Boldly Engaging Students in Culturally-Relevant Teaching Conference featuring

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1 BEST ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The College of Education would like to thank the following for their contribution to this event. Joseph Allen Jaesoon An Katie Brown Erik Byker Courtney Glavich Stephen Hancock Karen Hollar Ebone Lockett Chance Lewis Victor Mack Ellen McIntyre Cheryl Pierce Rosalyn Rhodes Toussaint Romain Spencer Salas Bobbie Siefert Alison Siler Randie Smalldone Debra Smith Alfred Tatum Nicholas Triplett Michael Williams Liyun Zhang Chartwells Catering The UNC Charlotte Center City Staff The UNC Charlotte College of Education The UNC Charlotte The UNC Charlotte Urban Education Collaborative The UNC Charlotte College of Education is proud to present the Boldly Engaging Students in Culturally-Relevant Teaching Conference featuring Dr. Alfred Tatum, University of Illinois at Chicago Friday, January 29, 2016 at the UNC Charlotte Center City Building 320 E. 9th Street Charlotte, NC

2 Dear Conference Attendees, Welcome to the nd Annual Boldly Engaging Students in Culturally Relevant Teaching (BEST) Conference! The UNC Charlotte College of Education is pleased to once again host this very important forum presenting topics that strengthen curriculum and instruction, highlight current research, and facilitates the congregation of scholars and community stakeholders to discuss relevant topics in education. The city of Charlotte has a rich tradition of educational leadership for not only our region, but the nation. Forums such as this event embrace this history and applies the lessons learned toward a bright and prosperous future. This year s keynote speaker, Dr. Alfred Tatum, is the Dean of the School of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Tatum s presentation is timely as it addresses a major contributor to the achievement gap in public education, minority literacy and competency in early education. His research and expertise in African-American male literacy contributes greatly to the four pillars of the BEST conference: best practices in the classroom that support diverse population learning; professional development models that support sustained implementation of critical pedagogy; curriculum integration that promotes stakeholder investment; and political, economic, and social factors contributing to status quo curriculum and instruction and measures for change. We are pleased that Dr. Tatum is willing to share his knowledge and time with our community. This year s conference includes multiple presentations focused on English as a second language, differentiated instruction, Response to Intervention, and more. I invite you to continuously participate in this rich dialogue that contributes to culturally-relevant teaching and to always consider your College of Education at UNC Charlotte as a resource. Sincerely, Victor Mack, Director BEST GREETINGS! ABOUT THE OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH The (OEO) serves to foster collaborative relationships between the university, surrounding schools, public agencies, and the community. Based within the College of Education, OEO functions to develop, support, formalize, monitor, and publicize the service activities and projects of UNC Charlotte faculty in the greater Charlotte-Mecklenburg region. OEO, in partnership with other departments and colleges, facilitates numerous conferences, institutes, professional development activities, and symposia to promote community involvement and education. The achieves this mission by supporting a plethora of professional development opportunities and K-12 initiatives. These include: What Matter in Literacy Speaker Series, January 25, 2016, Teacher-to-Teacher Conference, March 8, International Society for Performance Improvement, March 2016 (TBD) Julia Robinson Mathematics and Computing Festival, March 19, National History Day, April 8, Dr. Jonnie H. McLeod Institute on Substance Abuse, May 16-20, Multicultural Play Therapy Center Conference, June 20-24, more opportunities for engagement at

3 ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Our vision is to be a national leader in educational equity, excellence, and engagement. We are committed to preparing teachers, counselors, and school leaders who will provide all youth with access to the highest quality education possible and to meet the needs of all students, regardless of their backgrounds. Our graduates have shown the ability to be successful in all varieties of school and community environments, even the most challenging. Indeed, many seek out high need contexts where they can make the biggest difference. We enroll approximately 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students annually. Our programs are nationally accredited and approved by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. We have many award-winning faculty who see teaching as the most important work they do. Several have been nominated for the University s most prestigious teaching honor, the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2014, Dr. Tracy Rock of the Department of Reading and Elementary Education won the award and the $12,500 prize that accompanies it. The College of Education does much more than provide academic programs. Our faculty members are also involved in cutting edge research related to autism, students with disabilities, struggling readers, why students succeed and fail in college, the teacher shortage, culturally relevant instruction, helping youth with severe disabilities transition into the work place and much more. These studies helped us earn more than $8 million in external funding last year and appear in some of the leading research journals in the field, including Research in Higher Education, Journal of Educational Psychology, and Teachers College Press. As you explore our College of Education, I hope you will find not only the programs you are looking for but the people you want to get to know, learn from and work with. You will be delighted by the talent and professionalism of the people who work in this College. BEST SCHEDULE! 8:00-8:20 a.m. Registration and Breakfast 8:20-8:30 a.m. Welcome and Announcements Dr. Victor Mack, Director 8:30-9:50 a.m. Concurrent Sessions I 10:00-11:20 a.m. Concurrent Sessions II 11:30-12:50 p.m. Lunch and Keynote Speaker Dr. Alfred Tatum, University of Illinois at Chicago 1:00-2:20 p.m. Concurrent Sessions III 2:30-3:50 p.m. Concurrent Sessions IV 4:00-5:20 p.m. Concurrent Sessions V 5:20-5:30 p.m. Closing Remarks and Giveaways Dr. Victor Mack, Director Ellen McIntyre, Dean College of Education

4 Boldly Engaging Students in Culturally Relevant Teaching BEST Conference TIME CITY 201 CITY 204 CITY 501 8:00-8:20 Registration and Reception 8:20-8:30 Welcome and Announcements Dr. Victor Mack, Director 8:30-9:50 Concurrent Sessions I Michael Williams Teaching for Social Justice: An Instructional Model to Support Cultural Inclusion BEST PROGRAM OVERVIEW Concurrent Sessions I Bobbi Siefert Heritage Languages: Promoting Academic Achievement with English Learners Concurrent Sessions I Erik Byker Developing Culturally -Relevant and Globally Competent Teachers: Applying Critical Cosmopolitan Theory BEST CONCURRENT SESSION V DESCRIPTIONS CONT D Developing Academic and Cultural Intelligence via the Art of Storytelling Ebone Lockett, CITY 204, 4:00-5:20 This presentation will interactively engage participants in strategies and curriculum that create an inclusive and literacy-rich learning environment that is safe for all students to discover, explore, practice and master both social and academic skills via the art of storytelling. Eboné M. Lockett M.S.Ed. received her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and Bachelor of Arts in English from Fairfield University. Subsequently she earned a Master of Science degree from Central Connecticut State University in educational leadership. She has taught high school English for over 14 years originally in Harford, CT and, for the past 9 years, in Charlotte, NC. She has been the recipient of the Charlotte Hornets teacher innovation grant for two consecutive years where, with the support of Charlotte Teacher's Institute (CTI), she has applied her pedagogy and love for literacy and learning to publish curriculum and make that curriculum come to life on stage. 10:00-11:20 Concurrent Sessions II Nicholas Triplett/ Katie Brown White Identity in the Classroom: An Interactive Symposium Concurrent Sessions II Rosalyn Rhodes Student Choice and Differentiation in the Urban Classroom 11:30-12:50 Lunch and Keynote Speaker Alfred Tatum Writing Through the Labyrinth of Fears Concurrent Sessions II Liyun Zhang A Multilevel Analysis on Non-Native English Speaking Students English Achievement BEST CONCURRENT SESSION V DESCRIPTIONS CONT D Victor Mack, CITY 201, 5:20-5:30 5:20-5:30 Closing Remarks and Giveaways Closing remarks and giveaways sponsored by the College of Education and the Office of Educational Outreach.

5 BEST CONCURRENT SESSION IV DESCRIPTIONS CONT D Please choose one of the below sessions to attend from 2:30-3:50 Courage the Cowardly Educator: 4 Words to Change the World. Toussaint Romain, CITY 201, 2:30-3:50 America ranks at the bottom in global education rankings. Why is that when our educators are well-educated and even attend conferences for training? The answer is because our educators are forced to use their power to do things other than educate. Courage is the only answer to solve our problem. Toussaint C. Romain is an adjunct professor and asst. public defender in Charlotte, NC. Mr. Romain also speaks regularly at various legal and education conferences along the east coast. Mr. Romain serves his community with organizations like the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Cultural Competency Taskforce, 100 Black Men, Opera Carolina, Human Trafficking Taskforce and several more. He is on the board for Lakewood Preschool and an all-boys private boarding school outside New York City. BEST CONCURRENT SESSION V DESCRIPTIONS Please choose one of the below sessions to attend from 4:00-5:20 Cheryl Pierce, CITY 201, 4:00-5:20 PBIS Can Make a Difference The American Renaissance PBIS team will share its journey of working to reduce negative student behaviors and increase academic achievement through positive interventions. This emphasis on positive reinforcement has led to increased academic success, as teachers and students spend less time focused on negative behaviors and more time on active learning. This has also allowed our teachers more time to differentiate learning in their classrooms and support our diverse community of students. The team will describe the components of the Positive Behavior Intervention System and will discuss the steps to make PBIS a successful framework for your school. Participants will leave with a toolkit of ideas to bring the PBIS model to your school. Cheryl Pierce has been a coach and state trainer for PBIS for 8 years. She retired with 33 years of teaching in NC public schools but continued to work part time as an EC teacher and PBIS Coach at American Renaissance Charter School. ARS has been awarded the highest award the state gives for PBIS, exemplar and model status. Boldly Engaging Students in Culturally Relevant Teaching BEST Conference BEST PROGRAM OVERVIEW CONT D TIME CITY 201 CITY 204 CITY 501 1:00 2:20 Concurrent Sessions III Karen Hollar/ Michael Williams WINning at Winkler: Structures to Support All Learners 2:30 3:50 Concurrent Session IV Joseph Allen/ Courtney Glavich Reaching Diverse Students: Best Practices for Economically Disadvantaged Student Groups 4:00 5:20 Concurrent Session V Cheryl Pierce PBIS Can Make A Difference 5:20 5:30 Closing Remarks and Giveaways Dr. Victor Mack, Director Concurrent Sessions III Spencer Salas Making Spaces for the Dashes in between: Quality, Teaching, and Urban Learners Concurrent Session IV Toussaint Romain Courage the Cowardly Educator: Four Words to Change the World Concurrent Session V Ebone Lockett Developing Academic and Cultural Intelligence via the Art of Storytelling Concurrent Sessions III Debra Smith/ Jaesoon An Creating Cyberspace Cosmopolitanism

6 BEST CONCURRENT SESSION I DESCRIPTIONS Please choose one of the below sessions to attend from 8:30 9:50 Teaching for Social Justice: An Instructional Model to Support Cultural Inclusion Michael Williams, CITY 201, 8:30 9:50 Participants in this session will explore both the philosophical foundations of teaching for social justice and the connections between this approach and student engagement, content acquisition, and vocabulary development. The presentation will provide specific and immediately usable classroom applications that promote cultural inclusiveness and allow students to grow in their cultural awareness. Michael Williams is a lecturer in the Urban Youth and Communities Program at UNC Charlotte and the vice-principal for instruction at H.E. Winkler Middle School, a highly diverse and high academic growth school, in Concord, N.C. He teaches social studies methods and social justice pedagogy and writes in the realm of culturally-responsive pedagogy and schooling systems. In addition, his school has created structures to deeply narrow both the academic and discipline gaps between white students and students of color, resulting in five consecutive years of high academic growth. Michael is also the vice-chair of the board for the international school violence prevention agency, National Students Against Violence Everywhere, a group he helped found nearly 30 years ago. Heritage Languages: Promoting Academic Achievement with English Learners Bobbi Siefert, CITY 204, 8:30 9:50 The presenter will discuss how monolingual literacy teachers can draw on heritage language skills of English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) to promote multi-lingualism in K-5 classrooms. She will use classroom experiences to demonstrate how integrating home language(s) into mainstream curricula furthers English learners native language development and academic achievement. Bobbi Siefert, Ph.D., is currently an assistant professor of education and TESOL coordinator at Furman University. A National Board Certified teacher, she has taught elementary and secondary school and served as a K-12 curriculum specialist. BEST CONCURRENT SESSION III DESCRIPTIONS CONT D Creating Cyberspace Cosmopolitanism Debra Smith and Jaesoon An, CITY 501, 1:00 2:20 This presentation seeks to suggest and demonstrate means by which online instructors can create cyberspace cosmopolitanism a culture of student investment in online courses by assigning them roles and responsibilities in the online course that are reflective of student connectivity outside the classroom. Debra C. Smith is an associate professor in the Africana Studies Department at UNC Charlotte. Her research interests include ways in which media influence student learning and innovative pedagogical tools. Jaesoon is as an instructional design specialist at UNC Charlotte. She provides expertise in the integration of technologies and best practices of teaching and learning into the course design, collaborates with faculty members on the development of exemplary courses and the redesigning of large enrollment courses, and works to promote scholarly teaching. BEST CONCURRENT SESSION IV DESCRIPTIONS Please choose one of the below sessions to attend from 2:30-3:50 Reaching Diverse Students: Best Practices for Economically Disadvantaged Student Groups Joseph Allen and Courtney Glavich, CITY 201, 2:30-3:50 This presentation will focus on the identification and history of diverse learning groups (particularly African American and Latino/a students), and will discuss best teaching practices for diverse learners through the application of communication theory and culturally relevant communication techniques. Courtney Glavich is a 1st year doctoral student in the Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction, urban education program at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. Her research interest include teacher beliefs in the classroom, as well as preservice urban and STEM teacher programs. Joseph Allen is a 1st year doctoral student in the Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction, urban education program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His research interests include defining cultural competency and understanding the role it plays in Urban Education, as well as effective teaching strategies for minority students.

7 BEST CONCURRENT SESSION III DESCRIPTIONS Please choose one of the below sessions to attend from 1:00 2:20 WINning at Winkler: Structures to Support All Learners Karen Holler and Michael Williams, CITY 201, 1:00 2:20 Winkler Middle School, a diverse school in Cabarrus County, N.C., is in the fourth year of implementation of Response to Instruction and Positive Behavior Support Structures. Winkler s students have grown tremendously, ranking #1 in North Carolina, and the school has seen a dramatic narrowing of the academic and discipline gaps. This workshop will provide a detailed timeline of the school s implementation roadmap, including specific processes. Karen Hollar is the MTSS coordinator at H.E. Winkler Middle School, a highly diverse, high academic growth school in Cabarrus County, N.C. Michael Williams is a faculty member at UNC Charlotte in the urban youth and communities program and the viceprincipal for instruction at H.E. Winkler Middle School. Winkler Middle is a model school for MTSS implementation and has shown high growth for all demographics over the past five years. Making Spaces for the Dashes in between: Quality, Teaching, and Urban Learners Spencer Salas, CITY 204, 1:00 2:20 For many, the NCLB definition of highly qualified teachers falls short of the scope and meaning of professional educators transforming lives. This interactive session begins with a narrative generated from a qualitative inquiry of a middle grades teacher s negotiation of standards-based reform followed by a discussion about quality, teaching, and urban learners. Spencer Salas, Ph.D., is associate professor in the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he is TESL strand coordinator for the Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction. His empirical and theoretical scholarship focuses on teachers' negotiation of New South contexts and the implications of Latino immigration for educational policy and praxis. BEST CONCURRENT SESSION I DESCRIPTIONS Developing Culturally-Relevant and Globally Competent Teachers: Applying Critical Cosmopolitan Theory Erik Byker, CITY 501, 8:30 9:50 The presentation will demonstrate how to integrate a global citizenship framework into the curriculum through the use of digital tools. The presentation offers active and engaging strategies that educators can use to develop culturally relevancy while integrating global competencies. Dr. Erik Jon Byker is an assistant professor in the Department of Reading and Elementary Education at the University on North Carolina at Charlotte. He teaches courses in social studies methods and curriculum design. Erik has a Ph.D. in curriculum, teaching, and educational policy from Michigan State University and holds a M.Ed. degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Virginia. Erik's research is international and comparative in scope as he has conducted ethnographic field studies in England, Cuba, India, South Korea, and across the United States on how students and teachers use and construct meaning for computer technology. BEST CONCURRENT SESSION II DESCRIPTIONS Please choose one of the below sessions to attend from 10:00 11:20 White Identity in the Classroom: An Interactive Symposium Nicholas Triplett and Katie Brown, CITY 201, 10:00 11:20 White Identity in the Classroom: An Interactive Symposium is a development experience for education professionals focused on advancing dialogue and understanding of how the dominant social norms associated with "Whiteness" affect equity in the classroom and educational outcomes. Nicholas Triplett, Katie Brown, Amber Bryant, Aimy Steele and Tameka Ardrey are doctoral students in the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education (Urban Education) at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and the founders of Culture Matters: Conversations about Equity in the Classroom, a organization devoted to advancing dialogue and understanding of how teacher/principal identity development and cultural attitudes affect equity in the classroom and educational outcomes. Learn more at

8 BEST CONCURRENT SESSION II DESCRIPTIONS CONT D Please choose one of the below sessions to attend from 10:00 11:20 Student Choice and Differentiation in the Urban Classroom Rosalyn Rhodes, CITY 204, 10:00 11:20 This interactive session explores instructional differentiation through the use of a "choice board" system in a secondary content area classroom. After a brief overview of the theoretical underpinning of choice boards, participants will examine and manipulate actual examples generated for Charlotte-Mecklenburg world language, visual arts, and mathematics secondary-level units. The session concludes with a guided activity about choice board design followed by an interactive discussion. Handouts are provided. BEST LUNCH AND KEYNOTE SPEAKER 11:30 12:50 Writing Through the Labyrinth of Fears Alfred W. Tatum, CITY 201, 11:30 12:50 This presentation will discuss the legacy of Walter Dean Myers in relationship to advancing writing as an intellectual tool of protection for black male teens. Multiple implications are provided for teachers who want to engage black male teens to write fearlessly to extend the legacy of Walter Dean Myers. Rosalyn Rhodes is currently a Spanish teacher at Hopewell High School in the Charlotte- Mecklenburg School system. She holds a bachelors in Spanish from UNC-Greensboro and will complete a masters in teaching K-12 foreign language from UNC-Charlotte in the spring of In her professional career in CMS, she serves as the WL new teacher coordinator and WL master teacher, writes curriculum, and presents a variety of professional development workshops. In addition to being a member and conference presenter for the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina, this year Ms. Rhodes was named the 2015 FLANC K-12 teacher of the year. A Multilevel Analysis on Non-native English Speaking Students English achievement Liyun Zhang, CITY 501, 10:00 11:20 English as a Second Language programs (ESL) are English learning programs for nonnative English speaking students. This study examined relations between student characteristics (gender, race, SES, English fluency), school characteristics (sectors, urbanicity, poverty level), ESL programs and non-native English speakers reading achievement using multilevel modeling. Results and implications are provided. Liyun Zhang is an educational psychology and research doctoral candidate at the University of South Carolina. Her research interest include academic motivation, achievement and the social-emotional well-being of students. Dr. Alfred Tatum, University of Illinois at Chicago Alfred W. Tatum is the dean of the College of Education and director of the UIC Reading Clinic. Tatum's research focuses on the literacy development of African-American males, particularly the roles of texts and writing to advance their literacy development. He is interested in how texts can be used as tools to preserve one's humanity. He is the author of: Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males: Closing the Achievement Gap; Reading For Their Life: (Re)building the Textual Lineages of African American Adolescent Males; and Fearless Voices: Engaging the Next Generation of African American Male Writers.