Chapter 6

Achievement gaps between ethnic groups can lead to​ long-term opportunity gaps for many students of​ color, and ultimately to education gaps such as lower rates of school completion. In recent​ years, high school completion rates were highest​ among:

Asian and Pacific Islanders

According to the​ best-documented evidence concerning gender bias in​ teaching, which of the children will probably receive the least amount of attention from the teacher in​ class?

Cassandra, a high-achieving girl

Socioeconomic status​ (SES) and school achievement are often correlated. Which one of the following statements is NOT true regarding the relationship between SES and levels of​ achievement?

Children who are poor are no more likely to be kept back in school than children who are not.

Cole is about to finish the third grade. His​ mother, a single​ parent, lost her job during the school​ year, and​ Cole's grades subsequently plummeted. His mother has only been able to find​ part-time work and is relying on government subsidy to meet the most basic needs.​ Cole's teachers know he is​ bright, and he is rarely absent. What is the most likely reason that Cole is performing at a lower​ level?

Cole may be experiencing stress at home with the loss of economic resources.

​Damon, an African American student in Diane​ Collins's math​ class, pushed his math test away after a few minutes and​ proclaimed, "This is stupid. I​ don't know why we even have to do​ this." What is Ms. Collins most likely to​ think?

Damon may be exhibiting​ performance-avoidance goals because he​ doesn't want to look dumb.

gender biases

Different views of males and females, often favoring one gender over the other.

Which one of the following statements best summarizes a key research finding about​ gender?

Even before going to school, children are more likely to encounter texts that over-represent males.

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Excellent teaching for students of color that includes academic success, developing/maintaining cultural competence, and developing a critical consciousness to challenge the status quo.

Ms. Nussbaum has students from many different cultural backgrounds in her​ sixth-grade class. Which of these assignments would be the best way for Ms. Nussbaum to promote multicultural education successfully in her​ classroom?

For the class unit on nutrition, ask students to bring a recipe for their favorite food traditionally eaten by their family.

The following teachers work with children in a school district that is composed predominantly of​ low-income families. Which teacher is most likely to develop caring relationships with the​ students?

Mr. Moreno uses inclusive language​ ("our class,"​ "our rules").

Researchers argue that two strands of elements bind students to their classroom​ community: self-agency and connected relationships. Which of the following teachers is most clearly encouraging the academic​ self-efficacy component of the​ self-agency strand?

Mr.​ Abasolo, who has a diverse group of learners who regularly tackle challenging​ tasks, with his help

Which of the following teachers has the most culturally compatible​ classroom, based on the information given​ here?

Mr.​ Britt, who asks his students for anonymous suggestions to improve the classroom atmosphere through a suggestion box on his​ desk, and asks parents what values their family embraces during​ parent-teacher conferences.

Ms. Martin has decided that she will ask each of her​ fifth-grade students to interview a student in another class about a time when they felt left out or excluded because of their​ gender, age,​ race, or socioeconomic status​ (SES). Then, she will ask her students to share these​ stories, and she will lead a discussion about the everyday effects of discrimination. Which of the five dimensions of multicultural education posited by James Banks does this activity​ address?

Prejudice reduction

Mr. James has been assigned to teach second grade on a Native American reservation. Within his first 2 weeks of​ teaching, Mr. James is bemused because the group techniques he used with his students in Boston—who were mostly White and from the upper class—are not working with these particular children. He notices that the ways the children interact are​ different, and their social expectations for each other and for him seem to be different. Based on dimensions outlined by Tharp​ (1989), which dimension of his classroom should Mr. James modify to make it more culturally​ compatible?

Social organization

Jack is a​ high-achieving student from a family that is upper middle class. When the principal came to observe​ Jack's class in the middle of the​ semester, she noticed that the teacher gives Jack a tremendous amount of​ attention, often calling on him and praising him for correct answers.​ However, when the principal brought up the issue​ privately, the teacher said she had no idea she was favoring Jack. Which of the following choices would be best for the principal to do to help correct the​ situation?

Talk to the teacher about watching for any unintended biases in her classroom practices.

Educators often assume students are not bright because they have inadequate resources at home. This inadequacy manifests itself as a lack of familiarity with​ school-related activities. When this​ occurs, what is the likely​ outcome?

Teachers may have low expectations that have a negative impact on future academic success.

To avoid gender bias in his​ fourth-grade classroom, Mr. Bonner used​ gender-free language, provided positive role​ models, and ensured that all students had opportunities to engage in various activities by rotating classroom jobs and activities. His school was also experimenting with​ single-sex classrooms. Next​ year, Mr. Bonner thought he might opt to teach in one of those classrooms. Which of the following statements concerning​ single-sex classrooms is NOT​ true?

Teachers must use teaching strategies that are geared specifically for students of a particular sex.

Which of the following is involved in culturally relevant​ pedagogy?

Teaching that helps students develop a critical consciousness to challenge the status quo

Sociolinguistics

The study of the formal and informal rules for how, when, about what, to whom, and how long to speak in conversations within cultural groups.

Scores on standardized achievement tests in the last 30 years indicate​ that:

White students score better than both Black and Hispanic​ students, but the gap is narrowing.

Ethnicity

a cultural heritage shared by a group of people

Minority Group

a group of people who have been socially disadvantaged - not always a minority in actual numbers

growth mindset

a personally held belief that abilities are unstable, controllable and improvable

Race

a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important

When students are in situations that provoke stereotype​ threat, they tend​ to:

adopt performance avoidance

Sexual orientation is an important part of most​ individuals' identities, especially if it is not heterosexual. Research suggests that adults with homosexual or bisexual orientation often report​ that:

as​ adolescents, they recognized attractions toward​ same-sex peers and felt unsure or confused.

gender roles

behaviors and characteristics that the culture stereotypically associates with being male or female.

Aspects of​ self-agency that help students to develop a strong sense of classroom community and experience academic success include all of the following​ EXCEPT:

caring​ teacher-student relationships.

The​ knowledge, values, and attitudes that guide the behavior of a group of people make up​ its:

culture

multicultural education

education that promotes equity in the schooling of all students

Abeer is a smart​ third-grader in a class where she is the only student of color. Her teacher is experienced and​ open-minded about diversity and so goes out of her way to call on Abeer more often than she might if Abeer were​ White, even when her hand is not raised. The teacher is best described​ as:

engaging in discrimination

By the time they are​ grade-school age,​ children's gender schemas typically include​ their:

expectations about appropriate​ gender-conforming behaviors.

Resistance culture

group values and beliefs about refusing to adopt the behaviors and attitudes of the majority culture

Rani has just moved to the United States from a Middle Eastern country where most women remain at​ home, serving their husbands and taking care of their children. She seems confused when she is asked to perform the same school tasks as her male classmates.​ Rani's confusion likely​ reflects:

her gender schema.

Arrow is a student in Mr.​ Simms' 10th-grade biology class. Arrow is​ transgender, and although originally raised as a​ girl, Arrow currently dresses like a boy and prefers to use​ "they" as his personal pronoun. Mr. Simms notes that Arrow is frequently the target of​ teasing, which often crosses the line into bullying. He meets with the school principal to ask what sorts of policies can help protect Arrow. The most accurate reply that the principal can give is that current U.S. law regarding transgender​ students:

is not very​ clear, with some states challenging laws designed to prevent discrimination.

LGBTQ

lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning

When​ Guang, a Chinese American high school​ senior, met his calculus​ teacher, the teacher​ said, "I bet​ you'll be the best in the​ class." The teacher intended his comment to be a compliment. Guang recalled that his precalculus teacher said the same thing when she met him at the beginning of his junior year. These stereotypical comments are likely to make Guang​ feel:

like a perpetual foreigner

Research suggests that tracking students into different classes based on achievement or expected future plans leads​ to:

lower achievement of​ low-track students and higher achievement of​ high-track students.

Intersectionality

overlapping, intersecting social identities

Cultural intersectionality refers to the idea​ that:

people have​ multiple, overlapping social identities.

If a person has​ rigid, irrational beliefs and negative feelings about a particular category of​ people, researchers describe the person​ as:

prejudiced.

​"A socially constructed category of people who share certain physical characteristics that members of a society have considered​ important" is the way researchers​ define:

race

Experimentally controlled research suggests that children in​ single-sex classrooms are most likely​ to:

recognize and reinforce gender differences.

stereotype

schema that organizes knowledge or perceptions about a category

When teaching in a classroom with a high percentage of students who are living in​ poverty, teachers are well advised​ to:

set and maintain high expectations.

Kana works hard and spends a lot of time studying to earn high grades in physics. But she anxiously believes the other students think she received high grades because she is Asian American.​ Kana's anxiety is representative of a student who carries the additional​ "emotional burden"​ of:

stereotype threat

Researchers have suggested that some students with low SES may become part of a resistance culture in​ which:

students refuse to adopt the behaviors and attitudes of the majority culture

Cultural discontinuity is a term used by researchers to describe a process in​ which:

the cultural values that a child learns at home are not reflected in the school culture.

Stereotype threat

the extra emotional and cognitive burden that your performance in an academic situation might confirm a stereotype that others hold about you

Participation Structures

the formal and informal rules for how to take part in a given activity

sexual orientation

the gender(s) that a person is attracted to emotionally, physically, sexually, and romantically

Culture

the knowledge, skills, rules, norms, practices, traditions, self-definitions, institutions, language, and values that shape and guide beliefs and behavior in a particular group of people as well as the art, literature, folklore, and artifacts produced and passed down to the next generation.

On​ average, children living in​ low-income families differ in educational achievement from those living in​ middle-income and​ high-income families. The factor that likely contributes the most to this​ "gap" in achievement​ is:

the resources available to the​ child's family.

Pragmatics

the rules for when and how to use language to be an effective communicator in a particular culture

gender identity

the sense of self as male or female as well as the beliefs one has about gender roles and attributes

The primary reason that young children develop prejudiced views is​ that:

they learn beliefs and values from their cultural group

In a metaphor comparing culture to an​ iceberg, what aspects of culture could be described as the visible tip of the​ iceberg?

traditional dress and holiday costumes

Discrimination

treating or acting unfairly toward particular categories of people

socioeconomic status (SES)

variations of wealth, power, control over resources, and prestige

Researchers determine a​ person's socioeconomic status based on a combination of​ factors, including:

wealth, power, and prestige.