Working to address racial and ethnic barriers in schools

Schools work to eliminate racial and ethnic barriers

by Bailey Quinonez

May 7, 2008 | The Sentinel | Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery County Public Schools is trying to remove racial and ethnic barriers with a program called Study Circles and John Landesman, director of the program said it works at the Board of Education meeting on Monday, April 28.

"The PTA today looks a lot different than the PTA before the study circles," said Landesman. The PTA is more diverse and more parents feel comfortable approaching school staff, he said.

Study Circles started in 2001 as a pilot program and every year has incorporated more schools into the program. Average Study Circles consist of six two-hour sessions with approximately 15 participants and two facilitators. However, the program can vary and is tailored to accommodate the needs of every individual schools, said Montgomery County Public School staff. Participants are randomly selected in each school and participation is voluntary.

At Damascus High School the Study Circle consisted of one day-long session and a mixture of students, parents and administrators. "Study Circle allowed us to talk about these issues and come up with solutions and create plans so that when the next year's students walk into the cafeteria or in the hallway they will not have to deal with the issues that students of this [year] encountered," said Brittany Johnson, a student at Damascus.

In Study Circles, participants are asked to share prior cultural or ethnic related experiences that may have impacted their lives. Next they are asked to reflect on each others' experiences. At the end of the Study Circle participants are asked to formulate an "action plan." Some plans include improving communication between school and parents, creating a buddy system for new parents or having adults of different racial or ethnic groups talk to students about their work and motivate students to take challenging classes.

Eva Rodriguez, parent of a Cannon Road Elementary School student, said the Study Circle helped her realize the role that she could play in the school. Rodriguez said, "I really wanted to share my desire to participate more in school, mainly because there is a cultural difference. In Latin America, school is one world, family is another world and they don't always connect ... I'm not saying it's across the board but it's a shared experience."

Cannon Road principal Judith Theiss said, "What it has done for us is to trigger a new positive energy in our schools in our parents in our PTA ... PTA has created a new position called International League Liason." Theiss said that following Cannon Roads' initial Study Circle several Hispanic parents had approached her with concerns about addressing teachers and participating in schools. Theiss proceeded to suggest a Spanish-only Study Circle at the school, which took place in the 2007-2008 school year. In the Spanish-language Study Circle parents and staff participated together with the aid of a Spanish translator.

Adrian Talley, community superintendent at the Damascus, Gaithersburg, Magruder and Watkins Mill clusters, said that the program has helped attract more non-English speaking parents to the schools because the program has helped with the communication between administration and parents. "It helps to build a cadre of parents that would never come to the school ... by empowering parents," said Talley.

According to MCPS staff, 85 percent of those that participated in Study Circles increased their understanding of others. "None of us realized what the student sitting next to us was really going through until the Study Circles," said Johnson.

In an effort to improve upon the Study Circles program MCPS staff plans to incorporate changes to the program, some of which include: tracking changes in surveys by participants; refining procedures for monitoring and following up on action plans; exploring ways to balance participation with respect to the school community; and monitoring the needs of each school.

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