Cultural differences between teachers and their students can be a challenge to learning in the classroom. We speak with the director of UW Milwaukee’s Institute for Urban Education about a program that trains teachers from around the state to engage those differences. Then we look at new data that suggests a backlog in the thousands of untested rape kits in Wisconsin.
Featured in this Show
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Cross-Cultural Training Might Help Close Racial Achievement Gap
A volunteer program that trains educators how to teach in urban classrooms may be part of the solution when it comes to closing the state’s racial achievement gap.
In his State of Education address last month, state superintendent Tony Evers called the achievement gap between white and nonwhite students “morally reprehensible.” Wisconsin, indeed, has the widest achievement gap between black and white students of any state in the nation. Wisconsin’s black students drop out of school at a rate of one in three, and Native American and Hispanic kids at a rate of one in four.
Evers announced during his address that a task force that he had assembled to combat the problem had formulated a plan. Many of its recommendations revolve around relationships between educators and students, and promote cross-cultural training for beginning teachers who choose to teach in an urban environment.
The University of Wisconsin Institute for Urban Education offers such training, in the form of seminars for mostly white, middle-class teachers who leave their familiar suburban settings to teach in Milwaukee’s inner-city.
Tracey Nix, the institute’s director, said the first lesson for those teachers is making sure they become aware of their own cultural biases and stereotypes.
“When you try to teach a child who does not look like you, sometimes those stereotypes or those biases can come across in your teaching,” Nix said. “As a result of that, some teachers can have lower expectations for their students.”
Nix said the training focuses on parental involvement at length. In the urban school districts, she said, parent involvement might be more active than what the teacher realizes. Just because parents may not be as visible as they are in suburban school districts, it doesn’t mean they don’t care.
“A lot of times in the urban core, we’re dealing with parents with more than one job. Parents in the urban core are involved with their kids just like any other parents, but it just may look different,” Nix said.
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The UW Is Preparing Teachers For Cultural Differences In The Classroom
The University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Urban Education is training teachers from around the state how to interact with cultural differences in the classroom. The director of the institute shares her experience after a year on the job.
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Group Finds Untested Rape Kit Backlog In Milwaukee And Across State
The Joyful Heart Foundation has released data showing a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits in Milwaukee, and across the state. A member of the group talks about how the numbers were arrived at, and what changes, if any, need to be looked at.
Episode Credits
- Rob Ferrett Host
- Veronica Rueckert Host
- Scottie Lee Meyers Producer
- Galen Druke Producer
- Chris Malina Producer
- Tracey Nix Guest
- Sarah Tofte Guest
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