Format
Individual Presentation
Location
Percival
Strand #1
Academic Achievement & School Leadership
Relevance
Enhancing literacy in English Language-Arts is foundational for academic success in most other content areas. To the point, This presentation relates to the strand I. “Head”: Academic Achievement & Leadership in that participants will be equipped with an effective process for engaging students in high-poverty schools with text. Research-based strategies will be shared for mastering text complexity (Common Core State Standards), addressing the unique needs of at-risk learners, and not only fostering a passion for reading but also improving achievement along the way.
Brief Program Description
Diminishing student engagement with text remains a colossal challenge with children at-risk. In this highly interactive session, participants will explore a seven-step process for engaging students with text as well as techniques for presenting highly engaging literacy lessons. Attendees will walk away with names, reading level, descriptions (and actual samples) of several engaging texts.
Summary
This will be a highly-interactive session in which the strategies offered will be modeled during the presentation. Participants will walk away with immediately implementable tools, techniques, and strategies. Participants will: • Critically reflect on student engagement in their educational practice • Articulate and harness areas of strength students bring into the learning environment • Explore strategies for using non-traditional texts to engage students • Examine effective ways to match reader with text and explore text complexity in culturally relevant ways • Walk away with a seven step process for engaging students with text Activities include: a) responding to session content via an Audience Response System, b) creating an add displaying how they sell students with text c) examining with a partner how to become a scholar of students d) collaborating in small group on how to build on how to nurture students’ attributes and apply principles to practice, e) reviewing specific titles AND genre of text found to engage urban students. The learning will be extended beyond the presentation by providing participants with the following: a) Electronic copy of the Power Point presentation b) Accessing literacy enhancing resources (e.g. engaging text resources) via Google Drive
Evidence
This process has been shown to be effective given the most recent evidence of growth with our partner classroom. There was a 53% increase in English Language Arts achievement on the Northwest Education Association’s Measures of Academic Progress (M.A.P.) computer adaptive assessment. The methodology described in the proposal is based on the work of Jabari (2013) who has synthesized a 7 step process for engaging students in urban classrooms. His work is rooted in sound, theoretically grounded educational methodology.
Biographical Sketch
Jelani Jabari, Ph.D., is president of Pedagogical Solutions, LLC, and author of Expecting Excellence in Urban Schools: 7 Steps to an Engaging Practice. Since 2004, Pedagogical Solutions has partnered with learning communities throughout the United States and abroad to both enhance pedagogical practice and improve academic achievement. His research interests include engaging pedagogy, effective classroom discourse, and utilizing assessment as an instructional tool. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, Master of Arts degree in Curriculum and Instruction and Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Evaluation and Research.
Jelani has had a stellar career in the educational field which spans more than twenty years. He thoroughly enjoyed more serving more than eleven years as a school teacher and three years as a school administrator in the Detroit Public Schools. He has also served as university instructor and has consulted with the State of Michigan Department of Education.
Jelani wholeheartedly believes the capacities for all children to excel are unearthed when educators expect exemplary performance, position them in situations of success, and inspire them to maximize their potential. Touching lives, positively impacting educators, and enhancing educational experiences for all students lies at the heart of the mission of a team of highly competent and wholeheartedly committed educators. He currently resides in Southeastern Michigan with his wife and children.
Keyword Descriptors
Student engagement, text, reading comprehension, literacy
Presentation Year
2015
Start Date
3-3-2015 1:00 PM
End Date
3-3-2015 2:15 PM
Recommended Citation
Jabari, Jelani Ph.D., "Seven Steps to Engaging At-Risk Students With Text" (2015). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 137.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2015/2015/137
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons
Seven Steps to Engaging At-Risk Students With Text
Percival
Diminishing student engagement with text remains a colossal challenge with children at-risk. In this highly interactive session, participants will explore a seven-step process for engaging students with text as well as techniques for presenting highly engaging literacy lessons. Attendees will walk away with names, reading level, descriptions (and actual samples) of several engaging texts.
