Major Assessment 4: Cultural Bias Investigation

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Major Assessment 4: Cultural Bias Investigation

Most educators agree that major influences on the achievement of students are the activities and support materials; environment; and types of expectations, interactions, and behaviors to which they are exposed. Therefore, an understanding of bias and skill in discerning subtle and/or overt bias in curriculum, instruction, and assessment are extremely important.

Conduct a cultural bias investigation to examine a particular textbook with which you are familiar. Your investigation will focus on identifying instructional and assessment practices that reflect cultural bias and inhibit learning. The investigation will include reflection on the impact of these practices on student learning.

Procedure

1. Make sure you are familiar with the key authors and experts described in the chapters in this section. Review at least five research-based sources that clarify the research to expand your understanding of the influence of culture on teaching and learning and the presence of bias in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

2. Select and analyze a textbook with which you are familiar. Use the Sadkers’ (Sadker & Zittleman, 2012) list of the seven prevalent forms of bias in the curriculum to conduct a critical analysis of the textbook. Look at such aspects as pictures, names of people, the relative marginalization or integration of groups of people throughout the text, examples used, and so on. Summarize and present your data in displays (charts, tables, etc.).

3. Include in a written report the following: — Introduction (text selected; rationale for selection; description of the text and context in which it is

used) — Review of the research on the influence of culture in teaching and learning and bias in the curriculum — Summary of your findings (data tables and appropriate narratives) — Discussion of the findings, including:

{ resonance with the research on bias { your understanding of bias and the challenges it poses to teaching and learning { the implications of your findings for teaching and learning

— Relate your discussion of the findings to class discussions and readings of the philosophy of education and purposes of curriculum.

— Be sure to adhere to APA guidelines in writing the final paper. — Use the following tables to display your data:

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Table 2: Analysis of Four Chapters for Frequency of Mention of Each Search Category

— Whites/Caucasians (male/female) — African Americans (male/female) — Hispanics/Latinos/Latinas (male/female) — Native Americans (male/female) — Asian Americans (male/female) — Disability and deaf culture — Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons (male/female) — Religious groups — Language groups — Other

Example Table 2 Format: Textbook Chapter Analysis

Search category

1 # mentions/

# pages

2 # mentions/

# pages

3 # mentions/

# pages

4 # mentions/

# pages

Total # mentions/

# pages

White males

White females

African Americans

Hispanics/Latinos/Latinas

Table 3: Analysis of Each Chapter for Portrayal of Group Members Use the description of each type of bias to determine its existence in the selected textbook chapters.

Example Table 3 Format: Textbook Chapter Analysis

Search category 1 Evidence by group

2 Evidence by group

3 Evidence by group

4 Evidence by group Summary

Invisibility

Stereotyping

Imbalance and selectivity

Unreality

Fragmentation and isolation

Linguistic bias

Cosmetic bias

In addition, you may optionally include other tables that summarize data obtained from use of additional instruments.

Table 1: Textbook Profile

Edition

Number of pages

Number of chapters

Glossary and appendices

Index

References

Total number of text pages

CHAPTER 10 Assessment That Is Cultural ly Responsive 311