Prompt 2, Kozol

The culturally competent teacher should be able to account for, demonstrate awareness of, and respond to the sociocultural distinctiveness of her or his students, families, and communities when planning for and delivering instruction.

According to Infoworks, 56% of students at Ambition High are Hispanic, 28% are African American, 5% are Asian and 10% are white. These statistics match what I have observed in the geometry class I am tutoring in. The majority of the class is either African American or Hispanic; there is one white student and one Asian student. Infoworks also reports that 73% are eligible for free or reduced lunches. This data also coincides with what I have observed in the classroom. Many students talk about their parents working multiple jobs or needing to have a part time job to help support their family. Bilingual students make up 6% of the population and 7% of students receive ESL services. The small numbers reported here surprised me. Almost all signs in the hallways are posted in both English and Spanish. During passing times the hallways are filled with students speaking both Spanish and English. The class itself has at least five students that speak Spanish fluently out of a class of twenty.

I was initially under the impression that this was a diverse classroom. After reading Kozol’s article “Still separate, Still unequal” I can see that I was using that word improperly. Because most of the students were racially different than I was my first instinct was to label it diverse. In regards to the true meaning of the word, Ambition High can hardly be called racially diverse. Over half of the students are of a single ethnic background and over three quarters are made up of only two ethnicities. This school does seem to be resegregating. The reasons for this cannot be attributed to the neighborhood that the school is in because students have a choice in where they attend high school. The statistics might be a reflection of the entire city but I am not sure if that is true here. After spending so many hours in the classroom it has become obvious that even though the students may not be ethnically diverse there are no two students that are alike. Every person in the classroom has something valuable to contribute. Josh is always reliable for that hilarious one liner that makes everyone laugh, Ava can always be counted on to finish her work early and help others; Michael will never shy away from answering questions or doing work at the board. Each student within this classroom is vital to the way it functions.