The Achievement Gap Initiative
at Harvard University

Text Box: 2007 Annual Research Conference Highlights Text Box: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 5:30-7:00 pm“Code-Switching: Teaching Standard English in African American Classrooms” Rebecca S. Wheeler, Associate Professor of English Language and Literacy, Christopher Newport University in VirginiaRebecca. S. Wheeler is a scholar whose work is affecting the teaching of Standard English in predominantly African American classrooms. Her work in applied linguistics has developed ways that teachers can draw on students’ existing linguistic knowledge (knowledge of what Wheeler terms, “Everyday” English) to develop their skills in Standard or “Professional” English.Wheeler is a literacy consultant for the National Council of Teachers of English and has consulted widely with urban schools (K-16) on teaching Standard English and reducing the achievement gap in African American classrooms. She holds a BA from the University of Virginia, an MS from Georgetown University and a PhD from the University of Chicago. According to an Text Box: English Journal editor, Wheeler is “becoming one of the most important professional voices in language instruction” today. Her forum presentation will share insights and strategies from her NCTE book, Code-Switching: Teaching Standard English in Urban Classrooms, a book in the TRIP (Theory and Research into Practice) series. Professor Catherine Snow of the Harvard Graduate School of Education will be the discussant.Professors Wheeler and Snow will be joined by Rachel Swords who has taught 2nd and 3rd grades in urban Newport News, VA for eight years and currently serves as a Title 1 teacher. Swords was a student in Dr. Wheeler’s graduate education class, “Language Varieties in American Schools.” With code-switching, Rachel has closed the achievement gap in her classroom: 100% of her African American students pass 100% of the NCLB tests. Previously, Swords’ classrooms showed a 30 point gap in achievement between black and white students. Rachel Swords is nationally board certified and holds a Masters in Teaching. Text Box: The AGI awarded seven dissertation fellowships in 2006. These fellowships were made possible by a grant from Time Warner Inc. Two students completed their dissertations during 2007. Summaries of their findings are included in this issue. Elizabeth A. City, Harvard Graduate School of Education, “A Case Study of Resource Use in Two Urban New Small High Schools.”Maria Martiniello, Harvard Graduate School of Education, “Linguistic Complexity and Differential Item Functioning for English Learners in Math Tests.”Descriptions of these and other AGI research projects can be found on the AGI web site at www.agi.harvard.edu. Professors William Julius Wilson and Jennifer Hochschild joined AGI co-chairs Richard Murnane and Ron Ferguson on the fellowship selection committee.
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Newsletter
Volume I, Issue 4
NOVEMBER 2007

Copyright © 2008 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Photos (top left and right) by Kevin G. Reeves for the Shaker Heights City School District