This project takes a critical eye at the cultural biases in place in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) curriculum and the New York State (NYS) English Regents examination currently being used in the state of New York. Taking into account the diverse population of students currently attending secondary school in NYS, more culturally diverse lesson activities have been created. These activities take the Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis (Whorf, Lee, Levinson, & Carroll, 2012) and interlanguage pragmatics (Martínez Flor & Alcón Soler, 2008) into consideration to help English language learners (ELLs) learn the language in a manner that lowers anxiety and is effective in acquiring the language. Plus, through current English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers’ firsthand experiences with the CCSS curriculum, in the areas of Long Island, New York City, and downstate New York, a questionnaire was completed to better gauge progress in the classroom. It allowed for insight into the effects of the CCSS curriculum and performance of ELLs at the secondary level. It was discovered that although there are biases in this curriculum, it does not need to be completely rewritten. Many teachers compensate for a lack of cultural diversity in lessons by creating their own. This creates inconsistencies throughout the state and can have a negative impact on state testing scores. Instead, a supplementary reference guide has been developed to fit the needs of the diverse population of ELLs while allowing educators to learn more about their students. It allows for greater learning and understanding by giving culture consideration in core curriculum.
","abstract_html":"<p>This project takes a critical eye at the cultural biases in place in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) curriculum and the New York State (NYS) English Regents examination currently being used in the state of New York. Taking into account the diverse population of students currently attending secondary school in NYS, more culturally diverse lesson activities have been created. These activities take the Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis (Whorf, Lee, Levinson, & Carroll, 2012) and interlanguage pragmatics (Martínez Flor & Alcón Soler, 2008) into consideration to help English language learners (ELLs) learn the language in a manner that lowers anxiety and is effective in acquiring the language. Plus, through current English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers’ firsthand experiences with the CCSS curriculum, in the areas of Long Island, New York City, and downstate New York, a questionnaire was completed to better gauge progress in the classroom. It allowed for insight into the effects of the CCSS curriculum and performance of ELLs at the secondary level. It was discovered that although there are biases in this curriculum, it does not need to be completely rewritten. Many teachers compensate for a lack of cultural diversity in lessons by creating their own. This creates inconsistencies throughout the state and can have a negative impact on state testing scores. Instead, a supplementary reference guide has been developed to fit the needs of the diverse population of ELLs while allowing educators to learn more about their students. It allows for greater learning and understanding by giving culture consideration in core curriculum.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McCrane, Jessica A"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)","degree_level":"Project/Capstone - Global access","degree_discipline":"International and Multicultural Education (IME)","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Brad Washington"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-05-20T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-05-20T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:43:40Z","subjects":["Regents Examination","Common Core State Standards (CCSS)","Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis","testing anxiety","English language learners (ELLs)","interlanguage pragmatics","Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching","Other Education","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development","Secondary Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/351","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Brad Washington"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McCrane, Jessica A"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-05-27T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["International and Multicultural Education (IME)"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Project/Capstone - Global access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Regents Examination","Common Core State Standards (CCSS)","Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis","testing anxiety","English language learners (ELLs)","interlanguage pragmatics","Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching","Other Education","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development","Secondary Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/351"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This project takes a critical eye at the cultural biases in place in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) curriculum and the New York State (NYS) English Regents examination currently being used in the state of New York. Taking into account the diverse population of students currently attending secondary school in NYS, more culturally diverse lesson activities have been created. These activities take the Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis (Whorf, Lee, Levinson, & Carroll, 2012) and interlanguage pragmatics (Martínez Flor & Alcón Soler, 2008) into consideration to help English language learners (ELLs) learn the language in a manner that lowers anxiety and is effective in acquiring the language. Plus, through current English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers’ firsthand experiences with the CCSS curriculum, in the areas of Long Island, New York City, and downstate New York, a questionnaire was completed to better gauge progress in the classroom. It allowed for insight into the effects of the CCSS curriculum and performance of ELLs at the secondary level. It was discovered that although there are biases in this curriculum, it does not need to be completely rewritten. Many teachers compensate for a lack of cultural diversity in lessons by creating their own. This creates inconsistencies throughout the state and can have a negative impact on state testing scores. Instead, a supplementary reference guide has been developed to fit the needs of the diverse population of ELLs while allowing educators to learn more about their students. It allows for greater learning and understanding by giving culture consideration in core curriculum.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Culturally Aware Teaching: A Supplemental Reference Guide for Intermediate Secondary School English Language Learners"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Brad Washington"],"dc:creator":["McCrane, Jessica A"],"dc:date.available":["2016-05-27T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This project takes a critical eye at the cultural biases in place in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) curriculum and the New York State (NYS) English Regents examination currently being used in the state of New York. Taking into account the diverse population of students currently attending secondary school in NYS, more culturally diverse lesson activities have been created. These activities take the Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis (Whorf, Lee, Levinson, & Carroll, 2012) and interlanguage pragmatics (Martínez Flor & Alcón Soler, 2008) into consideration to help English language learners (ELLs) learn the language in a manner that lowers anxiety and is effective in acquiring the language. Plus, through current English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers’ firsthand experiences with the CCSS curriculum, in the areas of Long Island, New York City, and downstate New York, a questionnaire was completed to better gauge progress in the classroom. It allowed for insight into the effects of the CCSS curriculum and performance of ELLs at the secondary level. It was discovered that although there are biases in this curriculum, it does not need to be completely rewritten. Many teachers compensate for a lack of cultural diversity in lessons by creating their own. This creates inconsistencies throughout the state and can have a negative impact on state testing scores. Instead, a supplementary reference guide has been developed to fit the needs of the diverse population of ELLs while allowing educators to learn more about their students. It allows for greater learning and understanding by giving culture consideration in core curriculum.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/351"],"dc:subject":["Regents Examination","Common Core State Standards (CCSS)","Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis","testing anxiety","English language learners (ELLs)","interlanguage pragmatics","Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching","Other Education","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development","Secondary Education and Teaching"],"dc:title":["Culturally Aware Teaching: A Supplemental Reference Guide for Intermediate Secondary School English Language Learners"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["International and Multicultural Education (IME)"],"thesis:degree_level":["Project/Capstone - Global access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:43:40Z"}