Culturally and linguistically diverse students experience differential treatment in New Mexico schools.
Image credit: Getty Images/Bob Thomason
Getting a good education does not come easily for everyone; some students in New Mexico are not succeeding and are experiencing differential treatment in the classroom, particularly students of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds compared to their white peers. For instance, African Americans in New Mexico graduated at a rate that was 8% lower than their white peers, equating to a difference of over 20,000 students in the 2016-2017 academic year.[1] African Americans also experience 3 times higher rates of suspension which can impact educational outcomes, such as the likelihood of graduating.[2]
When differential treatment leads to poor academic outcomes, it becomes a problem not just for one child in one class, but for a large portion of New Mexico's students.
I have had the privilege of receiving a good quality education in New Mexico and having good relationships with my teachers while in school. I was able to ask questions of my teachers, speak to them in a relaxed and conversational way, and was confident enough to ask for extensions on work that I didn’t complete until the day before it was due. Knowing how to navigate the public-school system was something that, thankfully, came pretty easily to me and my family. My mother was involved in all my class field trips and was not afraid to talk to my teachers directly if she felt that I was being assessed unfairly.
Unfortunately, there are instances where a student's way of being or behaving may seem to be incompatible with the expectations of teachers. Being comfortable making eye contact or frequently asking questions are a few behaviors that are often associated with being an attentive student who participates in class.[3] When students are not used to behaving this way at home or with authority figures, they are often interpreted to be disrespectful, unengaged, and unmotivated in class. Not only can cultural differences impact teacher's assessments of students, but so do unfortunate biases (whether intended or not) that can pervade student-teacher relationships.
Poor Treatment, Poor Outcomes
When differential treatment - whether unfair assessments of behavior or more frequent experiences of discrimination - leads to poor academic outcomes, it becomes a problem not just for one child in one class, but for a large portion of New Mexico's students.
Continued inaction will result in continued strain on student-teacher relationships and poor outcomes for culturally diverse students. Already the state education system has been deemed as unconstitutional in the Yazzie/Martinez v. The State of New Mexico court case, finding that “the rights of at-risk students have been violated by the state, which failed to provide them with a uniform statewide system of free public schools sufficient for their education.”[4] This ruling gave New Mexico schools until April of 2019 to enact changes to improve outcomes for diverse students. This is evidence that continued inaction will only fuel the fire that has started in the court systems regarding the quality of education in New Mexico. For more information on this case and the suggested recommendations from the courts, please visit the Legislative Education Committee’s report here.
Policy Options
To improve the educational outcomes of culturally diverse students, the state must take actions that are proven to be effective and must take an evidence-based approach to implementing policies that improve the New Mexico public education system. Below are a few policy actions that could be taken to improve the situation in New Mexico's classrooms:
1. Provide incentives for teachers to implement higher-level thinking & culturally inclusive material into their curriculum.
By incentivizing culturally inclusive teaching practices and a curriculum that engages students in higher-level thinking, teachers will essentially be rewarded for promoting equitable outcomes in the classroom. When teachers ask students to think through problems critically or engage in analysis about how the coursework topics relate to one another, students feel more engaged and they are more likely to be seen as attentive and motivated by their teachers.[5]
This program would consist of a teacher evaluation using both one-on-one coaching and reviews of classroom practices and interactions with students. If teachers were found to be incorporating culturally inclusive materials and analytic-focused coursework, they would receive a $500 stipend to reinforce positive teaching practices. This, however, would be a relatively moderate additional cost to the state and would not cover all schools or reach all students if only a small percentage of teachers are taking advantage of the incentive program.
2. Decrease class sizes to allow for personalized student-teacher interactions.
Decreasing class sizes can allow for teachers to better address student’s needs and would allow for schools to employ a larger, more diverse pool of instructors. Students assigned to small class sizes were found to be more likely to graduate in four years, more likely to enroll in honors or advanced placement courses in high school, had higher test scores and had less disciplinary referrals than students in regular or large-sized classes.[6] Reducing the average class size in New Mexico to just 10 students per class could help students feel more connected to their teachers and get more personalized instruction.
However, in New Mexico there is currently a large number of teacher vacancies in schools. Reducing the average class size to 10 students would require an additional 7,805 classrooms, which means we would need additional teachers for those classrooms. This leads me to believe that this policy option would be too costly and would not be feasible in terms of overall support or administrative capabilities of schools.
3. Restructure teacher selection and hiring strategies to increase the recruitment of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers.
Exposure to a teacher of the same race resulted in a 4-5 percentile increase in math and a 3-6 percentile increase in reading scores for both African American and white students.[7] Restructuring teacher hiring strategies can ensure that more teachers are prepared and excited to work in New Mexico. By promoting recruitment of teachers who are African American, Hispanic or Latino, and Native American (particularly in New Mexico), we can increase the likelihood that students will be exposed to a teacher who understands their cultural background.
We should also make efforts to improve the cultural understandings of all teachers in New Mexico by requiring more cultural diversity coursework in the prerequisites for public teaching certifications or paying higher salaries to teachers who are bilingual proficient. This can help to ensure that all New Mexico teachers are equipped with skills needed to support and empower a diverse student body. However, this might run the risk of exacerbating the educator vacancy problem by requiring more from new teachers to receive their certification.
4. Implement a set of best-practices in teacher professional development to reinforce positive student-teacher relationships.
Development of best practices in professional development can provide a district- or state-wide standard for expected instructional methods and assessment procedures. Professional development should focus on improving teacher’s analysis and inquiry skills and the inclusion of higher-level thinking in the classroom. As mentioned above, higher-level thinking in the classroom was an important factor in determining significant impacts for students, such as an increase African American students’ participation and reduced disciplinary action.[8]
Having students ask questions, participate in thematic analysis, and engage in classroom discussion are examples of the “higher-level thinking” that is found to be so beneficial to students. This allows students to feel engaged in class and lends teachers to see the students as participating and exhibiting good behavior.
My Recommendation
The transference that occurs from teacher to student in the expectations and assessments they undergo in the classroom has a big impact on the student-teacher relationship and the way that teachers see their students’ behavior. A model of professional development for teachers is my policy of choice when comparing outcomes and costs. Improving these assessments and clarifying expectations in the classroom are just a few of the things that we would hope to standardize and implement in state-wide professional development for teachers. However, deciding what ‘best practices’ to employ would require additional administrative capacity and some political discussion with the hope of coming to consensus on practices that will have positive impacts in every part of the state.
The costs of inaction are much too high to ignore
Regardless of the challenges to each of these policy options, it is becoming clearer than ever that the costs of inaction are much too high to ignore. Improvements to New Mexico public education must come from the forefront of evidence-based policy and research that informs best practices in teaching, assessment, and cultural inclusion in the classroom.
End notes:
[1] Public High School Graduation Rates. (2019). Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_coi.asp.
[2] Gregory, Anne, Christopher A. Hafen, Erik Ruzek, Amori Yee Mikami, Joseph P. Allen, and Robert C. Pianta. “Closing the Racial Discipline Gap in Classrooms by Changing Teacher Practice.” School Psychology Review 45, no. 2 (2016): 171–91. https://doi.org/10.17105/spr45-2.171-191.
[3] Tanenbaum, Harriet R., and Martin D. Ruck. 2007. “Are Teachers' Expectations Different for Racial Minority than for European American Students? A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Education Psychology 99(2): 253–73.
[4] Legislative Education Study Committee. (2018, August 17). Yazzie and Martinez v. State of New Mexico: July 20, 2018 Decision and Order .
[5] Gregory, Anne, Christopher A. Hafen, Erik Ruzek, Amori Yee Mikami, Joseph P. Allen, and Robert C. Pianta. “Closing the Racial Discipline Gap in Classrooms by Changing Teacher Practice.” School Psychology Review 45, no. 2 (2016): 171–91. https://doi.org/10.17105/spr45-2.171-191.
[6] Achilles, C. M., Bain, H. P., Bellott, F., Boyd-Zaharias, J., Finn, J., Folger, J., … Word, E. (2008, October 7). Tennessee's Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) project. Retrieved from https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=hdl:1902.1/10766.
[7] Dee, Thomas S. “Teachers, Race, and Student Achievement in a Randomized Experiment.” Review of Economics and Statistics 86, no. 1 (2004): 195–210.
https://doi.org/10.1162/003465304323023750
[8] Gregory, Anne, Christopher A. Hafen, Erik Ruzek, Amori Yee Mikami, Joseph P. Allen, and Robert C. Pianta. “Closing the Racial Discipline Gap in Classrooms by Changing Teacher Practice.” School Psychology Review 45, no. 2 (2016): 171–91. https://doi.org/10.17105/spr45-2.171-191.