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Evan Volski
Program Level Assessment #2
University of Colorado Denver
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Program Level Assessment #2

As a white, middle class, heterosexual, American male I have been born into a position of
extreme privilege in society. The privileges and advantages that I have been given are directly
related to the disadvantages of those in society who do not share the same aspects of identity as
me. McIntosh (1988) states that as my racial group was being made confident, comfortable, and
oblivious, other groups were likely being made unconfident, uncomfortable, and alienated. (p.
3) This sentiment extends beyond race and can be applied to the many aspects of identity, which
do not operate independently, but are intersectional and interact with each other in many ways
that are often dependent on context. Ritzer (2009) as quoted in Grant & Zwier (2011) states,
Intersectionality holds that the classical models of oppression within society, such as those
based on race/ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, class, species or
disability do not act independently of one another; instead, these forms of oppression interrelate
creating a system of oppression that reflects the intersection of multiple forms of
discrimination. (p. 182)
My identity, my whiteness in particular, influences how I view and experience the world
around me. As schools are becoming increasingly diverse, both racially and linguistically, it is
important to understand how my identity shapes my worldview. While there is increasing
diversity in our schools, teachers remain a rather homogenous group of middle-class whites.
This social positioning can be particularly problematic when a school staff is predominantly
white and middle-class, while the school serves predominantly low-income students of
color. (Yoon, 2012, p. 2) Whiteness in this sense can influence, not only how we experience
the world around us, but how we view our students, their families and communities. It is possible
that even those who are committed to creating a more equitable and just society have internalized
deficit views of people of color that they continue to perpetuate them without even knowing.
(Asher, 2005) By challenging your own perceptions of those from non-dominant cultural groups
we can understand our biases that may affect how we view our students. Without doing so we
will continue to perpetuate racism and inequality in our classrooms and school communities.
To eliminate the deficit views of people of color that we subconsciously hold we need to
understand the sociocultural context of each of our students. We need to understand that
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peoples ways of thinking, behaving, and being are deeply influenced by such factors as race/
ethnicity, social class, and language. (Villegas & Lucas, 2002, p. 22) Once this understanding
has been developed we then need to extend this and develop an affirming view of the many ways
that students think, talk, behave, and learn. (Villegas & Lucas, 2002) Our students are deeply
influenced by their families and the communities that they come from and in order to develop a
culturally responsive classroom we must tap into these funds of knowledge. (Moll, et al., 1992,
p.1)
In order to tap into these funds of knowledge, we must start by gaining an
understanding of our students and their sociocultural backgrounds. We must also learn more
about them as individuals and starting on the first day of school, and continuing for the rest of
the year, I will make a concerted effort to get to know each and every one of my students. Vitto
(2003) states that positive relationships at school and in the classroom are in many ways
prerequisites for effective learning and behavior. (p. 59) By building an effective relationship
with students you will develop an understanding of the child that allows them to feel that they
are cared for and worthwhile while at the same time gaining knowledge that will allow you to
create a tailored instruction that meets the needs of the child.
The Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy developed by Tharp, et al. (2000) are where
I take great inspiration for what my classroom will look and feel like. I firmly believe that all
students should be given the opportunity to learn and access content and I will accomplish this
by differentiating instruction and developing appropriate scaffolds that will push students to the
next level of proficiency. Engaging in joint productive activity and instructional conversations,
with proper differentiation and scaffolding, will allow all learners to access challenging, complex
material. Each student has unique abilities and needs and it will be my job to ensure that
challenging content is comprehensible to all students, particularly students with learning
differences and bilingual learners. ELLs do not enter the U.S. classrooms as blank slates; they
bring with them a wealth of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Teachers who appreciate and draw
upon these funds of knowledge will foster more rapid learning of both language and
content. (Fairbairn and Jones-VO, p. 65).
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It is important that children are active participants in the classroom and to create an active
environment it is important that students help shape the classroom community. Students will be
given the opportunity to help create the classroom rules at the beginning of the year. A process
which helps build student ownership, develops a spirit of cooperation, and satisfies students
need for choice in what happens to them. (Vitto, p. 44) Students will be given opportunities to
voice their opinions of previous and future lessons so that activities, content, and materials are
relevant to their lives and interests.
Developing lessons and units that are relevant to the interests and lives of our students is
a critical component of modern education, however, we have to be systematic about the
understandings and concepts that we want students to learn. In order to accomplish this it is
important to utilize a backwards design process as described by Wiggins & McTighe (2006). By
utilizing this system we can be intentional about our instruction and, at each stage of this process,
ensure that our lessons are inclusive, culturally and linguistically responsive, and transformative.
When starting the backwards design process it is important to first identify the desired
results. What are the essential questions and big ideas that we want students to come away with
at the end of our lesson or unit? When considering our desired results we want to target certain
skills and concepts that students will be able to transfer to new situations and learning
environments. This stage in the design process is also an opportunity to consider the ways in
which our lesson can challenge convention wisdom and practices. As Wiggins & McTighe
(2006) state, The point of education is not simply to learn the least controversial findings.
Students need to see how penetrating questions and arguments produce knowledge and
understanding. (p. 122)
The next step is to determine acceptable evidence and decide the ways in which students
will be able to represent their learning and how will we know that students have gained the
desired understandings. Students are all unique and should be able to demonstrate their
understanding in a way that is responsive to their abilities and needs. This stage is when we
should consider how we will differentiate and scaffold so that students will be able meet the
learning and performance targets. Bilingual learners are all on different paths to proficiency and
it necessary that performance targets are differentiated to meet them on the upper end of their
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zone of proximal development and pushing them on to the next level of English language
proficiency. The WIDA Standards are incredible tools that I have and will continue to use to
effectively differentiate and develop performance targets that allow bilingual learners to
demonstrate their learning.
Having developed differentiated performance targets, students should be given the
opportunity to engage in authentic performance tasks that get at the heart of the essential
question. They should be able to interact with the concepts and do the subject in order to
produce high-quality work that replicates real-life problems and challenges. When students are
able to engage in work of this nature we can better understand whether or not they have gained
the desired understanding than if they had been asked to take a test that only requires them to
restate facts.
Finally, we must develop the learning experiences and instruction that will create
opportunities for students to gain the desired understanding. The WHERETO Elements
described by Wiggins and McTighe (2006) are effective guidelines as to how we can accomplish
this. From the get go it must be clear to students what they are learning and why. With a clear
understanding of the learning targets students will be able to interact with materials and
information in a more meaningful way. As students are progressing through the lesson or unit
they will also be given opportunities to assess their understanding and where they are in relation
to the learning target.
Within the WHERETO Elements, as in the CREDE Standards, it is important that
learning experiences and instruction are contextualized to the students life. Having gained
knowledge of our students we should be using their talents, interests, abilities to develop
engaging and motivating learning opportunities. Joint productive activity and instructional
conversations are instructional frameworks which allow students to explore ideas and concepts
while gaining skills that replicate real world problem solving teams.
While developing lessons using the backwards design approach is critical, it is not the
end all be all. Unexpected problems arise and lessons never always go as we had intended them
to. It could be that bilingual leaners werent able to access the content in the manner that you
have anticipated and it might be helpful to alter the differentiation the next time you teach the
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lesson so that all students are able to meaningfully engage with the material and activities.
Nevertheless, there are opportunities for reflection all throughout the day and these can be formal
coaching and self-reflection protocols or they can be informal judgements of how the day went.
Of course, as part of the backwards design process we must consider the ways in which we will
assess how students are progressing towards the learning and performance targets and reflect the
ways in which we can alter and adjust instruction to allow them to meet those goals. Formative
and summative assessment are critical components of learning as can be used as meaningful
moments for self-reflection.
Chappuis (2015) lays out a framework for formative and summative assessment that
allows us to effectively assess student learning while at the same time giving students the tools to
asses their own progress and understanding. Just as educators must reflect and revise their
lessons and teaching practice so too must students be given opportunities to reflect and revise
their own work. The questions Chappuis (2015) situates assessment around get at the heart of a
reflective practice centered around formative assessment. The questions Where am I going?,
Where am I now?, and How can I close the gap? are questions that both teachers and
students can ask of themselves. (p. 11)
Self-reflection in education shouldnt limited to lessons and it is important to be mindful
of the ways in which we are creating caring communities within our classrooms in which
diversity in thinking, speaking, acting, and being are celebrated. One tool that I have begun to
utilize is the Process for Mindful Reflection and Communication described by Dray &
Wisneski (2011). This more formal protocol for reflection is a vital tool to analyze the lens
through which we are viewing student behavior. What sort of bias is at play and is my thinking
influenced by deficit views of the student, their family, and their community? What is so
meaningful about this tool is that is an opportunity to reflect and make an action plan that will
allow you to confront any bias and adjust the ways in which we view and react to challenging
student behavior.
Assessment and other self-reflective practices allow us to ensure that we are being
effective urban educators and doing all that we can to best serve our students - students who for
too long have been left behind.
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References
Asher, N. (2005). At the interstices: Engaging postcolonial and feminist perspectives for a

multicultural education pedagogy in the south. Teachers College Record. 107(5),

1079-1106.

Chappuis, J. (2015). Seven strategies of assessment for learning. Hoboken, NJ: Pearson

Education, Inc.

Fairbairn & Jones-Vo (2009). Differentiating Instruction and Assessment for English Language

Learners, K 12. Philadelphia, PA:Caslon Publishing.

McIntosh, P. (1988) White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. White Privilege and

Male Privilege, Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College Center for Research on Women.

Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using

a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 31(2),

132-140.

Tharp, R.G., Estrada, P., Dalton, S.S., & Yamauchi, L.A. (2000). Teaching transformed:
Achieving excellence, fairness, inclusion, and harmony. Boulder, CO: Westview Press

Villegas, A. & Lucas, T. (2002) Preparing culturally responsive teachers: Rethinking the

curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(1), 20-32.

Vitto, J.M. (2003). Relationship driven classroom management: Strategies that promote student

motivation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.

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Wiggins, G. & McTighe J. (2006). Understanding by design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Education, Inc.

Yoon, I. (2012). The paradoxical nature of whiteness-at-work in the daily life of schools and

teacher communities. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 1-27.