Rosa Hernández Sheets

Competency vs. good intentions: Diversity ideologies and teacher potential

Since the 1970s, some form of diversity ideology has been used in teacher education programs. Since these efforts have yielded few or no results, this response points out how various diversity ideologies guide research agendas, influence future scholarship, and propagate assumptions on the schooling issues facing our children. It describes the evolvement of a body of scholarship that appears to emphasize hope and advocacy, and tolerates excuses of poverty and racism, rather than focus on the psychological stress and academic failure our children experience daily. While we may have the ability to inspire, we have not demonstrated capacity to educate a professorate who can prepare teachers to succeed in diverse settings, nor have we developed teacher preparation programs that understand how to select the programmatic content, experiences, and strategies needed to help teachers develop from novice to expert levels and to apply cultural and language dimensions to curriculum and practice.Since the 1970s, some form of diversity ideology has been used in teacher education programs. Since these efforts have yielded few or no results, this response points out how various diversity ideologies guide research agendas, influence future scholarship, and propagate assumptions on the schooling issues facing our children. It describes the evolvement of a body of scholarship that appears to emphasize hope and advocacy, and tolerates excuses of poverty and racism, rather than focus on the psychological stress and academic failure our children experience daily. While we may have the ability to inspire, we have not demonstrated capacity to educate a professorate who can prepare teachers to succeed in diverse settings, nor have we developed teacher preparation programs that understand how to select the programmatic content, experiences, and strategies needed to help teachers develop from novice to expert levels and to apply cultural and language dimensions to curriculum and practice.

You're Just a Kid That's There-Chicano Perception of Disciplinary Events

This qualitative study examined Chicano student perception of discipline and inquired if student-teacher conflict in urban classrooms was influenced by differences in the racial and ethnic identity and cultural positions of the participants. Focus groups, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and student records were the data sources. The participants were 4 Chicano students and 4 European American teachers from an urban high school. The data revealed that students perceived school as adult-centered, and this resulted in feelings of alienation. However, students developed empowering strategies to resist disciplinary actions. Students describe the differences of perceptions on 2 distinct levels: the content of the disciplinary event, and their conceptual view of specific components of the disciplinary act. Confrontations are described as perceived injustices in the application of rules when different sets of values, attitudes, and beliefs are held by students and teachers. Knowledge of the disciplinary consequence did not influence their decisions to comply.

California's emergency credential teachers: examining program conditions for sustainability and effectiveness

The Summer Institute for Teacher Education (SITE), a one-year program, emerged in response to a California State University directive to increase the number of credentialed teachers. This article explains the rationale and program approach, describes the participants of the first two cohorts—SITE 1999 and SITE 2000, and uses yearly program evaluations to discuss the program goals and outcomes. It concludes with implications for the preparation of teachers of color and the institutional conditions needed to promote sustainability and teacher effectiveness. Three goals differentiated SITE from the regular program: (1) to create a one-year credential program to increase the yearly number of credentialed elementary teachers, (2) to offer a program for training the growing number of Californias emergency credentialed teachers, and (3) to provide the contextual conditions and culturally responsive curricular content needed for successful sustained service to children, especially those attending high-poverty, l...The Summer Institute for Teacher Education (SITE), a one-year program, emerged in response to a California State University directive to increase the number of credentialed teachers. This article explains the rationale and program approach, describes the participants of the first two cohorts—SITE 1999 and SITE 2000, and uses yearly program evaluations to discuss the program goals and outcomes. It concludes with implications for the preparation of teachers of color and the institutional conditions needed to promote sustainability and teacher effectiveness. Three goals differentiated SITE from the regular program: (1) to create a one-year credential program to increase the yearly number of credentialed elementary teachers, (2) to offer a program for training the growing number of Californias emergency credentialed teachers, and (3) to provide the contextual conditions and culturally responsive curricular content needed for successful sustained service to children, especially those attending high-poverty, low performing urban schools.