The nominal group technique is used to conduct group interviews for qualitative projects/research. This is a tried and true technique and is commonly used in various disciplines. For our purposes, we will look at the criteria for conducting this data collection format along with the actual steps when the nominal group technique is employed.
Criteria
The nominal group technique usually consists of 5-9 people with a sweet spot of 7 individuals. All of these individuals are seated at a table. Another important person in this group interview is the leader. Naturally, the leader should know this process and be able to guide the group members through it.
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The entire session should take anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. The flavor of this approach is a focus on brainstorming ideas in response to some prompt or setting. The beauty of this technique is that it allows everyone to participate. Participation in group interviews can often be dominated by several vocal members with less vocal individuals being left out. With the nominal group technique, everyone can participate.
Steps
There are five steps to the nominal group technique and they are listed below.
Silent generation
Round robin
Serial discussion
Preliminary vote
Discussion of vote
Silent Generation
The technique begins with the leader sharing the prompt, issue, or question. For example, the leader may ask a group of students at a university about how to improve the quality of the teaching. The leader will provide a worksheet for the students to write down five ideas. While writing, the students are not allowed to talk.
Round-Robin
The round-robin stage involves everyone sharing the ideas that they wrote down. Again, there is still no discussion. The round-robin step forces everyone to share whether they are vocal or shy. There is no judgment of quality, rather, there is a focus on everyone having a voice.
Serial Discussion
Serial discussion is when the speaking begins. Ideas are discussed to provide clarity to what is being said. If people have questions about each other’s ideas this is the opportunity to explain what was meant.
Preliminary Vote
Once there is clarification regarding what people meant behind their ideas it is now time to vote. The voting is done secretly. This is probably to protect people’s feelings if their ideas are rejected. The votes are cast and the ideas are ranked.
Discussion of Vote
After the initial vote, there is a discussion of the results. This discussion is done to understand and clarify the voting pattern of the group. After this first vote takes place the process is repeated until the leader has the desired number of ideas they want.
Conclusion
The nominal group technique is a great way to encourage discussion and ideas from all members of a group. Allowing full participation can potentially provide richer data and or ideas than when vocal members dominate the discussion. Therefore, when conducting group interviews this technique can be valuable in specific situations.
This post will provide a summary of the article “Queer Futurity and Childhood Innocence: Beyond the Injury of Development” by Hannah Dyer. The article addresses what the author believes are several erroneous assumptions that professionals have about child development and sexuality. By disrupting these misunderstandings the author claims that it will help children.
The author begins the paper by stating that there is a mistake in assuming that children are a-sexual and will soon be heterosexual as they mature. From there, the author builds this argument and concludes the paper with a critique of a video that makes the argument that being homosexual becomes easier once leaving school.
Introduction
It is important to explain several terms before exploring the paper in detail. The word “queer” usually means strange, however, in the context of queer theory “queer” means to challenge whatever is considered “normal.” Queer wants to unsettle all established norms even norms regarding homosexuality. For proponents of queer theory, anything normal can be considered problematic. Queer means deviance from anything normative whether gay or straight. In other words, there can be no identities as everything is always in a state of unsettled flux.
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A word that appears in the title of the paper is “futurity.” Futurity in the context of queer theory is a criticism of current problems faced by queer people using ideas from several places such as historicism, utopianism, as well as death drive (negative views of non-traditional sex acts).
The author states that queer theory sees childhood as a place of heteronormative intervention. In other words, childhood is an assault on assuming that children will pursue traditional sexuality. The author provides a quote that it “is open season on gay kids” without providing any statistics to support this. For the author, there appears to be little support for raising children who are homosexual. However, this assumes that children are sexual which is an assumption that the author makes and is counter to the traditional assumption that children are not sexual.
Dyer continues by stating that early childhood theories avoid topics on sexuality because there is an assumption of innocence. The author disagrees with this and uses the term “figure of the Child” which is another way of stating this assumption of innocence. The phrase “figure of Child” is a term borrowed from queer theory. The word “Child” is deliberately capitalized.
For the author, one step in the reform of early childhood theories on development is to get rid of this assumption of innocence. This is because current theories supposedly reduce children to figures without complexity (things are always too simple for critical theorists). The current theories could harm children as they exclude the possibility of the child possessing a queer nature. However, no statistical support is given for this statement.
Another critique the author provides is her concern with childhood education wanting to stabilize and define queerness as an identity. As mentioned earlier, for Dyer, queerness is contingent and cannot be permanently defined. This is because the definition will change as what is normal changes. Since queer theory is always against normativity, its definition will change with whatever is considered normal. Right now, heterosexuality is considered normal so queer theory is in opposition to this. If heterosexuality were no longer considered normal queer theory would move on and attack whatever else is now “normal.” There will never be any fixed definitions for supporters of this theory for almost anything. For example, gender is now considered fluid.
Dyer states that queer theory provides advances in the care of children through methodology, pedagogy, and epistemology. For methodology in particular, queer theory can disrupt the assumption of sequential steps towards normalcy, which may not apply to every child. Queer theory can also help analyze how normativity is reproduced. Reproduction is a frequent complaint of Marxists with the complaint that the existing society wants to reproduce itself and one vehicle for this reproduction is education. Lastly, Dyer speaks of the need to loosen parameters around normative development as queerness destroys identity and does not support the development of identities.
Making Childhood Education “Get Better”
The final section of the paper is a critique of “It Gets Better” a video created to support youth with alternative sexual preferences. Essentially, the video states that having an alternative sexual preference will be easier as an adult. However, the author critiques this argument as untrue. In addition, Dyer criticizes this video for not taking race and class into account. As such, this video falls short of supporting kids who it claims to help.
Conclusion
This article provides an insight into what queer theory is and what it is trying to do. However, one article cannot speak for an entire field. The ideas presented here of overturning anything normal are shocking but may not be something that everybody in this domain agrees with.
Evaluation plays a critical role in assessing the value that a program/project has delivered. Here we will look at the various evaluations that are a part of a project evaluation.
Context
A context evaluation allows the evaluators to assess the needs and resources of the local community to determine a plan for effective action. Generally, this type of evaluation happens before the program is running. In addition, this type of evaluation also allows for the evaluation team to get a sense of the local political situation and support for the program. All of this knowledge helps the team to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the local context.
The tools involved in this assessment can include a full-on development of a needs assessment. This can include identifying local leaders in the community, gaps in service, and opportunities to support the community. Context assessments can also be used to look at the team running the program.
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The primary goal of a context evaluation is to develop an understanding of the target population and the community within which the target population is found. You want to get into the community found who are the influencers and see how you project can fit into that situation positively.
Implementation
Implementation evaluation happens while a project is going. Among the many goals of this is to see if he goals of the program match with the needs of the target population. Sometimes the best intentions do not benefit the people we are trying to help. Another goal is to identify and minimize barriers to implementation.
Other goals of this evaluation include monitoring the experiences of stakeholders with a project. In other words, determines what the local community thinks of the program after it is implemented. Lastly, implementation evaluation looks at evidence for systemic change or the impact the program is having on the community as a whole.
Outcome
Outcome evaluation is used to determine the type of outcomes you want from a program. By outcomes, it means the influence your program has on the target population or the people who are actually in the program. How this is measured will depend on the project.
There are two types of outcomes and these are individual outcomes and program outcomes. Individual outcomes look at the influence a program has on an individual person. For example, this could include changes in a person’s quality of life, status, or situation. Program outcomes look at the impact of the general services of a program such as improving access, expanding services, etc. How this is measured varies but the focus is always either on the individual or the program. The results of an outcome evaluation help to determine if a program should continue and what is currently working or not working.
There are several questions to consider when attempting an outcome evaluation. Below is a list
Who are you serving
what are the outcomes
How will you measure
What data are you collecting
Purpose of results
Performance targets
Most of the bullets above are standard to research and will not be discussed here. What may be new is the term performance target. A performance target are benchmark set that helps to establish the standard for what is considered good or bad performance. For example, a reading comprehension program might set a benchmark of 75% of the students reading at grade level by the end of the program. This sets a standard by which to assess the quality of the program.
Conclusion
Program evaluation is a critical component of the grant process. Once money has been spent, the evaluation helps to determine if the money was spent wisely helping people based on whatever the goals of the grant were.
Cells can adjust and change their DNA in marvelous ways. We will look at five ways the cells adjust on a genetic level to survive. These five ways are
Transposition
Horizontal gene transfer
Epigenetics
Symbiogenesis
Hybridization
Transposition
Transposition is the process of cells rearranging their DNA. This process was first discovered by Barbara McClintock. In her experiments, McClintock deliberately damaged corn DNA to inhibit reproduction. The corn would pull genetic code from other places in the chromosome to maintain the ability to reproduce. In other words, the cells would take DNA from one place and insert it into another place to maintain stability and full functioning.
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How fast transposition can take place varies. For the corn experiments of McClintock, it could happen within one generation, which was the generation with the damaged DNA. In other situations, transposition could happen within a few hours, which was found among some forms of protozoan.
The implications for this include that cells know when DNA is damaged and they know how to fix this problem using other pieces of their DNA. This requires a level of mysterious intelligence that few are willing to admit that cells have.
Horizontal gene transfer
Horizontal gene transfer is the exchange of DNA between organisms. Not only do cells have internal mechanisms to fix DNA, but they can also exchange DNA with other cells. An example of this is bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. What sometimes happens is one bacterium figures out how to resist the drugs and share this DNA with other bacteria through horizontal gene transfer.
What this means is not only do cells manipulate their DNA but when they have success they can share this with other cells. The other cells are then able to incorporate this “foreign” code into their system and have similar results.
Epigenetics
Epigenetics is the process of turning genes on and off. This is where nature vs nurture can play a critical role in development. In one experiment with rat pups, pups licked and nurtured by the mother were better able to deal with stress. This implies that the nurturing of the mother activates genes that allow for better processing of stress.
A relatable example would be weight training. Under the stress of weights, the body is transformed. Muscles get bigger, cardio improves, etc. The changes last as long as the person continues to work out. However, even if somebody stops the “memory” of these changes remains and the person can regain a great deal of the muscle just by returning to weight training.
Therefore, not only can cells manipulate their DNA and share DNA with others, but the environment itself can cause genes to shut on and off.
Symbiogenesis
Symbiogenesis is the merging of cells to cooperate. Lichen is an example of fungus and algae working together to live. Another example is chloroplast, chloroplast is an algae embedded inside plant cells.
Living cells can essentially become “one” in an attempt to have the best success at survival. This makes light of the survival of the fittest in which nature is seen as a battlefield of competition. In reality, alliances are formed for the sake of survival.
Hybridization
Hybridization is two species mating to produce a new species. Examples include tigers and lions coming together to make a liger. Or more commonly a donkey and horse making a mule.
Hybridization is genetic change at light speed. New creatures can be developed overnight with this process. However, as mentioned previously, there is a high risk of creating a genetic dead end that cannot reproduce.
Conclusion
All of the examples here indicate that changes within organisms can happen much faster than the idea of millions of years. Gene modification happens in a self-aware way that seems to defy logic and sense.
Repressive Tolerance is a famous essay by Herbert Marcuse in the 1960’s. Marcuse was a famous philosopher who heavily influenced the thought of the political left. We will look at the ideas presented in Marcuse’s essay Repressive Tolerance. However, it is important to mention that Marcuse’s writing style is highly dense and convoluted. Therefore, it would not be practical to call this a summary as his ideas are so difficult to explain.
The central thesis of Repressive Tolerance can be found in the direct quote from the essay shown below.
Liberating tolerance then would mean intolerance against movements from the right and toleration of movements from the left
Herbert Marcuse “Repressive Tolerance”
The quote above, which appears towards the end of the essay, summarizes what Marcuse is trying to explain. The left should be tolerated while the right should be repressed. The rest of the essay shares examples of this critical point in a highly difficult way to understand and appreciate.
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It is also important to consider the context of this essay. It was written in the 1960s during political upheaval in the United States. Minorities were pushing for equal rights while at the same time, there was a controversial war happening. In addition, Marcuse was already an older man at this point in his life so he had seen the horrors of World War II and the right-wing fascist government of Hitler. In other words, this background played a major role in shaping his views on tolerance.
Tolerance Gone Wrong
One example that Marcuse uses to illustrate the danger of tolerating the right is Adolf Hitler. Through tolerance from other countries and even within Germany, Hitler was able to rise to power and cause untold chaos. However, Marcuse conveniently forgot to mention the untold terror of left dictators such as Stalin, Lenin, and Mao. Therefore, it seems that the problem isn’t so much the left or right of the political debate but rather the problem is people who use either the left or the right to rise to power. The danger isn’t the political position but the character of the person(s) who is in charge
Marcuse’s ultimate goal is to develop a world without fear and misery. In other words, he is seeking a utopia, a common left-wing dream. This can potentially be achieved through careful use of tolerance in which everything is not tolerated. Failure to do this could allow for tyranny to arise as the tyrants will use tolerance to take power.
Types of Toleranceand Political Violence
Marcuse also mentions two types of tolerance: active and passive. Active tolerance is tolerance that is granted to the left and the right. Passive tolerance is acceptance of traditional attitudes and behaviors. From these two definitions, it appears that Marcuse is criticizing both of them. Active tolerance is bad because it tolerates the right while passive tolerance is also bad because it supports only traditional values, which are often associated with the right as well.
Another general point of Marcuse is that tolerance cannot be indiscriminate otherwise it will be abuse. Wisdom is needed in determining what is tolerated and it appears that the left should be tolerated because they are pushing for change while the right should be repressed because they support the status quo.
Who Should be Tolerated
Marcuse also provides examples of when tolerance has been limited depending on the context. For example, he provides an example from John Stuart Mills who stated that tolerance for the selection of leadership should be limited to those with “maturity of faculties.” Another example is from Plato who suggested an educational dictatorship or a tolerance of leaders who have achieved a certain minimum level of education. In both these examples tolerance is dependent on social standing. In other words, the educated should be tolerated in positions of power while the uneducated should not.
Marcuse also provides examples of intolerance as well. He pulls several examples of heretics during the days when the Catholic Church had a major influence over Europe. Marcuse then goes on the mention the need people have for access to authentic information so that they can make properly informed decisions. In other words, it is not social standing that matters but rather the quality of information that is available to the people that matters even more. Therefore, those with quality information should be tolerated to make decisions while those without quality information should not be tolerated to make decisions. Unfortunately, determining what is quality information is another dilemma that can never be solved.
The Sharing of Information
Toward the end of the essay, Marcuse shares examples of how the way information is shared can influence tolerance. Examples included sharing positive and negative articles about the government in the same newspaper. This would send a potentially balanced message about the government. Another example was of a newscaster sharing a tragedy without emotion. Again, the way the message is shared can play a part in the tolerance that is perceived.
For Marcuse, truth is mediated by the environment or context in which it is shared. This implies that it is difficult if not impossible to be partial and unbiased. Marcuse does not say this directly but it appears he is alluding to it.
Conclusion
Marcuse is a tough read. He addresses several ideas at once and spirals back to them throughout the piece. This post was not a summary of his essay but essentially was just an attempt to try and organize the thoughts that Marcuse shared. The primary point of the article is that toleration belongs to the left while the right should be repressed or perhaps not tolerated.
This post will take a look at an article by Alison Bailey called “Tracking Privilege-Preserving Epistemic Pushback in Feminist and Critical Race Philosophy Class.” The authors’ main point was to identify epistemic pushback, provide examples of the tools of epistemic pushback, and share some of the associated problems. The context for the author’s views are taken from experiences she had as a teacher.
According to the author, the academic classroom is a place where there are unlevel fields of knowledge in which ignorance is produced. This position assumes that students are creators of knowledge rather than consumers of it. This ignorance that the author is writing about can take place when a student pushes back or disagrees with the opinion of another student. The pushback or disagreement can manifest in many different ways. One way in which it shows itself is when the concerns of a marginalized student relating to injustice are viewed as complaints. Pushing back in this way is dismissing the lived pain of another student. Within the scope of this paper, this type of pushback only seems to happen concerning social justice issues.
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The pushback that was described in the previous paragraph has a technical name which is privilege-preserving epistemic pushback. Epistemic pushback is the willful use of ignorance by a dominant group to see the social injustices observed by marginalized groups. The author then provides technical examples of epistemic pushback including the use of critical thinking and shadow texts.
Tools of Pusback
Critical thinking is focused on the truthfulness or epistemic adequacy of an argument. In other words, it assesses the strength of an argument through the relevancy of the support and the development of an argument. The author considers the use of critical thinking as harmful to marginalized groups. The reason for this is that when epistemic pushback claims to use critical thinking it validates the pushback and has an unfair influence.
The author also compares and contrasts critical thinking with critical pedagogy. Critical pedagogy is focused on power dynamics and groups of people to seek justice and emancipation of those who are not in a position of power. Critical thinking in contrast is focused on the soundness of an argument. The author makes this point by stating that critical thinking cannot be used to dismantle a system that employs critical thinking with the analogy that you cannot use the tools of oppression to defeat oppression. Other ways have to be employed in order to challenge the views and opinions of others.
Shadow text is an attempt to share an idea or topic similar to the topic of the debate with the intention to change the course of the debate. The goal with shadow text is to move a person from their epistemic terrain (the topic they are debating and or where they are comfortable) to a weaker position. People struggle to see points of view that are different from theirs such as how men and women struggle to understand each other and people of various races struggle to understand each other. Moving someone from their epistemic terrain can bring a sense of discomfort for people. For example, white fragility is believed to take place when people who are white are faced with a position that challenges their worldview. However, anybody who has their own worldview challenged could potentially face a similar experience of discomfort as it is similar to cognitive dissonance.
Another concern the author has with shadow text is that it can block paths of knowledge. This can happen when people want to be convinced rather than accept the claims of people from marginalized groups as true. When people have to waste time developing arguments it distracts them from hearing the voices of the powerless
Problems with Epistemic Pushback
The author also mentions several additional drawbacks to epistemic pushback. Pushback is considered a type of manipulation called microinvalidation which are words and or actions that deny a person’s thoughts or feelings about their personal experience. Again asking for aspects related to critical thinking may be one form of microvalidation.
Epistemic violence is another problem with epistemic pushback. There are two types of epistemic violence in the paper and these are testimonial quieting and testimonial smoothing. Testimonial quieting is denying the credibility of a knower because they belong to a marginalized group which essentially silences them. For example, silencing the voice of a woman among a group of men because the person is a woman
Testimonial smoothing involves a speaker restricting their word choice out of fear that the audience may not accept or understand what they are trying to say. This self-censorship naturally weakens the individual’s ability to communicate. However, this form of self-censorship is common among the majority and marginalized.
Conclusion
Epistemic pushback is an important term to be aware of because it makes the case that tools commonly used in debating ideas are not acceptable within the context of social justice. Whether this is true or not is a matter for future debate. However, declaring time-honored tools such as critical thinking as being out of bounds within the debate of social justice is a brilliant move to protect the epistemic terrain of those who support progressive ideas within the context of social justice
Within program/project evaluation, there are several different levels at which evaluation can take place. There are three common levels at which this can happen and they are listed below.
Project
Cluster
Programming &policymaking
Project-Level
The main goal of project-level evaluation is to improve the project. Information is collected to impact the decision-making process. There are several phases associated with this level of evaluation.
At the pre-project phase there is often a needs assessment to determine how to support the target population. Other activities at this phase include seeking input from stakeholders and identifying available local resources. At this point, the main purpose is to assess the situation in which the program will take place.
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At the startup phase, there are also several activities taking place. For example, there is a need to develop a system for collecting data. How to collect data will vary widely from project to project but this is crucial going forward. Other activities at this phase include collecting baseline data for comparison with the implementation of the project and identifying assumptions about the project. It is critical to have comparison data so that the impact of the program can be assessed while also considering expectations as well.
Implementation involves the continuation of data collection along with feedback from participants in the program. The feedback is formative and helps to make needed course corrections when necessary. There is also a focus on short-term outcomes and assessing how they may impact long-term outcomes.
The maintenance phase involves sharing findings from the program. This information is shared with stakeholders. There is also continued monitoring of the outcomes as determined from the logic model.
Lastly, there is replication. Replication is focused on assessing the fit of the program with the local community. There is also the development of strategies to share with policymakers.
Project-level evaluation is perhaps the most common form of evaluation with grants. However, there are other levels and approaches to evaluation as shown below
Cluster
Cluster evaluation is a type of evaluation that is done by grant funders and or higher-level leaders. The focus here is to look at similar projects and group them. The purpose of this grouping is to see how well these various projects are doing and to focus on change. Members from the different projects meet together and discuss items of interest about their projects and learn from each other.
During these meetings, the leadership may be looking for common themes and opportunities for feedback. This macro view is naturally a time saver for leaders who may not need the details of a project evaluation while still having a sense of how things are going
Programming & Policymaking
At the programming & policymaking level, the evaluation involves summarizing and synthesizing information gathered from various program and cluster evaluations. This is done to address various policy questions that leadership and funders may have. In addition, this type of evaluation determines decisions related to funding and the continued support of a program(s).
Policy changes are also considered. For example, leaders may decide to change various aspects of the funding process and or encourage other types of programs. As with all evaluations, the goal is to make decisions.
Conclusion
These three types of evaluation are commonly used in the context of grant-funded programs. It is important to always assess a project because of the use of other people’s money to others. Therefore, evaluations, such as the ones shared here, will continue to be a part of the grant process.
This post will take a look at program evaluation, which is a critical part of the grant process.
Types of Evaluation
In program evaluation, there are two forms of evaluation. The two forms are formative evaluation and summative evaluation. Formative evaluation is an evaluation that takes place during the running of the program and is used to make course corrections during implementation. Summative evaluation takes place when a program has run its course and now the goal is to see how it went. In other words, formative is focused on performance right now while summative is focused on performance in the past.
Formative Evaluation
Formative evaluation, as already mentioned, is focused on the context and implementation of the program. This type of evaluation is also focused on the quality of the program (good/bad) and the quantity of the program (ie how many people were served). Formative evaluation takes a look at the activities that were used in the program as well as the outputs from the program.
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The purpose of this evaluation is to make needed adjustments. If people are dissatisfied with the program and or the numbers are subpar, formative assessment allows for changes during the implementation. Failure to do this will generally lead to a poor summative assessment. In other words, formative evaluation, which allows for program adjustments, can help to improve a summative evaluation at the end of a program.
Summative Evaluation
Summative evaluation is focused on the effectiveness and satisfaction of the program. Rather than looking at activities and outputs like formative evaluation, summative evaluation looks at the outcomes and measures how well those were achieved. Outcomes measure how the activities changed the behavior of people in the target population who participated in the program. For example, an outcome might be to see a one-grade level increase in reading comprehension after spending 3 months using a reading software for 6 hours a week.
Since summative evaluations are focused on the results of a progam this type of evaluation must happen at the end of a program. The results of such an evaluation are used to prove that the program deliver what it promised and to improve the program before the next implementation.
Developing Evaluation Question
Determining what type of evaluation you are doing helps in shaping the type of questions you will ask. Timing is another factor to consider. In addition, knowing whether the program is still ongoing or if it is over should also be considered. Another thing to think about is where in the logic modeling are you evaluating. Activities and outputs generally fall under formative evaluation while outcomes and maybe impact would fall under summative evaluation.
When developing questions that you will answer for an evaluation it is important to think of the following.
Area of the question (context, activities, outputs, outcomes, impact)
As mentioned, think about where in the logic model the evaluation takes place as this affects the questions. Questions about activities will be different from questions about outcomes. Activity questions might focus on the number of participants while outcome questions will ask about changes in the participants’ behavior after program participation.
It is also important to think about the audience for the report. Staff within the program will have different questions from funders. Funders will care about how money is used while staff may care about satisfaction and ease of implementation. Not only are questions going to vary but the type of evaluation may vary as well.
Lastly, it is important to think about the type of questions to ask. Questions can be qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative questions are narrative-focused and use words to describe a phenomenon. Quantitative questions use numbers to describe things, Both are appropriate at the right time.
Whatever questions you develop you must think about where the data comes from and what type of help you might need to get this data. With this information in mind completing an evaluation should not be a problem.
Conclusion
Evaluation is used within the context of grants to determine how well things were going during the program and how well the program met its targets at the end of the program. This knowledge plays a critical role in establishing a program and measuring how to improve the program going forward.
Sitting down and developing a logic model is challenging. However, there are ways to complete this without the stress. What many people do is design the logic model backward by considering the outcomes they want and then developing activities that lead to the desired outcomes. In education, we call this Backward Design which is a model for developing curriculum. In this post, we will look at how to design a logic model using this system that is similar to Backward Design.
The Problem
Although it was stated that you need to begin with the outcomes and impact this is not completely correct. When developing a logic model, one of the first things to consider is what problem you want your program to address. Once this is determined along with the target population you can then move to the outcomes.
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Focusing on the problem, for example, you may notice at a school that there are struggles with reading comprehension. You would now find literature to see how this problem has been addressed in other places as well as document how your organization has addressed this problem. It is important that the problem is thoroughly explained and grounded in your mind and is convincing to potential grant funders. The problem is the heart of the program and if it is shaking the program will not be able to get off the ground.
Target Population, Outcomes & Impact
The next step is to determine who the target population is. For the reading comprehension example, we have to determine specifically who is struggling with reading comprehension. Is it all students, a specific grade, a minority population, etc? The target population is the people who will experience the program. In addition, different funders prefer to fund different target populations.
Once a problem is defined many people want to rush to determine activities to solve the problem. This is not correct in many instances. Instead, we want to define our outcomes and impacts. Outcomes are changes we want to see in our target population as a result of our program and impacts are changes in the community as a result of our program. For example, we might want reading scores among 6th graders to improve one grade level on average for each student. The impact of this would be higher graduation rates when these kids get near the end of high school thanks to their improved reading skills.
The next step still does not involve activities. We now need to consider factors that influence the community concerning this program. These factors can be helpful or detrimental to our program’s influence. For example, our reading program can be helped by using school computers (positive factor) however, student motivation may be lacking in developing reading skills (negative factor). Understanding the factors your program faces helps you to be aware of roadblocks and support for your program.
Activities & Assumptions
Now it is time to address activities. Sometimes this section is called strategies. In this section, you identify best practices for solving your problem. this is all grounded in literature and should be supported with references. For example, using reading software to encourage kids to read would help to improve reading comprehension (desired outcome) while also motivating them through gamification (motivation was a negative factor to overcome).
Assumptions are another critical part of the planning process. With assumptions, you explain how and why tour strategies will work in the target population. The purpose here is to sit down and think about why your program is such a great idea. You need to be aware of things you are assuming without knowing you are assuming them. For example, for the reading comprehension example, you might be assuming that the current school computers are adequate for use with reading comprehension software.
Conclusion
The best advice that could be given about this process is to focus on the end in mind. Start with what you want to see, and the impact you want to make, and from there develop the outcomes and activities appropriately. Once this process is completed you can begin to input information into a logic model.
This post will be a summary of the article, “Equity, Inclusion, and Antiblackness in Mathematics” by Danny Martin. The main thrust of this article is the author’s belief in the oppression blacks experience when they are learning math.
Martin makes several strong claims in his article using critical analysis. The word “critical” in this context always has to do with relations of power between the “oppressed” and “oppressor”. He states that math has held a privileged position within education. By privileged he may mean that math is held above other subjects in terms of importance. Naturally, there is no clear reason why math is somehow more important than other subjects except for perhaps its role in science and technology which are key movers of the economy.
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Martin also claims that people of color are underrepresented in math. However, it is rare to find equal distribution of people in almost any field or discipline. For example, minorities often dominate sports without any complaints from people. Since professional athletes generally make more money than mathematicians focusing on athletics may make more sense in specific circumstances. For people who like the physical tools for athletic excellence, math provides another route to success.
To deal with the challenge of math supremacy and the underrepresentation of blacks in this field, Martin wants an aggressive and fast overturning of the existing system. He critiques strongly the slow incremental reform that has been used over the years as too sluggish and does not threaten the status quo. Supporting revolution is to be expected from Marxist-leaning writers as the current state of affairs is always one that is dissatisfying to them.
Major Movements in Math
Martin next breaks down how there have been three major movements for math reform in the US. The first was in the 1950’s which was math refroms in reaction to Soviet success during the Cold War. The next reform was in the 1980’s and was a standards approach in reaction to the work published in “A Nation at Risk.” The last reforms came in the 2000s and were the common core state standards. For Martin, each of these reforms found one way or another to exclude people of color from success in math. Inclusion was a goal of each of these reforms yet Martin claims that the inclusion never happened.
The inclusion that these reforms offered included marginalization or assimilation. Marginalization is essentially treating people of color as second-class citizens within the discipline of math. Assimilation involves people sacrificing their identity and or culture to be a part of the community. For Martin, either of these actions is not true inclusion.
Martin provides several examples of how the government has supported whites in math. Examples include GI Bill which allows whites to go to college and thus study math. Other examples include the New Deal and the Fair Deal. The latter two are not explained in detail in the article but were reform programs.
Violence and Dehumanization in Math
The article states that black students experience violence and dehumanization through math education. Violence is manifested by looking for deficiencies in the math ability of black students through diagnosing these weaknesses. In other words, if a black child learns that they are weak in math this is a form of violence toward the child as it labels them. Thus, math illiteracy was invented to exclude people of color from the discipline of math by telling them they were illiterate in math. Again, this is the opinion of the author of the article.
Dehumanization is not as clearly defined by Martin. However, if it is the same as Freire’s view of dehumanization it means that the students are not awakened politically to the injustice around them and the need to fight it. For Friere, if a person is not aware of their oppression they are not fully human. Martin shares Freire’s views but he did not define this term and that may be because he assumes his audience already knows this.
The violence and dehumanization that black students experience in math are examples of antiblackness within math. In other words, these tools discussed above are used to keep blacks out of math. Martin claims that math is a space for people who are not of color and that this has become a racialized experience.
Refuse
Martin ends his paper with an appeal to the axiom of black brilliance. An axiom is a self-evident truth or a claim that does not need support. In other words, the axiom of black brilliance means somebody is brilliant simply because of their skin color. This is conflicting given that stupidity can be found in all cultures and people groups. Assuming black brilliance is just as bad as assuming black stupidity given that there is a spectrum of intellectual ability in all people groups from dumb to genius. Mislabeling either way is a problem that should be avoided. Injustice on one side should not lead to injustice in the way. Performance rather than skin color should determine the success or failure of an individual.
Martin also shares the idea of refusal in and refusal of. Refusal in means refusing white benevolence and not learning math in the current system of oppression. Refusal of means refusal of current math practices. Although this is a catchy term it lacks practicality as math has a long multicultural history involving India, the Middle East, Africa, and other places of color in addition to recent contributions by Europeans.
Conclusion
Reading the works of critical race theory proponents is always interesting. The anger and frustration that come through their writing is powerful. However, seeing the world through a lens of race is just one of seeing the world. There are other interpretations of how math is taught besides the cry of racial injustice.
This post will look at different types of logic models. In general, there are three types of logic models as shown below.
Theory Approach Models
Outcome Approach Models
Activities Approach Models
Of course, in the real world, it is never this simple as three categories. Many models are a mixture of more than one. The benefit of being aware of these three models is that it helps you as the logic model developer to understand what you want to focus on when creating a logic model.
Theory Approach Models
The purpose of theories is to explain. Therefore, a theory approach model is focused on depicting how and why a program will work. The model will go into detail on explaining how a program will achieve something.
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In general, there will be an emphasis not on outcomes and impact but on the earlier part of the model such as the inputs and even components before the inputs. It’s not that the other sections are not important. Instead, the goal is to ensure grant readers understand the justification for the program.
Outcomes Approach Models
Outcomes are the direct influence that outputs from a program have on the target population in terms of changes in attitudes, behavior, etc. Therefore, an outcome approach model is focused on outcomes and their connection with activities and impact. Often individual activities are linked directly to the outcome they are supposed to support.
Outcome approach models are useful for evaluation as they are focused on the measured components of a program. For example, if one of the outcomes of a program is a 30% increase in students reading at grade level. Such an outcome can be measured and determined if the program was able to achieve this or not.
Outcome approach models are not as concerned with the how and why of a program as theory models are. Instead, this model is focused on the performance of the model and whether the outcomes are achieved or not.
Activities Approach Models
Activities approach models emphasize what the program will do through the activities or methods of the program. The activities are often mapped out in a sequential fashion leading up to a particular output. In other words, several activities will happen chronologically to achieve a specific outcome.
Unlike the theory model, the activity model is not training as much to explain the what and how of the model. In addition, unlike the outcome model, the activity model is not focused on how the program influences the target population.
Conclusion
It is important to remember that how to develop one of these models in particular will vary widely from place to place. The real point here is to be aware of the focus of your logic model. Being aware of what matters most to you and your readers, whether it is the theory, outcomes, or activities, can help you shape the most appropriate logic model for your context
Logic models play a critical role in the grant proposal process. What logic models do is show how your program will work by depicting visually the relationships among the resources, activities, and desired results of your program.
In general, there are two main sections of a logic model. These two sections are called the plan and the intention. Within each of these sections, there are also several key components. The plan includes inputs and activities and the intention includes outputs, outcomes, and impact. Below is a diagram of a simple linear logic model.
We will now define each of these terms in the logic model. The ideas behind this post are derived from the W.K. Foundation which has several informative documents on the grant development process.
The Plan
Inputs or resources are needed to get the program to work. An analogy would be gas for a car. You can have the best intentions in the world with a car but without gas, nothing will happen. A program with resources will have no impact.
Activities or methods are what the program does with the resources. For example, a car burns gas to travel somewhere. Activities within a program are used to bring about desired results or help manifest the program’s intentions.
Intention
Outputs are the direct results of the activities of your program. These can be services, participation rates in the program, levels or dosages, etc. In other words, outputs are some sort of tangible product or experience. For a car, the output would be whatever place the car travels to such as a mall, restaurant, or park.
Outcomes are changes in the target population or the people who the program is for in terms of their attitudes, behaviors, skills, etc. For example, once we take our car to the park we would expect everyone to be happier from having a chance to experience nature. Outcomes can be broken down by increments within a few years of the program to almost ten years after the program’s implementation. The scope of the outcomes depends on the designer of the program.
Impact is the fundamental change in the local community and or organization as a result of the program’s implementation. Therefore, after taking the trip to the park using the car we might expect to have improved family relations and reduced stress from the trip’s fun. In other words, the impact is the long-term effects of the program on the greater community due to changes in the target population.
Interpreting Logicl Model with If Then Statements
A great way to understand logic models is to see them as a chain of if-then statements. Each component of the logic model feeds into the next one and shows “logically” how the program should run. Below is an example
If we have the resources we need then.. (Inputs) We can complete the activities then.. (activities) The target population will participate in the activities then… (outputs) There will be changes in the target population then… (outcomes) There will be changes in the larger community (impact)
Here is the same example using the car example
If we have gas for the car then… (inputs) We can travel then… (activities) We will go to the park then… (outputs) Everybody will be happier then… (outcomes) Family relations will improve… (impact)
Both of the examples above are examples of non-visual logic models. It is important to note that there are different ways to support out the different parts of a logic model. Some will agree with the breakout above and some will not. The real point is to make it clear in your mind how you want to go about breaking apart the components of your program.
Conclusion
Logic models are powerful tools for helping you to develop your programs that are seeking grant funding. Logic models can also help with implementation and the evaluation of a program as well. Therefore, it is clear that there are many reasons why logic models should be used in the grant proposal process.
Goals and objectives are derived from the needs statement of a grant proposal. It is important that the needs statement, goals, and objectives, are all aligned in order to make sure a program has a clear sense of purpose. In this post, we will define goals and objectives within the context of grant writing.
Goals
Goals are broad general statements that provide a sense of direction for a project. Objectives are derived from goals with the difference being that goals are specific in terms of how they help to reach the goal. Goals, because of their general nature, are unachievable but are instead inspirational in their construction.
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Since goals are intangible they are also unmeasurable. An example of a goal would be the following for a school.
To provide the best educational services in the region
The goal above is a goal because of its general unmeasurable nature. None of the terms are defined and there is no way of knowing when the school will be the best in the region as this is not defined either.
Objectives
Objectives support goals by making goals real at least in part. Objectives are specific steps that are made in a measurable way to reach goals. Objectives are often associated with the acronym SMART which stands for.
Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound
Objectives need to focus on something or be specific. Objectives also need to be measurable generally quantitatively. Objectives must also be achievable given the context of the program. Objectives must also be relevant or related to the goals and needs statement of the project. In other words, an education program needs objectives related to education and not health care. Lastly, objectives must have a window of time in which they can be achieved. Below is an example of an objective.
Ensure at least 15 students are reading at grade level by the end of the program
Within the context of grant writing, there are two types of objectives which are outcome and process objectives. Outcome objectives demonstrate impact are results derived from a program. An example would be the objective shown above in this paragraph. This objective is achieved as an outcome of the program. In other words, once the program is completed the desired measurable behaviors should be measurable.
Process objectives are focused on the steps to achieve results within a program. An example of a process objective is below.
The number of students who participate in the reading program for the first time within the grant period willgrow to 10% of the student population
The objective above helps the program leaders realize what they need to do to ensure the success of the program. In other words, the students are not doing anything here. Instead, the program leaders know what percent of the student population is needed for the study. Process objectives need to be achieved to ensure the validity of any outcome objectives.
Objectives are result-oriented and concrete. Grant proposals need objectives to provide shape to the direction that a program will take if it is funded.
things to Considered
There are several tips and things to consider when developing goals and objectives. It is important to determine what it is that you want to change with your program. Understanding the target of changes can help to formulate goals and objectives. For example, if the change target is improved reading comprehension this will lead to different goals and objectives compared to developing math skills.
It is also important to be aware of the target population or the people you want to serve. This is important because the target population can often show up in goals and objectives to help focus the proposal. Another concern is the direction of change. Is there a desire to increase or decrease a behavior or skill? Generally, reading comprehension should increase while arrests should decrease.
The amount of change and a timeline should be thought about as well. Numbers must be set to both of these ideas. The amount of change can be a 10% increase or decrease in something and the timeline can depend on how long the program will last. In all of this, the goals should be inspirational while the objectives are measurable.
Lastly, it is important to know that objectives are not methods. Objectives measure the impact of methods or activities that are used to see if objectives have been achieved.
Conclusion
Goals and objectives are at the heart of a proposal. They provide shape and a sense of accountability to a project. Knowing this, the goals and objectives must be presented understandably not only for the readers of the proposal but also for the writers as they provide clarity in what exactly one is attempting to accomplish.
In this post, we will look at the role that the needs statement plays in a grant proposal. The needs statement of a grant proposal is similar to the problem statement of a research paper in that both provide the overall scope of the proposal/paper and what will be addressed. In the case of the grant proposal, the needs statement guides the development of the goals, objectives, methods, evaluation, and even the budget. Given the influence of this statement, it must be expressed in a manner that is first and foremost comprehensible for the intended readers.
Tips & Insights
The grantor must agree with the needs statement so that those seeking money can obtain it. In other words, the grantor must be convinced that the needs statement articulates a need that aligns with what the grantor provides money for. For example, a funder that is focused on sports exercise is not going to be convinced of needs that are focused on English language skills.
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The needs statement also be consistent with the grant-seeking organization. In other words, a school seeking funding must write grants that support schools. It is also critical to show how, with the money, an organization can help to fill the need that they are trying to address. This means that the grantees must explain how they are competent to use the money to address the need.
Making a compelling needs statement involves the artful use of quantitative and qualitative data. Both forms of data provide evidence of the need. Statistics can provide a summary of trends over time and help to indicate where there may be problems. Qualitative data provides anecdotal evidence and shares stories that are easy to understand and appreciate.
Circular Reasoning
One common trap that many grant writers fall into is the use of circular reasoning. Circular reasoning is a fallacy in which the main idea is used as a supporting detail or the premise is also the conclusion. An example would be “Make your bed because I said so.” In this argument, no evidence is provided for why the bed should be made except for the authority of the speaker.
Within the context of grant writing, an example of circle reasoning would be “We do not have enough computers for our students. Therefore, buying computers will fulfill this need.” In this poignant emotional example, one can see the school thinks they need computers but no evidence is provided that the school needs computers except for their request. Using quantitative and qualitative data could illustrate how the school needs computers rather than relying on their innate desire for computers
Conclusion
The needs statement is critical to grant writing. As such, it can be difficult to articulate this clearly. However, if this is done it can seriously help to communicate with funders.
There are different proposal types grant-seekers can use to solicit funds. The type of proposal you will use depends on who you are communicating with. In general, there are four types of proposals.
Letter of intent
Letter proposal
Full proposal
Online application
We will look at each below.
Letter of Intent
A letter of intent is a 2-3 page summary of your project. This letter will contain information describing your organization, the gist of the project, and how the project fits the priorities of the potential funder.
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There are several benefits of a letter of intent. First, it saves time for both the grant seeker and the funder. It is much easier to write a 2-3 page summary and to read such a summary than to go through the entire proposal process. Second, if the funder likes what they read, they can request a full proposal.
Letter Proposal
A letter proposal is 3-4 pages and describes the project and organization seeking funds. This type of proposal is often requested by corporations. On the surface, it appears there is no difference between a letter of intent and a letter proposal. However, there is one major difference
A letter of proposal will generally always include a request for a specific amount of money. A letter of intent will not include a dollar request. The letter of intent is a letter that communicates an intention to send a proposal while a letter proposal is already a proposal.
Full Proposal
A full proposal is what many think of when they think of a grant proposal. A full proposal is somewhere between 5-25 pages and includes a cover letter, proposal summary, project plan, evaluation plan, etc. This type of document is often requested by foundations from the beginning or perhaps after a letter of intent has been received.
A full proposal is going to have a strong explanation of all of the costs involved and the funding request. There will also be details in terms of objectives and activities that will be performed to achieve the objectives. Since so much is involved in the preparation of this document, it takes a great deal of time and can be discouraging if the project is rejected.
Application
Perhaps the most common way to solicit funds from grantors is the online application. The online application involves completing some sort of online template in which all the information the grantor wants is inputted. Such an approach is a departure from the personal, relationship-building style of grant-seeking of the past.
It seems that everybody uses online applications now but they are especially common among large grant-making institutions who focus on funded projects. It’s easy for this to become an impersonal experience. However, the goal is to help people who are in need through obtaining needed funding.
Conclusion
The proposal is a critical part of obtaining funding. It provides critical information about the project while also formally communicating a need to a potential financial supporter. However, it is important to consider the preferred way that a grantmaker wants to be contacted, which is why these various types of proposals were shared.
In this post, we will look at how to use the Pingouin package to calculate both t-test and ANOVA results. This post is not a post on statistics. Rather, we are focused on how to do t-test and ANOVA using Python. Therefore, the explanation of the statistics is not a part of this post.
We will be using the Duncan dataset from the pydataset package. In the code below, we are loading the needed libraries and we are also printing a portion of the Duncan dataset.
import pandas as pd
import pingouin
from pydataset import data
df=data("Duncan")
df.head()
The Duncan dataset is simple. It has stats on various jobs which include the type of job, income, education, and prestige. We want to compare job type with income. What we want to do is compare professional jobs (prof) with white-collar jobs (wc) and see if there is a difference. After doing this, we will compare all three job types (bc, wc, prof) using ANOVA.
T-Test
In the code below, we need to subset our data so that the professionals and white-collar workers are separate.
Now that this is complete, the code below is what is used for conducting the t-test. We are comparing professional income with white-collar income. The t-test is two-sided which means we are looking for any difference at all. Below are the results
According to the p-value, there is no difference between the salaries of professionals when compared to white-collar workers. We will now move to ANOVA.
ANOVA
T-test only allows the user to compare two groups. ANOVA allows the user to compare multiple groups. We have three types of workers and not just two. Using ANOVA, we can compare all three at once. In addition, unlike the t-test, there is no data preparation needed in this example.
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The code below is relatively simple, we are using the ANOVA function from Pingouin. The first argument is for the data, the second indicates the dependent variable, and the between argument indicates the independent variable. Below is the code and output.
The value we are focused on is the p-unc or p-value. The results are significant. In other words, there is a difference between one of the comparisons. We don’t know which one will require us to do a pairwise comparison. Below are two different pairwise comparisons, one without an adjustment and one with an adjustment.
Pairwise Comparision No Adjustment
The first pairwise comparison is without an adjustment. The code below is mostly the same as for ANOVA. The main difference is we are using the pairwise_test function and there is an additional argument called padjust which is set to none. Below is the code and output.
Focusing on the p-values (p-unc) again we can see that there is a difference between blue-collar workers and professionals and another difference between blue-collar workers and white-collar workers. However, there is no difference between professional and white-collar workers. Keep in mind that we already knew that there was no difference between professionals and white-collar workers from the t-test results.
Pairwise Comparision with Adjustment
In the code below, we have the same code but with a Bonferroni p-value adjustment. Adjustments become important when you have a large number of groups. The details of this are beyond the scope of this post. However, it is important to make this adjustment because otherwise, you could get false positives which could skew your results and interpretation. Below is the code and output.
You may have noticed that the numbers are the same. That is because in our example we have a small number of groups. Therefore, this correction is not necessary for the data we are using.
Conclusion
The main purpose here was to show what the penguin package can do when it comes to t-tests and ANOVA. We could have calculated means for each group and other statistics. However, that was not the focus. Now, you know some of the tools that are available in the pingouin library.
This post will explain the various parts of a grant proposal evaluation. It is important to remember that there is no single way that this is done. Rather, the information provided below gives a general summary of what is commonly expected. Below are commonly found sections in a grant proposal evaluation.
Purpose
Need
Operational plan
Personnel
Budget
Evaluation
Resources
Each of these parts of a proposal are explained below.
Alignment of Purpose
One component that grantors look at is the purpose of the grantee. In other words, why does the grantee exist? In addition, the grantor wants to know how the proposal’s objectives align with the organization’s purpose.
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For example, the purpose of a school is to provide education. Therefore, if a school is seeking funding it must support the purpose of the school which is to provide education. This means that a proposal that focuses on improving reading is probably more aligned with the purpose of education than seeking money for faculty vacations.
Extent of Need
The extent of needs identifies what exactly is the problem that the organization is facing. For those familiar with research it is similar to the statement of the problem. The organization must document not only anecdotal evidence but also from literature on the extent of the problem that is being faced in the local context.
The grantor is looking at the scope and focus of the need. Sometimes organizations try to do too much in one proposal. It is too difficult to define how focused the needs should be as this will vary from place to place. The point is to be aware that a proposal needs focus to obtain approval.
Operational Plan
The operational plan is similar to the methodology of a research paper. In this section, the organization explains the project design by sharing what resources will be used to achieve the objectives. There will also be an explanation of the milestones and an assessment of how logical they are.
Other aspects of this section include the timeline which must also be assessed for its reasonableness. In addition, various activities are shared along with how they help to achieve the objectives of the proposal. All this must be grounded and based on research.
In our school example, we might have the objective of improving reading comprehension by half a grade level over one academic year. This objective might be achieved by using grant money to purchase reading software that allows the kids to practice reading aloud and answering comprehension questions. The milestones might include purchasing the software, training the teachers to use it, monthly progress checks of the students, etc.
Personnel Quality
The personal quality section addresses whether or not the people within the organization have the skills needed to complete the project. If the skills are lacking, then the proposal must explain how the current group of people will be trained or how additional people will be hired.
It is also necessary to clearly define the responsibilities of all individuals involved in the project. Lastly, it is useful to include an estimate of how much time people will devote to the project.
Budget
The budget is mostly self-explanatory. It is important to make sure that the budget covers all expenses. Furthermore, the cost must be reasonable. Again, it is impossible to define reasonable but this must be kept in mind. Lastly, it is also important to include administrative costs in the budget as well.
Evaluation
All projects must be evaluated which means that there must be a way to define the success or failure of the endeavor. This involves collecting data throughout the project and using the data to determine if the objectives have been achieved. Therefore, the proposal must include means of data collection and analysis to assess the success of the project.
The evaluation must be valid or appropriate for the project. For example, if a school is trying to improve reading comprehension then the evaluation must measure the students’ reading comprehension. Asking the students if they believe their reading comprehension has improved is not as valid because it is measuring perceptions rather than reading comprehension directly.
Resource Sufficiency
Resource sufficiency is focused on the organization explaining their readiness to implement the program if they are given the money. In other words, do they have adequate facilities right now or do they need to improve them?
Another concern is equipment. For example, if a school wants to purchase reading software the next question is whether or not the school has enough computers to support the software. There is also a concern for the age of the computers and whether or not the computers can handle the software.
Conclusion
Writing a grant proposal is challenging yet exciting. It allows an organization to obtain funding to help people who are in need. For many, this is a satisfying experience. However, great care must be taken to make sure that the proposal is written in a way that it is accepted as a project worthy of funding.
Writing grants is one of many ways to acquire funding to support an institution. In this post, we will look at some of the basic components that are a part of a grant proposal.
Abstract
The abstract of a grant proposal provides a general summary or a snapshot of the main points of the proposal. The abstract commonly includes such things as the objectives, the methods, and maybe the way the grant will be evaluated.
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A major question people often have about the abstract is when to write it. It really depends on how your mind works. Some prefer to write it at the beginning and use it to guide the rest of the writing. Others prefer to write the abstract at the end after they know what they wrote in the proposal.
Needs Statement
The needs statement is a section of a grant problem in which the writer shares the problem, the background of the problem, and the review of the literature. Essentially, the writer is trying to illustrate the context in which there is a need for the grant money.
The needs statement also shares how the problem will be addressed at least briefly. Sharing this information also implies the benefits of implementing whatever program the grantee is seeking funding for.
Plan of Operation
The plan of operation is the methodology of a grant proposal. In this section, the objectives may be shared again along with the methods. Methods are how the objectives are achieved in a grant proposal. For example, if a school is applying for a grant to improve reading comprehension, the method for doing this might be to train teachers in a different reading approach to help students.
Sometimes activities are also listed. These are various things that are done in order to facilitate the grant as well.
Personnel& Cost
Personnel is a list of the people who are involved in the performance of the grant. This can include people who already work at the school and or people who will be hired in order to do this.
The cost is self-explanatory. The grantors need to know how much money is needed and this information is provided here.
Evaluation
Evaluation explains how the performance of the grant will be determined. In this section, it is important to explain what is being evaluated. In addition, it is common to provide some sort of before and after metric. For example, what was the reading comprehension before the program was implemented is a question that can be addressed. this is one way to indicate the amount of change that is expected
It is also necessary to indicate who is responsible for completing the revelation along with the cost. If there are some sort of standards this can also help with determining the quality of the program as well.
Current Resources (significance
Current resources tell the grantor the tools available right now to achieve the objectives. In this section, it is also important to share why you should receive this money and why you are best qualified to achieve what you have stated in this proposal.
Assurancesand Attachments
Assurances are statements that the grantee will abide by whatever rules and regulations are required of the grantor. This is common when applying for government grants. Attachments are miscellaneous documents that might be needed. These documents are context-dependent but can include budgets, timelines, and or letters.
Conclusion
Writing a grant proposal can seem like a daunting task. However, once you are familiar with some of the basic components it is a much less intimidating experience.
Reading academic textbooks is especially challenging for students. The challenge has more to do with bad habits than an inability to comprehend. In the video below, we will look at ways to understand textbooks.
Objectives within the context of grants are used to try and explain the changes that the grant seekers want to make in their local context. The objectives defined what kind of change and how much change will take place. In other words, objectives are outcome-focused.
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It is important to not use objectives to explain how things will change. Defining how things will change is a method and not an objective. Objectives help readers see what will change by the completion of the project.
Below are the major components of grant objective(s)
Action statement
Performance measure(s)
Performance standard(s)
Timeline
Costs
Action Statement
The action statement contains a verb that clearly defines what is going to change. Below is an action statement.
To decrease the number of youth who commit crimes after release from the ABC drug program
This is a good start. The action statement clearly defines that we are trying to decrease how many kids commited crimes. However, alone, this objective lacks quantitative features that allow us to assess how successful the program is.
Performance Measure(s)
Performance measures are the variables that are measured to indicate success or failure. What these variables are can depend largely on the context of the grant. Below is our updated objective about the drug program.
To decrease the number of youth who commit crimes after release from the ABC drug program (action statement),as measured by the number of refferals received after completing the program (performance measure),
In the example above, we will know if the youth who commit crimes after release is going up or down based on the number of referrals that are received. Referrals are a way to document offenses that youths may have committed.
Performance Standard
Performance standards provide the objective with a clear quantitative way of defining what is good. For example, in grading 90% is an ‘A’ grade. Below is an example of a performance standard within the context of our objective
To decrease the number of youth who commit crimes after release from the ABC drug program (action statement), as measured by the number of refferals received after completing the program (performance measure), by at least 25% (performance standard).
Now we know how much referrals must decline in order to consider the program a success. How this number was determined is beyond the scope of this blog post. It is important that performance standards are thought out and researched so that they are challenging but achievable.
Timeline& Cost
The timeline provides a framework for how long it will take to see results. Cost provides an estimate of the amount of money that is needed. Below is our final objective
To decrease the number of youth who commit crimes after release from the ABC drug program (action statement), as measured by the number of refferals received after completing the program (performance measure), by at least 25% (performance standard) per year (timeline) at a cost of $15,000 a year (cost)
The timeline in which the performance standards are measured is yearly. The statement above is a great summary of the high points of funding this particular program.
Conclusion
The goal of a grant proposal is to communicate as clearly as possible. Naturally, everybody has a different opinion on what is clear. However, starting with a framework like the one above can at least help you get started and have a common reference point with your team. As needed, it will be important to modify the ideas here.
There are many different ways to categorize the type of grant a person may apply for. In this post, we will look at six types of grants or reasons to apply for grant funding. Understanding these basic categories is helpful for individuals who are struggling to determine how to articulate the motivation behind their desire for funding. The six types of grant purposes are
Demonstration
Replication
Research
Equipment
Consortia
International
Demonstration
A demonstration grant is a request to develop a change model. The motivation behind this type of grant is innovation. This grant is for determining what works and what does not work. If you desire to shake the status quo then your purpose may be demonstration.
Replication
Replication grants are focused on copying tried and true methods in a different context. In other, you see or experience some sort of successful innovation somewhere else and you want to bring it to your organization. One example would be technology in the classroom such as tablets. Using tablets is beneficial in many schools which leads to you wanting to bring tablets into your school as well.
Demonstration grants often lead to replication. The first grant-seekers develop an innovation that leads to others copying this success through replication.
Research
Research grants follow a more rigorous scientific process compared to other grants. They generally involve a control and experimental group. In other words, it’s not enough to show that the intervention benefits students through reporting performance metrics. It is also necessary that the students are doing better than a group of students who did not participate.
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Demonstration grants can be made into research grants by tightening the scientific standards of the intervention process. The scientific results solidify the wisdom of providing money to the grant-seekers. Even if the results are disappointing it at least indicates that the intervention should no longer be explored.
Equipment
Equipment grants are self-explanatory. These grants are developed to request money to purchase needed paraphernalia. Schools may ask to buy computers, microscopes, instruments, etc. Asking for money just to buy something is normally not enough. Instead, you want to purchase equipment to replicate the success of others, demonstrate something, and or do research. In other words, you might start with the goal of buying stuff but getting the grant approved will require a deeper purpose in many situations.
Consortia
Consortia can be any of the grant types above with the difference of working with others when obtaining the money. For example, several counties in a state in the United States might work together to obtain grant funding to help youth in a geographic area. Individually, each county does not have enough expertise or need for money. However, by working together and pooling resources they can provide a service to their region through grant funding.
International
International grants are grants that come from overseas. Multinational companies will often support the local community in which their businesses are located to develop local talent and garner goodwill. For example, Toyota might provide grants to schools in Thailand because Toyota has factories in Thailand. Support schools in Thailand to develop potential workers that will benefit Toyota in the future.
Conclusion
Of course, it is possible to think of other reasons or motivations for seeking grant funding. The purpose here was to provide a shortcut in this part of the decision-making process. Starting with one of the six examples above will help people who are new to this process.
In most cultures, family plays a critical role not only in the lives of children but in maintaining the stability of society. By family, it is meant a traditional family of parents with their biological children. However, there are now questions as to whether genetics should play a role in the family at all.
Definition
Biologism is defined as a preference for biological inheritance. In the context of this post, this means the preference for one’s biological children. Critics of biologism state that this is outdated, old-fashioned, and even prejudical against other children who may not have a family.
There are additional critiques in terms of the patriarchal structure of the traditional home with a need to decenter this normative view for alternative approaches. in simple terms, male-led families with biological children should not be considered normal as it excludes those who cannot experience this. Some have even suggested that people should adopt rather than have their own children as this shows an altruistic nature that may be best for the larger society.
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There are several reasons why biologism is not supported. People have made comments that family structures have changed. Today, there are many non-traditional family structures and there are couples who cannot have children. In addition, even traditional means of having a family are challenged through such things as surrogacy, which makes it questionable in terms of who child the newborn baby is.
One question that is asked is should genetics even matter when somebody wants to be a parent. Generally, this innately matters and this is a major criticism. People against biologism believe that parents should love unconditionally regardless of genetics. The world should be inclusive no matter the relations between people. The goal is to ultimately move people beyond family to a concern for the planet. In other words, the planet should be equal to or more important than family relations. this leaves little room for the natural individualism and tribal connections people have had throughout history.
Not New
Despite how fascinating biologism is it might not be a new idea. Plato in his Republic spoke about the dangers of family. Essentially, Plato’s concern was that when people have families they will naturally put their family ahead of the state. When this happens strife and corruption are bound to take place as people fight for their families. By removing families, people should be focused on supporting the government instead. In other words, instead of people fighting other families Plato simply wanted governments to fight each other. Moving the level at which conflict occurs probably will not stop conflict from happening.
Of course, governments need children even if there are no families and Plato had a solution for this. People would “hook up” through a lottery system and any resulting babies would be raised by the state. Children would not know who their parents were and the parents would have no idea which children were theirs because there would be a lot of hooking up to the point that nobody knew who got which person pregnant. One caveat on this is that Plato’s idea was limited to the leadership of the state or what is called the elite. Regular people would in theory at least still have the ability to pair-bond and have children in a traditional sense. Fortunately, Plato’s ideas were never implemented nor is there any evidence that being single and detached from a family is a path to world peace,
Conclusion
The main concern with attacking traditional families and having children is that it is hard to find another approach that is common and equally successful if not superior. There are examples of societies that struggle when they deemphasized or removed families such as ancient Sparta and extreme forms of Communism. Families have been around for all of human history and as with anything involving people there are pros and cons. Just because bad things happen sometimes does not imply that the entire model should be thrown out. The ultimate point is that people should be able to choose for themselves whether they want to approach from a traditional or alternative means.
Facts and opinions are critical components of reading. It is possible that most information that is shared is either a fact or opinion. Given how common they are it is also common for people to misunderstand the difference between these two concepts. The video below will try and provide an explanation of how facts and opinions are different and how they work together.
It is common for schools and other organizations to seek funding for various initiatives. One source of funding is grant seeking. When attempting to develop a grant proposal. Several concepts need to be included to develop a comprehensive proposal. The parts to be included are
Pain point
Answer
Commitment
When these three components are included it can help a team to attain the grant funding they are seeking. Before writing, it is critical to brainstorm various ways to address these three components before settling on the best choices for the proposal.
The Pain Point
The pain point comes from the context of the grantees. For example, this can be the classroom, the community, or some other aspect of society as a whole. The goal at this point is to be able to paint a picture of the issue that requires financial support to address. The illustration of this can be through the use of statistics, observations, stories, and literature.
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The goal here is to document the gap. By gap, it means the distance between where you are and where you want to be. Again, the distance between these two places will be filled through the judicious use of grant funding.
The Answer(s)
The answer(s) are the ways and strategies that will be employed upon receiving grant funding to address the needs and strengthen the system. For example, if a school is struggling with providing tablets to students the solution would be to purchase tablets using grant funding.
Remember that the goal right now is to brainstorm. This means several solutions are proposed until the team can agree on one. Also, remember that if you are applying for several different grants different solutions to the same problem might be more appealing to different grantors. Therefore, it is important to know your audience when developing grant proposals.
The Commitment
The commitment is often confusing for people. Essentially, the commitment is a part of the proposal in which the grant-seekers attempt to explain the extra effort the team will make when using the grant funds. Depending on the culture, demonstrating passion is important. The grantors often want to know that you are on fire to use this money to implement change and address needs.
Documenting one’s commitment can include expressing your eagerness to help students. You can speak on how you will make adjustments to your classroom and or teaching once the money is put to good use. Again, it is important to think of several different ways to address this before settling on the first idea that occurs in one’s head.
Attainment
If everything goes according to plan in mapping ideas in the first three parts, it is hopeful that the money will be granted. When this happens it is now possible to acquire the tools and or train the people to meet the needs of the context.
Conclusion
The information above provides a framework for getting started in the grant writing process. In summary, it is important to try and document the need, solution, and commitment you are making when seeking funding.
Education while a youth is in the juvenile justice system can be challenging. First, one has to consider who is in charge of the child’s education. Generally, the education of youth in the juvenile system is either the responsibility of the juvenile justice system, the education system of the state, or a combination of both. Technically, the youth has a right to a comparable education while in custody as they would receive while attending a public school. However, there are several obstacles to achieving this.
Examples of some of the challenges that are found in general within juvenile education are unqualified teachers, reduced hours of study, the inability to make up credits, and the student’s background. Teaching juveniles is a unique calling for the professional. Unfortunately, this is a call that often goes unheeded by teachers. Children in the public system can often be unbearable and so one can imagine going into a classroom full of gang members, murderers, and drug dealers. It is an unattractive opportunity which is why juvenile probation departments often have to hire unqualified adults.
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Another unique problem is that juvenile education often runs its schooling for 24 hours a week of study compared to 30 in public schools. What this means is that every week the child is in custody they are falling behind in their studies compared to peers. This becomes a serious problem when the youth is released.
A different challenge is the ability to make up credits. Youth who leave their school for weeks, months, or years can fall behind drastically in terms of acquiring credits. If this happens, the youth can become a dropout, which further disadvantages them in the working world.
The youth themselves bring unique needs. Often, they are special needs and such needs are hard to support in a public school setting let alone while in the juvenile justice system. In addition, juvenile youth are also already behind academically when they are placed in the system. When this is combined with the factors mentioned above it is safe to say that the educational experience is not the best situation a child wants to be in as a student.
There are several places a youth is sent when in custody and we will look at each below.
Juvenile Detention Center
A child who is either accused of a crime or is waiting to be transferred to another facility is often held in what is called detention. The challenge with education in the detention setting is the transitory nature of this experience. On average, a child is in detention for about 30 days. Therefore, you can see the difficulty of providing young people with a comparable education to what they would receive in public school when they are only going to be there for about one month.
In public school, the first few days of the year are spent on assessments to see where the child is academically. Following this, it takes another week or two to lay down classroom rules and procedures in a consistent manner. The point is that, unfortunately, there is minimal learning for the first 2 or 3 weeks of school in the best setting for a child. For a child in juvenile detention, by the time this initial experience is over, there may be a week or two left for learning. While all this is happening, the child is away from home, worried about their freedom, while navigating the stress of being confined to a cell.
While all this is taking place, other students are coming and going as well, which is additional chaos to the experience. Every student is at a different place in this timeline, which is a serious frustration for the teacher and all students involved. Furthermore, some kids may only be there for a few days, so they never really had an opportunity to learn while in juvenile detention.
Alternative Education
Another form of education that students face while being in the Juvenile Justice system is alternative education. Alternative education is for kids who have been suspended from school and or have been found guilty of a lesser offense that does not require confinement. Examples can include drug use or possession of a weapon.
Although it varies from state to state, students are generally at alternative education in blocks of semester suspension(s) or maybe 90 days. However, the challenge is that all the students do not come at the beginning of a semester but can come anytime during the school year. Due to the mandatory minimum length of stay, the educational experience is often much more stable compared to detention centers.
Another concern with alternative education is if the youth continues to cause problems. For example, if they commit another offense, which is possible because they do have a large amount of freedom, they could be placed in detention and moved to a facility. The longer the length of stay is generally better but there is a distinct risk of youth failure due to poor behavior as well.
Residential Facilities
Another place where a youth is educated while in the juvenile justice system is at the actual residential facility they are sent to after their stay in detention. The type of facility depends on the crime that was committed but what they all have in common is that the crime the youth was found guilty of was so serious that the child could no longer stay at home.
The length of stay here can vary. If the sentence was indeterminate the length of stay depends on the youth meeting certain requirements. If the sentence was determinate the youth must stay there for a certain length of time no matter what. As with the other examples, you have youth who are going to be there longer than what is expected in detention centers, but you have the continuous probability of turnover within the classroom setting. Students are coming and going all the time since they don’t all begin their sentence at the same time.
One advantage of the residential facilities is that it is designed to house students long-term. Therefore, it is common to have vocational training and other interesting programs available for youth. In addition, the students have more academic support because they are in the same place for a longer period.
Conclusion
The reality is that the juvenile justice system was developed first to deal with youth who have had missteps with the law. However, it quickly became apparent that children in this system also need an education. It has been difficult to provide this basic need due to the transitory nature of youth as they traverse this system.
Mad studies and Sansim are a form of Marxism that looks at power dynamics between those who are considered “normal” mentally and those who are not. As with all other forms of critical studies, Mad Studies wants to overturn the status quo for an untested utopia that has not been proven to solve any of the existing injustices.
Mad Studies
Mad studies is a field of inquiry that rejects how mental health has been medicalized and has become a tool of the pharmaceutical industry. Madness should not be pathologized as there should not be any norms for mental health. Proponents of this point of view call themselves “mad.”
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Mad proponents are convinced that there is a need to challenge the idea that people experiencing mental distress need to regulate or control their feelings. One of the reasons they make this claim is that people who do not fall within societal norms for acceptable mental well-being can be discriminated against because of these fall norms. For example, people may lose job opportunities, lose a job they already have, and face other obstacles to success because of the oppression that comes with having what others consider to be mental health issues. In addition, people who are considered mad are also often labeled incompetent and or dangerous.
Sanism
The act of discriminating against people because of their mental well-being is called sanism. When individuals are threatened with sanism they will try and hide their mental illness. Other coping mechanisms can include self-criticism in an attempt to place blame on one’s self. Mad studies are focused on challenging the status quo in regard to mental health.
Mad studies criticize several concepts that are a part of Western culture. Neoliberalism is one frequent target and neoliberalism is an economic and social focus on the the individual and the expectation of personal responsibility. As Mad studies is a child of Marxism means that it will have issues with economic policies focused on the individual. Another issue is with personal responsibility.
Mad studies do not support the idea that people should have to control their emotions and behavior at all times. If a person is having a meltdown at work the people around them should be patient and understanding of this challenge. To go one step further, some proponents of Mad studies believe that self-regulation is harmful.
Other supporters of Mad people have stated that Mad people should be in the workplace to provide mental diversity. In other words, the workplace should include a wide variety of people with different types of mental health from people who can control their emotions and reason to people who have no control of themselves and cannot reason. This is considered a balanced workplace for Mad people.
Conclusion
It is a trying situation for anybody who is experiencing mental health issues. However, how well such people can be included in society depends on the situation. It is unwise to bar Mad people from society completely as it is equally unwise to include them completely without examining the circumstances.
Homeschooling has grown tremendously over the years. From a fringe concept to over 6% of the school-aged children in the US. What makes this even more surprising is that home school was illegal in some parts of the US up until the late 1980s.
Homeschooling also takes many different forms. It can take the traditional form of a single family educating their own children. Other ways of providing one’s children with an education can include micro-schools where several families may come together to share resources in the education of their children. The benefit of micro-schools is that by sharing resources it is easier to ensure all academic subjects are covered adequately, which can be difficult to achieve when working alone as a single family. However it is done, homeschooling provides an alternative route to providing for the needs of children.
Motivations for Homeschooling
The motivation for homeschooling naturally varies from family to family. Some of the common reasons can include concerns with safety. The concern with safety is a legitimate worry with all of the school shootings that have happened in the past and the fact that bullying is still a problem in schools. Another reason is the poor academic quality of many schools. It is hard to label all schools as bad but it is reasonable to state that many schools do struggle with academic rigor.
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Another major reason for homeschooling for some families is the opportunity to pass on family and religious values. Schools tend to lean to the left when it comes to values and politics and often try to pull the students in this direction. For some families, this is not acceptable as the values of the schools and government conflict with traditional and or religious values. For this reason, some parents have decided it is better to educate their children at home in order to avoid the confusion of different messages from different sources reaching their children.
Money and the Government
With the growth of homeschooling has also seen a growth in school choice in general. This has led several states to develop some sort of education savings plan or account that can be used to support the education of a child regardless of how they are educated. Some examples of how this money is used are for tutoring, special needs, tuition for private schools, and materials for homeschooling.
The dilemma is that money from the government often comes with requirements and stipulations for the sake of accountability, which is frustrating for homeschool parents as they educate their children often to be free of government interference. This has led some families to reject this money in order to maintain independence.
Rejecting the money is within the rights of parents, however, the laws in some states did not originally allow for different types of accommodation for students who are eligible for this money. In other words, all students who could receive this money were classified as the same, which means that if there is any kind of reporting or government expectation then all students would have to comply whether they took the money or not.
To solve this problem, many states have enacted clarification to allow for families that do not take the money to not have to comply with any expectations that come with families that do take the money. In other words, there is now a clear distinction in the law between students who receive money from the government for educational purposes and those who do not.
Conclusion
The growth of homeschooling is an excellent form of alternative education for many students and families. However, sometimes the government means well but can potentially make life difficult for families. Therefore, parents must stay vigilante in order to prevent the loss of their freedom to educate their children
One of the first steps in reading comprehension is to know what the topic of the reading is. In other words, what is the author writing about is one of the first things a reader should try to uncover. It doesn’t matter if the reader understands they still need to know what subject the author is writing about. The video below provides tips on uncovering the topic of a reading.
In this post we will be using Python to import files. Importing a text file is rather easy into Python. We will look at several different examples and file types in this post.
Importing a Text File
Importing a text file is often done in Python. To do this see the code below.
In order to load the text file we used the open() function to open the file in the working directory. Next, we indicated the mode as ‘r’ which means ‘read’. Everything that was just mentioned was saved into an object called ‘file’. Then we use the read() function on the object called ‘file’ and save all this in a new object called ‘text’. The next step involves using the close() function in order to complete the process. The last step involves printing the content of the text object using print().
Using the ‘with’ approach is much faster and simpler. THe content of the open() function is the same while we save its as “file” by writing this after the open() function rather than before. Lastly, we print the file and use the read() function together.
Import with Numpy
Naturally, there is more than one way to import data. The example below involve the use of the NumPy library. This approach is used in particular for dealing with numerical data that might be saved as a texr file. Below is an example of how to do this.
We begin by importing the numpy librar as np. Next, we create an object called ‘text’ and use the loadtxt() function to load a text file called ‘sample’. The argument ‘delimiter’ is used to tell numpy how the numbers are separated in the file. Lastly, we print the ‘text’ object as an array.
Import with Pandas
Pandas is another way to import data. For our example, we will look at how to import csv files. Below is the code for how to complete this.
import pandas as pd
data=pd.read_csv('sample.csv')
data.head()
In line 1 of the code we load the pandas library as ‘pd’. In line 2, we use the read_csv() function to load our data into the ‘data’ object. Lastly, we use head() to take a peek at the first few lines of data.
Conclusion
With this information, you now possess some basic knowledge on how to get data into Python for the purpose of being able to manipulate it. In a future post, we will look at other ways and means of importing data into Python.
This post is a summary of the article “Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy” by Gloria Ladson-Billings. One of the major contributions of this paper is attempting to define examples of culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom of several teachers.
Problem
The problem addressed in this paper is multifaceted but can be summarized as follows. The author claims that success is defined in school for minorities by adapting their behavior to the expectations of the teacher and majority culture. For the author, this is poorly defined as meritocracy. The concern with adapting culturally for minority students is that they are not being affirmed in their own culture.
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Galdson-Billings continues by stating that schools are guilty of reproducing the current system and thus reproducing the inequities of the existing system. This is a common critical pedagogy critique of the existing educational system. Therefore, students need to develop an awareness of the inequity in school, which calls for the development of a critical perspective or critical consciousness as explained by Friere.
With this background, the author shares the following proposition when she states that pedagogical practice needs a theoretical model that deals with student achievement and the affirmation of minority students’ cultural identity while also developing a critical perspective for challenging inequities in school.
The proposition above addresses the following problems
Student achievement of minority students
Cultural affirmation of minority students
Development of a critical perspective
The need to challenge inequities in school
To put it simply, the other is looking for evidence of the propositions mentioned above in her research.
Questions
Galdson-BIllings lays out the following questions that she wants to answer in this paper.
What is student success?
How can academic success and culture complement each other in settings where student alienation characterizes the school experience?
How can pedagogy promote student success that critically engages larger social structural issues?
What are the implications for teacher preparation generated by this pedagogy?
Notice in question two the use of the word “alienation.” Alineation is a term commonly used in Marxist literature to mean a feeling of estrangement or being marginalized. There is an assumption in this question that students are feeling alienation even before any data is collected.
In question three, the word “critical” is used. Again, the word “critical” has a different meaning and it means to question and oppose power dynamics. In this question, the author is looking for a specific predetermined answer rather than exploring the data
Methodology
Gladson-Billings collected data from 8 teachers who were considered to be excellent teachers. The method of data collection was done through participant observation in which the author was actively involved in the classes that she visited.
There were four phases to the data collection.
Ethnographic interview of the 8 teachers.
Participant observation of the teacher’s teachings 3 days a week for 2 years.
Videotaping of the teachers (this was in the 1990’s)
Teachers observing each other videotaped teaching.
There was no direct explanation of how the data was analyzed but it can be assumed that this was a qualitative study and the result section is focused on summaries and the occasional vignette to provide support for propositions the other shares.
Results
Among the findings, the author shares that students struggle to achieve academic excellence while showing cultural competence. This may be due in part to who has the power to define academic excellence, which the author thinks is unjustly given to the majority culture.
Another major finding is that teachers must help students to understand and critique social inequities. The need to challenge social inequities goes back to the critical pedagogy viewpoint of the paper. Students must become activists to challenge the existing system. The author then shares several examples of students becoming involved in community activism through the support of their teachers.
The author then shares three propositions that emerged from her research.
The culturally relevant teacher’s conception of self and others
How culturally relevant teachers structure social relations.
Culturally relevant teacher’s conceptions of knowledge.
Proposition one stresses the beliefs that the teachers of the study had about students. These excellent teachers believed that all students could succeed, that teaching is an art, that they were members of the community, and that teaching was a way to give back to the community.
Proposition two is focused on social relations. Excellent teachers believed that social relations should be fluid, show connectedness, develop a community of learners, and focus on collaboration and responsibility towards each other all for critical consciousness. On the last point, the relations are developed to be aware of injustices in terms of power dynamics another key part of Marxist thought.
Proposition three addresses conceptions of knowledge or epistemology among excellent teachers. For these teachers, knowledge is not static, which implies it is relative and not fixed, teachers need to be passionate about learning and knowledge, scaffolding is necessary, and there should be multiple forms of assessment.
According to the author, culturally relevant teachers are teachers who demonstrate these propositions in their classes. The goal is to be culturally relevant for developing a critical perspective in the students.
Conclusion
For someone who is looking to understand what critical relevant teaching is this article is an excellent source. Not only is it defined but the author can provide examples from actual teachers in the classroom. Therefore, anybody can implement these examples and be able to show that they are a culturally relevant teacher.
This post will provide a summary of the the article “Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education” written by Gloria Ladson-Billings and William F. Tate IV. This paper is significant in that it proposes the idea of considering critical race theory as a key component of education.
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The authors assume that anybody who reads this article is already aware of what critical race theory is. In short, critical race theory suggests that the world should be seen through a lens of power as it pertains to race. What this means is that those who have power use race to hold down and oppress those who are of a different race. This is most commonly used in the context of whites vs. blacks in the US.
In terms of the actual article itself, the authors clearly share the following propositions as the main ideas they will address in the paper.
Race continues to be significant in the US
US society is based on property rights rather than human rights
The intersection of race and property creates an analytical tool for understanding inequity
Proposition One
The first proposition is almost an axiom of someone who supports the Critical Race Theory view (CRT). Race will always be a major issue in the US because CRT believes that essentially everything begins and ends with a race dynamic. Almost all actions of injustice for blacks and justice for whites are connected with the dynamic of power differences based on race.
What is unique to the first proposition in comparison to the others is that they include several meta-propositions as listed below.
Race is un-theorized
Class and gender cannot explain all the differences in school experience and performance
What the authors mean by race being un-theorized is that much of the ideas of Marxism, which laid the foundation for CRT, were developed by White Marxists who were focused on class rather than race and that they oversimplified race. Therefore, theorizing race involves adding nuance to Marxist thought in relation to CRT. For the authors, race is the main construct to consider when explaining inequity. To simplify, theorizing race means explaining the role of race in education in relation to experiences and performance of minority students primarily black students.
The second meta-proposition of the authors is that class and gender cannot explain all the differences in the academic performance of students. The authors support this point with studies about differences in academic performance and behavior when controlling for class and gender. Race must be a part of the explanation in terms of inequity in the educational experiences of students.
Proposition Two
The second proposition the authors share is that the US is based on property rights rather than human rights. The authors support this point with the reality that in the days of the early republic, only land-owning capitalists had full participation in society. They follow this with the point that a government that is focused on property rights is not concerned with the human rights of individuals since not every singe person holds property.
Governments tend to be pragmatic in that the focus on property rights is because property can be taxed. It’s hard to hide land and other large resources so the government protects property in exchange for protection of the property. The rich have generally paid more in taxes because they have more wealth that they develop from their property (or capital if this term is preferred).
The poor are hard to track and often have a smaller obligation in terms of taxes. To tie property rights to education the authors make the next point that places where there is better property have better schools because these schools get more money to spend. For the authors, this is a form of inequity. In other words, the areas of town with more money should share this money with other areas of town that have less. Better property does not imply a better education because all people are equal.
Proposition Three
The third proposition is not stated directly but the thrust of this proposition is a conclusion based on the previous two. Proposition three uses the idea from proposition one about race not being theorized and proposition two about property rights to state that the cause of poverty (lack of property) combined with poor schooling (lack of nice property) among blacks is a form of structural racism. Structural racism is a system within society that fosters racial discrimination.
From here the authors present several interesting ideas. The first is that white privilege is a form of property that is transferable, can be enjoyed, affects reputation, and can be excluded. In terms of transfer it is meant that whiteness can be transferred by having people accept certain norms (acting white). For enjoyment, it is meant that get to enjoy certain advantages in their education (better teachers, etc.). For reputation, things identified as nonwhite are stigmatized. Lastly, for exclusion, resegregation through such things as tracking or gifted programs is also a form of whiteness as property because these programs generally exclude black students according-to the authors.
Multicultural Paradigm
The authors then pivot to a light criticism of multicultural education. Multicultural education is the idea of getting all cultures to mutually respect each other. No culture is superior to any other culture. The authors critique multicultural education for not ensuring justice and becoming part of the existing system. The authors call for a radical critique of the status quo and thus of multicultural education. An incremental approach is never going to work for bringing change. CRT supporters generally disdain the current system and prefer radical change to incremental approaches to solving what they consider are systemic problems.
The authors go on to state that multiculturalism is attempting to please everybody, which is a futile effort. They then state that they are believers in the philosophy of Marcus Garvey. Garvey is famous in part for attempting to move African Americans back to Africa unsuccessfully.
Conclusion
Ladsen-Billlings and Tate provide an excellent introduction to CRT with their emphasis on the theorizing race within the classroom, pointing their views on the focus on property in a capitalist society, and showing how property and race combined can lead to inequality. The authors also state the need for radical change and call on current efforts through multicultural education is be inadequate. Whether this is right or wrong is left to the reader.
A major challenge for a data analyst is working within an organization with people who do not have an analytical background. The reason this is difficult is that the data analyst has to try and determine what the audience of his analysis wants him to analyze. This is further complicated when the consumers of the results are not able to fully articulate what they want to know and lean on their intuition and understanding of the context. The analyst who lacks this shared experience is left to figure out what to do.
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The wording and language used by non-data and data people to develop questions are similar but different. To be fair, it is not the responsibility of the non-analyst to understand how to form analytical questions. However, it is the data analyst’s responsibility to speak the language of the non-data people and to translate the business questions that are provided into analytical questions.
In this post, we will look at business and analytical questions and how they are shaped and formed.
Definitions
Business questions are questions developed by non-technical individuals within an organization. These questions are derived from the business goals of the organization. The goals of the business or organization are often targets that need to be met over a period of time. An example of an organizational goal would be
To reduce turnover by 10% over a year
The business question that could be extracted from this goal could be
What programs should we use to reduce turnover?
The question above is a business or organizational question. However, this is not a question that a data analyst could answer in its current format. Whereas business questions are broad and open-ended analytical questions are specific. At times, it may be necessary to develop several analytical questions to answer one business question due to the need for specificity. One way to reword the business question above for data analysis is shown below.
Which if any of the turnover reduction programs implemented over the past year were able to reduce turnover by at least 10% in the sample population?
There are several assumptions in this question that were not built into the original business question
There are several turnover reduction programs
The sample population was broken into various groups and each group experienced one type of turnover reduction program
Each program was given one year in length and was run concurrently
There was a way to collect data in a scientific manner
People were appropriately trained to implement the various turnover reduction programs
etc.
As you can see this can truly get complicated. The data analyst may not only focus on the analysis but may be called upon to shape how data will also be collected and or the research design. As mentioned in the introduction, business experts often know what they want but are not able to articulate it clearly and they struggle with developing the linear process that is needed to collect and analyze the data.
Often, the data analyst’s challenge may be a lack of experience in the field in which they have to analyze data. For example, an individual with a background in education may have to analyze health data. The analytical techniques are the same in terms of the data but a lack of knowledge in the context of health care can make it difficult to get things done. The real problem is that the business people know the context but not the data analysis while the data analysis knows the numbers but not the context.
Conclusion
The primary difference between a business and an analytical question is the amount of detail. A business question is a broad overview that may not articulate all that is needed to develop an answer. An analytical question is detail-oriented and captures all that is needed in terms of obtaining an answer using whatever statistical techniques are needed. Business experts have contextual knowledge but may not have analytical knowledge while the data analyst is burdened to have both contextual knowledge and analytical expertise to shape the questions so that they are answerable.
A generative theme is a pedagogical tool developed by Paulo Freire. Defining anything that Friere said or did is always tricky. For our purposes, a generative theme is an idea or concept that is relevant to the student’s life that evokes strong emotional responses. Generally, the emotional response is negative.
The reason for evoking a negative emotional response is to try and awaken the student to the injustice of whatever is being discussed. Friere was a huge proponent of awakening political literacy in students. By political literacy, we mean being aware of the oppression that the student is living through and realizing a need to resist those with power through revolution. If generative themes are used to evoke positive feelings it will probably not motivate the students to demand change.
In the Classroom
It is the teacher’s job to discover relevant generative themes for the students. There are several ways this can be achieved. Examples can include surveys, dialog, and exposure to provocative material. Focusing on proactive material, there has been a large amount of controversy about sexuality in schools and its appropriateness.
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One motivation for pushing the boundaries in this area is that exposure to controversial sexuality could trigger strong emotions within students about what is okay and acceptable. Teachers can use this to discuss questioning boundaries and fighting for people who are different. Without the shock of sexual material (the generative theme), there would be no emotional engagement of the student and thus less engagement in change.
Another way in which generative themes are inserted into a classroom is by removing Western-centric material for non-Western ideas. The process of doing this is known as decolonization. An example might be deemphasizing the work of European male scientists for female scientists and scientists from other parts of the world. The focus in doing this would often be how these other scientists had to fight discrimination to achieve what they did. Showing the students the injustice these scientists faced could serve as a generative theme to develop strong negative emotional responses, which lead to a desire for change.
Generative themes must always be taken from the students’ lives in order to engage them. This is one reason for the push for culturally relevant teaching. Taking examples from the students’ lives can serve as another mechanism for moving the students to push for change. For example, students might be asked how would it feel to be a slave before the Civil War. This might be followed by how would it feel to be a slave owner.
From slavery, the conversation might move to the present day where some of the descendants of slaves and slaveowners often live different lives because of their past. A final question would ask the students if they think it is fair and just that the system treats people differently based on their past. In all of these questions, the focus was always on feelings.
Why Feelings
The reason for the focus on feelings is to trigger emotional engagement. As the students ponder these questions they will probably feel negative emotions, such as anger or guilt, as they relive in their minds these experiences. The anger and guilt they feel are then used by the teacher to show them how they need to fight oppression. The oppressed student will use their anger for change while the students who are the oppressors will use their guilt to push for change.
It is important to note that nothing the students experienced was real in terms that it happened to them or did they do it to someone else. However, the emotions make the injustice real for the students even though it may not have taken place in their own lives. It is similar to going to a movie on racism and leaving the theater angry or guilty because of what you saw in the movie. However, if the injustice has been experienced in the student’s life it makes it all the more powerful when blame is placed on a structure of power.
To be fair, Friere used generative themes to teach reading. For example, if through dialog the generative theme of poverty was discovered. The teacher is supposed to teach the students how to spell and read the word poverty. However, students are often so distracted by the emotional strange of discovery injustice that academic skill development is secondary to awakening a need for action.
Conclusion
A major problem with generative themes is their emotional focus. Students do not necessarily develop thinking skills in this context. Instead, they learn to express strong emotions, which generally should be controlled. In addition, fighting for justice is so attractive for teachers that it is pushing out the development of actual skills in an academic setting. If students feel the system is unjust and they do not have any competency in basic literacy. The only kind of employment they could do would be community activism and protesting, which when overdone is not necessarily beneficial to society.
