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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2005)
| Oregon update | Wednesday) A EMU Balloon lQlQQjimzV.QmM :egon r The University of Oregon’s Coalition Against Environmental Racism (CAER) presents the 10th Annual Environmental Justice Conference &■ --- This weekend Saturday, April 2nd, 2005 8am - 6pm Wesley Foundation center 1236 Kincaid St., Eugene, OR *Food Provided* In Your Own Backyard: Work within our community to create change here and elsewhere 021883 V •8:00 ORGANIC BREAKFAST •8:45 WELCOME ADDRESS • 12:30 FREE ORGANIC LUNCH • 1:00-1:45 KEYNOTE ADDRESS by Caleen Sisk-Franco, spmtmnexim and Chief of the Wlnnemem Wintu Tribe of California. The conference is free and open to the public http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~caer/ More Info: ela@law.uoregon.edu Student Groups! Advertise in the Emerald call 346-4343 or place your ad online at www.dailyemerald.com Efforts for cultural competency face criticism in House A proposed bill stresses the importance of educators being able to teach students of varied backgrounds BY JULIA SILVERMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PORTLAND — A quiet effort by state officials to require that all new ly certified Oregon teachers be “cul turally competent” looks to be dead-on-arrival in the Republican controlled House, despite firm sup port from education advocates. In its broadest sense, “cultural competence” in the classroom means the ability to successfully teach children from all different backgrounds, regardless of ethnici ty, socioeconomic level or disability. For example, it can mean not as signing homework that requires a computer to a homeless student or understanding that in some Hispan ic cultures, it’s considered rude to look an authority figure in the eye. The idea is that understanding a student’s background will eventual ly help him or her to perform better in class and on tests. A bill requested by Gov. Ted Ku longoski on behalf of the state Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, which regulates teach ing licenses, sailed through the Sen ate Education Commission, easily passed the full Senate by a vote of 25-3 and went to the House Educa tion Committee. There, though, it has run into trouble. The problem, House Republicans say, is the state’s working definition of what it means to be culturally competent, which was devised dur ing a by-invitation summit spon sored by the Oregon Department of Education last year. According to the working defini tion, cultural competence is based on “a commitment to social justice and equity,” and individuals should, “have a defined set of val ues and principles ... that enable them to work effectively in a cross cultural manner.” Those phrases sent up red flags for Rep. Linda Flores, R-Clackamas, who chairs the House Education Committee, and her staff. “This seems to require of teachers that they think and believe” certain things, said Dave Mowry, Flores’ legislative coordinator. “If you don’t have the same viewpoint of equity and social justice, does that mean you don’t get certified?” Mowry said the bill may not even get a hearing in front of the House Education Committee. “It’s just beyond the pale,” he said. “We’re the only state that has enlarged the definition to in clude advocating for equity and so cial justice.” Flores said she is generally sup portive of encouraging teachers to be more culturally aware in an effort to close the persistent gap between the test scores of minority students and their white counterparts. But the working Oregon defini tion seems tinged with politics, Mowry said. Even with the Republican objections, the cultural competency concept still has legs in Oregon and influential backers. “I do believe that there is an issue of social justice inherent in the achievement gap,” said Pat Burk, chief policy officer for the Oregon Department of Education. “There is a fundamental question of whether we are willing to allow our public institutions to serve some people better than others.” Oregon is one of 20 states to re ceive a leadership development grant from the New York-based Wal lace Foundation. Funded by the $600,000 grant, teachers and ad ministrators in eight school districts — Springfield, Lincoln County, Beaverton, Eugene, South Lane, Nyssa, Bend-La Pine and Portland — are receiving cultural competen cy, literacy training, or both. The goal is for them to pass their newfound knowledge along to their colleagues and to share those prac tices with other school districts, said Rob Larson, the Oregon Department of Education’s federal liaison. Already, Larson said, the Teach ers Standards and Practices Com mission has adopted new standards that will require any new school administrators to demonstrate cul tural competency skills, starting in 2007. Teacher preparation programs at universities across the state have been putting more emphasis on cul tural competency as well, Larson and others said. “The Oregon student population is changing dramatically,” said Pe ter Cookson, dean of the Graduate School of Education and Counseling at Lewis & Clark College. “We need to have teachers and administrators who are able to deal with language acquisition in a sophisticated man ner. Literacy is key to the future of a kid by any measure. ” Vickie Chamberlain, the execu tive director of the teacher licensing agency, said the state can look for incentives to encourage school dis tricts to include cultural competen cy training in current professional development opportunities. Chamberlain’s agency is itself a target of House Republicans, who have introduced a bill to eliminate it. But that prospect seems unlikely to win support in the Democratic controlled Senate. In the meantime, Chamberlain said the commission may be able to push forward with cultural compe tency requirements for teachers without a legislative seal of ap proval, especially because represen tatives of the teachers’ union, school administrators and school boards have been supportive. “The commission has made it a personal goal of ours to begin work on cultural competency standards,” Chamberlain said. “We don’t need legislation to pursue those goals. (Lawmakers) delegated the authority to set the standards and requirements for all licenses to the commission.” You're always close to campus. * www.dailyemerald.com
