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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Racial Climate Survey Results Presented |
Current rating: 0 |
by Gina Langhout and Nancy Dietrich-Rybicki
Email: nancydietrich (nospam) juno.com (unverified!) |
22 Feb 2001
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The results of the Racial Climate Survey conducted in the Unit 4 School District were released to the general public on Monday, Feb. 19th at the Unit 4 School Board meeting. Differences in perception of school climate were discovered between African-Americans and Caucasians. |
On Monday, February 19, 2001, Dr. Mark Aber and the University of Illinois School Climate Team presented the results of the Champaign Unit 4 School District School Climate Survey to the school administration, school
board, and over 100 community members. The survey was administered to school staff, parents, and children as part of an agreement between Unit 4 and the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights. The goal of
the survey was to improve the quality of education for all children.
The Results
According to Dr. Aber and the Report (available at
http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/climate), overall results indicated that parents, staff, and children were generally positive about the school climate. Once race was taken into consideration, however, the results were
not as positive. African American staff, parents, and children experienced the climate as more negative than their White counterparts. Differences were most notable in the areas of general fairness (perception that all
students are treated fairly), disciplinary fairness (perception that discipline is administered fairly), academic fairness (perception that access to academic and social programs is fair), cultural understanding
(perception of how well teachers are able to teach diverse groups of students), quality of the schools (perception of the importance of different aspects of racial integration), and the desired need for change (perceptions of the need to change the school system to address racial inequalities).
As Superintendent Cain pointed out, differences in perceptions are important because \"as we all know, over time, perceptions become reality.\" Mr. Cain also stated that the survey was not about lowering standards or filling quotas.
Dr. Aber noted that in general, the results should give pause to those who are concerned about schooling. He was surprised by the lack of interest in change on the part of White parents and staff. It is notable that although there were also differences in climate perceptions by social class for Whites, there were no differences by class
for African Americans. The conclusion drawn by Dr. Aber was that for White families, social class made a difference in their experiences, with more financially constrained families having more negative experiences with
academic and behavioral outcomes. For African American families, however, experiences were equally negative, regardless of social class.
The Community Reaction
All community members who chose to comment were supportive of the survey and results. They felt the survey was an important first step to making changes in Unit 4 that will benefit all children. Some comments indicated a desire for the community to come together around these results. Cyd Crue, a White parent who sent her Native American son to a school on a reservation in Minnesota because of the racism and lack of cultural sensitvity in the Unit 4 schools, responded by saying, \"I\'m begging the community to come together, and this can be a real growth experience.\"
Other community members discussed changes they would like to see in the near future. Gladys Hunt, an African American woman and grandmother of five children currently in Champaign schools, said, \"We should get textbooks that tell the truth\" about the contributions made by African
Americans to this country. Tracy Parsons of the Urban League reminded the Board that all families already discuss race, so talking about race in the schools and in public forums is not taboo. Other White parents said one
problem was that the school classrooms were segregated by race, and this needed to change. LeAnn Kelly, a White parent with children at three Champaign schools, urged the Board to work with community-based groups because of the importance these groups have had in her ability to see and
understand white privilege.
Although people generally spoke about changes that could be made, some were also fearful that nothing would happen. Cleveland Jefferson, with the NAACP, said that he has little faith that something will happen, and is concerned that children\'s education will continue as is while focus
groups are conducted. He did think actual change, however, could be possible. \"We can do it if you [the School Board] make it a priority.\" he said. Imani Bizzel, and African American mother of three Champaign school children, echoed this sentiment by saying, \"Sirens should be going off all
over town!\" She urged citizens to take responsibility for what happens in a democracy by making sure the school board does their job of implementing change. NiCole Buchanan-Biddle, an African American mother of a Champaign
elementary school child, was also \"fearful that nothing will be done...We can\'t keep waiting, and we can\'t keep spending time educating the people that are supposed to be educating our children...I don\'t want my son to
lose another year waiting on the administration to learn about people of color...I worry as we intellectualize this topic and talk about running focus groups.\"
The Recommendations
Dr. Aber and the University of Illinois School Climate Team issued the following recommendations to the School Board and administration: 1) increase the cultural competence of the teaching staff by embedding training in their everyday lives, 2) discuss the issues raised in the survey with school staff, families, and other community members, and work toward solutions, 3) hire more African American regular classroom teachers and have cultural competence as an important criteria for the hiring of all teachers, 4) reward teachers who teach children from diverse
backgrounds well, 5) reward teachers who learn cultural competency from their colleagues, 6) reduce and eventually eliminate all \"ability-based\" tracking (such as gifted classes, which are mostly White, and special education classes, which are predominately Black), 7) reduce the overall number of disciplinary and special education referrals, and 8) implement in-school educational programs for students focused on issues of race, culture, and ethnicity.
School Board Reactions
Thom Moore, the only African American School Board member, noted that the School Climate Survey shows that the perception of the school climate differs between Blacks and Whites in all three groups surveyed. He also felt that the survey gives the Board a thumbprint of the attitudes
within the Champaign community. Moore stated that over the years, the School Board has worked to increase minority numbers in gifted programs, but that there are huge discrepancies between the discipline administered
to Black and White students. As far as the recommendations given by the research team, Moore definitely sees a need for the school to hire more African American staff; teachers as well as administrators. He also feels
that ability-based tracking jeopardizes the education of African American students, and that staff need to raise their expectations for Black students. He agrees that discussing issues of white privilege needs to
take place, \"but we\'re playing 400 years of catch-up here,\" he stated, describing the difficulties involved with this decision. Another problem, he notes, is \"the people who make the rules aren\'t affected by them.\" He said that although there is some diversity on the Board in terms of race and sex, there is very little geographic diversity; many of the Board members live in the same neighborhoods. In this way, the Board may not be aware of issues being addressed in other neighborhoods. All in all, he
does not want the School Board to sit on this issue. He suggests getting the list of interested people from the School Board meeting together to continue this dialogue. \"We want to let the community know we\'re serious
about addressing this [issue].\" he stated.
When asked about the School Climate Survey, Nicole Storch said, \"The document stands on its own merit. I\'m not about race, I\'m about academic achievement.\" She declined further comment.
Scott Anderson noted that he was not surprised by the survey\'s results. He expressed concern that it took a potential lawsuit to get this issue on the table. He was surprised, however, at the negative perception
of the school climate by African American staff. He stated he wants to find out from them, \"how can the Board help?\" As far as the recommendations, he feels that he and the Board need to process the results and get back together to discuss them. He did comment on the recommendation to eliminate ability-based tracking, stating he\'d like to
know more about what this would entail. He\'s not sure where he sees the Board going after this. In general, he feels that this issue should be addressed. \"Perception is reality.\" he noted, reflecting the feelings of
others involved in the survey. \"If we found out females were outperforming males by a large amount, we\'d be jumping up to find out what\'s wrong,\" Anderson stated, expressing his concern for the need to make changes based
on the survey results. |
