An Agenda for Equity: Responding to the Needs of Diverse Learners

by Searetha Smith-Collins

Overview

This book will help comprehend reasons why children continue to lag behind, and take an in depth look at how to intervene and provide policies and support to help students and teachers succeed. The purpose of this book is to shed more light on the complexities and possibilities of yielding better answers, especially when executing justifiable, equitable change in education.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610487238
Publisher:	R&L Education
Publication date:	01/06/2012
Pages:	156
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dr. Smith- Collins analyzes educational policies, trends, solutions, and innovations that are intended to improve the state of public education.  She applies practical experience, educational expertise and knowledge to translate implications for schools, families, communities, educators, and students.

Table of Contents

Preface                                                                             6   Introduction 12   Chapter 1:  Identifying the Need    The Optimal Mix: Responding to the Needs of Students 25    From Parts to Whole 30    Revisiting Past Practice            33   Chapter 2 Understanding the Need Delving Deeper into  Response to Intervention 42 Adoption Trends                                                       44      The Promise of RtI   Chapter 3: A Glance into the “Regular” Classroom      52       Sharpening the Focus 53       Teacher Assessment 56       Leadership Matters 59   Chapter 4:  Meeting the Need    Promising Practices    Snapshot:  High School   63     Snapshot:  National/State Pre-K Network               70     Snapshot:  School District   71     Snapshot:  An Affective Model                                     77     Snapshot:  RtI and Gifted Education               79   Chapter 5:  The Black Male Agenda     An Out-of-School Snapshot:  The Bridge    84     Expanding the Agenda:  Building a New System           87     of Opportunity for Youth     Implications for Today                                                  93   Chapter 6: Assessing the Outcomes                               97     National Outcomes (Academic)                            98     National Outcomes (Behavioral)    99     Measuring Success                                                       100   Chapter 7:  The Learning Target     Teach, Test, and Hope for the Best               102     Moving from Random Acts of Curriculum and Instruction   105     Common Language, Common Mission                                              107     Optimizing Curriculum for All  109                                                     Fitting the Pieces Together                           112     The Design Process   114     Curriculum Architects   116     Deeper Levels of Knowledge and Thinking                                                 119   Chapter 8:  Avoiding Struggles and Pitfalls   122       Refining the Plan                                                                            123       Evaluating the Impact and Results                                                             124       Planning to Make Change Happen:  The Payoff                                        126       Unexpected Outcomes       127   Chapter 9:  Queries and Opportunities                                                         133             Recommendations                                                                                      134     Chapter 10:  Transitioning to Schools of the Future                                    144           Teaching This Generation of Students                                                      148           The Moral Imperative                                                                                150        Chapter 11: Understanding the Landscape         Lessons Learned: Bringing Order to the Potential of Chaos     153         Parallel Modeling                                                        155   Chapter 12:  Meet the Kids     161         The Beginning of Shortcomings     164         A Recipe for Potential                                                                                166         Final Thoughts                                                                                            172   References      174   Appendix:   Resources                            A Curriculum/RtI Framework Design Tool      179  

Editorial Reviews

"Dr. Smith-Collins is a distinguished scholar/practitioner who has adeptly captured the essence of what it takes for parents, policy makers, leaders, and on-line practitioners to make significant differences in the lives of children for whom they are responsible. An Agenda for Equity: Responding to the Needs of Diverse Learners is a timely and thought provoking book that should not only be read but practiced."

Jim Hager

Searetha Smith-Collins gets right to heart of things. She has written a courageous book that highlights innovation in teaching and learning for social justice. Infused with hope, her ideas will prompt deep change for the sake of our most challenged students.

Margaret Grogan

" This is a thought provoking treatise by an experienced educator who chronicles the past twenty years of public education in trying to include diverse and lower income students in the race toward success in their endeavors. The author has taught, led and advised on the topic she now writes about. From her rich experience comes this book chronicling her ideas on the subject. "

Herbert Berg

This is an important book which conscientiously addresses the need for effectively educating all students by using Response to Intervention strategies. I highly recommend Dr. Smith-Collins’ book for use by all educators including those primarily concerned with minority and gifted students. This rigorous and humanistic approach to teaching all students should have a profound effect upon improving the current state of the public schools by helping students to attain their maximum achievement levels.

Maurice D. Fisher

" In An Agenda for Equity, Searetha Smith-Collins lays out a thoughtful case for why merely “sprinkling magic dust” on a system that uses “random-act approaches" to educating students well, will not miraculously transform that system into one that meets the needs of all students. She shows that the path to equity involves addressing the educational system’s logical, historical, and evidence-based errors in ways that expand the capacity of educators, and refine the nature of classrooms and schools through the ever more-precise use of data
matched to appropriate innovations, interventions, and responses."

Mark E. Weston

"An Agenda for Equity: Responding to the Needs of Diverse Learners examines how a successful school improvement process must address teaching and learning from the perspective of our students. The book provides a pathway from a series of disjointed school improvement initiatives to an evaluative process that can impact the outcomes of public education for each student. The book is philosophical yet practical; reflective yet vigorous and guides the reader from planning through practice. It changes our journey from the static “one size fits all” approach to one of actively examining school data; providing targeted and appropriate instruction; and engaging and supporting each student to achieve maximum learning."

Judith Richardson