, “Cultural Proficiency: Tools for Secondary School Administrators”. (Nuri-Robbins, Lindsey, Terrell, & Lindsey, 2007) 
 * //﻿ A Look at Cultural Proficiency at Wilshire Elementary //**
 * //CULTURAL PROFICIENCY CONTINUUM //**

The stages of the continuum are described as follow: The following are examples of actions that represent each stage of the continuum: You’ll say to the world, “While I couldn’t save all, I did not let these children fall. By the thousands I helped all I could see. No excuses, I took full responsibility. No matter if they were black or white, Were cursed, ignored, were wrong or right, Were shunned, pre-judged, were short or tall, I did my best to save them all.” (Canada, 2007) ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural destructiveness: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> sees the difference, attempt to destroy it; (example might be genocide against specific groups).
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural incapacity: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> sees the difference, make it wrong; (example might be labeling certain groups as evil).
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural blindness: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> sees the difference, act like you don’t; (example might be “I don’t see any differences in my students, and therefore I am treating all of those special education kids just like everyone else”).
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural precompetence: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> see the difference, respond inappropriately; (example might be “Oh I have some of those students with special needs, they all need to be exempt from TAKS”).
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural competence: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> sees the difference, understand the importance of difference; (example: we have so many students from such diverse backgrounds, we need to have more professional development to better understand the differences).
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural proficiency: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> sees the difference, respond effectively by promoting cultural competence. (example: we have really improved our campus improvement plan by including programs to promote cultural proficiency).
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural destructiveness: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> This is maybe a trite example of such strenuously worded language, but I do remember with a bit of a wince a time earlier in my career when I believed that everyone should give and maintain eye contact when spoken to: that do not do so was a sign of disrespect or of poor character. I made more than one student cry over this, and felt vindicated that I was teaching them a vital lesson in character. When told that, in some cultures, maintaining regular eye contact was a sign of aggression and would be completely unacceptable in their homelands, I simply maintained that I was providing an important skill in mastering the cultural mores of American society. What rubbish. It was only later, when my own son was born, that I learned the terrible damage that such a simple demand could wreak on a child. My older son, diagnosed with autism, finds maintaining eye contact completely overwhelming in most instances. In developing understanding of my son’s very real obstacle, I learned the power of these children’s cultural norms must have had, and how very damaging I had been to the very self-confidence that I had purported to be building up. ||
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural incapacity: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Public school can be an absolute hotbed of cultural incapacity in the absence of strong, culturally proficient leadership. A campus and its students can be buffeted between the strongly-held beliefs of various stakeholder groups, and much too often the public school environment falls prey to the most virulent intolerances in our society. In elementary school, I see this happen most often in areas where rights to free speech are chipped away by board policies on dress code, student groups, and the like. In our school law course, there was a discussion thread related to the “I Love Boobies” wristbands that were starting to wend their way into classrooms. I happened to mention this discussion in my own teacher’s lounge, expecting that others would see what I had seen in the discussions and news reports: an extreme overreaction that created more distraction in the classroom than the bands themselves. I was quite truly shocked when I was roundly criticized for my tolerance of something that was “so obviously inappropriate for any child to be wearing.” One teacher went on to comment, “I don’t care if he’s wearing it because his mother is dying of cancer or not – he needs to find a more appropriate way to express himself.” The conversation moved further, condemning T-shirts that read “shut up and have a lousy day” and “Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet” because “that’s just rude commentary, and it has no place in school.” I mentioned that we wear faculty shirts that say, “It is what it is”, which is a rough translation of “screw it” in urban slang. I must confess that my comment effectively doused the entire conversation, although I expect that most came away from the conversation even more convinced of the rightness of their position. I walked out of the lounge feeling largely frustrated that I didn’t seem to have the tools to redirect this imposition of educators’ personal world views on the classroom. ||
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural blindness: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> I have spent my entire teaching career, almost 15 years, in environments of rich cultural and socioeconomic diversity. I think that it is impossible during that time not to have moments of cultural blindness, although I find I might be slightly uncomfortable with the connotations implied by the definition and example given in the assignment. There have been times in my career when I have seen different groups place widely different priority on the lessons I am trying to provide students. In a few instances, like the discussion above of eye contact, my attempt to impart a particular skill or expectation on my students did much more harm than good. However I believe that, on the whole, one of the greatest gifts I can give my students is a set of consistent, high expectations. I recognize that students walk out of the classroom into all manner of home situations, and I do not dispute that family and societal norms give advantage to some over others as they work toward their goals. However, I live in the world with these students, and I know what is expected of them as they grow into adults. I do no service to these children by lowering my expectations to meet their circumstances. Just as I do not allow a student to turn in incomplete homework because they spent three hours at football practice the night before, I do not allow a student to turn in incomplete homework because they spent three hours attending church, or three hours in the car driving from one babysitter to the other. I will give students whatever resources I can to succeed: I will give them the information, the skills, the supplies, and the support. But what I will not give them are excuses. Geoffrey Canada tells it this way:
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural precompetence: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> It seems many of our initial efforts to acknowledge and understand diversity are marked by inappropriate overtures. From America’s early attempts at racial integration of schools through busing to my own awkward first attempts at implementing differentiation for mainstreamed students, part of the learning curve involves making mistakes. We over-compensate for the slights and discriminations of the past, and in doing so we create new ones. A teacher with the best of intentions for providing a differentiated classroom can alienate both LEP learners through too overt accommodations and content mastery, and gifted learners through a disproportionate amount of project-based and independent study. Here no child’s academic needs are served while maintaining both her dignity and her role in the whole classroom. ||
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural competence: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">I currently work in a school environment which I believe is, on the whole, at this stage of the continuum. We recognize the value in giving value to our diversity, and we look for ways that we can accomplish this. Our weakness is that our action tends to happen in fits and starts. We have International Night on our campus, where many of the cultures of our campus community are given an opportunity to share information and connect with the larger community. However, we are admittedly lax in taking this opportunity to bring this moment into our classrooms and use it to springboard instruction. We also find that with the overwhelming pressures of district and state assessment that creating opportunities to add these cultural components to instruction does not receive all of the attention it deserves. We have engaged in some pieces of professional development, for example Ruby Payne coursework and sessions on developing home/school relationships; yet, these opportunities have not truly turned into school-wide initiatives, acting rather as ‘consciousness-raising’ activities with no follow-through. ||
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Cultural proficiency: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> This is the gold standard for which we all strive in our classrooms and on our campus, and I think that my school does much to work proactively toward this goal in all areas. “Accepting and celebrating diversity in all of its forms” is a basic tenet of our campus improvement plan, and the professional development opportunities and campus activities that I mentioned previously are results of that focus. I believe this goal can never be achieved completely; because there is always more to learn about others, there are always opportunities to learn and grow as a campus and as a community. ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">SURVEY REFLECTION //**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">I believe that my overall standing in the scale is a positive one. My experiences in vibrant, culturally diverse campuses throughout my career have given me a real-time education in the value of embracing cultural differences, and the real risk in ignoring them. I do believe that while entire districts can and should have policies in place to facilitate cultural proficiency, the bulk of the responsibility to this charge falls at the campus level. Each campus has a unique set of needs and opportunities, and it is necessary for a campus administrator to assess those and implement activities and communication that will speak to her campus’ specific profile. I struggle with my own embedded cultural mores, and I know that part of my work as an administrator would involve retooling the way I think about creating opportunities for a campus to begin dialogue about those barriers. The results reflect a component of my personality that speaks not only to cultural issues but to my overarching management style. I tend towards a fairly assertive personality, and while the certainly has benefits as a leader, it can also prove off-putting to some. As such, an increased awareness of how I am perceived by stakeholders will continue to be a personal goal for me. As I previously mentioned, I also have a heightened sense of personal accountability. Again, while I believe that this trait generally serves me well, there is no question that it leaves me vulnerable to insensitivities to cultural differences. It will be necessary for me to be constantly vigilant in my self-assessment of my perceptions and my decision-making. ||

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif';">The following rubric represents the basic tenets of the article by Nuri-Robbins et. al. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Extent to which professional development addresses issues of cultural identity. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning that provides opportunities to learn about one’s own and others’ cultural identities is avoided and prohibited. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning promotes practices and approaches that promote assimilation to the dominant culture. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning provides common approaches that avoid issues related to cultural identity believed to be beneficial to all students. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Recognizing differences between the culture of the home and the culture of the school, professional development may address issues of culture. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning informs participants about their culture, the culture of others, and the school’s culture. Professional development helps close gaps in achievement and bridge gaps in cultural, linguistic, learning, and communication styles. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning helps staff close achievement gaps for underserved groups and anticipate changing community needs. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Extent to which professional development addresses cultural issues. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities intend to extinguish manifestations of culture, language, or learning styles. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities support assimilation to the dominant culture and learning styles. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities promote one approach to meet the needs of all students. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Recognizes community diversity and may address the needs of different cultural groups in professional learning. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning helps staff develop approaches that meet the needs of multiple cultural, linguistic, and learning styles. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities help participants anticipate, identify, and respond to changing demographics || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Extent to which professional development promotes and models the use of inquiry and dialogue related to multiple perspectives and issues arising from diversity. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning provokes and foments opportunities to denigrate the cultural needs of some student, parent, or staff groups. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning is used to influence and shape practices that expect others to assimilate the dominant culture in order to better educate and conserve the resources of the school district. Processes are justified by majority rule or opinion. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning and meetings advocate topics and processes that promote the common good, and consensus is favored when conflict arises. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Recognizing that issues arising from diversity are ever-present and often provoke conflict, school leaders may identify and develop professional development opportunities that surface multiple perspectives about issues arising from diversity. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities incorporate multiple perspectives on relevant topics and build capacity for dialogue about conflict from issues that may arise from issues related to diversity. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities promote social action to better meet the needs of an ever-changing community. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Extent to which professional learning facilitates change to meet the needs of the community. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning activities suppress change to meet the needs of a diverse community. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities assume that the best way to meet the needs of a diverse community is to maintain the status quo and help others to assimilate. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Believing they serve the needs of all cultural groups, professional learning opportunities consist mainly of programs sanctioned by local, state, and federal agencies. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Recognizing the needs of a diverse community, professional learning opportunities examine and alter practices that may better meet the needs of a diverse community. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities use data to drive change to better meet the needs of a diverse community. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities help staff anticipate the needs of a changing community and develop flexible policies and practices to meet current and future needs. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Extent to which professional development shapes policies and practices that meet the needs of a diverse community. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities shaped by values and policies that deny the needs of a diverse school community are systematically applied in schools and classrooms. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities that reinforce values and policies ensuring assimilation are applied in classrooms and schools. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Believing they serve the needs of all cultural groups, mandated professional learning opportunities are applied in classrooms and schools. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Recognizing that some community needs are not met, professional learning opportunities may examine and shape values and policies to meet identified needs. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities are encouraged, shared, and applied in classrooms, the school, and community for the purpose of improving student learning and achievement. || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Professional learning opportunities lead to improving community welfare and interdependence ||
 * //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT RUBRIC //**
 * || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 8.5pt;">Cultural Destructiveness ** || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Cultural Incapacity ** || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Cultural Blindness ** || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Cultural Precompetence ** || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Cultural Competence ** || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Cultural Proficiency ** ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Assessing Cultural Knowledge **
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Valuing **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Diversity **
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Managing the Dynamics of Difference **
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Adapting to Diversity **
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Institutional-izing Cultural Knowledge **


 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">RUBRIC REFLECTION //**
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Assessing Cultural Knowledge: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Recognizing differences between the culture of the home and the culture of the school, professional development may address issues of culture: we have engaged in some pieces of professional development, for example Ruby Payne coursework and sessions on developing home/school relationships; yet, these opportunities have not truly turned into school-wide initiatives, acting rather as ‘consciousness-raising’ activities with no follow-through. ||
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Valuing diversity: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Professional learning helps staff develop approaches that meet the needs of multiple cultural, linguistic, and learning styles: we recognize the value in giving value to our diversity, and we look for ways that we can accomplish this. Our weakness is that our action tends to happen in fits and starts. We have International Night on our campus, where many of the cultures of our campus community are given an opportunity to share information and connect with the larger community. However, we are admittedly lax in taking this opportunity to bring this moment into our classrooms and use it to springboard instruction. We also find that with the overwhelming pressures of district and state assessment that creating opportunities to add these cultural components to instruction does not receive all of the attention it deserves. ||
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Managing the dynamics of difference: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Professional learning and meetings advocate topics and processes that promote the common good, and consensus is favored when conflict arises: when reading this outcome, it seems like a perfectly appropriate way of managing the goals of a school. I think that the outside observer would not necessarily object to this approach to balancing the needs and desires of diverse populations. Frankly, I am shocked to find this is the descriptive statement for ‘cultural blindness’ as it applies to managing differences. I am personally in favor of social action, and I believe in the idea that as educators we are charged to respond nimbly to the dynamic needs of our student populations. However, I recognize that at times the needs of different groups can be mutually opposed. While a school system does seek understanding and context as a learning community in order to resolve conflict, I think it is perfectly appropriate to seek resolution that serves the greatest good for the greatest number, when necessary. ||
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Adapting to diversity //****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Professional learning opportunities use data to drive change to better meet the needs of a diverse community: we utilize both quantitative and qualitative data in our assessment of student and stakeholder needs. Our district spends significant time and resources looking at the performance indicators of students according to PEIMS subgroup categories. Benchmark assessment data is input into our ADM software, which enables teachers to disaggregate the data with whatever criteria they need to determine areas of focus. However, in addition, we have particular goal teams that commit energies to looking at the picture through a closer lens: our LEP team looks at the specific language barriers to effective communication with not only those students, but with their families, as well. Our Core Knowledge team constantly looks for ways to involve stakeholders’ expertise in driving teaching and learning at our school: we collect annual survey data from parents that includes questions of cultural differences and needed tools for communication and success. ||
 * **//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Institutionalizing cultural knowledge: //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Recognizing that some community needs are not met, professional learning opportunities may examine and shape values and policies to meet identified needs: this is the venue where the deficits of consensus can be more specifically addressed. We are a data-driven district, as mentioned above, and we work to respond to the needs revealed by a careful analysis of our data, both qualitative and quantitative. Our district follows the Continuous Improvement model, and as such, our professional development is driven by our goal teams, or learning communities. Stakeholder outreach is a significant part of our campus mission, and so a portion of meeting involves addressing student and family needs, which includes cultural components. ||

=<span style="color: #365f91; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 24pt 0in 0pt;">Works Cited = <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Canada, G. (2007). //Don't Blame Me.// Retrieved January 29, 2011, from Harlem Children's Zone: http://www.hcz.org/images/stories/pdfs/dont_blame_me.pdf <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Nuri-Robbins, K., Lindsey, D. B., Terrell, R. D., & Lindsey, R. B. (2007, September). Cultural Proficiency: Tools for Secondary School Administrators. //National Association of Secondary School Principals: NASSP Principal Leadership// //, 8// (1), pp. 16-22.