Diversity Action Plan

NAME:
Doug Van Pelt
DATE:
June 24, 2013
TITLE:
Diversity Action Plan
PROGRAM OUTCOME:
Strategic and Instructional Leadership
LEARNING GOAL:
To create a personal definition for diversity, identify types of

diversity in my classroom and identify key actions I can commit to
meet learning goals
Diversity is that wonderful concept for classroom improvement assemblies where

everyone has an opinion to offer but few have realistic suggestions but for improvement.
Websters dictionary defines diversity as, the condition of being different with distinct or
unlike qualities. Further, classroom diversity is referred to as, recognizing all students are
unique in their own way. I acknowledge these definitions are very generic and as such, give
educators a great deal of latitude to recognize diversity in their own fashion. This can be
good or bad, depending on the morals, values, and cultural traditions of the staff member
involved. With this document, I intend to address the diversity I have in my classroom by
identifying the differences, describing current practices, and pursuing a clearer understanding
of diversity.
My current understanding of the differences students bring to my classroom has changed
quite a lot since I began teaching ten short years ago. I have learned that socio-economic
issues play a huge role in student success. This may seem obvious to veteran educators, but
the opportunity gap established at a very early age is something not all community
members are remotely aware of. I am aware of another key demographic that affects student
achievement, student family structures. I am a divorced father of two sons. I was the
primary caregiver and know that however hard I tried; my children did not have the same
opportunities as those in a two-parent household. Children have many additional family
structures, which create unique challenges for success.
In his Omaha presentation of June 18, 2013, Jef Johnston stated, The real problem with
low test scores is not the U.S. educational system; it is poverty. This statement resonated
with me as he shared a variety of statistics proving his contention; a comparison of nations
when the special needs students are not included in the figures, the unique demographics of
nations like Finland, which tend to skew results, and the data received when socio-economic
information is factored into the outcomes. Contrast this information with the typical gloom
and doom reports found almost daily in national media and you can see why I, and many
others in attendance, found a sense of hope in Mr. Johnstons talk.
With the pedagogy of poverty identifying a real need to additional support for those
children in difficult socio-economic situations, heroic educators such as Johnston have taken
the initiative to build that additional support. The Avenue Scholars program was created to
provide opportunities to learn for determined but challenged students in the Omaha area.
This program focused on identifying four key SEED skills: social competency, emotional
resilience, economic enterprise, and discipline and delayed gratification plans. As Johnston
stated, this program is an attempt to level the playing field.
In contrast to Omahas large, very diverse student population of more than 46,000
children; my home school district is a small, east-central Nebraska agricultural district with
779 students. The mission statement for the Central City Public School district reads, the
mission of Central City Public Schools is to educate, challenge, and prepare students with
lifelong skills for the world around them. Diversity in our school system is represented by a
forty-seven percent free and reduced lunch rate, with seventeen percent of our students
receiving special education services, and one percent of our students designated as ELL
students. The most recent demographics indicate our district enrolled six African-American
students, thirty-three Hispanic students, six Asian-pacific Island students, and one Native
American student.
The most pressing issue of diversity in our district is the growing SPED population. We
have increased the number of students receiving services by almost seventy five percent in
the past five years, which has initiated a staff increase of three new positions in this time
period.
The district has initiated bullying and cultural awareness policies and tried to establish
personal development classes all geared towards integrating all diversity within the district.
Personally, I embrace diverse students in my classroom as providing differing perspectives
on issues and often incorporate specific opportunities to share, support and learn. I do try to
learn from each individual and incorporate new thoughts into my content lesson plans. My
professional learning goal includes the plan to try to identify at least one area of diversity in
my lessons that I can improve on each year.
My focus for change has shifted somewhat since participating in the Foundations class.
In the framework of the class, we have been assigned a variety of supplementary readings.
Two articles, dealing with White Privilege in Schools, have particularly impacted my
perspective. The first, by Ruth Anne Olson shares several situations where white preference
is part of the story, however unintentional it may be. The second article by Peggy McIntosh,
compares situations of white privilege to the womens suffrage movement of the 19th and
early 20th century. She bases her conclusions on the supposition that such dominance is a
result of centuries of societal hierarchies and oppressive behaviors; with these behaviors so
ingrained as to be unconscious actions.
At this time, I believe my greatest need for additional information is in the English
Language Learner (ELL) area. I have always assumed this educational arena to be populated
only by Hispanic children. I am learning that in many schools, this demographic isnt the
group in need of learning English. One of our diversity articles, The Demographic
Imperative by Eugene Garcia, Bryant Jensen, and Kent Scribner provides a number of
supportive data on the need to increasing ELL awareness. The article, found in the April
2009 issue of Educational leadership magazine; states more than 10 percent of all K-12
students in the U.S. are ELL students. More pressing, states with the largest rate of increase
in percentages among others, were Nevada, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Oregon. Our home
state saw an ELL percentage increase of 233 percent in the 6-12 grades.(Garcia et al p.10)
Even though Central City does not have a large population of ELL students at this time, I feel
very soon I will need to learn instructional strategies to help future ELL students succeed.
Knowing that my experience with diversity is somewhat limited and I especially could use
more background in ELL strategies, I plan to develop a learning goal, which includes
enrolling in graduate level classes in ELL as well as considering a general counseling course
to supplement my leadership training. I also intend to subscribe to a Spanish-language class
through a resource like Rosetta stone. I will continue to read articles published by
Education Week and other journals, which provide the latest information and data from
various researchers. Although I had planned to have most of my supplemental reading on
leadership issues other than diversity, I will concentrate on identifying and including
resources focused on various educational disparities.
The initial steps I plan to initiate will include developing a rubric-style grading scale to
replace the traditional 100 percent pattern. Also, I will modify the purpose of homework
assignments to more of a student-directed supplementary activity rather than the traditional
reinforcement-practice type assignments. Third, I plan to approach our administrative team
with a suggestion to expand our mentoring program. We currently have an active
TeamMates program and provide limited other opportunities for student support, but I feel
like we can include additional students into our network. I would like to see us identify
students needing extra support and place them judiciously into specific Home Rooms with
staff members who would check-in with the student each day, both during the Home Room
time and before the end of the day.
I expect I will encounter some resistance from students and staff alike, but if this program
would be considered by our admin. Team, I will take the lead in visiting with each staff
member. I will explain the process and ask for suggestions. I will offer any assistance I can
provide and enlist additional staff members to team up for services if appropriate. I also
expect some uncertainty from parents and the community and will work to assuage this
anxiety by calling or visiting with the parents of each identified student and by writing a short
article to be published in the monthly school news letter and on the schools website. With
this initiative, I hope to improve our districts test scores and graduate rate while providing atrisk children with the additional support they so sorely need. I also hope to receive the
complementary benefit of increasing the depth of knowledge I have of our diverse
populations.

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NAME:

Doug Van Pelt

June 24, 2013

Diversity Action Plan

Strategic and Instructional Leadership

To create a personal definition for diversity, identify types of

Diversity is that wonderful concept for classroom improvement assemblies where

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