I enjoyed my last interview with Jackie Hendry and South Dakota Public Radio. Listen here

Outgoing USD School of Education Dean Talks Research and Policy for the Success of Students of Color 

By JACKIE HENDRY 

 

Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks talks with Sioux Falls high school students as part of the Teacher Pathway Program that launched in the fall of 2018.

CREDIT USD SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

During his time as dean of the University of South Dakota's School of Education, Donald Easton-Brooks formed a partnership with the Sioux Falls School District to launch the Teacher Pathway Program, which seeks to recruit a diverse pool of future teachers from its own student body. Easton-Brooks is a scholar of education policy and culturally responsive teaching. His book Ethnic Matching: Success of Students of Color was released earlier this year. 

Easton-Brooks recently accepted a new position as dean of the College of Education at the University of Nevada in Reno. He visits with SDPB's Jackie Hendry on what research shows about relationships and relevance in education, and how diversifying the teaching profession will ultimately improve student's success. 

Conversation with Scholars in Education: Dr. Rich Milner and Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks

This Podcast is a part of my Conversation with Scholars in Education. This conversation is with Dr. Rich Milner, author of  Start where you are but don’t stay there: Understanding diversity, opportunity gaps, and teaching in today’s classrooms and Rac(e)ing to class: Confronting poverty and race in schools. The conversation occurred after the Sioux Falls School District Summer Symposium. 



While as the dean of the School of Education at the University of South Dakota each summer we invited international scholars to campus for a series of workshops with our faculty, partners, and community. In the summer of 2019, we decided to partner with Sioux Falls Schools on a two-day training on culturally responsive practices in the classroom. 

After both Dr. Milner and I completed our sessions on culturally responsive practices, we sat down to talk about Cultural Resposniveness in the Classroom. Here we talked about the impact of his book "Start where you are but don't stay there: Understand diversity, opportunity gaps, and teaching in today's classroom". We also cover the concept of "opportunity gap". We followed up with other scholarship Dr. Milner is working on, including the new edition of his book Start Where You Are But Don't Stay There. I also shared new data from surveys I used in my book Ethnic Matching: Academic Success of Students of Color  The data show that of those teachers who do not use Culturally Responsive Practice in the Class the reasons why are as follows:

• They were not taught in my teacher education program = 36%
• I am not really sure what these terms mean = 21%
• I have not been trained = 16%
• There is little to no diversity in my school, so it is not important = 17%
• I am not sure it matters/Simply do not care = 10%

The Conversation concludes with strategies for moving forward and ways to support all teachers as they take on the work of educating all students,

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Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks. Author of Ethnic Matching: Academic Success of Students of Color

Website: www.donaldeatonbrooks.com Twiiter: @dreastonbrooks

Conversation with Scholars in Education: Dr. Christine Sleeter and Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks

This Podcast is a part of my Conversation with Scholars in Education. This conversation is with Dr. Christine Sleeter, author of Un-Standardizing Curriculum: Multicultural Teaching in the Standards-Based Classroom among other titles. This Podcast is a recreation a video between myself and Dr. Sleeter on the impact of the Changing US Demographics on the Practices of Teacher Education.





While as the dean of the School of Education at the University of South Dakota each summer we invited international scholars to campus for a series of workshops with our faculty, partners, and community. On this occurrence, Dr. Sleeter was our guest. 

After Dr. Sleeter's series of workshops, I sat down with her to recap time in South Dakota and to discuss the impact of the change in the public school populations and what the field needed to do to connect these changing demographics and how as a field we can take advantage of culturally responsive research and practice.

Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks. Author of Ethnic Matching: Academic Success of Students of Color 

Website: www.donaldeatonbrooks.com

Twiiter: @dreastonbrooks

The New Face of US Public Schools: Time to Respond

Public schools across the country are witnessing a mass exodus of white students. We see places like New York, Houston, L.A., and Miami-Dade white populations between 8-15%, with only 17%of white students residing in public schools in cities. White students make up a little over a third of suburban schools, and a third of rural schools. Yet, teachers of color make up only 20%of the public-school teacher workforce.

It is no secret that US Public Schools as a whole have not responded favorably to the academic success of students of color. Now, given the increase of diverse languages and ethnicity in our public schools, educational systems must find ways to connect instructional practices and policies to the new face of US public schools. Mainly because it is predicted that by 2027, U.S. public schools could be more than 50% of color.

While some may see this change as a threat to the academic structure of our school system, view our public schools through a deficit lens based on the color of the skin of the students, and use these topics as a way to move their children to private schools.

Yet what is missed is that our schools are becoming a mirror of the US general population. While diversity exists everywhere. For instance, 1990 Whites made up 81% of the suburbs, and by 2010, they represented 65% of these communities. As a country, we are beginning to look more and more like the country that reflects the “melting-pot” framework we so often speak of. It is also predicted that by 2030, the US population of color could be 45%and exceed 50%by 2060. We would be more diverse than any advanced country in the world.

The diversification of our country and public schools are pushing us to face a reality that as a country if we do not come together and embrace diversity, we will continue to be and forever be seen and act like a racist country. Or we can embrace decades of research from scholars of color on engaging in culturally responsive practice. This practice is not only designed to interact with students of color. The practice promotes culture and diversity as a critical part of learning.

In support of this notion, in my book, Ethnic Matching: Academic Success of Students of Color, I found that when students of color have a teacher of the same race (i.e., ethnic matching), their reading and mathematics scores increase.  Also, this experience has a long-term positive impact on these students’ academic achievement.

More so, I found that when white teachers are employed in schools with at least 30% of the teachers are of color, they engage in culturally responsive practice at a higher level than those teachers in schools with a less diverse workforce. Further, 80% of professionals of color who went to public schools and had at least four teachers of color had a better experience with white teachers. While 56% of those who have 1 or fewer teachers of color had positive interactions with White teachers. A study by Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng further showed that both white students and students of color have greater experiences with teachers of color than white teachers.  

As the face of US public education is becoming more diverse, the diversifying our teacher workforce can assist in addressing many issues in both our students and in our country. By hiring qualified teachers of colors and quality teachers trained in culturally responsive practice, we can expect the that achievement outcomes will increase, we can expect a stronger relationship between all students and teachers, and we may be able to reduce stereotypes and biases we may carry beyond the classroom. I know I am leaving out the elephant in the room, capitalism, but I am hopeful here.

Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks. Author of Ethnic Matching: Academic Success of Students of Color 

Website: www.donaldeatonbrooks.com

Twiiter: @dreastonbrooks