Center Piece • 1

P I E C EVolume 11, Number 1 Spring, 2004

P I E C E

C E N T E R for E D U C A T I O NR I C E U N I V E R S I T Y

Dr. James A. Banks to Speak on MulticulturalEducation at Hazel Creekmore Symposium

Dr. James A. Banks, Russell F. Stark University Professor in Curriculumand Instruction, and Director, Center for Multicultural Education, Univer-sity of Washington, Seattle will speak about Teaching for MulticulturalLiteracy, Global Citizenship, and Social Justice at the Hazel Creekmore Sympo-sium on Wed., September 29 at 4:30 p.m. at Rice University. Dr. Banks is aleader in multicultural studies and has written extensively on multiculturaland social studies education. He is editor of the Handbook of Research onMulticultural Education (Jossey-Bass) and Multicultural Education, Transfor-mative Knowledge, and Action (Teachers College Press). He also served aspast president of the American Educational Research Association. (See page2 for a review of Diversity within Unity: Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning

in a Multicultural Society by James Banks, Peter Cookson, Geneva Gay, Willis Hawley, Jacqueline JordanIrvine, Sonia Nieto, and Walter Stephan.)

“The Classroom Storytelling Project has been a tremendous help to our Head Start teachers. When Igo into the classrooms, I can actually see the children reading.” This is how Helen Wright,Executive Director of the William Smith Sr. Tri-County Child Development Head Start, began aconversation about the early literacy collaborations with her agency, the Fort Bend IndependentSchool District, the University of Texas-Houston’s Center for Improving theReadiness of Children for Learning and Education (C.I.R.C.L.E.) and theRice University Center for Education’s School Literacy and Culture Project.Through a grant from the Texas Education Agency, twenty-nine teachers ofthree and four year-olds from the Head Start agency and the school districthave participated in workshops on early literacy practices as presented by

C.I.R.C.L.E. and the ClassroomStorytelling Project, which includes in-class mentoring, monthly seminars, and aweeklong Summer Institute on Reading,Writing and Cultural Connections.

The collaboration has been quitesuccessful. As Dr. Mary Jackson, Directorof Special Projects for Fort Bend ISD, said,“We are so pleased to see an alignedapproach to developing the language/literacy skills of our younglearners from Head Start up through our early grades in thedistrict. The Rice Classroom Storytelling Project fits beautifullyinto our district’s K-3 literacy plan. The professional developmentfor our prekindergarten teachers has been outstanding, and thebenefits to our students have been great!” Recently, the otherpartners in the collaboration, Helen Wright; Glenda Harrison fromC.I.R.C.L.E.; Mariette Bellamy, Curriculum Director at WilliamSmith Tri-County; and myself, joined together to review the workwe have done since January, 2003, in Fort Bend County. Excerptsfrom that conversation follow.

Classroom Storytelling Project Brings ‘Outstanding’Benefits to William Smith Head Start and Fort Bend ISDby Bernie Mathes, School Literacy & Culture Project Director

continued on page 6

Marsha Johnson, a Head Startteacher at E.A. Jones Elementaryin Fort Bend ISD, takes a storyfrom one of her students.

•Diversity Within Unity: Essential Principles p. 2for Teaching and Learning

•School Science & Technology Expands to p. 3Clear Creek, Pasadena, and Dickinson ISD’s

• Uncovering the Stories Behind the Dropout p. 4 Rates

• Judy Radigan, Advocate for Children p. 5•School Literacy & Culture Project Partici- p. 7pates in Dual Language and ESL Programat Herod Elementary School

•A Cultural Collaboration: Cultural Conversa- p. 7tions and Teach for America

•pH Lab: Nanotechnology Comes to 9th p. 8Grade

•Elementary and Middle School Students p. 10Shine at School Writing Project Readings

•Lydia Smith Named Teacher of the Year at p. 10Challenge Early College High School

•School Literacy & Culture Project Hosts p. 125th Annual Miniconference

•Upcoming Events p. 16

What’s Inside

2 • CenterPiece

Dr. James Banks and a panel of interdisciplinary scholars worked for overfour years to develop a set of principles based on research and practiceabout education and diversity that can help teachers, school administrators,and other educational practitioners increase student academic achievement,improve intergroup skills, and understand the challenge and opportunitystudent diversity in schools provides.

James Banks defines multicultural education as an idea, as an educationalreform movement, and as a process. As an idea, Banks writes thatmulticultural education seeks to create equal educational opportunities forall students by changing the total school environment so that it will reflectthe diverse cultures and groups that make up our nation’s classrooms.

As an educational reform movement, Banks describes multiculturaleducation as reforms that try to ensure equal learning opportunities for

students. Teaching strategies that empower all students and give them a voice are primeexamples. Understanding multiple perspectives will allow students to see that historians,researchers, and textbook writers have written from their own perspectives.

As a process, Banks writes that multicultural education is a continuing process with its goalsbeing ideals that teachers and administrators should constantly strive to achieve.

The panel concludes in their report, Diversity Within Unity, that powerful multicultural schoolshelp students from diverse racial, cultural , ethnic, and language groups to experienceacademic success. They emphasize that students must be competent in intergroup and civicskills to function effectively in today’s complex and ethnically polarized nation and world. Asidealistic as the principles may seem, they were written with the knowledge that intergroupconflicts exist but that meeting the challenge of diversity is worth the effort for everyone.

These principles were certainly written for urban schools struggling to meet the needs of theirdiverse populations. But increasingly suburban schools also need tovalue and learn from their growing diversity. I believe these principlesshould be used as a framework for effective multicultural educationbased on research and best practice. The Multicultural EducationConsensus Panel organized their 12 essential principles into fivecategories: (1)Teacher learning, (2) Student learning, (3) Intergrouprelations, (4) School governance, organization and equity, and (5)Assessment.

Teacher Learning

Principle 1: Professional development programs should help teachersunderstand the complex characteristics of ethnic groups within U.S.society and the ways in which race, ethnicity, language, and social classinteract to influence student behavior.

Student Learning

Principle 2: Schools should ensure that all students have equitable opportunities to learn and tomeet high standards.

Principle 3: The curriculum should help students understand that knowledge is sociallyconstructed and reflects researchers’ personal experiences as well as the social, political, andeconomic contexts in which they live and work.

Diversity Within Unity: Essential Principles forTeaching and Learning

by Connie Floyd, Cultural Conversations Director

continued on page 11

James Banks definesmulticultural education as anidea, as an educationalreform movement, and as aprocess. As an idea, Bankswrites that multiculturaleducation seeks to createequal educationalopportunities for all studentsby changing the total schoolenvironment so that it willreflect the diverse culturesand groups that make up ournation’s classrooms.

Center Piece • 3

School Science & Technology Expands to Clear Creek,Pasadena, Hitchcock, and Dickinson ISD’sby Wallace Dominey, School Science & Technology Project Director

Christine Hawthorne (left) and CarolSingletary (right), teachers at DunbarMiddle School, Dickinson ISD, posewith ‘Charles Darwin’ at theConference for the Advancement ofScience Teaching in November, 2003.

School Science & Technology has expanded to include Clear Creek, Pasadena, Hitchcock, andDickinson ISD’s. Project Director Wallace Dominey is teaching a course to grades 4-8 scienceteachers from these districts entitled the “Integration of Technology into Life SciencesInstruction.” The course began with a one-week summer institute in August 2003 andcontinues with after-school meetings throughout the 2003-04 school academic year. Topicsinclude the use of USB microscopes, digital cameras, and various teaching and productivitysoftware as related to science instruction. Teachers are encouraged to use technologyapplications in their classrooms as these applications are learned. Teacher projects includeeverything from creating Jeopardy!® questions in Powerpoint® to creating online assessmentsusing the School Science & Technology’s assessment website (http://schoolsdev.rice.edu/assessment/).

Teacher participant Christine Hawthorne (Dunbar Middle School, Dickinson ISD) summarizedthe impact of the course on her this way: “I think the main thing this course has done for me isto give me confidence in the use of many different types of technology and applications. I had aworking knowledge of computers, having taken numerous crash courses offered by variousdistricts; however, it was always the same story. I sat for an hour ortwo, learned the process/application and then went home. I wasliving proof that ‘what you don’t use, you lose.’ With this course, ithas been different. Not only were we challenged to learn technologyapplications but we were also challenged to use them in ourclassroom. My students delighted in being my guinea pigs as I triedout all my newfound knowledge on them. They also seemed to enjoythinking of me in the role of student and were willing to help mework out the kinks. This course has been a win/win situation for meand my students.”

Several of the course participants presented “Taking the PowerPointPlunge: Integrating Technology into Life Science Instruction” at the2003 Texas Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching onNovember 1, 2003. Presenters included Patty Manco (A.B. FreemanElementary, PISD), Chuck Meredith (Weber Elementary, CCISD),Fran Rogstad (Stewart Elementary, Hitchcock ISD), Tammy Oldani(Ed White Elementary, CCISD), Christine Hawthorne (DunbarMiddle School, Dickinson ISD), and Carol Singletary (Dunbar MiddleSchool, Dickinson ISD).

Part of the expansion into these new districts includes a focus onStewart Elementary, CCISD. With support from Casey O’Pry,Stewart’s principal, and Glynis Sawyer, CCISD Executive Directorfor Technology, five Stewart teachers (Molly Norman, Danae Reagan,Stacey Milam, Joyce Scott, and Sue McGlone) were able to participate in the technologyintegration course. In addition, the Stewart science lab was inventoried by Dominey and plansare underway to put this inventory online for quick item location and checkout.

The final component of the expansion includes an assessment of the kindergarten sciencecurriculum on CD Rom created by the Rice Science & Technology/Aldine ISD ScienceCollaborative. The primary authors of the curriculum were Martha Borrowman and C.J.Thompson, Aldine Science Specialists, who were supervised by Linda Scott, Aldine ISDElementary and Intermediate Science Program Director. Forty kindergarten teachers fromPasadena and Clear Creek ISD are participating in a study of the effectiveness of thiscurriculum in terms of increasing student science achievement. Participating teachers receiveprofessional development and science materials to facilitate using an inquiry approach inkindergarten science instruction.

4 • CenterPiece

Uncovering the Stories Behind the Dropout Ratesby Judy Radigan, Center for Education Researcher

Judy Radigan interviews students at Lee High School forher research project.

Rice University education students, Esther Shaw(left), Habib Irshad, Etsuko Senoo, and ErinMcEntee (not shown), were awarded an EnvisionGrant by Rice University to engage students atFurr High School in a study to develop a profile ofthe typical dropout student to present in a publicforum at the end of the semester. EnvisionGrants are awarded to student projects whosegoal is to effect a positive change in the commu-nity.

continued on page 12

As the fall school semester of 2003 drew to a close, I sat quietly in the back of the Furr High Schoollibrary making notes on a student high school dropout presentation, part of a legislative project thatincluded English and government students. The principal, Dr. Simmons, turned to one of the SeniorEnglish teachers with a suggestion, “Why don’t we get a group of these kids together and really dig into

dropouts?” Then Dr. Simmons included me as sheasked, “Would you help me put that togetherpresentation)? Where they (the students) really speak.Would you and some Rice students help me with that?”Believing this was a valuable project, wonderingwhere I would find the students, I replied, “Yes. Thisis something we need to do.”

This study of dropouts comes at a time whenHouston Independent School District is undernational scrutiny for underreporting its dropoutstatistics. This project also reflects the increasingdetermination within Furr High School to graduateits students. With a minority population, 75% Latinoand 23% African American, this school population is90% low socio-economic status (SES). The principal

and the teachers want to help these students, who are all too familiar with the dropout phenomenonamong their friends and families, to learn to generate reliable information and to represent it in apublic forum.

The opportunity to pursue this study of dropouts at Furr has also opened up an extraordinary andunexpected opportunity for researchers at the Center for Education. Studying the dropout issue withthe teachers and students who struggle with school leaving as part of their daily work has offered aninside experience into a complex problem. Furr hasbecome a fertile laboratory for fledgling Riceundergraduate researchers as they can work under theguidance of Furr English teacher, Ms. Angela Borzon,and researchers from Rice University.

As the spring semester began, four student researchers,Esther Shaw, Habib Irshad, Etsuko Senoo, and ErinMcIntee, joined me in facilitating a critical literacyproject on dropouts in two junior English classes at Furrwith the students and their teacher. Habib Irshadgarnered an Envision Grant from Leadership Rice tofacilitate the completion of the project. The Rice studentsand the Furr students and teacher would learn aboutethnographic research on their feet by doing. However, aresearch project in the field is not without its obstacles.

Academic, social, and unscheduled activities forced us tonavigate through fitful starts and stops. We began withsmall group discussions of current articles from thedropout research literature. Students from Rice and Furrevaluated the articles for similarities to their schoolsituation and differences. As discussions progressed, theFurr students were surprised to learn that 85% of thestudents in their school were considered at-risk of dropping out. Students slowly told their own storiesof brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers who had left school without graduating. Presentations ofstudents’ initial understanding of the research literature and their own experiences were interruptedwith preparation for the state English test (TAKS).

Center Piece • 5

Dr. Judy Radigan brings to the Center forEducation research team extraordinaryobservation and analytical skills and aseemingly tireless determination to be anadvocate for children in both her scholarlyand community activities. Her specialexpertise in the education of immigrantchildren as well as children, schools, andcommunities on the margins has greatlyexpanded the capacity of the Center to focusits research on the educational experiences ofour poorest youth. Through Dr. Radigan’spublications and her hands-on participation inreforming schools, we learn much more aboutthe barriers to these children’s learning aswell as coming to a much greaterunderstanding of the enormouspossibilities that reside in every child.

I first met Judy Radigan while workingwith our research team. Her intensity waswhat struck me right away, along withher high energy and enthusiasm. Andthis intensity is most often focused onstudents. She does not just ask, “Whatare they learning?” or “How are theyhelped by this latest reform?” She wantsto understand the underlying question,“What sense do kids make of school?”She cares about the relevance of schoolingto their lives. She pulls for them to makeit – in school, as well as in the adult worldthey will soon face. The loss of so manydropouts each year is something she takespersonally. As a researcher she doesmore than merely build a careful recordof data; her day is full of activities thattouch the lives of children. (See sidebar.)

Judy Radigan brings to the Centerresearch team a Ph.D. in EducationalPsychology in addition to her longexperience in schools –as a parent of fourand as a teacher of English, ESL, andTheater in the public schools of Houstonand Alvin over a twenty-year period. Inaddition, she served as the principal of aprivate school. When our research teamwas charged to study the effects of a largeschool reform grant on its recipient schools,Judy’s experiences called her to look not onlyat the big picture of school change, but also

Judy Radigan, Advocate for Childrenby Laurie Hammons, Project Coordinator

for evidence that the reform was improvingthe education that their students obtained.

To make clear the ways we understand howreforms affect particular kids, she has writtenabout “Irineo,” a student who spent threeyears classified as a freshman. He was labeleda troublemaker, with little expectation (eitherfrom his teachers or himself) that he wouldgraduate. But through involvement in theschool’s fine arts magnet program, created asan experiment by a faculty determined toreach kids whose abilities exceedperformance, he gained leadership experience

and motivation to overcome low expectations.His senior year Irineo took a full load ofcourses, as well as classes before and afterschool, in order to graduate. His is not merely

Advocate in Motion

In addition to her research, Judy Radigan is involved witha dizzying number of projects. She teaches educationclasses at Rice. She says her Foundations of Educationcourse is designed to encourage pre-service teachers tolook past their preconceived attitudes about education toreally see the possibilities of urban kids.

Because she is convinced that all teachers need a deepfamiliarity with diverse cultures, she offers CulturalStudies courses online through the University of Houston.She maintains a near-constant availability via email withher students, themselves classroom teachers.

Judy has also taught an ESL strategies course to Latinoimmigrants, in this case professionals in their formercountries who are participating in a certification programto become bilingual teachers for HISD.

Her keen interest in the education of immigrants led JudyRadigan to observe and evaluate Even Start Programsthat are opening up opportunities for young children andtheir parents in three HISD schools. She reported,“Parents participate in daily ESL and GED classes, learnactivities to enhance the reading and math abilities oftheir children, and learn the dynamics of parenting in anew country with a changing value system.”

Dr. Radigan is also a child advocate for the court system.She manages a research study of volunteers who findsecure homes for abused and neglected children. Sheherself also acts as a volunteer advocate for two youngboys who have been removed from their home.

continued on page 13

6 • CenterPiece

Nestled in a backhallway at E. A. Jones

Elementary School in FortBend ISD is the Head Startclassroom taught byMarsha Johnson andConnie Ramos. Everyschool day 20 children(mostly four-years-old, butwith a few three and fiveyear-olds) gather to learn,sing, play and sharetogether. This is also aclassroom where childrentell stories to their teacher,and act out these stories,every day. Ms. Johnson and Ms.Ramos have created a literacy-richclassroom: a sign-in sheet is on the door, children’s names arefunctionally displayed around the room, a name graph documents whichchild likes which kind of cookie, a chart lists what the children alreadyknow about types of foods, and the pretend center is a restaurant withmenus, ordering pads, and money. Throughout the room children arewriting – writing individual letters and pseudo-letters, copying words,writing extended scribbles as a note to a friend. And they tell their storiesto their teachers.

MS. BELLAMY: The collaboration validatedour teachers. The Rice mentors come in and ourteachers think, “I really am going in the rightdirection. I am doing something positive forthese kids.” And they’re seeing the outcomeswith the children. They really are making adifference; they’re not just spinning theirwheels. With C.I.R.C.L.E as part of the project,Glenda has gone in and done a lot of validationas well and followed up.After the mentor is there, theteacher makes a change. Andthen Glenda comes in anddoes an observation and says“Wow, look what you’redoing.”

MS. WRIGHT: When thementors go out, theydemonstrate first, showinghow this is to be done. Theteachers actually see it. Thenthe mentor observes themdoing it. I think this hasreally helped them as well.And when you have themonthly seminar meetings,oh, they love those. It is not asituation where they feelintimidated, not at all. Theyfeel empowered; they feel thatthey have a partner.

MS. HARRISON: Noteverybody has the samesuccesses that happened here.A part of it, a big part of it, is the mentors. Beinga mentor requires two different skills. It’ssomebody who is extremely knowledgeable inthe content area, but it’s also somebody who isknowledgeable about working with an adult.There’s a way you can come in and make ateacher feel like she wants to change, and there’sa way you can come in and set a teacher’s backup against you. And the Rice mentors have justdone a beautiful job in the classroom. I alsoneed to give Tri-County credit. You created anatmosphere; you gave clear expectations ofwhat your agency wanted and what wasexpected of teachers. You have provided themeans for them to start making these changesyou’re asking, through working withC.I.R.C.L.E. and sending them through ourtraining, through working with Rice and givingthem that ongoing support. You are providingthat support so they can overcome whateverchallenges they feel they’re facing. continued on page 15

A Head Start student at E.A. Jones ElementarySchool in Fort Bend ISD and her writing.

MS. MATHES: I think there is an atmospherewhere your teachers see themselves as learners.The C.I.R.C.L.E. structure and the materialshave been very valuable to the teachers. Theyprovided many of the ideas that the teachersthen could use and bring into their own work. Ithas been a wonderful synergy of lots of voicesand conditions coming together, I think, to makethings so successful.

MS. BELLAMY: We have had strongpartnerships throughout this, with C.I.R.C.L.E,with Rice and with Head Start, and particularlywith the school district. The Head Start teachersare paired with prekindergarten teachers andthat has given our Head Start teachers greatercredibility. In most schools there may be justone or two pre-K teachers, and there’s one HeadStart teacher. But when we pair them together,they are now a team, and they act as a team inthat school.

MS. HARRISON: I also think another reallyimportant part of this project in here is Rice, theStorytelling Project. I got to see one of thechildren doing her story dictation, and the littlegirl went on and on; the language wasincredible. The teacher took the time to showme one of the child’s first stories that was just a

continued from page 1, Classroom Storytelling Project Brings ‘Outstanding’Benefits to William Smith Head Start andFort Bend ISD

continued on page 11

Center Piece • 7

We’re allies, Herod Elementary in HISD and the School Literacy and Culture Project. We both want tosee children grow to their potential. A United States Department of Education grant has funded ourcollaboration on four projects to support the growth of Herod’s dual language program and English as aSecond Language students.

In the past two years Herod and the School Literacy andCulture Project have planned family literacy nights, enrichedwriting instruction through the School Writing Projectseminars, mentored teachers in the Storytelling Project, andpiloted the Tell Me Project.

Family literacy nights help forge home/school connections.Collaborative planning ensured that these programs couldfunction smoothly and have wide appeal to attract manyfamilies. Presentations on poetry, book making, recipe testing,and computer story writing were among the activities thatstudents and their parents enjoyed.

School Writing Project facilitators worked with teachers ofolder children at Herod. Through writing activities completedby the teachers and through discussion, classroom practiceswere studied with the aim to enliven and enrich students’ writing. Since the teachers wrote during theseminars, they could empathize with and more fully understand the students’ development as writers.

During the Storytelling Project collaboration teachers learned to use dictation and dramatization ofchildren’s stories, among other literacy activities, as part of their curriculum. As the children tell and actout their stories, their understanding of language greatly increases. In the fall of last year for example, a

School Literacy & Culture Project Participates in DualLanguage and ESL Program at Herod Elementary

A student in a bilingual pre-K classroom atHerod Elementary School shows Judy Rolke,School Literacy & Culture Project LiteracyCodirector, the story she is writing.

by Judy Rolke, School Literacy & Culture Project Literacy Codirector

This year, second-year Houston Teach For America (TFA)teachers or corp-members were offered an opportunity toparticipate in a Cultural Conversations seminar group designedspecifically for them as a part of theiron-going professional development. Toour delight more than 20 teachersattended a series of six seminars in thefall and this spring.

TFA teachers are working in some ofthe Houston areas most diverse schools.They are teaching students whose backgrounds and cultures maybe very different from their own. These young teachers areenthusiastic about teaching but even more excited about learningto be effective teachers.

In our seminars, teachers reflected about their own practice aswe read The Dreamkeepers by Gloria Ladson-Billings and studied

A Cultural Collaboration: Cultural Conversations andTeach For Americaby Connie Floyd, Cultural Conversations Director

“I am concerned about theglamorization of gang, thuglife at my school. I see the tollit is taking on my students.And on the school itself.”

continued on page 14

continued on page 15

A Teach for America teacher and CathyMorris, one of two Cultural Conversationsfacilitators, participate in a discussion atone of six Cultural Conversations seminarsheld this past fall and spring for Teach forAmerica teachers.

8 • CenterPiece

pH Lab: Nanotechnolog

“Our kids come from all over the world -- Afghanistan, Vietnam, Mexico, Bosnia, the Sudan -- from 47countries. This is their chance for an education. Having Nonie Harcombe and the pH Lab here is making allthe difference. If 9th grade science isn’t taught well, our kids aren’t able to go on to succeed in the uppergrades. They won’t graduate. At Lee we are determined not to lose kids. The pH Lab helps us meet thatcommitment and at the same time trains teachers to go back into other schools with needs like ours. A greatprogram!”

Steve Amstutz, Principal, Lee High School

“My kids are able to be successful in this class!It is obvious that quality teaching and learningare going on. The potential impact of thisprogram for students across the district ismeaningful and exciting.”

Mary Stevens, Assistant Principal,Lee High School

“My favorite aspects of the year have been the booksthat I have actually had time to read, my participa-tion in productive discussions on education, and myinteractions with all the experts who have visited.”

Talina Grimes, pH Lab resident teacher,Westbury High School

“My experience with the Rice pH Lab providedmotivation to make a very important paradigmshift on how I approach science education . . .how to implement activities that encouragestudents to think and bring out their ideas . . .how to develop lessons that generate relevanceand transfer information designed to promotestudent engagement.”

Paul Guevarra, pH Lab resident teacher,Sharpstown High School

High school students confer during the CBEN summeracademy.

Congratulations to pH Lab students for their awards at the HISDdistrict science fair.

Retired engineer and college student advise pH Labstudents on their science project.

Center Piece • 9

gy Comes to 9th GradeIn the city where the discovery of nanotechnology brought Nobel Prizes to two localscientists, one in six African American high school students leaves school before ever

reaching 10th grade. For Latinos, the number is slightly larger and by senior year, half theoriginal students in the class will be missing from many of our high schools. What barrierscould be causing so many students to dropout by age 15?The answers are many, from poverty and family economicneeds, to second language difficulties, to finding schoolirrelevant. One barrier missing from the statistics, but all tooreal for urban kids is 9th grade science, Integrated Physics andChemistry (IPC). Few top chemistry or physics teachers wantto teach it; few biology teachers know its content well; fewschools have labs equipped for this course; and the IPCcurriculum involves solving for one unknown — acomponent of algebra, which most 9th graders are justbeginning to study.

All this exists in the city known around the world for theproduction of science knowledge — from computers to space,from medicine to nanotechnology. Clearly, something iswrong.

Dr. Elnora Harcombe is convinced the 9th grade science course can become a launch pad, not abarrier. She believes the key is the teacher. For 13 years, as director of the Center’s ModelScience Lab at Lanier Middle School, Dr. Harcombe has seen teachers transformed through anintensive residency year, learning new science and technology, and the practice ofconstructivist teaching for student understanding. The result of teachers’ learning is urbankids who love science and see science in their futures.

The success of the Lanier Model Lab caught the attention of Steve Amstutz, Principal of LeeHigh School in HISD, where students represent more than 40 countries,many of them coming from war zones and economic chaos. School isvital to their future, and science is vital to their success in school.

Steve Amstutz’s determination to create real learning opportunities forLee students coincided with Nonie Harcombe’s desire to tackle thequality of teaching in 9th grade science. The result: the establishment ofthe pH Lab at Lee, a one-year residency program for secondary scienceteachers from across the district to teach Lee students while learning newscience, new hands-on strategies for teaching and learning, and newconnections to the science Houston is famous for.

That’s where nanotechnology comes in: The pH Lab is a partnershipbetween the Rice Center for Education, HISD, and the Center forBiological and Environmental Nanotechnology at Rice (CBEN). Madepossible by federal grants to CBEN and generous funding from the CainFoundation to the Center for Education, this partnership is breaking

down the barriers between school science and Houston’s cutting edge scientific discoveries.Dr. Harcombe instructs the teachers by modeling on a day-to-day basis, in the classroom withthe students, the ways scientists confront questions and explore the natural world. CBEN offersLee and other HISD students a summer academy on the Rice campus for learning “seriouschemistry.” It also provides teachers direct connections to scientists who are applying startlingnew discoveries to medical and environmental applications that have the power to changeeveryday life.

The pH Lab brings the world of science to students whose families have brought the world toHouston; whether from Afghanistan or Sudan, Bosnia or Mexico, these students are learningthat there are no real barriers to learning when their teachers are learning, too.

We appreciate the whole-hearted supportof Steve Amstutz, Principal of Lee HighSchool, here with Dr. Harcombe.

Thanks go to Jim Weaver of theCain Foundation for funding thepH Lab, here with Dr.Harcombe.

10 • CenterPiece

Elementary and Middle School Students Shine at theSchool Writing Project Student

and Teacher Readings

More than 60 students read their poems andstories at the School Writing Project annual

elementary and middle school student and teacherreadings April 22, 2004 at Rice University. Fellowstudents, parents, grandparents and teachers packedthe filled-to-capacity room to hear the writings ofstudents, kindergarten through eighth grade, whoseteachers participate in the Center for Education’sSchool Writing Project. The following is a poem read byone of the student writers.

Lydia Smith Named Teacher ofthe Year at Challenge EarlyCollege High SchoolLydia Smith, a language arts teacher and SchoolWriting Project lead teacher, was named Teacher of theYear by Challenge Early College High School inHouston ISD (HISD). A seven-year veteran of HISDand the School Writing Project and graduate of theRice teacher education program, Ms. Smith teachesCreative Writing and English 2. She is the AdvisoryCoordinator at the Challenge High School. Chosenby her fellow teachers at the Challenge High School,which is in its first year, she is their first Teacher of theYear.

A group of students from Herod Elementary School waitto read their stories and poems at the School WritingProject Elementary and Middle School Student andTeacher Readings, April 22, 2004 at Rice University.

The Oceanby Isabella Chen, T.H. Rogers Middle School

The Ocean, beautiful, gleaming, splendidTo behold, lustrous habitat of reefs;Yet in the midnight depths of it all, the perilStands, waiting to reveal itself like a thief.

Carefully trained eyes scan the horizon, the stormlooks to strike its prey, as the merchant’s smoothlying words flow out of his mouth,Only upon money do his greedy eyes play.

Upon sandy shores, children play,The ocean a pleasant playground,Yet miles away, the storm stirs,The pleasant facade drowned.

The sun has set, the storm arises,Thunder rages from the clouds,Rain pounds upon the ship,Overcome, the mast finally bows.

Shipwrecks litter the ocean bed,Like garbage in a child’s room,It swallows the last remnant of the ship,Forever the ocean, a ship’s tomb.

Center Piece • 11

Principle 4: Schools should provide allstudents with opportunities to participate inextra- and co-curricular activities that developknowledge, skills, and attitudes that increaseacademic achievement and foster positiveinterracial relationships.

Intergroup Relations

Principle 5: Schools should create or makesalient superordinate crosscutting groupmemberships in order to improve intergrouprelations.

Principle 6: Students should learn aboutstereotyping and other related bias that havenegative effects on racial and ethnic relations.

Principle 7: Students should learn about thevalues shared by virtually all cultural groups(e.g., justice, equality, freedom, peace,compassion, and charity).

Principle 8: Teachers should help studentsacquire the social skills needed to interacteffectively with students from other racial,ethnic, cultural, and language groups.

Principle 9: Schools should provideopportunities for students from differentracial, ethnic, cultural, and language groups

continued from page 2, Diversity Within Unity: Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning

continued from page 6, Headstart at E.A. Jones

Ms. Johnson reflected on how the childrenhave grown since August. “In the fall thechildren told real short, short sentences, acouple of words. ‘I go store.’ Often not evencomplete sentences. Now what I’m seeing arecomplete sentences, using the propergrammar. I’m also noticing that the storiesare longer, much longer than they were in thefall. The children are very observant now.When I first started with stories, they weretalking to me, but they were fidgeting,looking around. They were telling me thestory, but they were sort of talking to the air.Now when they’re telling me the story, ifthey’re not able to see what I’m writing, theyare moving their heads around so they can seethe words being produced. They really areobserving the motion of my writing. Theyknow I’m writing what they said.

“I have three readers, for sure, and five or sixmore who are on the edge of reading. They

have the letter recognition down and areputting sounds together. Sina can read herown stories and many of the books in theclassroom. I see lots of shared reading.

“My children are also beginning to write whatthey are saying. For example, we read a storytoday, Bella Lost Her Moo. I asked the childrento draw pictures of the characters in the storyand then to come up with sentences of theirown about what they saw in the book. Theyjust sounded out the words. It was awesome.It blew me away! They impress me withsomething every day.” [See photo, page 6]

This Head Start classroom shows us all thatfocused, committed teachers who have accessto best practices and support in the classroom,can have enormous influence on the academicsuccess of the young children in their care.

to interact socially under conditions designedto reduce fear and anxiety.

School Governance, Organization, and Equity

Principle 10: A school’s organizationalstrategies should ensure that decision-makingis widely shared and that members of theschool community learn collaborative skillsand dispositions in order to create a caringenvironment for students.

Principle 11: Leaders should developstrategies that ensure that all public schools,regardless of their locations, are fundedequitably.

Assessment

Principle 12: Teachers should use multipleculturally sensitive techniques to assesscomplex cognitive and social skills.

Any faculty that works through theseprinciples will have classrooms that are notonly truly multicultural, but are powerfullyeducational.

The panel was sponsored by the Center for MulticulturalEducation at the University of Washington and the CommonDestiny Alliance at the University of Maryland. DiversityWithin Unity can be downloaded from the Center forMulticultural Education website at http://depts.washington.edu/centerme/cenpub.htm

12 • CenterPiece

Summer Creative Writing Program forYoung PeopleSchool Literacy & Culture Project andWriters in the SchoolsAnnunciation Orthodox School

Reading, Writing andCultural ConnectionsSummer InstituteSchool Literacy &Culture ProjectRice University

Hazel CreekmoreMemorialSymposium: Teachingfor MulticulturalLiteracy, GlobalCitizenship, and SocialJustice byDr. James Banks,Russell F. StarkUnivrsity Professor inCurriculum andInstruction, andDirector, Center forMulticulturalEducation, Universityof Washington, SeattleGrand Hall, RiceUniversity

• Upcoming Events •June 6- June 25, 2004

July 12 - July 16, 2004

September 29, 2004

continued from page 4, Uncovering the Stories Behind the Dropout Rates

continued on following page

To regain momentum in the project, the Ricestudents and I developed interview protocolsbased on Spradley’s (1979) Grand Tourquestions, asking school leavers and potentialschool leavers to discuss their academic livesand the roles their family and friends played intheir lives. As the students began to intervieweach other in small groups, it was difficult toseparate the interviewers from theinterviewees. Students would discuss teachersthey shared and memorable experiencesthey had in school.

One interview among Latino studentsturned into a group discussion of aschool journey that was stalled in ninthgrade before regaining momentum insophomore year. The students noisilydescribed their fruitful elementaryschool years, filled with academicawards and honors. Middle schoolbrought fewer accolades but moreschool social activities. Ninth grade wasa year of social excitement with newfriends from other schools, lesssupervision than middle school, an easyopportunity to skip classes with friendsand, for some, a year of academicfailure. Parents, friends and innerresolve encouraged many of thesestudents to continue their schooling.

However, home life and school lifeappeared in sharp relief in some storiesas students struggle with unusualresponsibilities that send them intoadult life at home and a suspended lifeof adolescent freedom at school. Aseemingly carefree African Americanstudent laughs off her failing status inschool. Her jovial, boisterous naturemarks her as a class clown who takesnothing seriously. However, her tonebecomes more serious as she talks abouther new responsibilities. This failingstudent has moved out of her familyhome into her great-grandmother’shome to prepare meals, wash clothes,clean house, and help her ailing greatgrandmother with morning and eveningdressing.

In another group, a school leaver whohas returned describes his life on thestreets. This former druggie explainsthat he was making a few hundreddollars a day standing in line for hisdad’s prospective clients waiting to get

bail bond money. When he comes to school,he questions the relevance of what he islearning in comparison with the lives of hisfamily members and the work he did on thestreets.

Another school leaver is a recent Mexicanimmigrant who has already graduated fromhigh school in Mexico. She became frustrated

Ruth Zamudio and Lisa Crouch with their studentswho presented Spanish songs and rhymes.

School Literacy & Culture Project Hosts5th Annual MiniconferenceOver 250 early childhood educators gathered in Rice University’sDuncan Hall on January 17, 2004 to learn more about children’sliterature and literacy at the fifth annual early literacy miniconferencesponsored by the School Literacy and Culture (SLC) Project.Anchored by Patsy Cooper’s keynote address, “Eight Books ThatWill Change a Young Child’s Life,” the conference offered teachersfrom public and private school and Head Start classrooms theopportunity to explore new practices and to imagine new ways toconnect children to literature. Breakout sessions focused oncomprehension, read alouds, poetry, writing with young children,bilingual language learners, fantasy play, connecting books andvalues, and much more. These sessions were presented by mentorteachers from SLC’s Classroom Storytelling Project. Children fromthe Benevidez Elementary prekindergarten bilingual classroom ofLisa Crouch, SLC mentor teacher, and Ruth Zamudio, came on thisSaturday to show participants the songs and poems they hadlearned. This remarkable demonstration allowed teachers to seehow rhymes and songs not only delight children, but enhance theirliteracy learning. Comments from participants were overwhelminglypositive: “I am leaving with many thoughts to ponder, planning howto change my teaching to keep it fresh and relevant.” “Sessionswere uniformly well-organized, full of usable and interestinglypresented information with children foremost, always.” “PatsyCooper always stimulates my thinking, keeps me on my toes.”Teachers loudly applauded Cooper’s powerful statement that “booksare not for teaching children how to read. Books are for teachingchildren how to “live.”

To receive information on next year’s conference or SLC’s SummerInstitute on Reading, Writing and Cultural Connections July 12 – 16,please send your mailing address to slc@rice.edu.

Center Piece • 13

continued from previous page, Uncovering the Stories Behind the Dropout Rates

a heartwarming story. It’s also an instructivetale of the small things that motivate astudent’s success to overcome entrenchedlabels. By documenting his story JudyRadigan gives us a lens with which to viewlarge-scale school reform, and to see what ishappening to the Irineos in our educationalsystem.

Dr. Radigan’s current research involvesobservations at Furr High School, on the eastside of HISD, a school that is doing its best toovercome a history of under-funding and lowexpectations. Furr was one of the first schoolsto experiment with the small-schools model ofreform. For ten years, teachers and principalshave worked to make the school a placewhere students like Irineo could find theencouragement they need to be successful.Within its walls, one can find many examplesof the problems and possibilities faced bystudents with limited resources.

Her study of Furr reform takes her intoclassrooms. It is obvious to anyone who seesher there that Judy Radigan enjoys herinteractions with students. During the currentsemester, she has observed and assisted ateacher and two junior-level English classes in

a non-traditional study of dropouts. As highschool students themselves, they have beenable to examine the factors that cause highschool students to drop out or to stay inschool. While the students in small groupsare conducting the interviews of current andformer students, Judy Radigan listens andwatches intently, and her comments are to thepoint. Her additional questions help thestudents see the patterns in life choices andthe impact on their lives.

One student tells of her experience having ababy 18 months ago; she kept up with herstudies, maintains an A/B average in hercourses, and plans to study science in college.Another seems caught in a downward spiralof drinking and drug use. Another must copeafter being kicked out of his home by a step-parent. As another is interviewed, the studentand the rest of us come to understand that hersuccess in various grades and classes oftenmirrors how much she respects, and feelsrespected by, her teachers.

Judy Radigan is also involving Rice educationstudents in the dropout project as they helpthe high school students compose their

continued from page 5, Judy Radigan, Advocate for Children

continued on page 14

with the number of hours she would have totake to graduate in this country. However, shereturned to school with the realization that thecurrent requirements are a necessary obstacleon her road to college education and a career.

We have also misjudged students from theirappearance or their status in the class. TheLatina student who has designed aPowerPoint presentation for her small groupspent much of the early days of the projectapplying makeup and reading beautymagazines. An African American male who isclassified as a special education student withmarginal reading ability made a summarypresentation of a research article from a peer-reviewed journal and has organized thePowerPoint presentation for his small group.

Another student separated herself from theclass, firmly ensconced in front of a blankcomputer screen, head down between foldedarms, oblivious to the discussion of researcharticles and interviews. However, her firstwriting on the dropout issue showed thestrongest writing voice in the two junior

English classes. This Latina had left themagnet program at Furr after her sister diedlast year. She had isolated herself from herclassmates. Facing mandated school failurebecause of poor attendance, she has beencoaxed into a group where she hascontributed literature reviews and interviewnotes.

As this research program moves into its finalphase with a small group of studentresearchers from Furr, their English teacher,Angela Borzon, two of the studentresearchers, Esther and Habib, and thisresearcher, we have intense daily meetings atthe end of the school day. Students arewriting a response to the PEER CommitteeReport for Improving High SchoolGraduation Rates that was commissioned byHISD. Our goal is for these students to usethe information they gain from their researchand their lives to influence the policy makersin the district as HISD works to develop aprogram to curb high school dropouts.

14 • CenterPiece

continued from page 13, Judy Radigan, Advocate for Children

interview questions. As they participate, Judy uses this experience to demonstrate a caring andcareful approach to research. It is obvious how much she respects the students, both from thehigh school and from the university.

As Judy Radigan reflects on what keeps her motivated, she talks about becoming more andmore aware of “the chasm that exists between poor and middle-class in this city.” She has seenmiddle-class administrators, teachers, and volunteers try to impose their own values andexpect that this alone will cause students to “see the light and automatically rise up out ofpoverty.” From her research and her experiences she sees a more complex set of problems, andby giving voice to the students and communities with which she works, hopes to make oureducational system more equitable for all students.

Research at the Center for Education is focused on issues of academic quality and educationalequity, from policy to classrooms and children. The capacity of the Center to take on these bigissues while always keeping our focus on children is made much more attainable by havingJudy Radigan as a member of our research team.

culturally relevant pedagogy. They questioned the effectiveness of their curriculum as we readWhat Keeps Teachers Going by Sonia Nieto. Within this safe and supportive group setting, TFAcorp-members examined their own biases and the impact these may have on their teachingpractice, questions raised in the reading of Subtractive Schooling by Angela Valenzuela.

With two teachers facilitating the seminars, the group offered not only solutions but avenues,based on research and experience, to explore. We had professional, purposeful discussionsabout race, gender, culture, class, ethnicity, teaching and learning. From our vantage point ithas been a wonderful collaboration.

As James Banks, University of Washington Professor and Multicultural Education expert,writes, student diversity in school is both a challenge and an opportunity. These TFA teachersare seizing the opportunity to learn about the complex characteristics of ethnic and racialgroups within their schools and the ways in which race, ethnicity, language, and social classinteract to influence student behavior. (Principle 1, Diversity within Unity, James Banks, et al.)

The challenge for these teachers is one shared by most people entering the teaching professiontoday: their own limited diversity experiences. They for the most part have lived lives withinhomogeneous communities and have had few opportunities to interact with people from otherracial, ethnic, language, social class groups or nationalities. Even the corp-members of color,who may share the same race and ethnic background with their students, have, through theirown academic efforts and successes, placed themselves some distance from their students andtheir families.

One TFA teacher shared, “I find myself trying to promote college and tie academicperformance and current decisions to later success but worry about being condescending andcritical of my students’ parents’ educational choices.”

Another teacher expressed , “I am concerned about the glamorization of gang, thug life at myschool. I see the toll it is taking on my students. And on the school itself.”

Yet another shared concerns about the lack of parent support he has seen this year as comparedto last year at another school and grade level.

These Teach for America corpmembers asked good questions about their practice, theywondered about the impact the school culture has on teaching and learning, and theyconsidered the role parents play in the lives of their students. These are all part of what it takesto be an effective teacher of diverse students. As one member concluded , " I've learned that itis not enough to know my subject. I have to know my students." We agree.

continued from page 7, Cultural Collaborations: Cultural Conversations and Teach for America

Center Piece • 15

kindergarten girl I’ll call Jane wanted to actout a Cinderella story for her class. She veryquickly dictated a few brief sentences ofthings she remembered. When thedramatization took place, there were no step-sisters in the story. Jane was initially quitedisappointed. Things hadn’t happened as shepictured them. Parts of the story weremissing. The teacher reread what she haddictated, then helped her retrieve additionalpertinent information and order it correctly.When it was dramatized again, it was notonly satisfying to the girl, but it was morereadily understood by the audience. What alot of growth toward her potential as anauthor, Jane made that day.

Last year our alliance learned about aLondon, England group, Make Believe Arts,that supports older children taking thedictation and leading the dramatization ofyounger story tellers. Herod and the School

continued from page 7, School Literacy & Culture Project Participates in Dual Language and ESL Programs

Literacy and Culture Project decided to pilotsuch a program, the Tell Me Project. Bothteachers of younger and older children seemany benefits. Elizabeth McStay, a pre-Kteacher, says “Storytelling reinforces so manyskills; the more times a student can tell his orher story, the better.” Heather Tate, a fifthgrade teacher says, “I hope they (her Englishas a second language students) will gainconfidence in English and a widervocabulary.” The older students beginningthe program feel they have already gonethrough the age of the younger students andthink it’s “cool” to help the little ones. At theend of the year we will celebrate the growthtoward potential that both the youngest andthe oldest students have been making.

New teaching and new teacher understandinghave opened new directions for the childrento grow toward their potential.

few word utterances, not sentences, no storystructure — what you might see typically. Andthen to see this child – and this wasn’t the end ofthe year, this was February – to see this child doa full-page story, and then dramatize it. Pickwho was going to act in it. We talked aboutempowering these teachers, but what does thatdo for a child?

MS. MATHES: I think when we in professionaldevelopment take time to listen to our teachers,it is important. But when a teacher takes thetime to listen to an individual child, not just for asecond or five seconds but for five minutes –it does give children a very powerful messageabout their place in the classroom.

MS. WRIGHT: And they take that messagehome. I have had parents tell me, “You knowwhat my child did? They got us all around inthe living room, and they were telling a story.They were reading their story, then asked us totell a story as well as the other children.” Andthat has a lot to do with the literacy for adultstoo. Another thing with the teachers in theclassrooms, they are taking their show on theroad. They feel so confident within themselvesthat they give workshops now and invite ISDpre-K teachers.

MS. BELLAMY: Our early Head Start teachers,even though they have not been part of theproject, have learned so much from their cohorts

continued from page 6, Classroom Storytelling Project Brings ‘Outstanding’ Benefits to Head Start in Fort Bend ISD

in Head Start. I was in an early Head Start classon Friday. The kids – and this was a 24-monthclass – had their large letters on a cookie sheetand they played a game. The teacher had thefirst letter of every child’s name and shedumped them on the floor. Every child tooktheir letter: “This is my ‘A’ for Antoine.” “Thisis my ‘J’ for Jivante.” They knew their letters!

MS. HARRISON: And without any flashcarddrills —

MS. WRIGHT: I was in a classroom the day thatthe students came back from Christmasholidays. I was there at 7:15 that morning, andwhen the children came in they knew exactlywhat they were going to do. They went and gotmaterials. They went and got books. They justtook care of everything. One little girl got herbook, and she just started reading. Then one boycame in and he said, “Yes, I’m back at school,yeah!” He was excited to learn, to be back inHead Start. And I thought this was justwonderful, the day after Christmas holiday. Hehad been gone for two weeks and couldn’t waitto be back.

MS. MATHES: That is wonderful. You havecreated classrooms where kids are motivated tolearn and are happy. They’ve got exciting,interesting things to do, and they’ve gotteachers who care about them and listen to theirstories.

16 • CenterPiece

CENTER FOR EDUCATIONRICE UNIVERSITYP.O. BOX 1892HOUSTON, TX 77251-1892

To learn more about the Center’steacher development programs, its

publications and its researchactivities, see our website athttp://www.rice.edu/education

To learn how to participate in one ofthe Center’s teacher development

programs, contact theCenter for Education at

(713) 348-5145.

Centerpiece is Produced & Edited by Catherine Crawford

Summer Creative Writing Program forYoung PeopleSchool Literacy & Culture Project andWriters in the SchoolsAnnunciation Orthodox School

Reading, Writing and CulturalConnections Summer InstituteSchool Literacy & Culture ProjectRice University

Hazel Creekmore Memorial Symposium:Teaching for Multicultural Literacy, GlobalCitizenship, and Social Justice byDr. James Banks, Russell F. StarkUniversity Professor in Curriculum andInstruction, and Director, Center forMulticultural Education, University ofWashington, SeattleGrand Hall, Rice University

• Upcoming Events •June 6- June 25, 2004

July 12 - July 16, 2004

September 29, 2004

Center for Educationprograms are

supported by generouscontributions from

donors. If you or yourcompany would like tomake a donation,please contact

Professor Ronald Sass,at 713-348-4066.