Diversity an Asset in Teams

A recent issue of Harvard Business Review included the article, “Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter.” The authors reviewed research findings suggesting that groups composed of diverse races, nationalities, and genders fare better than more homogeneous groups. Notably, diverse groups seem to process information better, more carefully tending to facts. They also outperform in terms of production, yielding higher returns and innovating more.

While most of the studies discussed in the article considered diversity in terms of racial, national, or gender identities, one interesting study considered general in-group and out-group diversity. Groups of same-sorority members and of same-fraternity members, along with similar groups that also included outsiders, were asked to solve a problem. While the outsiders were less confident about their answers, they were more likely to be correct. Diversity, beyond the particular skill sets and mindsets that each diverse member brings, may help to guard against "groupthink", i.e., the over reliance on group coherence at the expense of critical analysis.

The value of teams composed of people who are different from one another is certainly worth noting in the field of education. Educators themselves may benefit from collaborating with professionals who are different in their backgrounds and ways of thinking. Organizers of professional development activities should consider the value of teams that are not only interdisciplinary but diverse in other ways. Students working together in groups may have the richest learning experiences, and most successful outcomes, when those teams are heterogeneous. ​

Report Finds School Segregation Increasing

A report issued last week by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found a significant increase in the number of public K-12 schools in the U.S. with students who are poor and mostly Black or Hispanic.

 The report, requested by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, was released on the 62nd anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education which determined that "separate but equal" education based upon race was a violation of the Constitution and established the principle that access to public education is a right that must be made available to all on equal terms.

The GAO looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education for the school years from 2000-01 to 2013-14 (the most recent data available), and found that the percentage of  K-12 public schools that had large numbers of poor and Black or Hispanic students grew from 9 percent (7,009 schools) to 16 percent (15,089 schools) during that time. In addition, these schools, where 75 to 100 percent of the students were Black or Hispanic and were also eligible for free or reduced lunch (a commonly used indicator of poverty), offered fewer math, science, and college prep courses compared to other schools and had higher rates of students being retained in ninth grade, suspended, or expelled. 

When viewed in terms of individual students impacted, the number of students attending such schools more than doubled during the period the GAO examined, increasing by about 4.3 million students, from about 4.1 million to 8.4 million students.

One goal of the GAO study was to determine whether the data compiled by the Department of Education and by the Justice Department, which reviews discrimination claims and monitors and enforces close to 200 open federal desegregation court cases to which it is a party, is collected and used in ways that effectively enable these agencies to identify and address issues related to racial discrimination in schools. The answer to that question is best found in the title of the GAO report: Better Use of Information Could Help Agencies Identify Disparities and Address Racial Discrimination.

Picture Books That Celebrate Latino Culture

Some of childhood’s earliest lessons come from the pages of books. Trips to the bookshelf can expose kids to new information and ideas and teach them vivid lessons about life, all without having to leave home. It is too bad, then, that most of the picture books children see and hear feature characters that look the same. Kids of color love reading books about diverse characters, but young readers of any race or ethnicity can benefit from picture books that value the experiences of non-white characters.

To diversify the reading list of children in your life, here are some picture books we love that feature Mexican and Mexican-American characters. Race and culture are major themes in some, while others are simply stories in which the characters’ ethnic background is not underscored. Some of the books contain Spanish words, which children will enjoy learning; others are bilingual so that the whole text is presented in both English and Spanish side-by-side. For extra fun, we recommend helping kids look for cognates, or words that are the same or almost the same in both languages, such as “diaro” and “diary” in My Diary From Here to There.

Our list is roughly organized from less sophisticated themes to more complex themes. We recommend reading these books to children below third grade or so.

Abuela by Arthur Durros

Just a Minute by Yuyi Morales

What Can You Do with a Paleta? by Carmen Tafolla

My Abuelita by Tony Johnson

The Old Man and His Door by Gary Soto

I Love Saturdays y domingos by Alma Flor Ada

Dear Primo by Duncan Tonatiuh

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto

The Perfect Season for Dreaming by Benjamin Aliera Saenz

Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora

Alejandro’s Gift by Richard Albert

The Gullywasher by Joyce Rossi

My Diary From Here to There by Amada Irma Perez

First Book Offers Incentive to Promote Diversity in Children’s Publishing

Browsing the shelves of a children’s bookstore can be a delightful experience. But just a few minutes in nearly any store or library reveals a disturbing disparity: Though young readers are increasingly diverse, the vast majority of children’s books feature characters that seem cast from the same mold. Most are about white kids from white families. Few characters with disabilities or different sexual orientations appear even as supporting characters, let alone as featured protagonists. According to Kyle Zimmer, CEO of an organization that distributes free books to needy kids called First Book, this is a big problem. It’s harder for children to be enthusiastic about reading when the books available don’t feel relevant to their lives, and this puts millions of kids at risk for lowered reading achievement.

In an interview with NPR, Zimmer pointed out some troubling statistics: In a survey of 3,600 children’s books, only 3.3% starred African American kids and 1.5% featured Latino children. According to Zimmer, research by First Book indicates that kids are far more likely to become enthusiastic readers when they “see themselves” in books. And she adds, importantly, that the benefit of diversity in books extends beyond groups outside the majority; all kids can benefit from reading about the experiences and perspectives of different groups.

Ezra Jack Keat's wonderful books
 feature African American children

To promote diversity in publishing, First Book has launched a new project. Stories For All  offers an incentive to publishers by offering them a guaranteed market for books about characters from under-represented communities and groups. Publishers can present books by unpublished authors that promote diversity to First Book and they will buy 10,000 copies of each of the best ones.

First Book, by the way, is an incredibly worthy organization worth checking out. To date, almost 90,000 classrooms and non-profits have signed up with First Book, meaning that millions of children now have books to call their own. And their programs have been so successful that school personnel report elevated test scores, more literacy activity at home, and tripled interest in reading among kids who get books from First Book. Their call to promote diversity in publishing is just one more expression of the group’s innovative thinking; First Book has dreamed up some very inventive ways to get books into the hands of deserving kids. Their Marketplace sells heavily discounted books to community programs and schools that serve children in need. And their Book Bank is a clearinghouse for publishers’ unsold inventory, allowing excess books to be donated to millions of kids.

If this has got you interested in books about diverse characters, check out our post “Girls of Color Star in Three OutstandingTransitional Book Series” for some suggested titles. We hope these titles will tide you over until Stories for All bears fruit and launches fresh offerings into the market. 

Girls of Color Star in Three Outstanding Transitional Book Series

The United States is a wonderfully diverse country, populated by people of countless ethnicities and backgrounds. However, many parents say this diversity fades in the transitional books section of bookstores and libraries. Transitional books are intended to bridge the gap between picture books for young children and chapter books for children in the later years of elementary school. Generally appropriate for typically developing readers in second through fourth grade, transitional books have pictures on some pages, short chapters, and simpler language than most chapter books.

A recent article in The Reading Teacher* comments on the paucity of female African American protagonists featured in transitional books, then analyzes and recommends three outstanding series, described below. All books are available in bookstores or through Amazon.com.

The Dyamonde Daniel books by Nikki Grimes (grades 2 and up) feature a “third grader with wild-crazy hair and a zippy attitude” (book jacket description). Dyamonde is a smart, funny, warm girl with a big heart. She is relatively new to her school, and her struggles to fit in, chronicled in the first book in the series Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel, may resonate with some girls. Dyamonde demonstrates a commitment to education and a sensitivity toward the plights of her friends, values which are illustrated throughout the series.

Nikki and Deja (grades 1 and up), a series by Karen English, follows endearing best friends and neighbors Nikki and Deja as they navigate the treacherous waters of middle-grade friendship and work toward realizing their career aspirations. For example, Nikki dreams of being a reporter and always carries a notebook and pencil with her; in one of the books, she plans to start a community newsletter. Their experiences and relationships with each other, their families, and members of the community ring true and provide good lessons that don’t feel preachy.

The Willimena Rules! series by Valerie Wilson Wesley (grades 2 and up) is about a spunky girl whose adventures are both amusing and touching. For example, in the first book in the series, How to Lose Your Class Pet, the class’s pet guinea pig escapes on Willie’s watch. In another, How to Lose Your Cookie Money, Willie learns that two of her friends have don’t have money for lunch at school and buys them food for a week and a half before running out of funds – funds which she earned selling Girl Scout cookies and must now pay back somehow. Quirky cartoons accompany the stories in these charming, clever books.

*McNair, Jonda C. and Brooks, Wanda M. (2012). “Transitional Chapter Books: Representations of African American Girlhood.” The Reading Teacher, 65(8).

Educating All Kinds of Students in NYC Public Schools

Two articles this week in The New York Times focused on New York City public schools, offering perspectives on how children are being educated in creative ways and how international families, new to New York City, are enrolling their children in the public schools.

At P.S. 142, an elementary school in lower Manhattan where, according to the Times article, almost all of the students qualify for free lunch, teachers are eschewing lessons specifically focused on reading skills and, instead, are exposing their students to life experiences that more affluent students take for granted. Students are building their reading comprehension by reading street signs, going to the market, and visiting a parking garage -- all of which help them broaden their life experiences and the "frame of reference" they bring to reading.

These students practice such traditional skills as making predictions about what they will read when they visit a hospital or learn math by calculating market purchases and how many quarters they will need to put into parking meters. They are encouraged to use play centers in their classroom well beyond kindergarten, and to enrich their lives with experiences that they can use to better understand the world around them, as well as to help them master the language, math, and other skills that students from middle class environments encounter in their daily lives. 

Meanwhile, a separate article looks at the trend for "the foreign-born affluent" -- families with incomes of over $150,000 per year where both parents were born abroad -- to enroll their children in New York City public schools at a rate (almost 68%) that is nearly twice that of American born parents with similar incomes. The figures cited by The Times are even more striking for families with incomes of  $200,000 per year or more, where foreign born parents send their children to public schools 61% of the time, compared to 28% of the time for American born parents at the same income levels. The numbers are similar whether the foreign born parents are in the United States temporarily, for work, or have moved here on a permanent basis and seem to hold true in cities outside New York as well.

The Times piece discusses the comfort level of foreign parents with public education and these parents' desire to have their children educated in a heterogeneous environment. It also notes that parents carefully select neighborhoods with strong public schools.

It is a positive sign for public education in New York City that creative approaches are being implemented to help the most disadvantaged students, while families from across the globe are recognizing that their children can get a quality education in a diverse environment here.

Photo used under Creative Commons from Sharon Terry

Manhattan's Resurrection Episcopal Day School (REDS) is a preschool based on the Montessori model that reaches out to children of all faiths. We have come to know their Head of School and the depth of their commitment to creating an environment that celebrates and empowers each individual, cultivates a love of learning and fosters an appreciation for the diversity of life. Now they are about to begin an extraordinary examination of how parents and schools can teach children to be responsible, respectful, global citizens.

Starting with a "kick-off" session by Dr. Paul Yellin, who will speak this coming Tuesday, October 5th at 7:30 pm at REDS (119 East 74th Street, NYC) on "The Myth of the Perfect Brain: Understanding, Nurturing, and Valuing Neurodiversity in the Home," the program will begin by explaining how individuals can come to appreciate their own mix of strengths and challenges and come to appreciate the diversity of minds in their own community and even their own households.

Next, the series takes a look at how technology shapes the way children interact with their environment, in an in depth look at recent research and effective strategies by Dr. Gary Johnson, scheduled for October 20th. The series continues with a presentation by the dynamic Hans Hageman, on November 9th on "Melting Pot, Salad Bowl, or Community?"

Bobby Ghosh, International Editor of Time Magazine, will bring his extraordinary experiences as an award winning foreign correspondent and editor when he speaks on "Islam in America; Islam in North America and America's Interaction with the Islamic World" on Thursday, December 9th.

After a break for the holiday season, the series resumes with a presentation by Clancy Blair, PhD, Professor of Applied Psychology at New York University, who will speak on "Wired for Learning: How Experience Shapes Brain Development and Self-Regulation Abilities Important for Success in School and Life," on Thursday, January 13th, 2011. Dr. Kathy Hirsh Pasek, who is the Director of the Infant Laboratory at Temple University will discuss why play is critical for a child's academic, social and physical well-being in a session titled, "Mandate for Playful Learning" scheduled for Tuesday, February 1, 2011. As yet unscheduled, will be a presentation by Dr. Todd Rose of the Center for Applied Special Technology and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Last, but by no means least, this extraordinary series of speakers will conclude with a presentation on Thursday, April 7th, 2011 by Dr. Eboo Patel, named by U.S. News and World Report as one of America's Best Leaders of 2009, who will speak on "Acts of Faith: Interfaith Leadership in a Time of Global Religious Crisis." In a world too often convinced of the inevitable clash of civilizations, Dr. Patel will examine how strong interfaith leadership can guide communities of faith to work with people of different religious and philisophical backgrounds to serve the common good.

These presentations are open to the public. For more information, contact REDS at 212-535-9666.

Workplace Diversity

The idea of diversity in the workplace has changed in recent years, and we are excited to see the changes this has brought to how workers see themselves and their colleagues.

Older paradigms looked at gender or race when thinking about how a workplace could be diverse. Later views, especially after the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, broadened the meaning of diversity to include individuals with physical disabilities -- those who might use a wheelchair or have visual or hearing impairments.

But there is a growing understanding that true diversity also includes understanding and appreciating different learning styles among one's colleagues, and that such a perspective touches on all employees in a workplace, since each one has their own unique learning style. We have seen this diversity in adults in our work here at The Yellin Center, which includes evaluations and consultations with medical students, graduate students and professionals in the workplace. In each instance we have been able to help these adults understand how they learn to help them improve their performance in the tasks that are part of their profession or course of study.

This week Dr. Yellin will be speaking to employees of the U.S. Department of Labor, New York Region, as part of their Diversity Day program. It is encouraging to see that understanding different learning styles is becoming an important part of understanding what makes for a truly diverse workplace.