Like other states in the Northwest, schools in Washington are experiencing increased cultural and linguistic diversity among their student population, especially in the suburban and rural parts of the state. More than one-fourth of Washington's students are from minority groups, and the state has seen an increase in ELL enrollment of over 105 percent since 1991–1992.

In an effort to address the need for equitable and culturally responsive education, two House bills and a Senate bill have recently been proposed that target closing achievement gaps. To improve educational achievement for Native American students, the Office of Public Instruction has developed a Northwest Native American Reading Curriculum that includes a list of story books developed in collaboration and consultation with tribal content experts, curriculum specialists, and cultural teachers.

Location

Personalization, Family Outreach Programs, and Student Voice Are the Focus of Culturally Responsive Strategies

Kentlake High School is located on the outskirts of the Kent School District, about halfway between Tacoma and Seattle. The high school community has seen many changes in the last year. New upper-income subdivisions are being built in a formerly rural area, and the boundaries of the service area were recently changed to include a lower-income housing project, which has many immigrant families from Somalia and Ukraine. Ninth-graders were also added to the school last year.

Principal Diana Pratt and the district boundary committee strongly believed that the boundary change was important to create a more diverse school culture. What Pratt didn't realize was that many students transferred to a more diverse high school where they felt more comfortable. It became Pratt's mission to make her school a more diverse, culturally responsive, safe, and welcoming place where students would want to stay.

Below is a sampling of the many strategies that Pratt, assistant principals, staff members, and students have implemented to create a more personalized, diverse school climate.

Diversity Club and Council. The Diversity Club was formed so that students could take ownership in creating a more culturally responsive climate. The Club meets weekly, provides a forum for voicing students' concerns to staff, and organizes schoolwide events to welcome international exchange students. They also coordinate the local version of the nationwide Mix It Up Day, where students sit at different lunch tables and get to know other students. The Club created its own anti-harassment poster called "Not at Kentlake, Respect Our Differences: Degrading racial, ethnic, sexist, or homophobic remarks not welcome here."

Focused Outreach to Somali and Ukraine families. Many Somali and Ukrainian families live in the district's low-income housing complex. When children come to school, they face culture shock from trying to live in two different worlds: the culture of their family and the American teenage culture. Says Assistant Principal Gary Melton, "Connections with these families are very important. Often the Somali children and parents have never had formal education and it is really overwhelming for them to navigate the school culture."

The district hired a Somali translator, Omar Ahmed, to bridge the communication gap between Somali families and school staff. Ahmed, the principal, assistant principal, and ELL teacher met with families at the housing complex to discuss concerns and answer questions.

Similar outreach has been done with Ukrainian families, with conferences first being held at their churches where the families were most comfortable. Now twice a year there are conferences at the housing complex, and the district pays to transport families to the school for other events. Principal Pratt has noticed that parents are now more interested in coming to the school, and often organize carpools for various activities.

Ahmed has become a mentor for the Somali boys, many of whom lost their fathers in wars. "I go to the housing project in the afternoons and listen to the boys," he explains. "I try to be a father figure. I ask them about their problems and give them rides to interviews. I go to school with mothers and help them explain their concerns. I saw that no one was pushing these kids to excel and tell them how they could be successful in school."

Cohort Program for Boys. Assistant Principal Gordon Comfort, who is of European American descent, saw that boys of ethnic minority groups were underrepresented in Advanced Placement classes. He realized that these boys could achieve at higher levels if given more support. After reading an article about a cohort program in the December 2004 Principal Leadership magazine, he is designing a similar program to increase the numbers of minority boys in AP classes. Comfort will collaborate with teachers and counselors to provide "coaching" for students, with weekly group meetings and additional meetings with teachers and counselors.

Comfort believes that success for students boils down to relationships. "Although many of my relationships with kids start with disciplinary action, I show them I care and continue supporting them and being their friend after the disciplinary action," says Comfort. Comfort observes that this attention has really made a difference with the Somali boys, that attendance has increased greatly, and truancies have decreased markedly.

One inspirational moment came when a student Comfort promised to take to lunch if he didn't have disciplinary referrals left him a note at the end of the year. The boy had not had any referrals, but the note read: "You don't have to buy me lunch, Mr. Comfort. Thanks for setting me straight."

Kentlake has become known for its commitment to culturally responsive practices and was recently selected as one of several state high schools to present at the winter OSPI conference. Test scores have increased steadily: Only 38 percent met reading standards during the 1998–1999 school year; by 2003–2004, 70 percent met reading standards. Administra-tors say that students are getting along much better, having fewer conflicts and fewer absences. Pratt realizes that school leaders have different perspectives on the impact of school culture on achievement, but she has seen firsthand what this emphasis has done to create a place where young people want to learn.

Location

Students Learn Respect and Take Ownership in Creating a Culturally Responsive School

East Valley School District is located east of downtown Spokane, encompassing 100 square miles east to the Idaho border and north to the foothills of Mount Spokane. A high percentage of students are eligible for the free and reduced-price lunch program.

A few years ago, the district formed an Equity Committee to address issues of bullying and harassment incidents. After the staff received training from NWREL's Equity Center, the Committee developed and implemented a harassment policy. The committee felt that messages about bullying and harassment would be even more powerful if they were coming from students themselves, so the PRIDE club at East Valley High School was created.

"Personal Responsibility in Diversity Education" is the message PRIDE delivers to all students. The group meets weekly during lunch to develop new schoolwide activities and share concerns. They also reflect on how well activities work and make changes accordingly. For example, the group organized a schoolwide activity about segregation, randomly color coding students and then excluding one of the color-coded groups from certain restrooms and drinking fountains. The point of the activity was to make students experience segregation firsthand. PRIDE students realized, however, that this activity was very emotional for many students who didn't understand why they were being excluded. The organizers now understand that more preliminary education is necessary.

One PRIDE student, Victoria Everts, has seen her school become more accepting of diverse perspectives, at least in small ways. "Trying to get to the heart of our school, rather than just the appearance always takes longer," says Everts. Many students say they see seniors reaching out to include freshmen and that another group called LINK—which matches junior and senior mentors to freshmen—is helping to create a more welcoming place for younger students.

PRIDE students also bring their message to district middle schools, where bullying and harassment are concerns. The high school students develop their own lesson plans and visit middle schools several times a year under the leadership of teacher Tammy Hovren. Teachers have noticed that middle school students open up more to high school students than to teachers. One PRIDE member explains, "We tell the kids that we have been through what they have— we know what it's like to come to the high school and feel intimidated. I always say to the kids to tell the teacher when they feel threatened."

The high school students take their role seriously, and are constantly thinking of new ways to make their lessons more meaningful. When they make their hour-long presentations, many middle school students want to share their feelings and concerns about bullying. This has inspired some PRIDE students to visit middle schools more often.

Lessons about bullying and harassment are further explored by eighth-grade teacher Julie Scott. She developed a unit on the Holocaust, which she has used for the past 12 years. The unit is integrated into the year's American history lesson plans. The main theme is "One Person Can Make a Difference." She explains through lessons learned from the Holocaust that individuals can have a positive impact, like those who risked their lives to save Holocaust victims. Conversely, they can have a very devastating negative consequence when they do nothing to prevent victimization of others.

"I focus on the human aspect of the Holocaust, show pictures of families who were victims, and share diary entries written by teenage Holocaust victims to emphasize regular family life during this time, and how that was systematically taken away from them." A Holocaust survivor comes to talk and share her experiences, which adds even more of an impact. "I relate how one person can make a difference throughout history. One example, in addition to the Holocaust, is protesting during the Civil Rights Movement," adds Scott.

Scott can see that this emphasis is making a difference. "My eighth-grade students have turned in their classmates for making racial slurs or bullying other kids. It has really made a difference in our eighth-grade culture."