Creating the Opportunity to Learn: Moving from Research to Practice to Close the Achievement Gap (Pearson Teacher Education / Ascd College Textbook) - Softcover

Boykin, A. Wade; Noguera, Pedro; ASCD, The

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0133388778 ISBN 13: 9780133388770

Publisher: Pearson, 2013

Synopsis

After years of applying more pressure on schools to raise achievement levels for all students, particularly those who underperform their mainstream peers, the achievement gap today remains virtually unchanged. But the reality is that there's proof that, under the right conditions, all students can achieve at high levels. Instead of "quick-fix reforms" that promise "miracles" but deliver little, here's a book that delves into the research to provide you with realistic solutions for catching up children in danger of failing and dropping out. Two giants in the fields of education, psychology, and equity—A. Wade Boykin and Pedro Noguera—reveal bold truths about the achievement gap, including:

• Why it's a mistake to explain and rationalize the persistence of the achievement gap on the basis of a single influence, such as poverty, family background, or culture.
• What is wrong with popular approaches to closing the achievement gap.
• Why it is critical to focus on the assets that each student brings to the classroom, rather than on the perceived deficiencies.
• Why pluralizing the cultural conditions in schools increases the possibility that a greater number of students—from a wider range of backgrounds—will learn.

Drawing from the evidence from successful schools, this definitive text provides you with a promising framework for addressing the key actions that need to be replicated in schools everywhere, such as:

• Promoting and enhancing student engagement in learning and addressing avoidance behaviors.
• Raising the levels of three key personal behaviors: self-efficacy, self-regulated learning, and incremental ability beliefs about intelligence.
• Cultivating constructive classroom dynamics and transactions such as positive teacher student relationships and collaborative learning.

Here's your opportunity to understand why some school districts are making more progress than others, to make sure you're focused on what really works, and to build the capacity of high-performance, high-poverty schools.

About this title

About the Author

A. Wade Boykin is a professor and director of the graduate program in the Department of Psychology at Howard University. He is also the executive director of the Capstone Insttitute at howard University.

 

Pedro Noguera is an internationally recognized thought leader on addressing issues of equity and diversity in public schools. He is the Peter L. Agnew Professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Education, the executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, and the co-director of the Institute for the Study of Globalization and Education in Metropolitan Settings.

From the Back Cover

 "Unless we believe that those who have more are inherently superior to those who have less, we should be troubled by the fact that patterns of achievement are often fairly predictable, particularly with respect to students' race and class."

 

 

In Creating the Opportunity to Learn, Wade Boykin and Pedro Noguera help navigate the turbid waters of evidence-based methodologies and chart a course toward closing (and eliminating) the academic achievement gap. Turning a critical eye to current adn recent research, the authors present a comprehensive view of the achievement gap and advocate for strategies that contribute to the success of all children.

 

Boykin and Noguera maintain that it is possible to close the achievement gap by abandoning failed strategies, learning from successful schools, adn simply doing more of what the research shows is most effective. Success is founded on equity, but equity involves more than simply ensuring students have equal access to education; equity also entails a focus on outcomes and results.

 

If we want to bring about significant improvements in those outcomes, we have to do more to address the context in which learning takes place. In short, we must crate schools where a child's race or class is no longer a predictor for how well he or she might perform.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0133388778
• ISBN 13: 9780133388770
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256