Ethnic Studies in Seattle Schools

Update: there is to be a rally during (?) Wednesday's School Board meeting for ethnic studies in Seattle Schools.   Not certain how that will work but that's the plan being put forth.

There is also a petition for ethnic studies in SPS but it has no author or sponsor noted.

end of update

Update 2: See end of thread for information on this topic from last month's Curriculum and Instruction meeting.  The C&I committee meets tomorrow.

 (Editor's note: you are welcome to chime in with ideas, feedback, whatever.  You are welcome to disagree with my viewpoint.  You are not welcome to personally attack me.  I should not have to say that but there are a few people who have made it their mission to deny my own ethnic background for their own purposes.  This thread is about this subject, not me.)

You may have seen the article on KUOW that the district is considering a proposal from the NAACP for ethnic studies throughout Seattle schools and that it be a graduation requirement. 

"In Washington state, it’s mandatory that you have to teach Native American history, but it’s not mandatory that you have to teach ethnic studies for other cultures," said Rita Green, the NAACP Education Chair. (Tribal history became mandatory in 2015.)

Given that Native Americans were here for a much longer time than anyone else, that 2015 date is not all that impressive. 

The NAACP proposal does not strictly define ethnic studies, but the subject is often described as an interdisciplinary study of power, race, ethnicity and national origin, often including gender and sexual orientation, from the perspectives of marginalized groups.

Last year, Portland Public Schools made ethnic studies part of the required high school curriculum. And there’s a bill in the Washington state legislature to create a model ethnic studies curriculum for middle and high school students. That’s something California will soon do for its high schools.

The NAACP’s model would go further, and make ethnic studies part of required courses at every school in Seattle, and a graduation requirement. The roll-out would begin in 2017, and be in full effect in 2019. 

Director Rick Burke, Chair of the Curriculum and Instruction Committee, has said the committee will review the proposal.

I totally agree that the history of our country and our state should have ALL its history - the good, the bad and the ugly -the contributions and the challenges and the sorrows and injustices.

But I believe that it should be embedded in history classes and not as a standalone course.  Why?

1) Teaching history is not going anywhere.  It is my observation that whenever you add on courses, those are the first to go when money/time get scarce.  This is too important to allow that possibility.  Embed it into the history curriculum and it's there to stay.  It absolutely should happen but in a way that sustains it.

2) I've gotten pushback on my stance because there isn't good embedded history curriculum with ethnic studies.  I also observe that teachers have been creating curriculum since teaching started.  There are good books out there and I believe it can be done. 

The KUOW story reports on teacher Jon Greenberg's social justice and civic engagement class.

Again, I see this growing pattern in the district of equating issues like ethnic studies and racial equity as being the same thing as teaching about social justice.  Surely the former are part of the latter but they are not the same things.  

Other good reading on this topic comes from The Atlantic, The Ongoing Battle Over Ethnic Studies.

The article starts from what I knew had happened in my home state of Arizona, where there are very large numbers of Mexican-Americans and a long and deep history with Mexico. 

In Tucson, Arizona, Che Guevara posters and Paulo Freire’s The Pedagogy of the Oppressed are the spark that set off a heated conflict over ethnic studies that has made national headlines for years. For critics, including two former state schools superintendents, the Mexican American studies program in the Tucson Unified School District is little more than divisive propaganda: “ethnic chauvinism” with a “very toxic effect … in an educational setting.” For supporters, reading literature on Chicano history in America and critical race theory is intended to close cultural gaps in the curriculum—and to close academic gaps for the district’s Hispanic students.

I would be highly suspicious of anyone who did not want students to know the full history of our country/state.

But, I can see how pushback could come from those who would want ethnic studies presented in a dispassionate manner i.e. not blaming.    I'm not sure the history of any country can be given dispassionately but I think it can be taught in a manner that informs and not accuses.  There is blame aplenty to go around for what our country has done to minorities but the goal must be clear about what the class is to achieve.  The why and how should be made clear.

 No matter how you do it, it is likely some students will be uncomfortable and/or challenged.  (That is learning in a nutshell, although this may be more personal than the discomfort of challenges of alegebra.)

Ethnic-studies courses dispel myths, Brooks said, and build connections among students as opposed to divisions. “Similar to students of color, white students have been miseducated about the roles of both whites and people of color throughout history,” she said, and culturally relevant lessons allow white children to “not only learn about people of color, but also white people’s roles as oppressors and activists fighting for racial change. This is very important because often whites feel there is nothing [they] can do to change racism.”

From the article on history around ethnic studies and recent studies:

In 1994, Berkeley High in California became one of the first high schools in the country to offer ethnic studies, the program facing opposition even in a town known to be a bastion of progressive thinking. More recently, Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school district, added an ethnic-studies course to its high-school graduation requirements.

Yet even as enthusiasts have called for more ethnic-studies programs—and the debate rages on over making the identities of black, Asian, Native American, and Latino students the centerpiece of class instruction—notably absent was data linking culturally relevant pedagogy specifically to measurable student gains. This changed this year with new research that shows ethnic-studies classes boost student attendance, GPAs, and high-school credits for a key student group—a pivotal finding that brings hard evidence to the dispute over adding these courses in public schools.

The improvements were significant: Attendance jumped by 21 percentage points, grade-point average by 1.4 points, and students in ethnic-studies courses covering discrimination, stereotypes, and social-justice movements earned 23 more credits toward graduation. Overall, the largest gains were found among boys and Hispanic students, and in the subjects of math and science.

 Minutes from C&I meeting from last month on the NAACP resolution:

Special Attention Item
Ethnic Studies Resolution discussion

Rita Green, John Greenberg, Tracy Gill and Tess Williams on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) presented a Resolution to the Seattle School Board regarding Ethnic Studies. Ms. Green noted data showing that ethnic studies will close the gaps. She noted the feedback that she has received from students is that the curriculum is not something they can identify with. Mr. Greenberg noted a Stanford study that showed attendance, grades and test scores increased when ethnic studies were incorporated in the curriculum. Ms. Williams noted that when students are engaged, that there is less classroom disruption. Ms. Gill noted ethnic studies can be incorporated in to current courses already taught within the district. Mr. Greenberg noted that there are thematically based classes that ethnic studies can be imbedded in to. 

Ms. Gill noted that she teaches 6th grade ancient civilizations. She incorporates ethnic studies by comparing ancient issues to modern day issues. Ms. Gill noted other teachers who incorporate ethnic studies within science and math in the outlier schools. Mr. Greenberg noted working with the community to build partnerships by creating the curriculum together. 

Dir. Burke thanked the group for bringing this forward and noted that this aligns with a lot of the work that the Board is doing. He noted it is an amazing body of work. 

Dir. Patu noted that ethnic studies used to be taught at Rainier Beach as students wanted to hear about what is happening now in our country and our state. The students refused to go to class unless the curriculum was taught. She noted that the students want to learn about other students that are in class with them. Mr. Tolley noted that staff has researched our current curriculum and the sequence of courses that are required in the district. He noted partnering with our community to see what they are asking for. Mr. Greenberg noted that this is a part of the civil rights movement, and it is not just wanted from the ethnic students, but from the white students as well, as there is so much going on in our communities. Ms. Gill noted that it is about justice, not just race, and that all students are interested in learning about this. She noted that teaching ethnic studies creates a place of empathy that can start in the classroom. Mr. Greenberg noted that to create a community you have to honor pieces of culture. 

Dir. Geary asked for links to the studies that they are referencing to assist in creating something bigger. She noted that we need to run this resolution through our internal race and equity process, and through the community engagement tool. Dir. Geary noted her own experiences of learning the history that was taught to her from a humanistic perspective. Ms. Green noted the endorsements from the community that they have received, and they continue to collect. 

Dir. Harris noted the teach in on Saturday at Garfield High School and noted that she would have liked to have seen more people there, but as it was a Saturday and on their own time there was a lower turnout. She noted the funds needed for professional development in order to deliver this type of training to teachers. Dir. Harris noted brainstorming to have curriculum on the intranet to have provide more access. She noted that not all teachers have been trained the Since Time Immemorial curriculum, which is state mandated. Dir. Harris noted the need to find a grant to brave these issues to get a stronger professional development for our teachers. Mr. Greenberg noted work with the Center for Race and Equity to find ways to get this information to the union members. 

Dir. Burke emphasized a lot of wishes and a lack of funding, and that there needs to be work around civics that can work toward. He noted that the community engagement process that staff will look at through our tool, and the race and equity tool. Dir. Burke commented that ultimately we need to come up with a plan to move the work forward, and do an inventory of the work that is currently being done across the district to understand where we are now, and figure out how to enhance it from there.

He noted working with Dr. Kinoshita and Kathleen Vasquez. Dr. Kinoshita noted existing channels of professional development that will continue even with our current budget and will be looked in to.
Dir. Harris asked for the next step. Dir. Burke noted that this is a resolution, although not an SPS resolution. He noted that to adopt such a resolution, Directors and staff would have to take this material and run through the internal process. Dir. Burke asked if the Directors want to move forward with this. Dir. Geary asked that staff look through this and see what areas will capture the goal and not create conflict and align the work to the policies. Dir. Burke asked if this could be brought back to committee next month. Dr. Kinoshita noted the process has already started on the inventory piece.