BENCHMARK ASSIGNMENT: RACE RELATIONS 1

Benchmark Assignment: Race Relations

Raymond Barton

Grand Canyon University: EAD 505-Educ

4/3/2020
BENCHMARK ASSIGNMENT: RACE RELATIONS 2

BENCHMARK ASSIGNMENT: RACE RELATIONS

In today's world, respect for diversity is fundamental. We live in a very diverse world,

more today than ever before. To meet the state requirements for integrating public schools by the

end of the decade, the Smith-Jackson Elementary School has been busing a voluntary group of

minority students from the neighboring town. The community has a strong history of racism.

Many individuals in this community are concerned and object to the students that are being

bused into the school. The adults in the community have the attitude that the children are

discipline problems and are academically behind. For the first time, a minority principal has been

placed in charge of the school. The mayor has recommended the new principal. Not everyone is

upset with the decision. There is a small group that is happy with the newly appointed principal

that would be the teaching staff, as well as the minority students and their parents. They are

delighted because the minority students now have a role model and someone to advocate for

them. Then at a school meeting, it came to everyone’s attention that the projected number of

students being bused students would decline by 75% for the following year. The drop in the

number of students enrolled will cause a funding problems for the district for the upcoming year.

Some parents took the meeting as an opportunity to voice that the school would benefit without

having those students in attendance.

One issue that needs to be resolved is to determine the factors that are causing the number

of busing students to decline. The school must also determine if increasing teacher’s cultural

sensitivity would help with students returning next year? Additional issues are how to deal with

the parents that utilize their prejudice viewpoints in meetings. There is no simple solution to this

problem, to help solve this problem, it is going to involve many people and require many steps.

As the principal, I will do everything I can to make sure the students stay in school. We want the
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busing program to work not because of the funding, even though that is important, but because it

is the right thing and is best for all the students involved. I will meet with the parents of the

students that are being bused to see if we can come up with a plan to keep those students. I will

work with the superintendent to increase the number of minority teachers at the school as well as

work with the current staff in diversity training. Finally, we will meet with the community to

explain the plan and to hear their concerns.

Rationale

As an educational leader, we agree to live up to specific standards. One of the most

important standards is to respect for diversity, we must act in a way that shows integrity,

fairness, and ethically to ensure accountability (PSEL, 2015). By doing this, educators are also

safeguarding the values of democracy, equity, and diversity (PSEL, 2015). The decision I made

does just that. When meeting with the parents of the busing students, I am encouraging a shared

vision of building a culture of understanding and acceptance for diversity. We are ensuring

democracy by allowing those that feel as if they don't have a say a chance to voice their

concerns. By doing this, we are also building trust and equity.

After meeting with the parents of the students and finding out their concerns and issues,

the next step would entail teacher training in diversity. One of the complaints that the

community has is that they feel the new students are academically behind the other students and

are discipline problems. Teachers can help change that problem when minority students perceive

things as unfair they lose trust. Minority students that have trust in their teachers and schools get

better grades (Brookshire, 2017). As a principal, we have to create trust between the students and

the teachers. Diversity training should also focus on the importance of treating all students

equally. Teachers can earn back minority student's trust. The best way to earn back trust is to
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show the students you care about them and not to act on bias and stereotypes. In order for a

teacher to earn a student's trust the teacher must be a compassionate and teach with high

expectations (Brookshire, 2017).

Failure to act in a compassionate and trusting way limits the academic success of their

students. Lack of understanding of minority students is a barrier to effective instruction

(Pettapiece & Campbell, 2013). By conducting teacher training on diversity and multicultural

awareness, educators are not only learning to deal with diverse students, they are also learning

how to develop more appropriate instruction. For example, when a teacher is teaching about

slavery, the teachers can add to the lesson ways that slaves had overcome adversity in the time

era. Little changes like that allow students to see an essential part of history from a perspective of

empowerment as opposed to victimization. Adding in units like the Civil Rights movement

would highlight times in history when people of different color worked together for a common

good. These are just a few examples of a small change in the curriculum that can make a

significant impact on the students. Teachers are providing patterns of ethical and moral behavior

for the students. They are creating a positive relationship and should continue to promote the

success of all students as well as build trust and equity.

Another part of my solution is meeting with the superintendent about creating a more

diverse staff. I understand this may be problematic, but I feel it is essential to help change the

culture of the school. Legal grounds for replacing teachers can be found in United States v.

Montgomery County Bd. of Education (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that the

Montgomery County Board of Education end racial desegregation of its faculty and the staff. I

would plan to replace any retiring teachers with minority teachers. I would also like to see if any

white teachers would be willing to transfer to bring in minority teachers. I feel that is a fair way
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to handle the situation. Teachers are voluntarily being replaced, allowing the school to be more

diverse. It is democratic because the teachers are making a choice; they are not being forced.

Having a more diverse staff will only help the students. When teachers of color teach students of

the same race, there is an increase in positive subjective assessments concerning behavior and

skills (Nicholson-Crotty et al. 2016). Replacing white teachers with minority teachers will help

the students academically and emotionally.

The final step in my plan would be to have a meeting with the community to discuss race

relations and discuss the program that was developed to help foster diversity. For this to be

successful, we will need support in the community. When members of diverse cultures come

together for a common goal it increases the acceptance and is the foundation for intergroup

relationships ("Collaboration to Demystify Racism," 2015). In community will have the

opportunity to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences their opinion about the issues at

hand. One way to encourage people to growth is by allowing them the opportunity to share their

personal experiences. Students of diversity need to feel worthy and wanted. The issue of busing

goes beyond funding. The issue deals with what is morally right, ethically right, and what is best

for all students in the school. By the school working with the community towards achieving a

common goal, the school is establishing trust, encouraging growth, and promote social justice.

The community is modeling the values of democracy, as well as good judgment and becoming

agents of change. “Racism cannot exist where it is not supported” (Dowd, 2014).

While ending racism is almost impossible it is my job as an educational leader to keep it

out of my school. By having a diverse staff and providing training to the staff on cultural

diversity I am working to keep racism out of my school. I will do my best to work on educating
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the community about cultural diversity. I will start this process by having a community meeting

on cultural understanding.

Community Meeting
“Creating Cultural Understanding”
Agenda

The purpose of this meeting is to improve Smith-Jackson race relations through the
increased understanding of the need for diversity and cultural understanding.

Objective 1: Collaborate with school and community members to increase cultural diversity
knowledge.

Objective 2: Develop a school climate where all students have will reach their full academic
potential.

Goal: To create a safe environment for the staff and students at Smith-Jackson Elementary
School.

Goal: To have a better understanding and awareness of differing cultural groups

 The principal will conduct opening statements (3 minutes)

 The principal will introduce the first speaker (the mayor of the city)
(The Mayor will have 15 minutes to explain the importance of having diversity in the
school and how community members can help)
 The principal will introduce the second speaker (the expert in race relations)
 They will give a 15-minute presentation on promoting racial equality in schools.
 Three 20 minute break out sessions on race relations
 Last will be a 15 minutes question-answer session
 The principal will provide a closing statement.
(The meeting will be adjourned)
Rationale
The purpose of this community meeting is to create a positive change regarding

race relations. To reach the desired goal of the meeting, particular objectives must be met. The

objectives are to create a collaboration with school and community members to increase cultural

diversity which will help lead to the second objective of developing a school climate where all

students have the ability to reach their full academic potential. To meet these objectives, there

must be the development of a shared school vision and increased knowledge of cultural diversity.
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When this is achieved, we can reach the goals of creating a safe environment for the staff and

students. Also gaining a better understanding and awareness of differing cultural groups.

The speakers for this meeting were chose to help reach the objectives and goals outlined

for this meeting. The mayor can give insight into why the principal was hired as well, where he

sees the city going in the future. He can explain the importance of having to work with different

groups to achieve the ultimate goal, in this case, getting the best education for the children of the

city. The second speaker is an expert in dealing with race relations. Since they are experts, they

would have the best knowledge and insight on who to deal with issues of race. The hope is that

they could explain things in a way that everyone would be able to understand and add a new

perspective to those that are genuinely against having minority students in the school.

I feel the breakout sessions would be the most beneficial part of this meeting. It will

allow for smaller groups, and they would take part in learning and activities that would show the

importance of having diversity. The groups would be led by experts of both races. They would

include role-playing exercises, have participants answer different questions to see that people

want the same things even if they are culturally diverse. By seining how others think and that

views are similar, it will bring some unity.

Lastly, in the open forum discussion, the community will come together and synthesize

the information given by the presenters and the breakout sessions. Allowing everyone involved

apply what they learned is for the betterment of the students and the community. Decisions must

be made as to how race relations must improve. In this manner, all stakeholders can see that

everyone has the same goal of making all the students academically and socially successful.

Making the school a better and safer place for all students.
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References

Brookshire, B. (2017). For minority students to succeed, teachers need to earn trust. Science

News for Students, 1.

Collaboration to demystify racism. (2015). Proceedings of the Multidisciplinary Academic

Conference, 1-25.

Dowd, J. (2014). Public and academic questions on race: The problem with racial controversies.

Sociological Forum, 29 (2), 496-502. doi:10.1111/socf.12094

Nicholson-Crotty, S., J. A. Grissom, J. Nicholson-Crotty, and C. Redding. 2016. Disentangling

the causal mechanisms of representative bureaucracy: Evidence from assignment of

students to gifted programs. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 26

(4):745–57. doi: 10.1093/jopart/muw024.

Pettapiece, B. & Campbell, S. (2013). What schools can do to increase racial acceptance? Social

Studies Research & Practice. 8 (1), 109-116.

United States v. Montgomery County Board of Education. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved April 4, 2020,

from https://www.oyez.org/cases/1968/798