TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF SLAVERY IN MARYLAND (Final Report) 1999/12/31 MdHR 991422 MdHR 991422, Image No: 191 Print image (49K) |
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TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF SLAVERY IN MARYLAND (Final Report) 1999/12/31 MdHR 991422 MdHR 991422, Image No: 191 Print image (49K) |
Some Potentially Valid Theories of Action Increasing the pace of instruction will increase learning • Instruction at the appropriate level will increase learning • Increasing the amount of time actively engaged in learning will increase learning • Providing incentives for effort or improvement will increase learning • Students will leam more if they accept difficult learning goals and have been taught to reinforce themselves for effort and achievement • Improving teacher quality will increase the use of effective instructional and classroom management methods (producing the above) (Gonfredson, 1997). L Educators and the public should contemplate which of these theories actually dominates the paradigms related to the education of minority students by which their schools operate. Overall, the most important reason the achievement gaps persist nationally is that, though student populations have become more diverse, schools have remained homogenous. Too often, even in schools densely populated with minority students, these students are segregated into programs of remediation, removing them from the higher expectations and instructional challenges offered to the majority students. Too often these students become victims of an imposed prophecy that was in place years before they even approached the school doors (Latharn, 1998). The 1989 Man-1 and Report of the Governor's Commission on School Performance noted. "Black and Hispanic students do substantially worse than Whites in school systems that report the results of achievement tests by ethnic groups.... Maryland has serious problems and inequities in providing high quality education to all its elementary and secondary students." Circumstances in 1998 provoke the logical question: Have things really changed? The answer regar J;.ng minority students resrenablv is - not enoueh. 12 |