:WMWP Project Outreach

Project Outreach submitted a detailed reflective letter (you can view the letter here) to the WMWP Executive Board that led to a deep discussion of the some of the issues being investigated by the Project Outreach group (poverty, social justice, etc.) and how WMWP might do more to meet the needs of teachers and students in high-poverty districts.

In the Reflective Letter, the Project Outreach leaders asked the executive board to consider two fundamental questions:

• In what ways has Project Outreach’s work and data collection made us see our site differently?
• In what direction do we see this work taking our site?

Here is a documentary highlighting some of that discussion:

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WMWP Project Outreach Reflective Letter

to assess the year’s work and solicit questions and feedback
from the WMWP Board as we work towards a plan of action

At almost every meeting this year, one of us asked, “What are we doing again?” “Is this going anywhere?” “How will we know what to do from here?” The nature of inquiry and staying in an inquiry stance is to live with more questions than there are answers. We know that as we move into our action year, we expect that there will continue to be many questions that arise to guide our work. The time we have been able to work with you, the Executive Board, has been invaluable. Our Project Outreach Local Leadership Team (LLT) has appreciated the openness and curiosity with which you have approached this work. We know that as we move into action, the Executive Board will continue to be willing participants in reshaping the WMWP so greater (access and relevance) diversity can be achieved and sustained.

To summarize the year we went through a process of charting. We started by revisiting our Inquiry Questions: What are the needs of teachers of students who live in communities impacted by poverty? What kinds of programs and course offerings will best support the needs of teachers who work with the underserved? These questions represent the two levels of work that the PO group has experienced over this past year.

– Go here to read the entire letter to the WMWP executive board.

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An activity by the Project Outreach group at a recent WMWP board meeting led to some discussions about how we view poverty in Western Massachusetts and how those socioeconomic issues impact education. There was a carousel activity that allowed for some provocative discussions. Dawn, one of the leaders of Project Outreach, sent along these notes from the meeting:

Project Outreach/WMWP Executive Board Meeting

May 9th, 2007

Carousel: Investigating our Perspectives on poverty and diversity

POVERTY:

Defined (How do we talk about or speak to issues related to poverty):

+ Through our own lens
+ It is somebody else who needs to join our group
+ What is our ability to raise funds or scholarships for poor kids
+ Apparently poor kids are in Springfield and Holyoke mostly
+ Economic Conditions
+ The hidden curriculum of poverty – reality in schools and districts, depersonalized
+ We forget to individualize the experience
+ We don’t consider it or talk about it
+ It is ignored by bureaucracy

Student literacy needs (What do students in high poverty districts have for literacy needs? How do we know this?):

+ No materials available at school or home
+ There is a lack of support from those who have resources
+ There is an expectation to use and communicate through one language that is acceptable by the powers that be
+ We know this from some professional journals and research studies, but do we have teachers involved who can tell us? Do we ask?
Students need the basics that they did not receive prior to school

Teacher Professional Development needs (What do teachers in high poverty districts have for PD needs? How do we know this)?

o · I worked in an urban district for four years and teachers need to learn how to bridge the gap between babysitting and teaching
o · A place to discuss what they are lacking
o · They want to improve MCAS scores so they can be funded – I know this from my work in Athol
o · They want holistic support

DIVERSITY:

Defined (How do we talk about or speak to issues related to diversity):

+ We need to talk more about it in terms of race, exceptionality, and gender
+ We need to do authentic research
+ We don’t usually talk about it or we use code like “urban” or “rural”, not very specific to gender, class, and especially race
+ We constantly talk about recruiting diversity by gender, age and race
+ As a topic disconnected to the personal
+ We have an expanded definition which includes ability, race, color, creed, mobility and gender. (gay and lesbian?)

In Action (What will WMWP look like, feel like, and sound like when we achieve diversity?):

+ Avoiding tokenism is important
+ Like a multicultural rainbow where I am not the only one who brings “color”
+ We will look like the communities where our students live
+ Realistically, it will balance out; represent the actual percentages of teachers in Western Mass. Or, even better – more accurately – represent our student populations

Implications (Why do we want diversity? What might have to change to achieve this?):

* · To ensure all of the voices are heard
* · Better programs
* · Equity in education
* · We need more money to subsidize the time and resources availability to underserved/underprivileged students and districts
* · Meet needs of most needy students
* · Need to enrich ourselves to enrich our teaching

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT and WMWP:

Current Offerings (What specifically are we offering for PD that supports teachers in high poverty districts?):

+ Making Connections – Technology/Writing; Athol, Holyoke, Great Falls, Chicopee
+ Category 2 SEI Training – Holyoke
+ Revitalizing Writing – Springfield
+ Creative Journeys – Brings students to campus (Yea, but it’s a one shot deal)
+ ELL Institutes/ELL Leadership Training

Needs (When we look at the data {SI readings, PO collected data}, what do we see? What are the needs of teachers?)

+ SI readings don’t seem to reflect the data’s evidence for the need for ELL support (One person disagreed citing the Nieto and Delpit readings)
+ Holyoke has the highest need
+ Need to focus more on writing for students with oppositional social identity
+ Need two things – room to complain about what is wrong and resources to stop and then grow from that frustration (weapons to fight the good fight)
+ Weapons of mass reflection
+ Voice

You can leave your thoughts here on these issues, too. Use the comment feature.

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