Culturally responsive practice is of critical importance to the MAE program. So much so that it has become a central focus of Education Department faculty professional development in recent semesters and we have intentionally examined where themes related to culturally responsive practice are embedded into our coursework. Further, we have developed and continue to refine a Social Justice Disposition Rubric with the aim of helping students identify areas in need of growth as well as those in which they excel with respect to social justice issues and their applications in the classroom. While we are always working to improve how we prepare candidates for culturally responsive practice, several sources of evidence support our claim that our candidates and completers value and employ culturally responsive teaching practices.
Undergraduate Degree
The core liberal arts requirements of the Truman undergraduate degree includes the Social Perspective. Students must complete nine credits from at least two departments (prefixes) from the list of courses approved for the Social Perspective. From the Truman Catalog:
Through the Social Perspective, students:
- Explain social institutions, structures, processes within one’s own culture or across a range of historical periods and cultures;
- Develop and communicate hypothetical or causal explanations for individual human behaviors in the large-scale historical or social context;
- Explain what constitutes evidence in the social sciences or history and how social scientists or historians utilize empirical observations for drawing inferences and conclusions;
- Draw upon the social sciences or history to evaluate contemporary social problems;
- Apply critical thinking skills and analytical capabilities in the social sciences or history
- Describe and analytically compare social, cultural, and historical settings and processes other than one’s own;
- Articulate the interconnectedness of people and places around the globe.
Also included as a requirement of all Truman undergraduate degrees is the Intercultural Perspective Requirement. Through this requirement students:
- Have a greater knowledge and appreciation of cultural diversity through the study of other cultures, as well as their own;
- Are critical and self-reflective, developing an understanding of how culture influences behavior, and in turn, how cultural differences impact intercultural interactions; and
- Have an awareness of the political and social aspects of culture and cultural diversity, and an awareness that intercultural consideration allows one to transcend (but not erase) cultural and ethnic differences.
Truman MAE Curriculum Matrix/MAE Coursework
As detailed on the Truman Curriculum Matrix, candidates are presented information engage topics related to culturally responsive practice in:
- ED 388: Exploratory Field Experiences- candidates demonstrate a general knowledge of working with diverse student populations including students with special needs/abilities, explore the complexity of diversity within a global society and within the classroom, and gain an appreciation for the diversity of children in the classroom.
- ED 389: Foundations of Education- candidates demonstrate knowledge of the social foundations of education, which includes diversity and equity in schools both historically and in contemporary times.
- ED 393: Clinical Experiences in Teaching- candidates gain an appreciation for the diversity of children in the classroom.
- ED 394: Experiences in Classroom Teaching- candidates gain an appreciation for the diversity of children in the classroom.
- ED 593: Psychological Foundations of Education- candidates demonstrate an appropriate understanding of diversity in culture, ethnicity, intellectual ability, learning style, and gender.
- ED 605G: Psychology of Exceptional Children- candidates create an instructional strategies portfolio that encourages critical thinking and problem solving to meet the unique needs of diverse exceptional learners in their classroom.
- XXX 608G: Management of Instruction- candidates in these content-specific classes engage this aspect of standard 1 through the use of and reflection on the Social Justice Disposition Form employed during the clinical experience part of this class. Course content is also devoted to issues of social justice and culturally responsive pedagogy.
GPAs
GPAs provide one piece of evidence that supports the claim that Truman candidates and completers acquire the requisite knowledge related to culturally responsive practice, and the 3.00 minimum Professional GPA standard required by DESE is the GPA measure that demonstrates this most directly. The Overall GPA, which includes courses taken to satisfy the Social Perspective provides further evidence.
Clinical Field Placements
While students are not placed in clinical experiences with the sole purpose of gaining experience observing and teaching in culturally responsive ways, the use of our social justice disposition rubric in those experiences provides this lens for every clinical experience.
MEES
Successful performance on the MEES demonstrates that candidates understand and can demonstrate culturally responsive practice. All Truman MAE completers have successfully not only passed the MEES assessment but the mean scores for every standard have consistently far exceeded both the minimum and higher target scores. Truman intern candidates’ scores on Standard 2 of the MEES assessment, for which candidates must demonstrate understanding of students’ languages, family, culture, and community needs, and Standard 6 of the assessment, for which candidates must demonstrate evidence of culturally and linguistically appropriate communication, offers additional evidence that our completers understand and can demonstrate culturally responsive practice.
First-Year Teacher Survey Questionnaire (FYTSQ)
In the category of effective communication on the survey, 97% of 2020-2021 completers agreed (36%) or strongly agreed (61%) that they were prepared to promote respect for diverse cultures, genders, and intellectual/physical abilities. (Please consult the summary document of the last six years of data from this questionnaire for additional evidence of support from prior years.)
Principal of First-Year Teachers Survey Questionnaire
Principals of 2020-2021 first-year completers overwhelmingly indicate that our completers are prepared to promote respect for diverse cultures, genders, and intellectual/physical abilities, with 89% agreeing (50%) or strongly agreeing (39%) that they were prepared. (Please consult the summary document of the last six years of data from this questionnaire for additional evidence of support from prior years.)
MAE Completer Survey and Focus Group
In the 2017-2018 survey, only 50% of completers reported that they felt they had been prepared for culturally responsive teaching. The follow up focus group interviews also revealed that completers lacked a consistent definition of what culturally responsive teaching entailed. This area of need became the focus for Education Faculty professional development and intentional incorporation of culturally responsive concepts were embedded into curriculum, rubrics, and student professional disposition rubrics. The 2018-2019 Completer Survey included the same question regarding preparedness for culturally responsive teaching and 91% of those who responded felt prepared or thoroughly prepared. Follow up focus group interviews explored additional ways completers defined diversity to understand student populations, cultures, and assets in order to make connections to support learning. Participants shared the positive impact multiple clinical experiences shaped abilities to teach in response to diverse student groups and needs.
Social Justice Rubric
The social justice rubric was a pilot in Spring 2021 in ED 608G and ED 609G (both of which have graduate clinical experiences), which we implemented to raise awareness of culturally responsive practice. Based upon survey results from the University Supervisors, mentors, and students who responded, the rubric needed adjustments. The Advisory Board met and reviewed the rubric and the information from our surveys. They all agreed that we should continue with some kind of measure. Dr. Jones and Dr. Miner taught a clinical class ED 618G during the summer and ED 618G students helped to revise the rubric, which was implemented during their ED 618G clinical component. Data collection was informal with a discussion about the use of the new form. Faculty agreed to use the new form as a pilot in F2020; however, we agreed that we need to clarify examples and expectations to inform our practice and increase our students’ abilities to engage in culturally responsive practice.
Portfolio
The portfolio was a pilot in Sp 2021. Interns were asked to reflect upon social justice in any of the Standards on the MEES. We left it open for them to choose, because we were not sure where they would have examples of social justice. During the faculty review of the portfolio reflections and artifacts, faculty identified which standard students wrote their social justice reflection. Exemplars were highlighted and the Department Chair asked those students if we could share their reflections with future students in a sample portfolio. Everyone said yes and most asked if their names could stay on the reflections. One of our adjunct faculty who reviewed portfolios wrote this comment about this intern’s reflection: The individual recognized the importance of community and let students express their desire to talk about their community. Excellent honoring social justice. During our F2021 retreat, we are going to focus on the portfolio and the social justice rubric.