Action Research

Does student demographic impact perceived level of teacher care?

Jon Graff, Wendy Ahern and Jon Wilson

Rationale For Research

Many schools in the state of Minnesota are experiencing an achievement gap. Knowing that A great deal of research links positive teacherstudent relationships to increased academic achievement, we asked... Is a lack of positive teacher student relationships a root cause for the achievement gap?

Research Procedure:

Administered a four question survey to students regarding their perception of teacher/adult caring behaviors. Survey was administered to students at Dakota Meadows Middle School, Goodhue County Education District, and St. James High School

Survey Questions:
1. How much do you feel teachers/other adults at school care for you? 2. How does the amount that your teachers currently care for you affect your overall performance at school? 3. Give an example of something teachers at your school say or do that shows they care about you.

4. Give an example of something teachers at your school say or do that shows they do not care about you.

Population Surveyed
777 Students 7-12 179 Hispanic 482 White 36 Black 11 Asian 9 Native American 60 other

What We learned...

Different demographics perceive differing amounts of adult care at school

Findings are consistent with:

Garza, R. (2008). Latino and white high school students perceptions of caring behaviors: are we culturally responsive to our students? Urban Education. Tosolt, B. (2009). Middle school students perceptions of caring teacher behaviors: differences by minority status. The Journal of Negro Education, 78(4), 405-416.

GCED Results

Survey Question #1 GCED

DMMS Results: Percent of Students Who Feel Cared for Quite a Bit or Very Much
Asian
White American Indian Black Hispanic

75%
68% 60% 53% 35%

DMMS Results: Percent of Students Who Feel Cared for Quite a Bit or Very Much
No FRP 68%

Dont Know FRP

63% 54%

St. James Results

Quite a bit or very much

41%

46%

33%

33%

45%

St. James Results

Quite a bit or very much

33%

40%

44%

What We Learned...

Perceived adult care impacts learning

Results consistent with:

Stipek, D. (2006). Relationships matter. Educational Leadership, 64(1), 46-49

GCED Results

Survey Question #2 GCED

DMMS Results

St. James Results

What We Learned...

Most common behaviors that students considered caring

3 categories based on research of Tosolt (2009)

Interpersonal Care - Behaviors that promote relationship Academic Care - Behaviors that promote academic success or engagement Fairness Care - Behaviors that support equity

GCED Results
Interpersonal Care (82%)

Take time to listen

Always willing to help with personal/emotional issues Feel comfortable talking to teachers

Academic Care (18%) Help me with homework/assignments

Give also a second help on assignments/homework

Take time to help with assignments/homework
GCED, Program Data

DMMS Results

Academic Care 81%
Teachers let me retake tests
Teachers help me on their own time (before and after school) Teachers provide me with positive feedback

Interpersonal Care 19%

Teachers say hello or good morning Teachers ask about my personal life Teachers help me when Im upset

St. James Results

-- Academic Care (71%) -- Teachers help me on assignments -- Teachers care about getting my grades up -- Teachers help me get my missing assignments in

-- Interpersonal Care (29%) -- Teachers encourage or talk to me -- Teachers say and do nice things for me -- Teachers tell me good job

What we Learned...

Most common adult behaviors that students consider non-caring

GCED Results
Academic Care (14%)

Dont Help me
Not involved enough with post-secondary education Giving take fives and focus room time

Interpersonal Care (27%) Yell

Attitude
NO ANSWER (56%)
GCED, Program Data

DMMS Results
Interpersonal Caring 36% Teachers are verbally aggressive Teachers do not care about me as a person Academic Caring 51% Teachers do not help when you have a question Teachers only focus on the kids who struggle

Fairness Caring 13% Teachers only call on their favorite students

St. James Results

-- Teachers do not care -- Teachers avoid me -- Sarcasm -- Teachers get mad or yell at me -- Teachers do not help me

What We Learned...

Different demographics perceive different behaviors as caring

Evidence At DMMS (Caring)

Asian students tend to place more emphasis on academic care Hispanic students tend to place more emphasis on interpersonal care Special ed places more emphasis on interpersonal care

Evidence at DMMS (Non-Caring)

Hispanics and Black students place more emphasis on interpersonal care than other groups. FRP students place more emphasis on fairness caring than their Non-FRP peers.

How Do We Move Forward...

PBIS, RTI, and the Equity Framework

Why PBIS and RTI

1. Students identify care as being able to provide academic support RTI increases our capacity to do this 2. Students identify care as being able to meet their interpersonal needs PBIS promotes positive relationships between staff and student

Equity Framework
Growth VS Fixed Mindset (expectations that everyone can learn)

Culturally Responsive Teaching and learning Culturally responsive classrooms specifically acknowledge the presence of culturally diverse students and the need for these students to find relevant connections among themselves and with the subject matter and the tasks teachers ask them to perform.
http://elearndesign.org/teachspecialed/modules/ocada7083_norm2/23/24_2/xmedia/reading_c8m3L2a2.pdf

Resources
PBIS: www.pbis.org McLaughlin, Margaret, J. (2009). What Every Principal Needs to Know About Special Education. Second Edition. Thousands Oaks, California. Rothstein-Fisch, Carrie & Trumbull, Elise (2008). Managing Diverse Classrooms. Alexandria, Virginia. Minnesota Department of Education: http://w20.education.state.mn.us/MDEAnalytics/Reports.jsp Mindset (Carol Dweck): http://mindsetonline.com/ Creating Culturally Responsive, Inclusive Classrooms, Winifred Montgomery
http://elearndesign.org/teachspecialed/modules/ocada7083_norm2/23/24_2/xmedia/reading_c8m3L2a2.pdf

8 Forces for Leaders of Change (Michael Fullan, Claudia Cuttress, Anne Kilcher)
http://www.michaelfullan.ca/media/13396067650.pdf