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Some of the best places to live and learn in the country have an abundance of key assets: devoted teachers, challenging curricula, and vibrant cultures of achievement. But most lack one important quality: racial diversity.

The lack of diversity reflects a disturbing development in the U.S. today: the growing resegregation of American schools. This trend began in the 1980s and accelerated in the wake of several Supreme Court decisions during the Bush administration.

The result is an education system that's increasingly separate and unequal. Large numbers of minority children, black and Latino students in particular, are ghettoized in high-poverty schools - with alarming results. According to a 2009 report by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA: "The U.S. continues to move backward toward increasing minority segregation in highly unequal schools."

These nonwhite schools are segregated by poverty as well as race, creating an unstable, often dangerous education experience, with high teacher turnover and scant resources. According to UCLA researchers, "These are the high schools that account for most of the nation's 'dropout factories,' where a frightfully large share of the students, especially young men, fail to graduate and too many end up virtually unemployable."

So what?

Beyond basic fairness, why should parents care about diversity? Should they count themselves lucky if their child's school is blessed with a variety of AP offerings and a great music program, or should they be looking for more?

Ironically, while our schools are becoming more segregated, our society is becoming ever more diverse. Some 44 percent of American students today are nonwhite, and that number rises every year. To prepare kids to be global citizens, we need to expose them to more than the quadratic equation and the history of the 13 colonies. It's essential for our kids to learn to get along with and understand people from all walks of life.

In fact, diversity in education has been shown to promote tolerance. One recent study found, for example, that college students in diverse settings exhibited less racial and ethnic prejudice than students who interacted mainly with those of similar backgrounds.

Learning empathy, flexibility, and how to work with people from different backgrounds and cultures will prepare kids to navigate an increasingly multicultural future.

Reversing the trend

Many parents who support the concept of educational equality feel forced to choose between excellence and diversity when it comes to selecting a school for their child. But there are educational pockets around the country that defy this trend by showing how diversity and quality schooling can go hand in hand.

Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation who has written widely on the subject, says that students in high-poverty schools are, on average, two years behind their peers at low poverty schools. This imbalance disappears, he says, "when low-income students have a chance to go to economically mixed schools, where their peers are academically engaged, where parents have the time and resources to be actively involved in school, and know how to hold school officials accountable, and where educators are highly effective and have high expectations for students."

In a report, Kahlenberg identifies several turn-around magnet schools that have successfully integrated students by socioeconomic status. The result? Increased achievement for low-income and minority students - and no drop in achievement for the student body as a whole.

Districts addressing diversity?

Kahlenberg says more than 65 school districts around the country have implemented policies to address the issue of school poverty. And programs such as METCO in Massachusetts, which connects inner-city Boston children with high-performing schools in the city's suburbs, are attempting to dispel some of the region's educational inequities.

Such efforts are a step in the right direction, but most are small and affect only a small number of students. Far more needs to be done. In a world that is becoming more multiracial and multicultural every day, we'll all benefit from an education system that doesn't force a Faustian bargain between a good education and an ethical one.
Updated: November 18, 2019

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Some of the best places to live and learn in the country have an abundance of key assets: devoted teachers, challenging curricula, and vibrant cultures of achievement. But most lack one important quality: racial diversity. The lack of diversity reflects a disturbing development in the U.S. today: the growing resegregation of American schools.

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How COVID 19 is Hurting Teacher Diversity

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How COVID 19 is Hurting Teacher Diversity

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The Schenectady, N.Y., school district realized it needed to do better by its students of color: The vast majority of its teachers were white, while less than a third of students are. A couple years ago, the district began ramping up its efforts to hire more teachers of color, as well as provide anti-racist training for its staff.

The Albany-area district was highlighted by the state education department and other groups for its efforts, which included recruiting a more diverse pool of educators, building relationships with historically Black colleges and universities, and creating affinity spaces to help educators of color feel supported once on staff.

It seemed like momentum was gaining. But earlier this month, more than 100 teachers and social workers, most of whom were hired during this recent push for diversity, logged onto a Zoom call and were told they no longer had jobs. Altogether, the district, which has been hit with statewide budget cuts, has laid off 320 educators, nearly half of whom are educators of color.

Until then, for the most part, working at the district "felt like the dream that any socially conscious teacher would want to be a part of," said Karen Lewis, a Black kindergarten teacher who was laid off. "For me, that's the hardest blow. The potential was just, in a day, gone. ... [Students here have] been neglected and disenfranchised for years, and we had an opportunity to change that, and boom, it was snatched [away from us]."

Thousands of teachers have been laid off this spring and summer as districts reel from state budget cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic, and experts have predicted that without a substantial federal bailout, the layoffs will continue throughout the year and accelerate next spring. Teacher layoffs are devastating for any school community -but an unintended consequence is often a further eroding of the diversity of the teaching force, which is already about 80 percent white.

When districts have only recently started actively recruiting teachers of color, layoffs that are based on a "last in, first out" policy of seniority can unravel those new initiatives. Those policies are often supported by teachers' unions, which say that seniority is a transparent and objective standard. But other experts say such policies are chipping away at hard-fought progress to a more diverse workforce.

"Teachers of color are not afforded the privilege of longevity," said Travis Bristol, an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Education. Teachers of color on average turn over at higher rates than white teachers.

At least 16 states require tenure or seniority status to be used as the primary factor for layoff decisions, while another 16 states require teacher evaluation scores to be the main consideration, according to an analysis by the Education Commission of the States. At least nine states prohibit the use of seniority as the primary or sole factor. Some states leave it up to individual districts.

Following the Great Recession-when 300,000 teachers were laid off, according to some estimates-some states moved away from last in, first out policies. But Katharine Strunk, a professor at Michigan State University who studies education labor markets, said that trend has slowed in recent years.

Research shows that when districts lay off teachers by seniority, poor schools and schools with large populations of Black and Latino students are hardest hit. Teachers of color tend to work in schools that serve a high proportion of students of color.

And churn among the teaching staff can result in lower academic outcomes and decreased teacher quality, Strunk said.

"The equity implications for our most traditionally underserved districts is just astounding," she said.

'A Sledgehammer'

In light of a massive budget shortfall, New York state is withholding 20 percent of its funding to school districts across the state, causing already cash-strapped districts, like Schenectady, to eliminate hundreds of positions.

An across-the-board cut affects the Schenectady City district, which relies heavily on state aid, much more than affluent districts, said Acting Superintendent Aaron Bochniak in an interview. In the nearly 10,000-student district, 79 percent of students are considered economically disadvantaged.

"[The cut] might be a sledgehammer for us, but just a tiny play hammer for others," Bochniak said.

Bochniak has laid off or eliminated the positions of more than 200 paraprofessionals and more than 100 teachers and social workers. He plans to issue more pink slips to administrators on Sept. 16, and there could be yet another round after that.

The layoffs have been devastating. During the Zoom call in which teachers were told they were being laid off, there was a lot of crying, Lewis said. District officials said they'd try to bring the staff back as soon as possible if they were able to secure more funding. But Lewis said she has nothing in writing to assure her of that.

"All the teachers [who] were cut were new," she said. "We're the most diverse group, that's all gone-we're all gone. What I was told was, 'It wasn't intentional,' but ignorance doesn't excuse [it]."

New York requires districts to "primarily" lay off educators based on seniority, and Bochniak said Schenectady only considers seniority and content area. But those measures don't take into account the district's goals of diversity and cultural competency. A third of students are Black, while 27 percent are white, 19 percent are Hispanic, and 17 percent are Asian, district data show.

Research has shown that having a teacher of color can increase learning for Black and Latino students and foster their social and emotional development.

"We had a very intense focus on diversifying our staff. ... Over the last two years, we've strived toward that goal, [and] it's a slow process," Bochniak said. "When we're faced with these budget concerns like this, it really wipes away all the work we've done in one quick stroke."

According to a district spokeswoman, nearly 24 percent were Black, 9 percent were Asian, and another 9 percent were Hispanic. The Daily Gazette reported that last year, just 4 percent of district faculty were Black, almost 3 percent were Hispanic, and 2 percent were Asian.

In recent years, the Schenectady district had also provided anti-racist training for its staff and emphasized cultural competency, and Bochniak said the teachers who were let go were likely a key part in those initiatives.

"We lose the momentum we've built with that staff," he said. "While they hold all that knowledge, that knowledge might be transferred to another school district."

Bochniak said he thinks the district should be pushing for changes to the last in, first out policy-both in terms of advocacy at the state level and during the collective bargaining process with the teachers' union. He said layoff determinations should consider characteristics other than seniority, "and race might be one of them, ... so if this were to happen again, God forbid, we're not in the same place, and we're built on more of a firm foundation."

In Brookline, Mass., about 300 educators were laid off at the end of May to help close a gaping budget shortfall. Graciela Mohamedi, a Latina high school physics teacher, was one of them. In the past few years, the district had ramped up its recruitment of teachers of color to better match its student population-and under the last in, first out policy, many of those teachers were let go.

"They like to talk about diversity a whole lot, and they like to talk about things they could do to make it better," Mohamedi said. "They aren't actually willing to do the real honest work in order to retain educators of color."

Ultimately, the district was able to recall the laid off staff a month later. But Mohamedi said the ordeal has had lasting consequences for the community.

"There were a lot of educators of color who chose not to go back simply because of the fact they felt like they had been so mistreated," she said. "It was a culmination of years and years of living with race-related stress in the workshop."

Even so, Mohamedi, the community relations chair for Brookline Educators United, the local teachers' union, doesn't think eliminating seniority protections is the answer. She said seniority protections have historically protected marginalized populations, and they have allowed teachers of color to have long careers in the district.

"That kind of experience needs to be preserved, because it's vital for the new educators of color to learn from these people," she said.

Mohaemdi is on the coordinating team for the African Latinx Asian Native American caucus of the BEU, and she hopes to find other solutions that account for maintaining diversity levels in schools.

'Quality Blind'

Still, Qorsho Hassan, a Black 4th grade teacher who is Somali American, said seniority protections are barriers to building a more diverse teacher workforce.

She was laid off twice in her three years at the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school district in Burnsville, Minn. The first time was for a week. The second time, she was a finalist for the Minnesota 2020 Teacher of the Year, and she was told she could be hired back in a non-classroom position.

Hassan, who prides herself on building strong relationships with all her students, declined and found a job in a neighboring school district. She has since been named the state's Teacher of the Year.

"It really shows you that these contractual [provisions] that are in place, they are quality blind, and they affect educators of color more than they should-and therefore, they affect kids of color," she said.

"We're recruited left and right, but they can't retain us," Hassan said, adding that layoff policies are one piece of the puzzle. She would like districts to instead base decisions on the demographics of the school communities and keep staff that represents students.

Some districts are working to move away from seniority-based layoffs. The Madison, Wis., district has proposed basing layoff decisions more on qualifications such as teacher-evaluation scores, cultural competency, certifications, and proficiency in a second language, along with seniority. Cultural competency could include language, demographics, and experience working in diverse schools, said board member Savion Castro.

"When you look at our seniority chart, as you go down to more recent teachers, we see more teachers of color because we're finally putting resources into recruiting those teachers," said Castro, who supports the proposed changes. "Districts are finally waking up: We need more Black and brown teachers in our schools."

But those teachers could be on the chopping block if the Madison district has to issue pink slips. There is a looming $8 million budget deficit in the district, and the potential for more budget cuts from the state legislature, although Castro said layoffs are not an "imminent threat." (Currently, teachers' contracts prevent them from being laid off midyear, although the district also wants to change that policy to give just 30 days notice to teachers at risk of losing their jobs.)

The school board has told district administrators to work with the local teachers' union to come up with the details of a layoff rubric by November. The union, Madison Teachers Inc., doesn't outright oppose having a qualifications-based framework for layoffs but has concerns.

"The benefits of seniority are that it's a solid, fact-based decision-making process," said MTI President Andy Waity, adding that evaluation scores can be "inconsistently applied, inconsistently followed through."

"When it gets down to the spot of, 'Are you going to be laid off or not?' you want to know what the standards are and how exactly you're being evaluated, and I think that's critical for folks," Waity said. "They need to have a clear, transparent way of identifying how these decisions are made."

Waity said there need to be "thoughtful discussions" around these decisions, and he doesn't want to rush because of the COVID-19 economic crisis.

That economic downturn will force districts that are committed to racial justice to get creative, Rita Kohli, an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Riverside, who studies teachers of color, wrote in an email.

"If we understand a diverse teaching force as a necessity for the success of students of color," she wrote, "then how can we deem this issue as essential and not just an additive program that flows with the economic tide?"

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How COVID-19 Is Hurting Teacher Diversity

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The Schenectady, N.Y., school district realized it needed to do better by its students of color: The vast majority of its teachers were white, while less than a third of students are. A couple years ago, the district began ramping up its efforts to hire more teachers of color, as well as provide anti-racist training for its staff.

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Value Diversity: Developing a Deeper Understanding of All Young Children's Behavior

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Value Diversity: Developing a Deeper Understanding of All Young Children's Behavior

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Everything we think, say, and do is processed through our own cultural backgrounds. But because culture is absorbed and passed down from generation to generation rather than explicitly taught, we're seldom aware of it.

Culture shapes not only our values and beliefs, but also our gender roles, family structures, languages, dress, food, etiquette, approaches to disabilities, child-rearing practices, and even our expectations for children's behavior. In this way, culture creates diversity.

Cultural diversity and teachers

For teachers, it is essential to see and understand your own culture in order to see and understand how the cultures of children and their families influence children's behavior. Only then can you give every child a fair chance to succeed.

Think about your own upbringing. How did your family's expectations affect what you did? Were your parents, siblings, and other relatives close or distant? Were they strict, lenient, or somewhere in between? Were your school's expectations any different? All of this, and more, plays a part in how you view the behavior of the children you teach.

These ideas lie at the heart of NAEYC's position statement Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education. Its guiding principles include

Recognizing that "self-awareness, humility, respect, and a willingness to learn are key to becoming a teacher who equitably and effectively supports all children and families"

Developing a strong understanding of culture and diversity

Understanding that "families are the primary context for children's development and learning"

One major takeaway from the position statement is that early childhood educators must support consistently warm and caring relationships between families and their children, respect families' languages and cultures, and incorporate those languages and cultures into the curriculum, their teaching practices, and the learning environment.

Cultural diversity and young children

Children bring their own set of culturally based expectations, skills, talents, abilities, and values with them into the classroom. And they begin to develop their self-concept (at least in part) from how others see them. To form positive self-concepts, children must honor and respect their own families and cultures and have others honor and respect these key facets of their identities too. If the classroom doesn't reflect and validate their families and cultures, children may feel invisible, unimportant, incompetent, and ashamed of who they are.

Many people, including educators, have long believed it is better to act colorblind and/or "cultureblind"-that is, to not acknowledge color or culture. But research has shown that this artificial blindness keeps us from recognizing, acknowledging, and appreciating important differences. Worse, it may lead to unintentional bias toward or disrespect for those who are different from us.

We know now that acknowledgments of color and culture are essential for legitimizing differences. Color and culture make each one of us special and enable us to offer unique gifts and opportunities to groups we are part of. At the same time, color and culture help children learn about each other and the world. In short, color and culture enrich classrooms.

To appreciate what each child can contribute to the class, teachers need to learn about each family's cultural values. Helping children to see themselves in your pedagogy, curriculum, environment, and materials enables them (and their families) to feel welcomed and valued.

Take a look around your classroom.

Does the artwork on the walls accurately reflect the children's lives, or are the walls covered with store-bought, stereotypical images?
Why not have the children create their own posters with their own artwork, things from home, and photos families can supply?

Are labels (and other child-focused texts) repeated in each child's home language, or are they in English only?
Why not forge connections and support children's learning by asking family members to help children use their home languages throughout the room?

It's important to see cultural and linguistic differences as resources, not as deficits. As NAEYC's equity position statement puts it, "Children's learning is facilitated when teaching practices, curricula, and learning environments build on children's strengths and are developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate for each child."

The difference between equitable and equal

Equal is not the same as equitable. Every child in your group has different needs, skills, interests, and abilities. Equal would mean giving all children the same activities, materials, and books. Equitable means ensuring that you consider each child's strengths, context, and needs and provide all children with the opportunities that will support them in reaching their potential.

It's crucial to recognize the inequities that children and their families face-in school and out. The position statement reminds us that "dominant social biases are rooted in the social, political, and economic structures of the United States. Powerful messages-conveyed through the media, symbols, attitudes, and actions-continue to reflect and promote both explicit and implicit bias." For example, research conducted by Yale University professor Walter Gilliam clearly shows that young African American boys are subject to higher rates of suspension and expulsion than their White European American peers.

How cultural diversity shapes behavior

Your culture and the children's cultures aren't the only cultures at work in your classroom. Every school and early childhood education program has a culture too. The cultures of most American schools are based on White European American values. As the makeup of the US population becomes more diverse, there is more cultural dissonance-which impacts children's behavior.

White European American culture has an individual orientation that teaches children to function independently, stand out, talk about themselves, and view property as personal. In contrast, many other cultures value interdependence, fitting in, helping others and being helped, being modest, and sharing property. In fact, some languages have no words for I, me, or mine.

Children who find themselves in an unfamiliar environment-such as a classroom that reflects a culture different from their home culture-are likely to feel confused, isolated, alienated, conflicted, and less competent because what they've learned so far in their home culture simply doesn't apply. They may not understand the rules, or they may be unable to communicate their needs in the school's language.

Rethinking challenging behavior

Because your responses to children's conflicts and challenging behavior are culture bound, it is all too easy to misinterpret children's words or actions. The next time a child seems defiant, ask yourself, Is that behavior culturally influenced? Could I be misunderstanding the child's words or actions?

For example, White European Americans tend to use implicit commands, such as, "Johnny, can you please put the blocks away?" Children raised in the White European American culture understand that they are being told to put away the blocks. But children raised in the African American culture may interpret this utterance differently. In their culture, adult commands are usually explicit: "DuShane, put away the blocks." To African American children, an implicit command in the form of a question may seem to offer a choice about how to behave.

Culture also defines personal space, including how much space feels appropriate in the block area, at circle/meeting time, and in the dramatic play area. In some cultures, children feel comfortable playing close to one another; in others, the same space may feel claustrophobic and lead children to hit or shove a playmate who seems too near. Similarly, you may stand too close or too far away, depending on children's cultures. For example, if Cadence doesn't pay attention to your request to keep the sand in the sandbox, you may be too far away to connect with her.

In White European American culture, teachers expect children to sit still and maintain eye contact to show that they're paying attention. But in other cultures, children might show their interest by joining in; they may learn through hearing or telling a story, watching others, or using trial and error. If they don't understand the lesson, they might have a hard time paying attention. Or they may be paying attention in a different way.

Culture counts

There are many rewards for teachers who take culture into account. You can form authentic, caring relationships with children and families; build connections between what children already know and what they need to know; select activities, materials, and instructional strategies that honor children's cultures and life experiences; and teach children the skills they need to succeed in a global society.

From the Pages of Young Children: Research on How Culture Affects Learning

For more examples of how culture affects learning, check out " Diverse Children, Uniform Standards: Using Early Learning and Development Standards in Multicultural Classrooms" in the November 2019 issue of Young Children. The authors, Jeanne L. Reid, Catherine Scott-Little, and Sharon Lynn Kagan, provide several examples of culturally influenced differences in how children pay attention, approach learning, seek guidance, and express their knowledge and skills. They also offer tips to help teachers address standards for early learning that are not sensitive to these cultural differences.

This article supports the following NAEYC Early Learning Program Accreditation standards and topic areas

STANDARDS 7: FAMILIES; 1: RELATIONSHIPS

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Valuing Diversity: Developing a Deeper Understanding of All Young Children's Behavior

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For teachers, it is essential to see and understand your own culture in order to see and understand how the cultures of children and their families influence children's behavior.

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On Diversity: Access Ain’t Inclusion | Anthony Jack | TEDxCambridge

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How to Go Beyond Diversity and Inclusion in the Community

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How to Go Beyond Diversity and Inclusion in the Community

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How to Go Beyond Diversity and Inclusion to Community and Belonging | E'Ula Green | TEDxOU

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George Lucas Educational Foundation Celebrating 30 years

Find resources to help build an inclusive school community for students from different cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds and for children with unique instructional needs.

Research shows that having a teacher of color can help students of color reach better outcomes; but the benefits extend to all young people, preparing them to live and work in an increasingly diverse society.

Though public schools are becoming increasingly diverse, Black teachers remain underrepresented in U.S. schools. In their own words, three Black educators reflect on their successes-and their challenges.

In an excerpt from his book with fellow teacher Katie Hull Sypnieski, blogger Larry Ferlazzo looks at a few basic ways to reach students who are learning English as well as the subject at hand.

How can teachers prepare for diverse classrooms? There isn't a definitive answer, but there is a wealth of resources online. Discover some helpful links for teachers.

Use young children's understanding of differences to teach social justice through age-appropriate literature, news stories, anti-bias lessons, familiar examples, and problem solving.

When general education students and students with special needs play together, it breaks down unconscious biases about disability and fosters relationships.

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George Lucas Educational Foundation Celebrating 30 years Find resources to help build an inclusive school community for students from different cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds and for children with unique instructional needs. Research shows that having a teacher of color can help students of color reach better outcomes; but the benefits extend to all young people, preparing them to live and work in an increasingly diverse society.

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7 Ways to Support Diversity in the Classroom

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7 Ways to Support Diversity in the Classroom

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7 Ways to Support Diversity in the Classroom [With Examples]

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All Posts A school culture where people embrace diversity in the classroom can positively impact the school community. When this happens, a school community creates a safe, supportive and purposeful environment for students and staff which, in turn, allows students to grow - academically and socially.

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Teaching to engage diversity, to include all learners, and to seek equity is essential for preparing civically engaged adults and for creating a campus and society that recognizes the contributions of all people. Teaching for diversity refers to acknowledging a range of differences in the classroom. Teaching for inclusion signifies embracing difference.

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Celebrating Cultural Diversity in the Classroom 

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Celebrating Cultural Diversity in the Classroom 

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Ways to Celebrate Cultural Diversity

Now that you have an understanding of the variety of cultures represented in your class (or of the various regions and populations your students would like to learn about), it's time to celebrate! Here are several ways you can have fun with your students exploring different cultural groups and traditions.

1. Cultural Dress Show and Tell

Have your students find pictures of different items of clothing that people wear in different cultures and groups. Some examples can include Jewish yarmulkes or Muslim burkas, which are different kinds of head coverings in these respective religious traditions.

Start with clothing that reflects the various cultures represented in your classroom-having students participate by sharing items or styles that are specific to their culture-or you can expand to even more cultures around the world, letting your students select one that interests them.

Discuss each of the items your students have shared pictures of and have your students explain why that particular item is worn in the culture it comes from and how the style or tradition originated.

2. Host a Multicultural Day

If your classroom is diverse, have your students present information on different aspects of their own cultures. If your classroom is not particularly diverse, have each of your students choose an area of the world they'd like to focus on and research. You can also concentrate on the cultures that are represented in the history of your broader area, state, or region.

Students can create brochures or posters that highlight various aspects of their diverse backgrounds, the areas their ancestors are from or the region and cultures which they chose to study. Have them present these to the class virtually or in person for your multicultural event.

Multicultural days used to involve trying foods from different cultures but since that is not ideal right now, you can have your students share a picture of a dish and recipe unique to their culture so the other students can make it at home with their parents!

3. Have a World Music Dance Party

Exploring the music of different countries and cultures is another fun way to celebrate cultural diversity in your classroom, whether in person or online.

Have students bring in (or send in digital form) music that represents their cultural heritage. Your students can also bring in or share instruments that are specific to their culture's music.

You can use videos on the Internet to teach your students about songs and dances from different regions of the world. Have your students listen to particular instruments in the songs. Talk to them about what makes each song or dance unique: Is the music fast or slow, loud or soft? Are the movements small and subtle, or big and bold? You can even try some of the dances as a class!

Discuss with your students how people enjoy music and dance all around the globe-it's something that human beings all have in common-while pointing out how each different group has its own particular way of singing and dancing.

Celebrate how we can experience and enjoy music from other cultures without necessarily knowing the language or cultural customs that go into it. Music is universal!

4. Create a Classroom Collage

As mentioned above, representation matters. And what better way to represent and celebrate your students than to display their photos in the classroom?

If you're doing in-person learning, take photos of your students. You can also have each student bring a picture of themselves from home-sharing baby pics can be especially fun. If you're teaching remotely, you can have children send you digital photos, or even use your computer's screenshot feature with your distance-learning platform to "take photos" of your students with their permission of course!

Once you have pictures of all of your students, put them together in a collage. If they've provided both current pictures and photos from the past, you can do "then" and "now" collages. You can also add in the countries that their heritage stems from to the images.

Even if your students and their parents (or even grandparents) were born in the U.S. you can add the countries that their ancestors immigrated from if the information is available.

Display these collages prominently in your virtual or in-person classroom so that your students can literally see themselves as part of the class.

Reflections of your students in the classroom environment will foster a sense of belonging.

5. Make Global Friends

Learning about the characteristics that differentiate people all around the world is one thing, but actually meeting people from different countries and cultures is another-there is simply no substitute for connecting and interacting with people who are different from ourselves.

Use a site like ePals to pair students up with a partner from another school in a different country. Have your students send messages to their new global penpals-discussing different seasonal traditions is one great way to get students sharing and learning about one another.

Making friends from different countries and cultural groups will be an excellent way to get your students excited to learn about different world cultures.

You can schedule time for your students to have a question-and-answer session with their new partner visitor using questions your students prepare ahead of time can prove extremely engaging and insightful for everyone.

Leave a comment below and let us know how you celebrate diversity in the classroom. You can also reach out to us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter any time!

Studentreasures provides FREE classbook publishing kits. Creating a classbook is not only a fun activity that teaches students about the writing process, it can also help increase engagement and build their confidence as young writers.

Click here to learn more about how the process works and see how your students can become published authors!

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Celebrating Cultural Diversity in the Classroom - Studentreasures Blog

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Studentreasures shares tips and activities to promote celebrating cultural diversity in the classroom. Read more!

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Multiculturalism and Diversity | Scholastic

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Resources that foucs on the topic of multiculturalism and diversity. Includes professional articles and resources, lesson plans, and activities.

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10 Cultural Diversity Activities for Elementary Students 

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10 Cultural Diversity Activities for Elementary Students 

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Thea Granath 🇺🇸🇸🇪 on Instagram: “My Sunday Night Sketch - always muse

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May 26, 2020 - Check out these 10 Simple Cultural Diversity Activities for Elementary Students to teach children about children of the world.

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Two Activities For Discussing Diversity In The Classroom

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How Immigration Issues Can Affect Students 

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How Immigration Issues Can Affect Students 

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We held an optional district professional development session called "Developing Resources and Supports for Immigrant Students"...I think it was an eye-opener for many who attended. The district's Coordinator of Social Workers attended and relayed that immigration trauma and stress would be put on her agenda for the next district mental health meeting. - Sarah Fladwood-Handley, District Elementary ELL Coach, Topeka Public Schools, Kansas
Overview

Helping staff understand students' experiences can have a powerful impact on how they interact with immigrant students and families. A number of educators have noted that their colleagues, including administrators, were surprised to learn how much these issues were impacting their students. The following sections provide some background information on immigration issues that may affect students or staff at your school/program, as well as tips for offering professional development on these issues.

In addition, it is important to keep in mind that immigration issues can impact staff as well. Learn more about this topic from our section on social-emotional support for staff.

For more information on recent immigration policy changes and immigration impacts on students, see our strategies for keeping up with current events and policy changes, as well as the following:

Note: For information on recent proposed changes to the "public charge" rules, which would make it harder for legal immigrants to get green cards if they use certain kinds of public assistance, see our related section on this topic. Although the rules have not yet taken effect, some immigrant families are withdrawing from benefit programs they currently use, which may have an impact on students' basic needs.

Separation and reunification

Immigrant students may have complex situations in their families when it comes to separation, reunification, and the impacts of changing immigration policies. Examples include the following:

Unaccompanied minors who come to the U.S. to reunite with parents may not have seen those parents for many years and may have new siblings in the U.S. that they are meeting for the first time.

Other students may be experiencing separation from family members due to detention or deportation, or due to travel restrictions that have lengthened the separation. In some of these cases, students may have significant care-taking responsibilities for younger siblings.

At the same time, students may also be concerned about the safety of family members who have stayed in unstable, violent, or war-torn regions of their home countries.

Here are examples of real students navigating those issues, including some students who have been featured by The Washington Post:

Alex, a young man being cared for by his 18-year-old sister after his mother was detained in an immigration raid in Ohio

Jafet and Jeshua, teenagers who traveled from Guatemala to live with their mother in Northern Virginia after being separated from her for 13 years, leaving a younger sister behind in Guatemala

Steve, a 10-year-old living with his father in Northern Virginia after his mother was deported to El Salvador, where she now lives with his younger sister

Isaac, an 11-year-old from Honduras who was separated from his mother at the border in 2017 and now lives in Illinois with an uncle following her deportation

Hana, a middle school student from Yemen living in Michigan with her father and younger brothers whose mother is currently awaiting her visa to the U.S.

Hussein (sixth grade) and Yussef (second grade), brothers who came from Yemen without their mother before she joined them six months later

The impacts of immigration enforcement on students

Why this matters

There are 4.5 million children with at least one parent who is undocumented; 1.6 million of those children are under the age of 5 and a high percentage of those children were born in the U.S. and are therefore U.S. citizens. In California alone, nearly two million children live in "mixed-status" households, and one in eight students have at least one undocumented parent. Researchers at UCLA estimate that immigration enforcement policies have the potential to impact more than 5 million children nationwide (Gándara & Ee, 2018a, p. 3).

Immigration enforcement activity can result in a variety of outcomes, including:

detention in U.S. facility

deportation to another country

large raids

arrests of other undocumented people nearby

extended separations between family members.

It is also worth noting that thousands of people who are deported, usually men, often try to return to the U.S. each year. This journey can prove fatal, as in the case of Adrián Luna, a 45-year-old father of five who had lived in Idaho for 27 years and died deep in the desert in an attempt to come back to the U.S. following his deportation.

In addition, some undocumented sponsors of young people who have crossed the border are reluctant to come forward to take children home because of a new memorandum of understanding in which the Department of Health and Human Services is sharing sponsor information with immigration officials. This policy has led to the arrest of numerous undocumented sponsors. This is one factor impacting the increased amount of time children are in federal custody, leading to higher numbers of children in shelters and an expansion of "tent cities" where immigrant youth are housed.

All of these outcomes have long-lasting emotional, economic, and practical effects on students and families. The UCLA research team shares the following anecdotes from teachers, the first in Maryland and the second in California.

We have one student who had attempted to slit her wrists because her family has been separated and she wants to be with her mother. She literally didn't want to live without her mother (2018a, pp. 1-2).

I had one student who came back the day after prom and would not eat or talk to anyone. I finally found out from one of her friends that she came home from prom to find her mom deported and never had the chance to say good-bye or anything. She was suffering but did not know what to do (2018a, p.3).

Some of the documented impacts of separation, detention, and deportation include:
Social-emotional

increased fear, anxiety, and depression

lack of motivation and interest in school

uncertainty about the future in terms of where the student will live and go to school

post-traumatic stress

Economic uncertainty

loss of income and instability

an increase in transiency as families relocate, go into hiding, or move to join loved ones

reduced access (voluntary or involuntary) to social services and benefits

Care-taking arrangements

possible transfer of the child into foster care

an increase in responsibilities (or preparation for that increase) for older siblings as caretakers, breadwinners, and coordinators of logistics or family affairs.

School/community impact

The UCLA team confirmed what other educators have reported, which is that immigration enforcement can have a wide-spread effect on non-immigrant students as well, including an increase in concern, anxiety, grief, and anger over the loss of a friend who may disappear. One teacher notes,

I have already had several students who have parents who have been deported to Mexico and India. One of our students skipped school for 3 weeks when a teacher brought up the topic of immigration in class. Last year I had students missing class to attend their parent's immigration court hearings. All of this is wearing on my students and is causing anxiety and depression. (p. 14)

You can read more about the broader school and community impacts of this enforcement in our article about massive immigration raids in Postville, Iowa, as well as information about the impacts on young children in particular in our section on early childhood education.

Recommended resources

Research and reports

From Colorín Colorado

News headlines from the The Washington Post

NPR

Other sources

Recommended videos

Being undocumented

Overview

Many educators may not know that some of their students are undocumented, or what implications being undocumented has. In fact, teacher Lori Dodson notes that many students themselves don't know they are undocumented and don't learn of their status until high school when they apply for a driver's license, a first job, or college. At the same time, many students are navigating complex decisions about what to share or not share about their personal background, experience, and immigration status on a regular basis. (See more on this topic in our section on immigrant students' choices to remain silent about their experiences.)

How does being undocumented impact daily life?

Students who are undocumented or who have family members who are undocumented may experience the following:

fear of filling out paperwork for benefits and school services, like special education, free- and reduced-price lunch, and financial aid (Gándara and Ee, 2018a)

missing out on field trips and extra-curricular activities due to the paperwork or fear of being out in the community after school hours (Gándara and Ee, 2018a)

restricted access to employment, medical insurance, and other benefits

questions of transportation, such as state driver's licenses policies and the inability to fly without identification

fear of entering public buildings that require IDs, such as military bases.

Other considerations and impacts include:

Note: State-issued ID cards for undocumented immigrants are not protection against immigration enforcement.

The undocumented population of the U.S. includes immigrants from around the world. Many of those individuals are advocating for more visibility in conversations about immigration. Here are some resources that highlight that diversity:

Researchers studying undocumented students

For in-depth research on immigrant students and undocumented students in particular, see the work of the following scholars:

Recommended resources

Recommended videos

What is DACA?

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a policy enacted during the Obama Administration through executive action in 2012 focused on undocumented youth who have lived in the U.S. since childhood, often referred to as "DREAMers." The DREAMer population is a diverse group representing countries around the world.

DREAM Act legislation (short for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act) has been introduced multiple times in Congress but has not yet passed.

This summary from NPR provides a helpful overview:
DACA is the acronym for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program created in 2012 by the Obama administration allowing young people brought to this country illegally by their parents to get a temporary reprieve from deportation and to receive permission to work, study, and obtain driver's licenses. DACA applicants had to be younger than 31 years old when the program began. They also had to prove that they had lived in the United States continuously since June 15, 2007, and that they had arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16. Those signing up for DACA must show that they have clean criminal records. They have to be enrolled in high school or college, or serve in the military. Their status is renewable every two years.
As of this writing, court cases related to DACA are proceeding, DACA still stands and recipients can continue to renew. However, new applications are not currently being accepted.

Why this matters

Many educators may not understand how DACA works and how changes in the policy can impact families or schools. Researchers at UCLA studying the impact of immigration enforcement on schools found that "many educators appeared to be confused about" DACA - what it is, who qualifies, and what the current status of the program is (p. 22). Changes in DACA would impact not only the children of DACA recipients but thousands of teachers in both K-12 and early childhood settings working with DACA work permits. For more information, as well as interviews with teachers who have DACA, see our related resource section.

To learn more about DACA, you can also:

Look for networks online to find out what other educators are sharing and discussing.

Look for colleagues or community members who can speak about its impact on students and families, such as college-level DREAM organizations.

Recommended resources

About DACA / Resources for DREAMers

News headlines and blog posts

For news related to DACA, as well as interviews with DACA teachers, see our Colorín Colorado resource section, as well as the following:

Recommended videos

Video: Helping DREAMers tell their stories

Meet DACA teachers and students

What is TPS?

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a type of immigration status. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) explains,

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1990, temporary protected status (TPS) provides legal status to migrants from countries that have suffered natural disasters, protracted unrest, or conflict...It allows migrants to stay in the United States for periods of up to eighteen months, which the U.S. government can renew indefinitely. (Felter & Shendruk, 2018)

If a nation's TPS designation expires, TPS holders, many of whom have lived here for more than two decades, must return to their native country, with few options for staying legally in the U.S.

In late 2017 and early 2018, the White House announced it would end TPS for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador. However, in October 2018, a federal court temporarily blocked the move, saying that doing so would cause "irreparable harm and great hardship." A full hearing will be held in the future.

Why this matters

CFR reports that, "TPS holders are parents to at least 273,000 children with U.S. citizenship." Ending TPS designation is likely to separate many families who choose not to take their children to countries they feel are unsafe.

Tips for getting started

Learn more about TPS from the resources below.

Ask parent liaisons and community organizations if they know whether TPS is an issue of concern for local families. If so, consider connecting families with legal resources so that they can continue to receive updated information and guidance.

Recommended resources

Recommended videos

Recommendations for professional development

Framing the conversation

One way you may wish to share information about immigration with colleagues is through professional development. Given the polarizing nature of this topic, we recommend that skilled, experienced trainers in this topic lead these conversations. It may be helpful to start a conversation on immigration by:

Reminding colleagues to show respect for differing opinions (this is especially effective if all staff members are familiar with the same norms for discussion and teamwork, such as the guidelines outlined in the Norms of Collaboration Toolkit)

Sharing relevant district policies and initiatives related to serving immigrant students

Sharing the following quotes for discussion or reference:

As we discussed our district support, we recognized that the heart of the matter was keeping students safe and supporting their continued learning. This meant that we needed to measure our actions by how they related to supporting the students' learning and social-emotional well-being. This has been helpful in empowering leaders as they make decisions in response to new situations. It is important that we respect the different viewpoints of others and not silence those opinions if channeled correctly. However, our school division [district] has clear set of core beliefs that need to be adhered to. Most importantly, our staff must show unwavering respect and acceptance of all children regardless if they are an immigrant or not.
Tips for getting started

If planning professional development on these topics, educators and administrators should think about how to:

identify the most important topics for your context

establish your goals for training and how it will allow colleagues to better serve students

establish a climate of respect and trust

address myths or misconceptions as needed

help staff understand students' rights and staff members' obligations to protect student privacy

take the information provided and use it to improve students' experiences at the school

share culturally responsive ways to address these issues

be responsive to situations as they arise (rather than waiting too long to address them before they become critical)

connect to existing districtwide programs

talk about the ways in which immigration issues may impact staff as well as students.

Discussion questions

These questions may provide some useful entry points into discussion:

How do you think these experiences might impact students in the classroom and in their social-emotional health?

What information was new to you, or surprised you?

What can you do as an educator to support students who have had these experiences?

Recommended resources

Recommended videos

Consider using the video " The danger of a single story" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to open up discussion, as well as recommended videos throughout this guide.

References

See our complete reference list for works cited in this article.

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How Immigration Issues Can Impact Students

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We held an optional district professional development session called "Developing Resources and Supports for Immigrant Students"...I think it was an eye-opener for many who attended. The district's Coordinator of Social Workers attended and relayed that immigration trauma and stress would be put on her agenda for the next district mental health meeting.

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The Impact of Immigration on Educational Attainment of Natives 

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The Impact of Immigration on Educational Attainment of Natives 

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The Impact of Immigration on the Educational Attainment of Natives

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In The Impact of Immigration on the Educational Attainment of Natives (NBER Working Paper No. 18047), Jennifer Hunt finds that, contrary to the popular notion that immigrants may have a negative impact on the public education experience of native-born children, the net effect of immigrant children in schools is positive.

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Children From Immigrant Families are Increasingly the Face of Higher Education

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Children From Immigrant Families are Increasingly the Face of Higher Education

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Children From Immigrant Families Are Increasingly the Face of Higher Education (Published 2020)

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U.S.-born children of immigrants or immigrant students raised in the United States accounted for nearly 60 percent of the growth in university enrollment since 2000.

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The Impact of Immigrant Children on America's Public Schools

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The Impact of Immigrant Children on America's Public Schools

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How New Rules for Foreign Students Could Impact College Finances

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How New Rules for Foreign Students Could Impact College Finances

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How new immigration rules for foreign students could impact college finances

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Advocating with empathy for immigrant education 

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Advocating with empathy for immigrant education 

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Advocating with empathy for immigrant education | Lindsey Bird | TEDxModesto

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Preinstructional Planning
Students will:

Use web technology to access immigration history

Develop an understanding of the concept of immigration

Develop oral history writing skills, including note-taking and conducting an interview

Read for detail

Use real-world examples as models for writing an oral history

Compare and contrast immigration stories of the past with the present

Compare and contrast immigration through Ellis Island and Angel Island

Use technology to explore a historical place and event

Use graphs and facts to respond to several research-based questions and activities

Whiteboard or chart paper and markers

Map of the New York City area

Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today online activities

Interactive whiteboard, tablets for student use, or a computer and projector to display the online activity

KWL Chart printable

"Relive a Boy's Journey to America" article

Angel Island: An Asian Pacific American Heritage online activity

Immigration: An Oral History Writing Workshop online activity

Create a Class Quilt

8-inch squares of white or light-colored construction paper

markers or collage materials (such as photographs or recipes)

Hole puncher

Yarn

Optional: Sheets of cardboard for reinforcing squares

Classroom Geography

Large map of the world

Yarn in multiple colors

Push pins

Optional: Double-sided tape or another way to temporarily attach photos to the map display

Hall of Fame and Music From Around the World

Reference materials from the library or online sources

1. Depending on the grade level and maturity level of each class, activities can be facilitated as independent work, collaborative group work, or whole-class instruction.

2. If a computer is available for each student, guide students to the activities either through printed URLs on handouts or on the board.

3. If you are working in a lab, set up the computers to be on the desired websites as students walk into class. If there are fewer computers than students, group the students by reading level. Assign each student a role: a "driver" who navigates the web, a timer who keeps the group on task, and a note taker. If there are more than three students per computer, you can add roles like a team leader, a team reporter, etc.

4. If you are working in a learning station in your classroom, break your class into different groups. Have rotating groups work on the computer(s), read printed background information, hold smaller group discussions, write first drafts of their scrapbook, etc.

5. Optional: You may also want to create a special display for your classroom library in honor of Immigration. Check out the Immigration Book List for suggested print materials. Be sure to keep a shelf available for students' oral history scrapbooks!

Activity 1: Ellis Island Interactive Tour (1-2 days)

Step 1: Explain to students that everyone living in the United States has an immigrant past, with the exception of Native Americans. Over the last few centuries, millions of people have made their way to America. Some people, like slaves, came unwillingly. But most immigrants were drawn by the promise of greater freedom and opportunity.

Step 2: Write the word "immigration" on the board or a piece of chart paper, as well as its definition. Give students various examples of immigration. Use personal stories if possible. Invite students to share their own examples, ideas, or questions about immigration. Allow students to share information about their own families' countries of origin and write all responses on the board.

Step 3: Discuss events in U.S. history and world history that are related to immigration. List these on the board.

Step 4: Write "Ellis Island," on the board and explain how it is an important part of the history of American immigration.

Step 5: Find Ellis Island on a map of the New York City area and display the map in the classroom. Hand out the KWL Chart printable and have students fill it out with information they know about Ellis Island and things they want to know about it.

Step 6: Invite students to take the interactive tour of Ellis Island. When they are done with the activity, have them fill out the KWL Chart with information they learned about Ellis Island.

Step 7: Ask students to write down at least two new questions they have about Ellis Island. During classroom discussion, have your students create a list of things that they want to find out. As a class, brainstorm ways students might answer their own questions.

Activity 2: Relive a Boy's Journey (1-2 days)

Step 1: Tell your students that they are going to learn about a young immigrant who came through Ellis Island. Introduce the story of Seymour Rechtzeit and distribute the article "Relive a Boy's Journey to America." Provide time for your students to read Seymour's story on their own or in pairs. You may wish to print out a copy of the story for individual reading.

Step 2: Ask students to recall the reasons Seymour came to the United States. Have students continue with their KWL Chart to gather more information on Ellis Island and the immigrant experience.

Activity 3: Angel Island: Meet Li Keng Wong (1-2 days)

Step 1: As a comparison to Ellis Island, introduce the Angel Island experience of Chinese immigrant, Li Keng Wong.

Step 2: Have students read Li Keng Wong's story, individually or in small groups, and continue to fill out their KWL Chart printable. You may wish to print out a copy of the story for individual reading. Encourage students to think about the questions at the end of each chapter of Li Keng Wong's story.

Step 3: When you come back as a class, see if any of the questions have been answered and if more have been added. Have a compare and contrast session between Angel Island and Ellis Island.

Activity 4: Meet Young Immigrants (1 day)

Step 1: Ask your students to find out the year Ellis Island closed. (Answer: 1954). Point out that although that immigration station is closed, hundreds of thousands of immigrants continue coming into the country each year.

Step 2: Ask students to read the stories of the recent immigrants. As a class, discuss the differences between their stories and the stories of Seymour Rechtzeit and Li Keng Wong. Have them note any important comparisons on their KWL charts.

Activity 5: Explore Immigration Data (2 days)

Step 1: Look over the various charts, graphs, and tables in this section of the activity with your students. Ask volunteers to describe the kind of information each one is showing. Ask them about ways they could use the data.

Step 2: Ask your students to compare a table with a chart or graph that shows the same information. How are they similar and different? Have students state the advantages and disadvantages to using each one.

Step 3: Divide the class into small groups and assign each group one of the questions or projects (listed beneath the tables, charts, and graphs). Have them work independently to answer the question or complete the project. Discuss their findings as a class.

Step 4: Have each small group reform, and then ask each group to compose three questions to challenge another group. Have the groups swap questions and write down their answers. Discuss their findings as a class.

Activity 6: Oral Histories (4-5 days)

Note: You may need additional time to set up interviews.

Ahead of Time: In the first week of immigration studies, tell students that they will be recording and writing the oral history of someone who immigrated to the United States. Encourage them to start thinking about a subject for their oral history. As needed, help students find individuals to interview. Schedule a field trip to a nursing home, literacy center, or other location where students can meet immigrants and conduct their interview, or assign the actual interviewing as out-of-class homework.

Step 1: Listen to the oral histories within the Ellis Island interactive tour. (Click the "audio" tabs within the stops of the tour to access the oral histories). Then have your students watch the videos in the Meet the Young Immigrants section. Ask students to think about what makes a good oral history. Write their responses on the board. This will provide students with a list of things to think about when working on their project.

Oral History Project

1. Prewriting. Students should begin working on their interview questions before their interview. Have them look at their filled out KWL Graphic Organizer to help them come up with questions. Have students submit their questions for approval.

2. Drafting. Discuss effective ways for students to write their immigrant oral histories. For example, they might use the first-person voice, letting the immigrants tell their own tales. Have them read the stories in the Meet the Young Immigrants section.

3. Revising and Editing. Have students share a draft of their oral history with a classmate for feedback. What questions did the reader raise? What information is missing that needs to be included? How could the story be stronger?

Step 2: After all the steps are completed, have the students submit their stories to you. After giving them feedback, allow them time to make final edits.

Step 3: Have students type up their stories and post them on your class homepage or publish them in a printed booklet. Encourage students to read one another's submissions.

Optional: Students can also present their learning to their peers with a PowerPoint presentation, a poster board, or an oral report for the class.

Create a Class Quilt

Celebrate your students' cultural backgrounds with a class quilt. Distribute 8-inch squares of white or light-colored construction paper. Using markers or collage materials, have students create an image on their square that represents their family culture. Encourage students to use diverse materials, such as photographs or recipes. Reinforce the squares with cardboard if necessary. When all the squares are ready, use a hole puncher to make holes around the edges. Lace the quilt panels together with yarn. Display the finished quilt and invite students to explain their panel to the class.

Classroom Geography

Use this activity to visually identify connections students have to other countries in the world. Display a large map of the world. Have students draw self-portraits or bring in photos of themselves. Place the pictures around the border of the map. Have each student stretch a piece of yarn from his or her picture to a country or region where his or her ancestors lived, and secure it with push pins. You may want to color code the yarn by country, continent, or world region. Take time to discuss the finished map.

Hall of Fame

Invite the class to create a Hall of Fame of immigrants who have made important contributions. Guide students to search for biographies of the individuals using reference materials from the library or from online sources. For their Hall of Fame submission, each student should provide a photograph or other likeness of the person, as well as her birthplace, the date she came to America, and why she came. Another paragraph should explain her accomplishments.

Music From Around the World

Work with students to investigate examples of music and literature from other lands that have influenced American writing and music.

More Discussion Questions:

What is the definition of immigration? What are some reasons people immigrate?

Why is America a popular destination for immigrants?

How has America changed as a result of immigration?

What are the differences between immigrate, emigrate and migrate?

What are some of the obstacles that an immigrant faces?

Who were some famous immigrants that made important contributions to America?

What were some different experiences for immigrants who came through Ellis Island versus Angel Island?

What are some of the differences that immigrants faced in the past compared with immigrants today?

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Immigration Lesson Plan for Grades 3-5 | Scholastic

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Preinstructional Planning Students will: Use web technology to access immigration history Develop an understanding of the concept of immigration Develop oral history writing skills, including note-taking and conducting an interview Read for detail Use real-world examples as models for writing an oral history Compare and contrast immigration stories of the

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5 Tips for Teaching Immigration to Elementary Students 

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5 Tips for Teaching Immigration to Elementary Students 

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Immigration is a hot button issue in the United States and around the world. Therefore, it is likely that students as young as elementary school have heard about immigration in some way or another. Because students may have varying background knowledge on the subject, it is important to fill in any gaps and correct misconceptions about why people immigrate, who immigrants are, and why immigration has always been a hallmark of the United States.

Here are five tips to consider when teaching young learners about immigration.

1. Begin with discussing why people emigrate

Immigration discussions should begin with considering why a person may want to leave their home country, or emigrate. Students should understand that leaving one's country is very challenging, and it is a big decision that immigrants do not take lightly. Many immigrants leave their country because their home or land is destroyed by a natural disaster or war. Other people may not be able to find work to support their families, so they journey to countries with more available jobs. Some countries have dangerous, unstable governments, or are afraid of new or existing laws that reduce their freedoms. Population Education's free lesson plan People on the Move is a hands-on simulation that helps students analyze the push/pull factors of immigration. Although designed for middle school students, teachers can easily adjust the activity for elementary scholars. After the simulation, be sure to brainstorm a variety of reasons that people may want to leave one country to live in another.

2. Introduce students to stories from real immigrants

There are many fantastic resources to help students learn about the lives of immigrants and draw similarities to their own life. The book I was Dreaming to Come to America by Veronica Lawlor contains dozens of stories from the Ellis Island Oral History Project. Ranging from ages six to thirty, the passages are first person accounts of the thoughts and dreams of children immigrating through Ellis Island. By analyzing these primary sources, students interpret history though new perspectives while developing both critical thinking skills and empathy. Another children's book on immigration is My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aqui hasta alla by Amada Irma Perez. Perez retells the story of her family leaving Juarez, Mexico to find work and a better life in Los Angeles, CA. The book contains diary passages in both English and Spanish, making it perfect for bilingual classes. The diary captures Amada's internal thoughts, fears, and excitement - emotions to which any student can relate.

3. Teach through the history of America

It may be cliché, but it is true: America is a country of immigrants. And teaching about immigration is teaching the history of America. Starting with a discussion of the Statue of Liberty, explain to students what the iconic monument represents to the millions of Americans who passed through Ellis Island. Population Education recommends the book Coming to America: The Story of Immigration by Susannah Ryan as a read aloud focusing on Ellis Island. You could also explore the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation website, where students can investigate primary source documents, timelines, databases from Ellis Island and even take a virtual tour using Scholastic's immigration activity guide.

Depending on the demographics of your students, there is a good chance many of them have relatives who immigrated to the United States. Using PopEd's lesson plan Family Roots, have your students interview their family members and gather information about where their relative was born, the reasons they moved, and where they live now. Allow students to share with their classmates in order to build understanding of the diverse backgrounds of their peers.

4. Understand that not all Americans chose to come here

It is important to acknowledge that while many people made the choice to leave their country of birth and come to the U.S., millions of people were brought to America against their will. Beginning in 1619, millions of Africans were taken from their home countries and forced into slavery in the United States. Students must understand that this is very different from immigration. While immigrants left home in search of freedom and better lives, enslaved peoples lost their rights as free men and women. For resources on teaching about slavery, we recommend using The Pulitzer Center's curricula based on the New York Times 1619 Project.

5. Discuss immigration today

As the world has changed, so has immigration. Ask your students simple questions about how they think immigration has changed since the days of Ellis Island such as:

How do you think people travel to the United States today?

Where do you think most United States immigrants today come from?

How do you think the United States decides who is allowed to stay in the country?

What happens when immigrants arrive in the United States?

Most immigrants today travel the same way as your students - by car or airplane. More than half of all immigrants now come from Mexico or other countries in Latin America. Others come from many different countries across Asia and Africa. This differs significantly from the early and mid-1900s when so many immigrants were arriving from European countries, yet many of the push/pull factors discussed above remain the same.

There is a lot of debate about whom the government should let into the country. Most immigrants, about 70%, arrive because they have family members already established in the United States or know someone who is willing to sponsor them. The United States also accepts refugees, or people who leave their country because they fear for their safety. However, due to increased vetting procedures and policy changes, the number of refugees accepted into the U.S. has decreased significantly in recent years to only 22,000, or roughly 5% of the total number of immigrants in 2018 .

Explain to your students that once a person immigrates to the United States, they are not automatically a naturalized citizen. Immigrants who choose to become citizens must fill out a lot of paperwork and live in the country for 5 years before applying for citizenship. They also must pass a citizenship test. You can challenge your students to take the test through Scholastic's kid- friendly U.S. Citizenship Test.

More Resources for Teaching Immigration

For additional student resources check out lesson plans from the Library of Congress, Teaching Tolerance, Scholastic, and follow Population Education on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram this fall while we focus on the theme of migration. For more background information about immigration policy and statistics, explore the U.S. Census Bureau's online resources for teachers.

Image credits: Suitcases by Nick Fewings on Unsplash; Book cover (Amazon); Immigration at Ellis Island (Library of Congress); Travel documents by Popartic ( Royalty-free stock photo ID: 155894303)

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5 Tips For Teaching Immigration to Elementary Students - Population Education

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Immigration is a hot button issue in the United States and around the world. Therefore, it is likely that students... Read more "

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They're Coming to America: Immigrants Past and Present 

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They're Coming to America: Immigrants Past and Present 

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They're Coming to America: Immigrants Past and Present | PBS LearningMedia

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In this lesson from Faces of America, students will explore the history of America -- a nation of immigrants.

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Mama's Nightingale - A Story of Immigration and Separation (Read Aloud)

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Just For Fun Story Time - I’m an Immigrant too!

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📚The Big Umbrella | Kids Books That Celebrate Diversity and Inclusion | Clark's Cozy Corner

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What Makes Us Unique? Our First Talk About Diversity  by Dr.Jillian Roberts | Reading Aloud

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The number of poor students enrolled in a particular school or living in a certain school district is one of the most important education data points that exists, and the stakes are high for getting the count right.

The figures are used to direct billions of dollars in federal and state aid, and they're a pillar of K-12 accountability systems that ensure disadvantaged students are keeping up with their wealthier peers.

But the method that's traditionally used to track them - how many students qualify for free and reduced-priced lunch - is no longer a reliable proxy for poverty as eligibility for the school lunch program has expanded in recent years. And getting an accurate count is becoming more difficult in part due to increasing numbers of students in the country illegally and students from immigrant families, both of whom are wary of enrolling in government benefit programs amid the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration.

"This is a prime example of a really wonky, not-sexy problem that is extremely important," Ary Amerikaner, vice president for P-12 policy, practice, and research at The Education Trust, says. "These data underlie a huge number of critical decisions in the education world."

As just one example, Title I, the largest federal K-12 program, directs $14.5 billion annually to school districts with lots of poor students to ensure they have access to the same types of learning opportunities as wealthier children. For decades, school districts have relied on the number of students enrolled in the school lunch program in order to identify which specific schools are serving the most poor students. Moreover, schools use that count when assessing achievement gaps, namely whether poor students are keeping up academically with wealthier students and, if not, whether they are at least making gains - metrics used in accountability systems in every school district in the country.

Traditionally, the number of poor students was determined by the number of students who enrolled in the National School Lunch Program, which provides free or reduced-price lunches to students whose families make less than 130 percent or 185 percent of the federal poverty level, respectively. But in 2010, in the wake of the Great Recession, Congress adopted two important policy changes aimed at expanding eligibility, which in turn muddied the count.

First, it expanded what's known as "direct certification," which assumes students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch if they already receive other types of government support, like participation in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. Second, and most importantly, Congress expanded what's known as the "community eligibility provision," which allows schools to provide free lunch to all students, including to those who otherwise wouldn't qualify, if 40 percent or more of enrolled students are eligible.

Approximately 1 in every 5 schools eligible to offer free lunches to all of their students under the provision does so, research shows. And the result is startling: The share of students receiving a subsidized lunch increased from less than 35 percent in 1990 to more than 50 percent today, even though the share of children who grow up in low-income families has not changed over the same time period.

"That's probably a good thing from the perspective of getting lunch to hungry kids, but the side effect was to limit the usefulness of the data produced by program participation," says Matthew Chingos, vice president of the Center on Education Data and Policy at the Urban Institute. "It doesn't mean more kids are poor than before, it just means we are reaching more people."

That presents a big problem for policymakers and government administrators who rely on those numbers.

"If we now don't have the information on where low-income kids are, or the information has gotten much worse, then it's a problem," Chingos says.

More recently, the enforcement of stricter immigration laws by the Trump administration, including increased number of raids by Immigrant and Customs Enforcement officials, has already caused a drop in the number families enrolling their children in the free and reduced-price lunch programs over fears it would somehow expose them.

"For eternity we've been using the free and reduced-price lunch data," Amerikaner says. "For them to suddenly stop being an accurate, consistent measure of poverty is a huge problem for researchers, for equity advocates and for practitioners."

The landscape for measuring poverty could face yet another hurdle if the Trump administration's proposed changes to what's known as "public charge" are adopted.

Public charge is an estimate the government uses to determine how likely an immigrant is to depend on the federal government by tapping into social services like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or supplemental Social Security, both of which can count against immigrants trying to secure legal residence in the U.S. But the White House is considering adding other programs to the public charge list, including food stamps, housing programs, Medicaid and Medicare Part D.

Administration officials say the changes to public charge are necessary to ensure that immigrants trying to become legal residents don't overwhelm the federal government's welfare programs. But policymakers and school superintendents argue the change would have devastating consequences for immigrant families who depend on those food, housing and health care assistance programs, and would likely deter them from applying.

About 725,000 young people in the U.S. currently lack legal status, and 4.5 million young people are U.S.-born citizens with at least one parent in the country without legal status.

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The free and reduced-price lunch program is not on the proposed list for the public charge, but measurements like food stamps and Medicaid are often used by researchers as a proxy for poverty and would likely further muddy the waters, policy analysts say.

"It's a challenging thing to measure well," Chingos says. "And it really never was very accurate, even if it was perfectly implemented."

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, some states are experimenting with new measurements in an effort to more honestly capture the number of low-income students schools and districts serve, especially states currently considering new K-12 funding systems focused on more equitably funding schools with large concentrations of poor students.

In Washington, D.C., for example, students are now counted as low-income if their families use food stamps or if they're homeless or in the foster care system. This direct certification type of proxy, whereby students are counted poor if they or their families use other types of government benefits, is gaining traction but it also has downsides.

For one, many of the social welfare programs are administered differently in different states, meaning the count of poor students wouldn't provide an apple-to-apples comparison across state lines. And the entire metric is likely to result in an undercount for school districts serving large numbers of immigrant families and those for whom English isn't the first language who either aren't enrolled in such programs or aren't eligible for them.

"It's really hard to identify either the diamond in the rough - best practices and places doing a great job serving students living in poverty - or places doing a terrible job if you don't have apples-to-apples data," Amerikaner says. "The measure that you use to track poverty matters a lot."

And, like the free and reduced-price lunch program, those types of government programs are also susceptible to eligibility changes.

"If we expand food stamps to cover more people, it will look like more kids are getting free lunch," Chingos says. "It doesn't mean kids are getting poorer, it just means we changed the system."

Some states and school districts are doing annual household income surveys, which policymakers say is likely the most accurate but also the most burdensome and costly. Others are taking the survey every four years. Meanwhile, some states are using an outdated free and reduced-price lunch count from before the eligibility expansion. A few are trying a formula that includes multiplying the most recent accurate count by 1.6 to estimate a more current count.

"There is no great answer, and we're picking from not great choices," Amerikaner says. "Which means that it's a ripe time for states to innovate."

Indeed, Amerikaner says The Education Trust has been fielding lots of questions from education advocates regarding new ways to count poor students, especially those in states trying to make their funding systems more equitable.

"They are really worried when they suddenly hear their states are going to change the way they measure poverty in a way that we think will miss many undocumented students living in poverty," she says. "That raises a lot of concerns."

That's the case playing out in Maryland right now, where a working group is in the process of adopting a new funding formula that includes a new way to count poor students - one that requires schools to obtain income data from students enrolled in districts where all students are given free meals.

"Any method of determining a proxy for poverty will have tremendous implications," Baltimore City Public School officials, who oppose the proposed count, to the chairman of the working group at the beginning of this school year. "This type of action would put vital state funding for districts at risk."

There's yet to be a call-to-arms moment among education policymakers to fully tackle the problem, despite its sweeping ramifications for funding and accountability, though many say the issue is becoming more and more visible.

"We're really interesting in finding places that are coming up with innovation ways to do this," Amerikaner says.

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The number of poor students enrolled in a particular school or living in a certain school district is one of the most important education data points that exists, and the stakes are high for getting the count right.

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A Novel Effort to See How Poverty Affects Young Brains 

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A Novel Effort to See How Poverty Affects Young Brains 

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An emerging branch of neuroscience asks a question long on the minds of researchers. Recent stimulus payments make the study more relevant.

New monthly payments in the pandemic relief package have the potential to lift millions of American children out of poverty. Some scientists believe the payments could change children's lives even more fundamentally - via their brains.

Does cash aid to poor parents help their children's long-term brain development? Credit... Karsten Moran for The New York Times

It's well established that growing up in poverty correlates with disparities in educational achievement, health and employment. But an emerging branch of neuroscience asks how poverty affects the developing brain.

Over the past 15 years, dozens of studies have found that children raised in meager circumstances have subtle brain differences compared with children from families of higher means. On average, the surface area of the brain's outer layer of cells is smaller, especially in areas relating to language and impulse control, as is the volume of a structure called the hippocampus, which is responsible for learning and memory.

These differences don't reflect inherited or inborn traits, research suggests, but rather the circumstances in which the children grew up. Researchers have speculated that specific aspects of poverty - subpar nutrition, elevated stress levels, low-quality education - might influence brain and cognitive development. But almost all the work to date is correlational. And although those factors may be at play to various degrees for different families, poverty is their common root. A continuing study called Baby's First Years, started in 2018, aims to determine whether reducing poverty can itself promote healthy brain development.

"None of us thinks income is the only answer," said Dr. Kimberly Noble, a neuroscientist and pediatrician at Teachers College, Columbia University, who is co-leading the work. "But with Baby's First Years, we are moving past correlation to test whether reducing poverty directly causes changes in children's cognitive, emotional and brain development."

Dr. Noble and her collaborators are examining the effects of giving poor families cash payments in amounts that wound up being comparable to those the Biden administration will distribute as part of an expanded child tax credit.

The researchers randomly assigned 1,000 mothers with newborns living in poverty in New York City, New Orleans, the Twin Cities and Omaha to receive a debit card every month holding either $20 or $333 that the families could use as they wished. (The Biden plan will provide $300 monthly per child up to age 6, and $250 for children 6 through 17.) The study tracks cognitive development and brain activity in children over several years using a noninvasive tool called mobile EEG, which measures brain wave patterns using a wearable cap of 20 electrodes.

The study also tracks the mothers' financial and employment status, maternal health measures such as stress hormone levels, and child care use. In qualitative interviews, the researchers probe how the money affects the family, and with the mothers' consent, they follow how they spend it.

The study aimed to collect brain activity data from children at age 1 and age 3 in home visits, and researchers managed to obtain the first set of data for around two-thirds of the children before the pandemic struck. Because home visits are still untenable, they extended the study to age 4 and will be collecting the second set of brain data next year instead of this year.

The pandemic, as well as the two stimulus payments most Americans received this past year, undoubtedly affected participating families in different ways, as will this year's stimulus checks and the new monthly payments. But because the study is randomized, the researchers nonetheless expect to be able to assess the impact of the cash gift, Dr. Noble said.

Baby's First Years is seen as an audacious effort to prove, through a randomized trial, a causal link between poverty reduction and brain development. "It is definitely one of the first, if not the first" study in this developing field to have direct policy implications, said Martha Farah, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Center for Neuroscience and Society who studies poverty and the brain.

Professor Farah concedes, however, that social scientists and policymakers often discount the relevance of brain data. "Are there actionable insights we get by bringing neuroscience to bear, or are people just being snowed by pretty brain images and impressive-sounding words from neuroscience? It's an important question," she said.

Skeptics abound. James Heckman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at the University of Chicago who studies inequality and social mobility, said he didn't see "even a hint that a policy would come out of it, other than to say, yes, there's an imprint of a better economic life."

"And it still remains a question what the actual mechanism is" through which giving parents cash helps children's brains, he said, adding that targeting such a mechanism directly might be both cheaper and more effective.

Samuel Hammond, director of poverty and welfare policy at the Niskanen Center, who worked on a child allowance proposal by Senator Mitt Romney, agrees that tracking the source of any observed cognitive benefits is tricky. "I have trouble disentangling the interventions that actually help the most," he said. For example, policy experts debate whether certain child care programs directly benefit a child's brain or simply free up her caregiver to get a job and increase the family's income, he said.

Yet that is exactly why providing disadvantaged families with cash might be the most potent way to test the link to brain development, Dr. Noble said. "It's quite possible that the particular pathways to children's outcomes differ across families," she said. "So by empowering families to use the money as they see fit, it doesn't presuppose a particular pathway or mechanism that leads to differences in child development."

Neuroscience has a track record for transforming societal thinking and influencing policy. Research showing that the brain continues to mature past adolescence and into a person's mid-20s has reshaped policies relating to juvenile justice.

In another example, research on brain and cognitive development in children who grew up in Romanian orphanages from the mid-1960s into the 1990s changed policy on institutionalization and foster care, in Romania and worldwide, said Charles Nelson, a neuroscientist at Harvard and Boston Children's Hospital who co-led that work.

Those studies demonstrated that deprivation and neglect diminish IQ and hinder psychological development in children who remain institutionalized past age 2, and that institutionalization profoundly affects brain development, dampening electrical activity and reducing brain size.

But that work also underscores how consumers of research, policymakers among them, are prone to give more weight to brain data than to other findings, as other studies show. When Professor Nelson presents these findings to government or development agency officials, "I think they find it the strongest ammunition to implement policy changes," he said. "It is a very powerful visual, more so than if we said, well, they have lower IQs, or their attachment isn't as strong." (He is an adviser for Baby's First Years.)

The vividness of such data isn't necessarily bad, Dr. Noble said. "If we find differences and the brain data make those differences more compelling to stakeholders, then that's important to include," she said. Moreover, brain data provides valuable information in its own right, particularly in infants and young children, for whom behavioral tests of cognition are often inaccurate or impossible to conduct, she said. Brain differences also tend to be detectable earlier than behavioral ones, she said.

The field may simply be too young to clock its contributions to policy, Professor Farah said. But increasing understanding of how specific brain circuits are affected by poverty, along with better tools for gauging such circuits, may yield science-based interventions that get taken up at a policy level, she said.

Meanwhile, Baby's First Years hopes to address a broader question that is already relevant at the policy level: whether cash aid to parents helps their children's brains develop in a way that helps them for a lifetime.

Alla Katsnelson is a science journalist in Northampton, Mass. You can follow her on Twitter at @lalakat.

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A Novel Effort to See How Poverty Affects Young Brains

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An emerging branch of neuroscience asks a question long on the minds of researchers. Recent stimulus payments make the study more relevant. New monthly payments in the pandemic relief package have the potential to lift millions of American children out of poverty. Some scientists believe the payments could change children's lives even more fundamentally - via their brains.

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Two Generation Program Aim to Break the Cycle of Poverty

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Two Generation Program Aim to Break the Cycle of Poverty

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This article about two-generation programs was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger's newsletter.
Last spring, Ciera Pritchett watched her life fall apart.

As the coronavirus pandemic swept the country in March 2020, she first lost her job as a cook and food server at a private school in Savannah, Georgia. Then she was told that her second job, as a transit driver for people with disabilities, would end.

She depleted her savings to pay rent and buy food for herself and her 9-year-old daughter, Genesis. Unemployment insurance helped but fell short of what she needed to pay the bills.

"I was afraid. I was depressed," Pritchett said. "Honestly, I didn't know what I was going to do."

In May, Pritchett and her daughter packed up and moved 270 miles across Georgia to be closer to her son, Isaiah, 10, who lived with his father near Atlanta. They cried together as they said goodbye to Genesis' favorite teacher on FaceTime. They moved into a bedroom in Pritchett's best friend's house, and often confined themselves inside all day as Genesis did online school and they tried to stay out of their hosts' way.

Pritchett struggled to contribute to utility payments and worried about being a burden. She considered sending her daughter to live with her mother and living in her car.

A major goal of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package is to help families like that of Pritchett. The American Rescue Plan, which passed in March, could cut the child poverty rate in half. The expanded child tax credit, which families can receive in monthly payments, provides funds to millions of parents who didn't qualify previously. The relief package includes other provisions that will help, too, including $39 billion for the nation's fractured child care system, which should provide more families with child care assistance.
Related: With help slow to come from Washington, a veteran's family gets by washing cars, skipping meals
But some experts say the government needs to do far more to truly address poverty, including strengthening unemployment insurance, raising the minimum wage, ensuring paid leave for families and establishing universal preschool. There are also broader factors that need to change to disrupt the cycle of poverty, like systemic racism.

"Child poverty in the United States is persistent, it's structural. But it's also really solvable," said Areeba Haider, a research associate for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress.

One way to reduce child poverty, experts say, is to support on-the-ground programs that offer comprehensive "two-generation" help, providing services to kids and their parents at the same time. These programs simplify access to assistance for families in crisis while simultaneously addressing the root causes of poverty, including a lack of educational opportunities. They tackle the many intricate issues that, especially when combined, lead to poverty or keep a family in poverty - offering a potential model for what it would take to lift up the millions of struggling American families.

For Pritchett, things started to look up in the early fall when she learned that a local shelter, Gwinnett Children's Shelter, offered a two-generation support program called Home of Hope and had room for her and Genesis. She had also found a job testing routers and modems for an internet company, and now thanks to Home of Hope she had a free place to live, free meals, access to financial planning and a coach who could help her set and reach independent living goals.

"I feel more relieved now," she said one afternoon as her daughter played with friends outside their room at Home of Hope. "I feel so much better since we came here. A weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

A chance to focus on the future

The pandemic has led to a steep increase in child poverty rates, food insecurity rates and unemployment, with Black and Latino families disproportionately experiencing economic hardship. From February to June 2020, the number of children in families with earnings below the poverty level, which is $26,500 for a family of four, rose by nearly 5 million. More than 40 percent of children now live in a household struggling to pay for basic expenses. And as many as 11 million children could be living in homes where they don't have enough food.

Food pantries and unemployment insurance application systems have crumbled under the sheer volume of demand. Families have struggled to get help for rent and utilities, often hitting a tangle of red tape, and despite a federal moratorium, evictions have continued.

Covid-19 "absolutely ravaged communities," said MJ Korpela, family services director at Jeremiah Program, a two-generation support program in Austin, Texas, and six other locations nationwide.

Programs such as Jeremiah and Home of Hope aim to offer wide-reaching aid that addresses the causes of poverty, rather than offering piecemeal solutions for single issues. Jeremiah Program, almost entirely funded by donations from individuals and institutions, will offer more than 1,100 moms and children stable housing, mental health support, parenting education and help with higher education classes this year.

Elements of a two-generation approach have been evident in some programs since the 1960s, such as through the federally funded Head Start program, which offers services and resources for parents of children who are enrolled in a Head Start classroom. Two-generation programs became more prominent in the 1980s and the 1990s and have relied mostly on philanthropic funding, although more federal funding has been made available in recent years.

Research shows that two-generation approaches can improve the well-being of mothers and their children, leading to higher education attainment, jobs with livable wages and better academic performance for children. Parents are more likely to enter the workforce and retain stable employment when they have stable child care, something that is often offered by two-generation programs. And when caregivers are able to attain credentials or higher education degrees through two-generation programs, thus finding higher-paying jobs, it can have an impact on their children's income down the road.

"When families have access to resources, they're going to be more able to start thinking about what's the next step, what's coming next, and be able to focus more on the future," said Paola Silvestre, director of Family Pathways at United Way for Greater Austin, which runs several programs aimed at supporting low-income parents and their children. "It's really hard to focus when you're thinking, 'I don't have food in my house, I don't have a place to live.'"

But the coronavirus pandemic has pushed these small, already-overstretched programs to the limit as they've tried to meet the enormous demand of their communities. Many saw an increase in applications from families while at the same time, donations dropped and fundraising events that support these programs were canceled. Some two-generation programs, like Home of Hope, were only able to continue their work because they received federal funding through coronavirus relief packages.

Korpela saw the pandemic as the ultimate test of the Jeremiah Program's effectiveness: Could it help families withstand a global health crisis and massive recession?

She believes the answer is a resounding "yes."

Korpela said that in talking to moms in the program, she realized, "Covid hasn't impacted them too much because they were so supported." While there was some psychological impact from isolation, and many were also grappling with the nation's racial reckoning, these families, for the most part, were able to rely on the program to help them meet their basic needs.

"For families in poverty, one thing can catapult a loss of everything," she said. But Jeremiah Program "kept that full momentum going ... and [families] didn't fall back."

Sydney Martens, a single mother of a 2-year-old, is working toward finishing her degree in criminal justice. She said that she hasn't worried about paying for rent or child care because she's been in the Jeremiah Program in Austin throughout. "Besides us being stuck in the house, we've had it pretty easy," she said.

'Money is not enough'

At Home of Hope, which considers itself a "next step" toward independence, Pritchett found more than just housing. She doesn't have to worry about meals or snacks. She and her daughter received a free room and a private bathroom. Each resident is assigned a case manager to meet with weekly. Mothers have customized "life plans" to target their future goals and address emotional, physical and educational needs.

The goal is to help the family get on a strong footing so there's less chance they will backslide once they leave. "We're teaching moms to be independent," said Maureen Kornowa, executive director of Home of Hope. "We're going to teach you how to navigate life." (Home of Hope and Jeremiah Program serve only mothers and children; some other two-generation programs work with fathers as well.)

With the help of her case manager, Pritchett is working on saving her money and budgeting so she will have a down payment on a house or a security deposit and rent for an apartment when she moves out by October; families can stay for up to a year. Her daughter attends frequent activities and programs on the campus, which Kornowa said are meant to provide children with a safe, nurturing environment where they can focus on being kids.

"The whole idea, the bottom line, is it's a multigenerational approach to ending the cycle of homelessness," Kornowa said. "You keep that family unit together and teach mom to fish."
Related: Homework in a McDonald's parking lot: Inside one mother's fight to help her kids get an education during coronavirus
Without the help of the shelter, Pritchett could have applied for decades-old federally funded programs that provide piecemeal support for families, like the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), unemployment insurance and food stamps. While many of these programs are proven to help families and lead to better academic achievement for children, they are administered through states and often fall short of reaching all families in need. Many have lengthy waitlists or cumbersome application processes.

And forcing families with young children to wait for help can have a disastrous impact. Research shows poverty can cause trauma that affects the brain during the first few years of life when brain development is most rapid. This can affect emotional processing, judgment and academic achievement as children age.

At the Jeremiah Program in Austin, this research is why the focus is on helping mothers and children before "poverty has taken its toll on development," Korpela said.

Mothers receive coaching while working on their educational and career goals. They get life skills and empowerment training, covering topics such as financial literacy and parenting, and explanations of the inherent racism in systems, including those that contribute to poverty - all of which, research shows, can help people develop skills and mindsets that can disrupt poverty.

One program piloted by the United Way for Greater Austin gives parents free tuition and a stipend to train for a skilled trade, such as plumbing or a health care job, like EKG technician. Parents receive a free laptop, transportation assistance and career coaching, and their kids are enrolled in high-quality child care.

"Money is not enough," said Chastity Lord, president and CEO of Jeremiah Program. "People don't live single-issue lives, because they don't have a single-issue struggle."

Intertwined challenges

Leaders of many of these programs say they see the success of their approach in how well families do after leaving. In a recent Jeremiah Program alumni survey, mothers said they had seen a 68 percent increase in their earnings, on average, since starting the program. Nearly 90 percent of children in the program's child development centers perform above developmental benchmarks. The average annual income of graduates from the past five years is more than $47,000, slightly higher than the annual median income for families led by a single mother.

At Home of Hope, 82 percent of mothers and children transition into stable housing. Kornowa said the rate of mothers who become homeless after leaving the program is low due to the program's stringent expectations of moms, which include abiding by a curfew, finding employment, attending parenting programs and saving money. At the United Way for Greater Austin, almost 30 percent of parents or caregivers earned a high school diploma or equivalent credential while enrolled in one of the organization's two-generation programs.

But these initiatives can be costly to run and expand. Home of Hope, funded by private donations and fundraising events, spends more than $4,800 a month per family in its program. Jeremiah Program had more than $11 million in operating expenses in 2019, and the nonprofit will need an estimated $50.5 million to pay for a planned expansion that would help four times as many mothers and children over the next five years.
Related: Homeless students set adrift by school closures face crisis after crisis
Offering high-quality child care alone is expensive. Programs often cobble together funds from private foundations, fundraising events and the government. And programs must have flexible and highly trained staff members who can attend to families' needs for support. That means hiring professionals who can offer everything from mental health support to parenting education classes. Many programs also rely on external partnerships, such as with local community colleges.

Advocates say the challenges are worth it. When families have these types of extensive support systems in place, it can help them weather storms that might otherwise be disastrous.

"Addressing just one barrier, when there are so many that are so intertwined, is just not a holistic approach and it's just not a realistic approach," Korpela said. "You're taking some of that burden off families to try to be piecing it together on their own."

With the help of Home of Hope, Pritchett has started to plan for a more secure future.

Since she moved in, she has saved 40 percent of every paycheck for future rent payments and found a new job at a warehouse that pays more than she was making testing routers. She's had more visits with her son. Her daughter has flourished, too. She was recently accepted into her school district's gifted program and, when asked, talks excitedly about the many activities available for kids at Home of Hope.

But one of the biggest differences has been emotional, Pritchett said. She is less anxious and more patient, especially with her children. "I don't have a lot of outside stressors anymore because I'm somewhere stable," Pritchett said. "I'm just really happy that we found this place. It's a lot less stress on me."

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For programs that aim to break the cycle of poverty, the pandemic was the ultimate test

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This article about two-generation programs was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger's newsletter. Last spring, Ciera Pritchett watched her life fall apart.

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A World of Hardship: Deep Poverty and the Struggle for Educational Equity

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A World of Hardship: Deep Poverty and the Struggle for Educational Equity

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Peter W. Cookson, Jr. Senior Research Fellow

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A World of Hardship: Deep Poverty and the Struggle for Educational Equity

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More than 5 million children in the United States live in deep poverty, including nearly 1 in 5 Black children under the age of 5. These numbers will no doubt grow, given the explosion of the health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, more than ever, school systems need a more…

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Back to School: 5 Simple and Fun Ways to Teach Poverty to Students

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Back to School: 5 Simple and Fun Ways to Teach Poverty to Students

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Crayons, notebooks, backpacks... oh my! The beginning of the school year is always ripe with different emotions.

Excitement for the year ahead.

Sadness for the end of summer vacation.

Anticipation for all that will be learned.

Sadness for the end of summer vacation.

I guess you can tell what my emotions typically were when starting school!

But for teachers, students and parents alike, this is a time to get refocused on the pursuit of education. My grandma use to quote my grandfather to me (who was actually quoting Mark Twain, but my Grandma didn't know that) saying,

Never let your studies get in the way of your education.

Later in life, my grandma would come to regret pushing this notion on an adventurous college student, but that's a story for a different time. The fact remains that we want our children to be educated in more than just the "3 R's" of Reading, (W)Riting, and (A)Rithmatic! We want our children to learn valuable lessons about the world, and life in it.

Here are five simple and fun ways to teach children about different cultures and what its like to live in poverty. You can also download our ebook, The Remarkable Truth About Ending World Poverty, to help you learn more about the issues and solutions.

1. Sponsor a child for the classroom

One of the best ways a teacher or parent can begin a conversation with a child about poverty around the world, is by sponsoring a child for a classroom. Ask the students to bring in $1 a month in order to participate. Then begin corresponding with the child in different meaningful ways. Allow students to ask questions about how the sponsored child plays with their friends, or what they are learning in school, or what they want to be when they grow up. Sponsoring a child is the ultimate pen-pal relationship for a student, and it can be done in the classroom, or at home.

The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. ~Sydney J. Harris

2. Hold a Hunger Banquette

The Hunger Banquette is a fun, interactive activity that you can do in a classroom to teach about the demographics of poverty around the world. All you need are a few basic food items, and some tasty snacks and you can have yourself a full representation of how food is distributed around the world. It is a memorable activity that will certainly leave students asking questions. And that's a good thing!

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. ~John Dewey

3. Hungry Decisions exercise

Another interactive activity that can be done in a classroom or at home, is the Hungry Decisions exercise. This is a "choose your own adventure" simulation of the challenges faced by the most vulnerable people around the world. It requires critical thinking skills and is a simple way to introduce the complex issues of poverty to children.

4. First world problems jar

While this might be for more advanced grade-levels, the First World problems jar is a way for students to begin acknowledging the privileges and blessings that they may take for granted. It is a great thing to do in both the classroom and at home! Set a jar out that is clearly marked (something like "First World Problems Jar" will do) and make it clear for all the students that this is money that will be donated to a person in need. Then, make sure you watch this video and this video to begin thinking what might be considered a "first world problem." Then, anytime someone complains about something that could only be considered a "first world problem," ask them to contribute something to the jar (maybe $1, or even just a quarter). It won't take long before students stop complaining that the cafeteria ran out of chocolate milk!

The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. ~Author Unknown

5. Local School supply drives

It's always important keep lessons like these in perspective. Therefore, including an activity or exercise that your children can relate to is helpful. A simple way this can be done is by conducting school supplies or canned food drives. For every item of school supplies they may buy, ask if they (and their parents) might consider buying additional supplies for local children who can't afford it. This allows the students to begin thinking about the blessings they have, while also providing them an immediate outlet for compassion and generosity.

Teaching a child about the needs of the most vulnerable is an education that will go beyond their required studies. If we want our children to grow up with hearts of generosity, lead lives of compassion, and to seek justice, these are simple activities that will begin to shape a healthy perspective of how we can all work together to care for the poor.

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Back to School: 5 simple (and fun) ways to teach children about poverty

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Crayons, notebooks, backpacks... oh my! The beginning of the school year is always ripe with different emotions. Excitement for the year ahead. Sadness for the end of summer vacation. Anticipation for all that will be learned. Sadness for the end of summer vacation. I guess you can tell what my emotions typically were when starting school!

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After exploring the facts around Poverty, the following resources will help classroom teachers, community, church and service group leaders, home schoolers and other educators initiate meaningful discussions about poverty in America today. Resources are designed to help individuals and groups not only begin to understand the size and scope of the problem but also start thinking about the ways in which they can take action to help create awareness about poverty in their communities.

THE RESOURCES INCLUDED HAVE BEEN DIVIDED INTO THREE UNITS, BASED ON AGE AND GRADE LEVEL:

EACH UNIT IS THEN FURTHER DIVIDED INTO FOUR SECTIONS:

Focus: The main theme, topic, or concept covered in the unit, together with introductory remarks suitable for reading aloud to your group.

Activity: Endeavors designed to get your group members thinking not only about the life of those in poverty, but their own lives as well.

Getting Involved: Community-oriented activities that can be pursued either in a group setting or on their own - activities that, by encouraging community involvement, will help your group further its understanding of poverty in America.

Learning more: Suggested resources - both print and online - for further exploration of topics and issues related to poverty in America.

The EPIC Curriculum, a toolkit for Young Advocates, is an interactive, interdisciplinary curriculum for youth ministry programs and high school classrooms. The lessons introduce participants to the epidemic of poverty in the United States and to the steps they can take to work with the poor in eliminating the root causes of poverty today. The curriculum comprises six lessons with classroom-ready handouts, warm-up exercises and reflection activities that reinforce student learning and inspire a faith response.

POVERTY AWARENESS MONTH

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After exploring the facts around Poverty, the following resources will help classroom teachers, community, church and service group leaders, home schoolers and other educators initiate meaningful discussions about poverty in America today.

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More students living in poverty strains education system

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Responding to Poverty in America's Schools

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Children of poverty, when met with strategy and intervention, can be as successful and productive as their non-impoverished peers; but in order to sustain change, we must align shared values. By working collaboratively with community partners and providing students and their families with access to a school-based health clinic, mental health services, summer learning opportunities, classroom instruction focused on the increase of leadership skills; incredible gains have been recognized.

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"On Our Street: Our First Talk About Poverty" Read-Aloud

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Still Separate, Still Unequal: Teaching about School Segregation and Educational Inequality (Published 2019)

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Although many students learn about the struggles to desegregate schools in the civil rights era, segregation as a current reality is largely absent from the curriculum. This teaching resource uses Times articles and Op-Eds to investigate the issue.

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Data Reveals Significant Racial Disparities in School Reopening 

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Data Reveals Significant Racial Disparities in School Reopening 

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The coronavirus pandemic exposed long-standing inequities baked into the country's public education system, and now, a year after schools shuttered for more than 50 million children, parents finally have their first glimpse at the depths of the racial disparities that stand to haunt the U.S. for years to come.

As of January, more than half of all Black, Hispanic and Asian fourth-graders were learning in a fully remote environment. By comparison, a quarter of white students were learning fully remotely, and instead nearly half of white students were learning in-person, full-time.

Cartoons on the Coronavirus

The findings are among the most striking included in the federal government's first assessment of school reopenings, which drew data from a nationally representative sample of 7,000 rural, suburban and urban schools to assess how fourth-grade and eighth-grade students are receiving education. The data were broken down by race, economic status, disability and English learner status.

"I think the most surprising fact that these data revealed is that Black, Hispanic and Asian students in public schools were more likely to receive remote learning than their white counterparts in fourth and eighth grades," Peggy Carr, associate commissioner of of assessments at the National Center for Education Statistics, said during a press call where she walked reporters through top-line findings.

"I also thought it was interesting that of the schools offering only remote, most schools provided two hours or less (of instructional time)," Carr added. "I knew it was going to be low, but not quite that low."

Notably, many students who were learning remotely - the majority of whom were students of color - were receiving two hours or less of live instruction, including 25% of fourth-graders and 21% of eighth-graders. Meanwhile, 5% of fourth-graders and 10% of eighth-graders were receiving no live instruction whatsoever in their remote learning.

Overall, the survey found that 38% of fourth-graders and 28% of eighth-graders were enrolled in full-time in-person learning, while 43% of fourth-graders and 48% of eighth-graders were enrolled in full-time remote learning. Just 19% of fourth-graders and 24% of eighth-graders were enrolled in hybrid learning, in which students receive in-person instruction a couple of days each week and learn virtually the others.

With the pandemic still preventing many districts from reopening for in-person learning and new variants threatening to reshutter others, the entire education community is bracing itself for what it already expects will be significant academic, social and emotional learning loss incurred by time spent out of school. And while all students are suffering, the country's most disadvantaged - those who came into the pandemic with the fewest opportunities - are on track to exit with the greatest learning loss.

While nearly half of schools reported that they were prioritizing students with disabilities for full-time in-person instruction, fewer than half of students with disabilities were receiving full-time, in-person instruction. The survey found that economically disadvantaged students and English learners also were not receiving in-person instruction at higher rates than other student groups.

Rates of full-time, in-person enrollment also varied by school location: At grade 4, 53% of students in suburban schools and 52% in rural schools were enrolled fully in-person, while 25% of students in urban schools were full-time in-person. At grade 8, 51% of students in suburban schools and 43% in rural schools were enrolled full-time in person, while 15% of students in urban schools were enrolled full-time in person.

Despite the fact that the country's public school system is tiptoeing back to life, urban school districts account for the majority of the holdouts to providing in-person instruction - and for good reason as they've faced significantly more challenging circumstances to reopening.

Not only do many of them still have high community transmission rates, but their school facilities tend to be older, with poorer quality heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. They lack the extra indoor and outdoor space that their suburban and rural counterparts have to help keep children socially distanced. And many of them also lack the funding of their well-resourced peers to provide personal protective equipment and sanitization, hire additional staff - including nurses, social workers, janitors and bus drivers - and establish testing and tracing programs.

Most notably, the low-income, Black and Hispanic communities that urban districts more often serve have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus. Their students are expected to have some of the greatest academic, social and emotional learning losses coming out of the pandemic.

"While schools continue to show us what's possible as they work to open their doors and meet students' needs, we know that we still have a lot of ground to go," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. "Data from January show there were critical gaps in access to in-person instruction, particularly for communities of color and students disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic."

"We owe it to our students - especially students in underserved communities and students with disabilities - to get all our schools opened safely and to meet the social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs of all students," he said.

While much of the data mirrors what other education policy organizations and think-tanks have been predicting, and what a handful of efforts to track school reopenings have been reporting, it marks the first federal data compilation on the topic.

Despite school leaders pressuring the Trump administration for this type of information, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said it was not her responsibility or that of the administration to collect such data. On his first full day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order tasking the Education Department's Institute for Education Sciences to collect school reopening data to better understand how the county's 50 million public school students are receiving education - or not.

The Education Department plans to repeat the survey monthly until the end of the 2020-21 school year, and has plans to add additional grade bands, including in high schools.

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Data Reveals Significant Racial Disparities in School Reopening

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The coronavirus pandemic exposed long-standing inequities baked into the country's public education system, and now, a year after schools shuttered for more than 50 million children, parents finally have their first glimpse at the depths of the racial disparities that stand to haunt the U.S. for years to come.

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Critical Race Theory: The Concept Dividing the US

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Critical Race Theory: The Concept Dividing the US

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Critical race theory has become a topic of fierce political debate in the US in recent months. The conflict has most prominently played out in public school districts, as parents, teachers and school administrators grapple with how to teach race, discrimination and inequality in the classroom.

For supporters, it's an important framework for understanding the way systemic racism can perpetuate discrimination and disadvantage. For opponents, it's a subversive plan to indoctrinate young Americans to reject their country and its history.

To start, there is an inability to even agree on what critical race theory is, where it came from and what it seeks to accomplish. Beneath the rhetoric, however, lies an ongoing fundamental dispute about equality and equity - what these concepts mean, and what government's role should be in addressing them.

What is critical race theory?

Critical race theory (CRT) originated as a field of legal study in the 1970s spearheaded by Derrick Bell, Harvard University's first permanently-appointed black law professor, to address what he saw as shortcomings in understanding how discrimination and inequity are perpetuated in the law. These inequities shape outcomes in society, the economy, culture and politics, he argued.

The term itself first began to gain prominence in the 1990s and early 2000s, as more scholars wrote and researched on the topic.

Although the field of study traditionally has been the domain of graduate and legal study, it has served recently as a framework for academics trying to find ways of addressing racial inequities through the education system - particularly in light of last summer's Black Lives Matter protests.

"The George Floyd murder caused this whole nation to take a look at race and racism, and I think there was a broad recognition that something was amiss," says Marvin Lynn, a critical race theory scholar and professor of education at Portland State University.

How - and even whether - CRT is being taught is the subject of contention that lies at the heart of the current debate.

As a curriculum subject, critical race theory is largely the purview of university law schools and graduate programmes.

The concepts, however, have influenced historians, journalists and educators in school districts across the US who say they want to do more to teach the public about the US struggles with discrimination rooted in race.

One high-profile effort, the New York Times magazine's 1619 Project, was a series of essays and articles that sought to "reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very centre of our national narrative", per the paper's description.

It received mixed reviews, including sometimes sharp criticism from historians who disputed its accuracy.

How the concepts translate into a public-school curriculum and teacher training have become the flashpoint of the CRT controversy.

An elementary school in Cupertino, California, for instance, asked third-graders to label their own power and privilege in an "identity map". At least 30 schools recommended that students should read Not My Idea, a children's book that called racism "a white person's problem and we are all caught up in it".

Its author, Anastasia Higginbotham, has argued that "any place where there are white people has violent white supremacy embedded into it" and is not shy about labelling her discussions on race as "CRT".

Instances like these have led to what has become an increasingly intense criticism.

Arguably, a large part of the debate has been inflamed and muddled by the activism of a conservative documentary filmmaker named Christopher Rufo.

As detailed in an extensive New Yorker profile, Rufo built a cottage industry exposing government racial awareness training across the US. While doing so, he discovered the academic writing behind it - and set out to raise awareness about what he saw as an organised effort to "re-engineer the foundation of human psychology and social institutions through the new politics of race".

He labelled all of the various episodes and instances he was cataloguing as examples of "critical race theory" in practice, even though the academic discipline was not always an exact fit for what he was documenting.

"The goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think 'critical race theory'," he wrote on Twitter. "We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans."

The term, he told the New York Times, made for the "perfect villain" because it sounded academic, elitist, racist and divisive.

Legislative as well as grassroots rebukes of public-school teaching labelled as CRT have cropped up around the country.

A contentious school board meeting on systemic racism and transgender rights in a Virginia county near Washington DC, made national news when a protestor was arrested for disorderly conduct. Nine Republican-controlled states have passed laws or enacted other rules banning the teaching of "critical race theory".

Because it is a concept, not a stand-alone subject, opponents have assembled lists to help parents identify what they see as harmful terms and topics in the classroom.

In a now-deleted tweet, the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation highlighted words like "discrimination", "social justice", "identity" and "colonialism" as indicating CRT in the curriculum.

The CRT debate doesn't fall neatly along political lines, however. The town of Cupertino, where parents objected to their school's race education programme, is overwhelmingly liberal. And those expressing concern at town halls and school board hearings aren't all conservative - or white.

Andrew Sullivan, a polemicist and public intellectual, summarised the criticism of CRT as "illiberal".

"Liberalism assumes that we are all individuals, capable of reasoning with each other as equals," he argued in a recent blog post, whereas CRT assumes that "we are mere representatives of racial constructs which are part of a permanent struggle between the oppressors (white) and oppressed (non-white)".

But if the issue is power - who has it, and who wants it - it's not surprising that schools aren't the only terrain on which this political dispute is being fought.

Critics complain that initiatives put forth by social media companies, corporations and the US military are also bending, in their view, to the forces of "woke" liberalism.

There's a cartoon that circulates among critical race theory supporters showing children, one tall and one short, trying to peer over a fence to watch a baseball game. Equality, the illustration explains, is giving children the same sized box to stand on - with one child still unable to see over the obstacle. Equity, on the other hand, gives the shortest child the most boxes, so that everyone can see the field.

The idea of equity is to provide more to those who are perceived to have the greatest disadvantage in order to achieve better equality of outcome and to compensate for the historical wrongs of discrimination and systemic racism.

"A key part of the argument of critical race theory is that racism is endemic to American society because of the way society is structured," says Lynn. Teaching with the framework addressed issues that "people have been trying to do for a long time to correct some of the problems we have in schools" he says.

It's a view that animated affirmative action programmes - race-based preferences in hiring and college admissions - in the past, and currently influences everything from road repair in Oakland, California, to the Biden administration's vaccine outreach efforts.

Such race-conscious prioritisation, in the view of critics, is a slippery slope that would lead to out-of-control government favouritism. It integrates racial awareness into classroom teaching and contravenes the idea that America - and American institutions - should be colour-blind.

"Critical race theory, taken to its logical conclusion, is fundamentally incompatible with America as it has traditionally been understood and, I would argue, liberal democracy in any modern understanding of the word," says Nate Hochman, a Publius fellow at the conservative Claremont Institution in California.

He says the idea of "equity" is more than just policy prescriptions, it's about "abandoning the broad political philosophy that has traditionally held this country together".

Some also believe teaching about "institutional racism" will have the opposite effect from what CRT advocates intend.

"As a black college student, I'm certainly not paying to sit in a classroom and be told that I'm a helpless victim - that regardless of how hard I try, or how hard I work, it'll never be enough because racism will always win," writes CJ Pierson, a conservative activist at the University of Alabama.

Both sides appear to think the other is winning.

Lynn, the CRT scholar, worries that state laws are having a chilling effect on teachers across the US, making them afraid of even touching on the topic of race in the classroom.

Hochman sees opponents of CRT as the ones on the ropes, with the Black Lives Matter protests serving as a political catalyst for radical change.

"We underwent a revolution last summer," he says. "The constant pushing of all of our institutions to do more, to be more radical, to be more anti-American, to be more racialist, to be more intolerant of views - there is this fervent energy to cannibalise the country."

Just a few months removed from undergraduate university, Hochman says he saw friends made more racially aware - and intolerant - by such teaching.

"We're teaching young people to hate the country they're going to inherit," he says. "This is a historically unprecedented experiment, and it can only go ugly places."

Pitching one's cause as a fight against overwhelming odds is often an effective way of rallying supporters. At the moment, polls show that most Americans haven't heard "a lot" about critical race theory, although Republicans (30%) are more likely than Democrats (21%).

In other words, there's a lot of room for opinions about race education and equity to shift, potentially decisively.

Like most US political controversies in the US, this one will end up spilling into both the voting booths and the courtrooms.

Republicans are already planning mid-term campaign efforts to boost their fundraising and tie Democratic incumbents to critical race theory, in hopes the party can win back independent and moderate white suburban voters uneasy with proposed changes to public schooling or the implication that they are to blame for the enduring inequity in American society - and must make sacrifices to rectify past wrongs.

Civil liberties groups are sure to file lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the state restrictions on teaching critical race theory. And conservative legal advocacy organisations are already gearing up with their own filings.

In Illinois, a white teacher is suing her school district, alleging that its teacher training and classroom lesson plans violate US civil rights laws by discriminating against her and her students on the basis of their race.

Whether this controversy endures, however, is an open question. A few years ago, conservatives warned of Islamic sharia law being taught in American classrooms - a concern that has since dropped off the radar. Every mid-term cycle there seems to be a new hot-button issue - police defunding, Ebola outbreaks, immigrant caravans and Islamic state extremists are just a few recent examples.

This fight may be different, however.

Controversies come and go, but America's reckoning with its history, and with the role racism has played in it, are not a passing political fad. And with US society becoming increasingly diverse, it's a reckoning that a growing portion of the US population seems interested in accelerating.

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Critical race theory: the concept dividing the US

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Critical race theory has become a topic of fierce political debate in the US in recent months. The conflict has most prominently played out in public school districts, as parents, teachers and school administrators grapple with how to teach race, discrimination and inequality in the classroom.

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How COVID Taught America About Inequity in Education 

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How COVID Taught America About Inequity in Education 

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Also in the Series

View all of Unequal

"Unequal" is a multipart series highlighting the work of Harvard faculty, staff, students, alumni, and researchers on issues of race and inequality across the U.S. This part looks at how the pandemic called attention to issues surrounding the racial achievement gap in America.
The pandemic has disrupted education nationwide, turning a spotlight on existing racial and economic disparities, and creating the potential for a lost generation. Even before the outbreak, students in vulnerable communities - particularly predominately Black, Indigenous, and other majority-minority areas - were already facing inequality in everything from resources (ranging from books to counselors) to student-teacher ratios and extracurriculars.

The additional stressors of systemic racism and the trauma induced by poverty and violence, both cited as aggravating health and wellness as at a Weatherhead Institute panel, pose serious obstacles to learning as well. "Before the pandemic, children and families who are marginalized were living under such challenging conditions that it made it difficult for them to get a high-quality education," said Paul Reville, founder and director of the Education Redesign Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE).

Educators hope that the may triggers a broader conversation about reform and renewed efforts to narrow the longstanding racial achievement gap. They say that research shows virtually all of the nation's schoolchildren have fallen behind, with students of color having lost the most ground, particularly in math. They also note that the full-time reopening of schools presents opportunities to introduce changes and that some of the lessons from remote learning, particularly in the area of technology, can be put to use to help students catch up from the pandemic as well as to begin to level the playing field.

The disparities laid bare by the COVID-19 outbreak became apparent from the first shutdowns. "The good news, of course, is that many schools were very fast in finding all kinds of ways to try to reach kids," said Fernando M. Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice in International Education and director of GSE's Global Education Innovation Initiative and International Education Policy Program. He cautioned, however, that "those arrangements don't begin to compare with what we're able to do when kids could come to school, and they are particularly deficient at reaching the most vulnerable kids." In addition, it turned out that many students simply lacked access.

The rate of limited digital access for households was at 42 percent during last spring's shutdowns, before drifting down to about 31 percent this fall, suggesting that school districts improved their adaptation to remote learning, according to an analysis by the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge of U.S. Census data. (Indeed, Education Week and other sources reported that school districts around the nation rushed to hand out millions of laptops, tablets, and Chromebooks in the months after going remote.)

The report also makes clear the degree of racial and economic digital inequality. Black and Hispanic households with school-aged children were 1.3 to 1.4 times as likely as white ones to face limited access to computers and the internet, and more than two in five low-income households had only limited access. It's a problem that could have far-reaching consequences given that young students of color are much more likely to live in remote-only districts.

"We're beginning to understand that technology is a basic right," said Reimers. "You cannot participate in society in the 21st century without access to it." Too many students, he said, "have no connectivity. They have no devices, or they have no home circumstances that provide them support."

The issues extend beyond the technology. "There is something wonderful in being in contact with other humans, having a human who tells you, 'It's great to see you. How are things going at home?'" Reimers said. "I've done 35 case studies of innovative practices around the world. They all prioritize social, emotional well-being. Checking in with the kids. Making sure there is a touchpoint every day between a teacher and a student."

The difference, said Reville, is apparent when comparing students from different economic circumstances. Students whose parents "could afford to hire a tutor ... can compensate," he said. "Those kids are going to do pretty well at keeping up. Whereas, if you're in a single-parent family and mom is working two or three jobs to put food on the table, she can't be home. It's impossible for her to keep up and keep her kids connected.

"If you lose the connection, you lose the kid."

"COVID just revealed how serious those inequities are," said GSE Dean Bridget Long, the Saris Professor of Education and Economics. "It has disproportionately hurt low-income students, students with special needs, and school systems that are under-resourced."

This disruption carries throughout the education process, from elementary school students (some of whom have simply stopped logging on to their online classes) through declining participation in higher education. Community colleges, for example, have "traditionally been a gateway for low-income students" into the professional classes, said Long, whose research focuses on issues of affordability and access. "COVID has just made all of those issues 10 times worse," she said. "That's where enrollment has fallen the most."

In addition to highlighting such disparities, these losses underline a structural issue in public education. Many schools are under-resourced, and the major reason involves sources of school funding. A 2019 study found that predominantly white districts got $23 billion more than their non-white counterparts serving about the same number of students. The discrepancy is because property taxes are the primary source of funding for schools, and white districts tend to be wealthier than those of color.

The problem of resources extends beyond teachers, aides, equipment, and supplies, as schools have been tasked with an increasing number of responsibilities, from the basics of education to feeding and caring for the mental health of both students and their families.

"You think about schools and academics, but what COVID really made clear was that schools do so much more than that," said Long. A child's school, she stressed "is social, emotional support. It's safety. It's the food system. It is health care."

This safety net has been shredded just as more students need it. "We have 400,000 deaths and those are disproportionately affecting communities of color," said Long. "So you can imagine the kids that are in those households. Are they able to come to school and learn when they're dealing with this trauma?"

The damage is felt by the whole families. In an upcoming paper, focusing on parents of children ages 5 to 7, Cindy H. Liu, director of Harvard Medical School's Developmental Risk and Cultural Disparities Laboratory, looks at the effects of COVID-related stress on parent' mental health. This stress - from both health risks and grief - "likely has ramifications for those groups who are disadvantaged, particularly in getting support, as it exacerbates existing disparities in obtaining resources," she said via email. "The unfortunate reality is that the pandemic is limiting the tangible supports [like childcare] that parents might actually need."

Educators are overwhelmed as well. "Teachers are doing a phenomenal job connecting with students," Long said about their performance online. "But they've lost the whole system - access to counselors, access to additional staff members and support. They've lost access to information. One clue is that the reporting of child abuse going down. It's not that we think that child abuse is actually going down, but because you don't have a set of adults watching and being with kids, it's not being reported."

The repercussions are chilling. "As we resume in-person education on a normal basis, we're dealing with enormous gaps," said Reville. "Some kids will come back with such educational deficits that unless their schools have a very well thought-out and effective program to help them catch up, they will never catch up. They may actually drop out of school. The immediate consequences of learning loss and disengagement are going to be a generation of people who will be less educated."

There is hope, however. Just as the lockdown forced teachers to improvise, accelerating forms of online learning, so too may the recovery offer options for educational reform.

The solutions, say Reville, "are going to come from our community. This is a civic problem." He applauded one example, the Somerville, Mass., public library program of outdoor Wi-Fi "pop ups," which allow 24/7 access either through their own or library Chromebooks. "That's the kind of imagination we need," he said.

On a national level, he points to the creation of so-called "Children's Cabinets." Already in place in 30 states, these nonpartisan groups bring together leaders at the city, town, and state levels to address children's needs through schools, libraries, and health centers. A July 2019 " Children's Cabinet Toolkit " on the Education Redesign Lab site offers guidance for communities looking to form their own, with sample mission statements from Denver, Minneapolis, and Fairfax, Va.

Already the Education Redesign Lab is working on even more wide-reaching approaches. In Tennessee, for example, the Metro Nashville Public Schools has launched an innovative program, designed to provide each student with a personalized education plan. By pairing these students with school "navigators" - including teachers, librarians, and instructional coaches - the program aims to address each student's particular needs.

"This is a chance to change the system," said Reville. "By and large, our school systems are organized around a factory model, a one-size-fits-all approach. That wasn't working very well before, and it's working less well now."

"Students have different needs," agreed Long. "We just have to get a better understanding of what we need to prioritize and where students are" in all aspects of their home and school lives.

Already, educators are discussing possible responses. Long and GSE helped create The Principals' Network as one forum for sharing ideas, for example. With about 1,000 members, and multiple subgroups to address shared community issues, some viable answers have begun to emerge.

"We are going to need to expand learning time," said Long. Some school systems, notably Texas', already have begun discussing extending the school year, she said. In addition, Long, an internationally recognized economist who is a member of the National Academy of Education and the MDRC board, noted that educators are exploring innovative ways to utilize new tools like Zoom, even when classrooms reopen.

"This is an area where technology can help supplement what students are learning, giving them extra time - learning time, even tutoring time," Long said.

Reimers, who serves on the UNESCO Commission on the Future of Education, has been brainstorming solutions that can be applied both here and abroad. These include urging wealthier countries to forgive loans, so that poorer countries do not have to cut back on basics such as education, and urging all countries to keep education a priority. The commission and its members are also helping to identify good practices and share them - globally.

Innovative uses of existing technology can also reach beyond traditional schooling. Reimers cites the work of a few former students who, working with Harvard Global Education Innovation Initiative, HundrED, the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills, and the World Bank Group Education Global Practice, focused on podcasts to reach poor students in Colombia.

They began airing their math and Spanish lessons via the WhatsApp app, which was widely accessible. "They were so humorous that within a week, everyone was listening," said Reimers. Soon, radio stations and other platforms began airing the 10-minute lessons, reaching not only children who were not in school, but also their adult relatives.

National & World Affairs

National & World Affairs

Kris Snibbe/Harvard file photo

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How COVID taught America about inequity in education - Harvard Gazette

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This installment of the Unequal series looks at the how the pandemic called attention to issues surrounding the racial achievement gap in America.

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State GOP Lawmakers Try to Limit Teaching About Race and Racism

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State GOP Lawmakers Try to Limit Teaching About Race and Racism

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Teachers and professors in Idaho will be prevented from "indoctrinating" students on race. Oklahoma teachers will be prohibited from saying certain people are inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously. Tennessee schools will risk losing state aid if their lessons include particular concepts about race and racism.

Governors and legislatures in Republican-controlled states across the country are moving to define what race-related ideas can be taught in public schools and colleges, a reaction to the nation's racial reckoning after last year's police killing of George Floyd. The measures have been signed into law in at least three states and are being considered in many more.

Educators and education groups are concerned that the proposals will have a chilling effect in the classroom and that students could be given a whitewashed version of the nation's history. Teachers are also worried about possible repercussions if a student or parent complains.

"Once we remove the option of teachers incorporating all parts of history, we're basically silencing the voices of those who already feel oppressed," said Lakeisha Patterson, a third-grade English and social studies teacher who lives in Houston and worries about a bill under consideration in Texas.

At least 16 states are considering or have signed into law bills that would limit the teaching of certain ideas linked to "critical race theory," which seeks to reframe the narrative of American history. Its proponents argue that federal law has preserved the unequal treatment of people on the basis of race and that the country was founded on the theft of land and labor.

Those states include Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

The latest state to implement a law is Tennessee, where the governor this past week signed a bill to ban the teaching of critical race theory in schools.

The legislative debate over that bill caused a stir earlier this month when a Republican lawmaker who supports it, state Rep. Justin Lafferty, wrongly declared that the Constitution's original provision designating a slave as three-fifths of a person was adopted for "the purpose of ending slavery." Historians largely agree that the compromise gave slaveholding states more political power.

Some other states have taken steps that fall short of legislative change.

After Utah's Republican governor blocked a vote on a set of similar bills, the GOP-controlled Legislature passed a symbolic resolution recommending that the state review any curriculum that examines the ways in which race and racism influence American politics, culture and the law.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp wrote in a letter to state education board members that they should "take immediate steps to ensure that Critical Race Theory and its dangerous ideology do not take root in our state standards or curriculum."

Montana's attorney general issued a binding decision Thursday declaring that certain teachings violate the U.S. and state constitutions and that schools, local governments and public workplaces could lose state funding and be on the hook for damages stemming from lawsuits if they provide critical race theory training or activities.

The National Education Association and the National Council for the Social Studies oppose legislation to limit what ideas can be presented inside a classroom.

"It creates a very chilling atmosphere of distrust, educators not being able to be the professionals they are not only hired to be but are trained to be," said Lawrence Paska, a former middle school social studies teacher in New York and executive director of the council.

Republicans have said concepts suggesting that people are inherently racist or that America was founded on racial oppression are divisive and have no place in the classroom.

Earlier this month, Republicans in the North Carolina House moved to prohibit teachers from promoting seven concepts that critically examine race and racism, including the belief that a person's race or sex determines their moral character, that people bear responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex, and that they should feel guilty because of those two characteristics.

Rep. John Torbett, a Republican who leads North Carolina's House education committee, said the legislation was intended to promote equality, not rewrite history.

"It ensures equity," Torbett said during a hearing this month. "It ensures that all people in society are equitable. It has no mention of history."

Kimberlé Crenshaw, executive director of the African American Policy Forum, was among those who helped popularize critical race theory in the 1970s and 1980s as a response to what she and others felt was a lack of progress following passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s.

She said Republicans are twisting the concept to inflame racial tensions and motivate their base of mostly white supporters.

"This is a 2022 strategy to weaponize white insecurity, to mobilize ideas that have been mobilized again and again throughout history, using a concept or set of ideas that they can convince people is the new boogeyman," Crenshaw said.

The boundary between teaching ideas and promoting them has stirred concern among teachers and racial justice scholars.

Uncertainty about that boundary could cause teachers to avoid difficult conversations about American history, said Cheryl Harris, a UCLA Law School professor who teaches a course on critical race theory.

"For anybody who's ever taught in a classroom, the idea is to get the conversation flowing, and you can't do that if you're preoccupied with which side of the line are you going to be on," Harris said. "That is a chilling effect, and that is every bit as offensive to the First Amendment as a direct ban."

Opponents of the North Carolina bill say it's a solution in search of a problem. Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said the bill's promoters could not point to any school in the state where students were being indoctrinated in certain racial concepts.

That's just one reason the bill faces an uphill climb. The press secretary for Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said the governor believes instruction should be honest and accurate, and that students need to be taught to think critically.

The legislation also faces skepticism from the Republican leader of the state Senate, where it will be considered next.

"I don't like making it illegal to teach a certain doctrine, as wrong as that doctrine may be, while saying the reason for that ban is freedom of thought," Sen. Phil Berger said in a statement. "That strikes me as a contradiction."

___

Associated Press statehouse reporters across the U.S. contributed to this report.

___

Anderson is a corps members for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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State GOP lawmakers try to limit teaching about race, racism

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Teachers and professors in Idaho will be prevented from "indoctrinating" students on race. Oklahoma teachers will be prohibited from saying certain people are inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously. Tennessee schools will risk losing state aid if their lessons include particular concepts about race and racism.

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Implicit Bias: Stereotype Threat and Higher Education 

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Implicit Bias: Stereotype Threat and Higher Education 

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Russell McClain: Implicit Bias, Stereotype Threat and Higher Education

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Russell McClain examines the role of implicit bias and stereotype threat - the fear of confirming another's biased views - in creating achievement gaps in higher education.

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How to Start Talking About Race in Early Elementary Class 

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How to Start Talking About Race in Early Elementary Class 

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As the nation reckons with its long history of racial injustice, kids are being inundated with headlines and conversations on the topics of race and racism-and they've got questions, writes Kelley R. Taylor for School Library Journal.

Experts agree that while children shouldn't be exposed to graphic or otherwise inappropriate information, parents and teachers should discuss race and racism openly and early. That's because beginning in preschool, research shows, kids begin sorting people by race. By age 6, "children can be conscious of social stereotypes," and "naturally attribute positive traits to their own ethnic or racial groups," Taylor writes.

The goal, says psychologist and educator Beverly Daniel Tatum, author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, is "to talk in a warm and inclusive way about differences that exist in different people." Avoiding these conversations-for fear of saying the wrong thing, or under the guise of colorblindness -is a missed opportunity. "If you can't talk about [race], you can't understand it, much less fix the racial problems that plague our society," says Monnica T. Williams, a clinical psychologist.

There are several steps teachers can take to foster substantive conversations.

Curate Diverse Books and Content

Educators can start with the classroom bookshelf and aim to develop a collection of diverse books that teach "age-appropriate lessons on racial injustice and history, and that do not gloss over painful truths," Taylor writes. But diverse book collections should do more than portray the oppression of people of color, says clinical psychologist Ann Hazzard, coauthor of the children's book Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice. These collections should be rich and varied and include books about "diverse individuals having typical childhood experiences," Hazzard says.

In English, math, science, social studies, art, and music, examine the contributions of diverse cultures. Writing specifically about the contributions of Black people in these areas, former teacher Rann Miller calls this "infusing Black history into the curriculum year-round." Black History Month, notes Miller, isn't a "gimmick meant for one month out of the year, with a student assembly or a potluck dinner with traditional Black foods. Black history is American history. Students should learn through the year and throughout all disciplines about the accomplishments, experiences, and perspectives of Black people."

Build in Anti-Bias Lessons

Teaching kids about race and racism, says Hazzard, is a process: "Addressing bias takes openness and courage.... It's not just one conversation." Because kids' social and emotional development is a central piece of the elementary curriculum, it's important to teach lessons about bias, diversity, and social justice, says Jinnie Spiegler, director of curriculum for the National Education Division of the Anti-Defamation League. "Social and emotional skill development lessons are the foundation, and then teachers can move to lessons on identity, differences, bias, and how bias and bullying can be addressed individually and institutionally," she advises.

Model Action

What adults do-far more than what they say-can have a big impact on kids. "Adults who actively engage in cycles of learning, listening, and talking about antiracism may be more effective at teaching children to be antiracist," Taylor writes. For teachers, this may mean joining "school and district policy reform efforts to reduce racial disparities in educational opportunities and school discipline," says Hazzard, the psychologist. And beyond curating rich and diverse book collections and hosting book talks featuring a broad range of voices and experiences, school librarians can "advocate for local equity initiatives or support scholarship fundraisers for diverse organizations," Taylor writes.

Taking on the sensitive topics of race and racism in the classroom is important work that requires "self-reflection and humility," says Janet R. Damon, library services specialist for Denver Public Schools: "We all bring fear, childhood trauma, and trepidation to these conversations." But to better understand the damaging influences of systemic racism, privilege, and unconscious bias in education, "educators must reflect on their own (sometimes painful) race-related experiences," writes Taylor. "The resulting awareness can make them more powerful role models for children."

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How to Start Talking About Race in the Early Elementary Classroom

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As the nation reckons with its long history of racial injustice, kids are being inundated with headlines and conversations on the topics of race and racism-and they've got questions, writes Kelley R. Taylor for School Library Journal. Experts agree that while children shouldn't be exposed to graphic or otherwise inappropriate information, parents and teachers should discuss race and racism openly and early.

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Resources for Teaching About Race and Racism With The New York Times (Published 2021)

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A curated collection of over 75 lesson plans, writing prompts, short films and graphs relating to racism and racial justice.

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The resources contained in this section have been developed to support the delivery of anti-racism education in the classroom. Included are lesson ideas, activities and stimulus materials which assist students to engage positively with other peoples and cultures and to better understand Australia's cultural diversity and history.

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Anti-racism activities | Years 3-12 - Racism. No Way!

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The resources contained in this section have been developed to support the delivery of anti-racism education in the classroom. Included are lesson ideas, activities and stimulus materials which assist students to engage positively with other peoples and cultures and to better understand Australia's cultural diversity and history.

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Children in Our World: Racism and Intolerance (Literally Cultured Read Aloud)

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Removing Barriers for Students with Disabilities 

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Removing Barriers for Students with Disabilities 

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A bipartisan, bicameral bill introduced last month contains a proposal for a simple policy change that would make a considerable difference in how students with disabilities access postsecondary education.

The Respond, Innovate, Succeed and Empower Act, or RISE Act, would allow students with a disability to use documentation from their secondary education as proof that they have a disability and need accommodations while attending a college or university. It would also authorize an additional $10 million in funding for a resource center to provide students and families with information on college disability services and professional development for professors about disability.

The bill is led in the Senate by Senators Bob Casey, the Democrat from Pennsylvania, and Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, and in the House by Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Oregon, and Larry Bucshon, a Republican from Indiana.

"No student with a documented disability should have to jump through extra hoops or incur extra costs to access the services and support that they need to thrive," Casey said in a release. "All students deserve the opportunity to realize their full potential."

Students with a disability typically have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan during their K-12 education to provide them with the supports and services they need. But colleges often don't accept that documentation as proof that a student has a disability and needs accommodations during their postsecondary education, said Lindsay Jones, president and CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Institutions may require that a student has had an evaluation establishing their disability within three to five years of enrolling. But re-evaluations aren't required when a student reaches high school, so many students have evaluations that are older than five years. And those evaluations come at a high cost -- they're usually done by a psychologist or psychiatrist and aren't typically covered by insurance, so the price tag for them can be as high as $7,000, which students and their families have to pay for.

"When you're a student already facing the cost of college, having to re-prove again at this great cost that you have a disability is extremely burdensome to you and your family," Jones said. "If you have a disability, you will have that disability forever. It's psychologically very traumatic to have to consistently prove that you have it, and there's an element of, 'Why don't people believe it?'"

As a result, many students with disabilities often forgo receiving accommodations in college, which can be a detriment to their education, said Jones. Data from NCLD has shown that 94 percent of students with a learning disability received accommodations in high school, but only 17 percent received accommodations in college. And 43 percent of students who didn't receive accommodations in college said they wished they had, according to the National Longitudinal Transition Study.

"The difference between having accommodations and not having accommodations would scare me enough that I probably wouldn't be here," said Madison Saunders, a student at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Okla.

Saunders has dyslexia and dysgraphia, learning disabilities that make it difficult for her to read and write. While her peers were focused on finding the perfect location and the academic programs that interested them most during their college searches, Saunders had additional things to consider -- what accommodations would be available? Would her college believe that she had a disability? Would she have to get re-evaluated, and what would that process look like?

The office of disability services at Southeastern told Saunders that all she needed was her 504 plan -- which was older than five years -- and diagnostic information to receive accommodations. She said she nearly cried when she found out.

But Saunders's career goal is to investigate plane crashes, which she knows she'll need a master's degree to do. And she's already thinking about the process she'll have to undergo to find the right college and get the accommodations she needs.

"I want the RISE Act to pass before I go in for my master's because it would provide resources to professors and give people like me the ability to get the master's of their dreams, because they've been waiting," Saunders said.

The RISE Act would most likely be included in a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, and it's unclear when Congress will take up that task. During his campaign, President Biden said he would direct the Department of Education to issue guidance "to all postsecondary programs to accept the accommodations students with disabilities have used in pre-K-12 settings for postsecondary settings." And while Jones hopes the department takes that action, she feels the legislation is also necessary.

"Although it may seem like just a simple change in policy or a new law, to us, it would make a world of difference," Saunders said.

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Bill would improve access to accommodations for disabled students

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A bipartisan, bicameral bill introduced last month contains a proposal for a simple policy change that would make a considerable difference in how students with disabilities access postsecondary education. The Respond, Innovate, Succeed and Empower Act, or RISE Act, would allow students with a disability to use documentation from their secondary education as proof that they have a disability and need accommodations while attending a college or university.

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Pandemic Offers Renewed Push to Rethink Education for Students with Disabilities 

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Pandemic Offers Renewed Push to Rethink Education for Students with Disabilities 

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Editor's Note: Welcome to Weekly Education: Coronavirus special edition. Each week, we will explore how the pandemic is reshaping and upending education as we know it across the country, from pre-K through grad school. We will explore the debates of the day, new challenges and talk to movers and shakers about whether changes ushered in now are here to stay. This newsletter is a weekly version of POLITICO Pro's daily Education policy newsletter, Morning Education. POLITICO Pro is a policy intelligence platform that combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
REMEMBER CAROLINE CHOLLET? - At the beginning of the school year, the 8-year-old's mother, Eileen Chollet, filed a complaint alleging her school district was violating federal law by not providing modifications for Caroline during all-virtual school.

- Caroline, a student at Fairfax County Public Schools, has a rare chromosome disorder that affects her attention span, self control, motor skills and speech. Online school prevents her from accessing or meaningfully benefiting from virtual learning because of her disability, her mother said.

- Eileen told POLITICO her daughter has regressed because she has been away from the classroom for so long. Caroline has lost her ability to cooperate with classroom routines - something she has worked on since kindergarten - because her disability makes her very impulsive and volatile.

- Now, she's finally back in the classroom - and so are many other children across the country, as schools look to reopen at least part time amid the Biden administration's wider push.

- With some kids entirely online and some back in the classroom, experts say it's difficult to pinpoint an ideal standard for how to provide a free appropriate public education as required by law during the pandemic. But what's more difficult is the lack of data on instructional loss. Before more students head back to the classroom, advocates say schools must find a way to measure students' learning since the start of the pandemic to be prepared to remedy the learning loss.

- Luckily for educators, they're now in a better spot on how to best serve students in a pandemic. The CDC unveiled its long-awaited guidance that includes a best practices for teaching students with disabilities in person. And, if the schools aren't ready for in-person learning, the National Center for Learning Disabilities is out with new guides on how to best teach these students in a virtual setting.

- The battles over whether a free appropriate public education was available to students with disabilities during the pandemic are yet to be over. The outcomes of their complaints could press school districts to offer costly compensatory services or reimbursements to students whose parents said they lost out on key instruction or services while classrooms were closed.

IT'S MONDAY, FEB. 22. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. Ping me at [email protected] to grab virtual coffee. Send tips to my colleagues Juan Perez Jr. at [email protected] and Michael Stratford at [email protected] . Share event listings: [email protected] . And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.

Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which tie a borrower's monthly student loan payments to their income, were created to make repayment more manageable. But the number and complexity of the plans-five different plans, each with slightly different terms and eligibility requirements - are a recipe for borrower confusion and loan servicer error. AccessLex Institute has proposed changes to IDR plans that will make repayment truly manageable. Read our recommendations here.

- The GAO in November found that school districts faced challenges remotely delivering special education services included in students' IEPs. And some parents or caregivers struggled to have the capacity to assist teachers in delivering general education.

- Meghan Whittaker, the director of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning Disabilities, said the pandemic has offered an opportunity to re-evaluate how to bridge the achievement gap for students with disabilities.

- Students with disabilities have always had the issue where they're trying to "catch up," she said, but because the pandemic has put more students in that position, it could be time to rethink how to bring all students back up to speed as lawmakers float ideas like extended school years and national summer school programs.

-"Students with disabilities have been grade levels behind for a long time, and we have just tried to remediate education for them, but we never actually helped them accelerate," she said. "We need to rethink how we're educating them. And if we're talking about tutoring and other approaches to instructional loss, those have to include students with disabilities."

- Students with disabilities are often left out of these programs, Whittaker said. In the interim, her group's goal is to ensure that funds are being disbursed to programs that are inclusive of and will benefit students with disabilities and not just typical learners.

- "It is a chance for advocates for students with disabilities to say, 'Hey, make sure kids with disabilities are part of that,' because they're just as entitled to these kinds of accelerated approaches and instructional support, but they're often overlooked if they're on a separate track or they're in special ed, they get something different," she added. "That's not the case."

- The agency emphasized that education should remain accessible for children who have a 504 Plan or an IEP. It noted that social distancing and wearing masks may be difficult for some students with disabilities. Educators should also be cautious that some cleaning products might negatively affect students with respiratory or sensory issues.

- The CDC recommended that educators give students visual and verbal reminders to "cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when they cough or sneeze, throw the tissue in the trash and wash their hands afterwards." Students may also need assistance to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds and to clean and disinfect their belongings.

- Behavioral techniques can also help students adjust to changes in routines and take preventive actions. Those techniques can look like modeling and reinforcing behaviors with timers, schedules or visual cues.

WHAT TO DO UNTIL KIDS ARE BACK IN THE CLASSROOM The majority of students with disabilities are in general education classrooms, Whittaker said, and they should be getting the same content and curriculum as their peers - even if they have an IEP. Only about 10 percent of students with disabilities have really significant disabilities, she said.

- "I think the majority of students with disabilities should be learning right alongside their peers, and it does take a special attention from an educator to think about, 'How do I translate what I was doing in the classroom in person to a virtual setting,'" she said. "It does take collaboration with special educators, but it certainly can be done."

- NCLD's newly released "Distance learning toolkit: Key practices to support students who learn differently," is designed to provide educators with evidence-based strategies to support students during distance learning. Some of the recommendations include that teachers deliver explicit instruction, have a universal design for learning and more. The report offers direct examples for how educators can implement this in the classroom.

- NCLD is also out with a new report this week that highlights best practices to accelerate learning for students with disabilities. The practices outlined aim to help bridge the long-existing achievement gap students with disabilities have faced, along with remedying learning loss from the pandemic.

- Ahead of a return to the classroom, schools should also begin to assess where students with disabilities are in their education. Aside from just counting up the hours of missed instruction or therapy since last March, Whittaker said schools must "figure out where kids are now, whether you're doing formative assessments to look at academic areas and see where they're lagging or where they're doing OK."

- "If we aren't tracking progress that students are making and we're waiting for them to show back up in person to take a test and tell us where they are, we're wasting a lot of really valuable time," she said. "Knowing how students have been faring throughout all this time could be really important to getting them on track when they return."

- But the number of complaints filed is actually down during the pandemic, said Lehigh University professor emeritus Perry Zirkel, who has been analyzing the complaints.

- State complaint decisions and due process hearing decisions have been increasingly rolling out. In his summary of the decisions, Zirkel found that parents are largely looking for two forms of relief: compensatory education and fixing the problem for the future. But "we find that overall, districts win about twice as many cases as parents," he said.

- So far, the majority of cases have resulted in corrective action, Zirkel said, and many due process hearing decisions have ordered specific and direct compensatory education or reimbursement to cover in-person private arrangements. The general pattern is that "both complaint investigators and hearing officers say [free appropriate public education] does apply, but they vary in their strictness," he said.

Today, student loan borrowers can choose from five different income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which tie their monthly student loan payments to their income. IDR plans were created to help borrowers better manage repayment, but having five different plans, each with slightly different terms and eligibility requirements, can lead to borrower confusion and loan servicer error. Also, some of the features of the existing plans can cause debt to increase over time, creating not just a financial burden but also a psychological one for the very borrowers these plans are designed to help.

With the U.S. Department of Education getting ready this fall to make changes to the federal student loan programs, including IDR, AccessLex Institute has proposed improvements that will simplify the myriad repayment plans for new borrowers and structure a new plan in a way that makes repayment truly manageable. Read our recommendations here.

RENEWED CALLS TO FULLY FUND IDEAEarlier this year, Reps. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced the Keep Our Promise to America's Children and Teachers Act, which would pave the road to fully fund Title I and IDEA over 10 years.

- Van Hollen has introduced the bill every year since 2016, but it has yet to pass. "What is different now is that we have picked up a huge amount of momentum," he told the Baltimore Sun this month. The bill also has the backing of more than 30 education, civil rights and disability rights organizations.

- Congress has yet to fully fund 40 percent of the cost of special education, which is required by the law that celebrated its 45th anniversary last fall. State grants are funded at just 14.7 percent, Lee's office said. "This is a critical time to pass this legislation, given the additional stress placed on these students by the pandemic," Lee said in a statement.

- "Congress made a historic commitment when it passed Title I and IDEA, but to hold up our end of the bargain, we must fully fund these critical programs to support students in lower-income neighborhoods and students with disabilities," Van Hollen said in a statement.

SERVING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN A PANDEMIC New York City has said that students with disabilities are among vulnerable students whom it is prioritizing for in-person learning. Students with complex disabilities are among students who are currently attending school in person, which also includes pre-kindergarten and elementary school students. Middle schools are set to open this week.

- More than 200,000 New York City students are students with disabilities. Roughly 24 percent of students with disabilities - about 48,000 students - did not receive all of the services they were supposed to from September to mid-January. And 4 percent of students getting special services, or nearly 8,000 students, were not getting the right class setting.

- Black students, English language learner students and students from low-income families are overrepresented in segregated special education classes, according to a report by Advocates for Children of New York. The group has called on the next mayor to come up with a multiyear plan to resolve long-standing shortages in the special education system and guarantee that all students with disabilities get the individualized supports and services they need.

- Earlier this month, children's advocacy groups filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of three Staten Island students with developmental disabilities calling on the city's Department of Education to allow students from their district to learn in classrooms in neighborhood schools.

- In November, parents of students with disabilities filed a class action lawsuit against the city and state Education departments accusing the agencies of failing to provide mandated educational services as the pandemic persisted. They urged the courts to mandate that the agencies come up with a plan and process to make up for instruction students lost during the pandemic swiftly. In January, a federal judge approved a court-ordered monitor for the city's special education complaint system.

- Union head won't say whom teachers should get priority over for Covid vaccine: Axios

- Opinion: Follow the science, reopen schools now: The Washington Times

- March Madness is back for 2021 - and so are the fans: Vox

- Opinion: Assessments: The key to closing the Covid achievement gap: Business Roundtable

- Enrollment at U.S. community colleges plummets amid pandemic: The Associated Press

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Pandemic offers renewed push to rethink education for students with disabilities

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Editor's Note: Welcome to Weekly Education: Coronavirus special edition. Each week, we will explore how the pandemic is reshaping and upending education as we know it across the country, from pre-K through grad school. We will explore the debates of the day, new challenges and talk to movers and shakers about whether changes ushered in now are here to stay.

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COVID-19 disproportionately impacts students with disabilities across all sectors

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COVID-19 disproportionately impacts students with disabilities across all sectors

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Abstract

T he COVID-19 pandemic has affected students with disabilities at large public research institutions more than their peers, according to a survey conducted by the Student Experience in the Research University Consortium. Researchers surveyed more than 30,000 students at nine large public universities, and the survey was administered between May and July 2020. The survey examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on five areas of student well-being: the ease of transition to remote learning, the financial impact of COVID-19, students' health during the pandemic, students' feeling of belonging and engagement, and their future plans post-COVID-19.

"Students with physical, learning, neurodevelopmental, and cognitive disabilities were less likely to believe that they feel like they belong on campus and less likely to agree that the campus supported them during the pandemic," the researchers wrote in the survey. In addition, survey responses indicated that students with disabilities were more likely than their peers to experience financial hardships, and food and housing insecurity during the pandemic.

In fact, the survey found that students with disabilities were three times more likely than their peers to experience food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Provide more resources on wellness, mental health

Other key findings from the survey include:

➤ A greater percentage of students with disabilities (53-70%) experienced major depressive disorder that may be linked to the pandemic, compared to 34% of students without disabilities.

➤ The survey findings indicated that the challenges students with disabilities already face in higher education are exacerbated by the conditions created by the pandemic. "Students with ADHD often express that their home environments are too distracting for them to effectively complete their homework, students with major depressive disorder are experiencing unprecedented levels of isolation and loneliness, and students with generalized anxiety disorder are encountering significantly higher levels of anxiety due to the ambiguity surrounding the pandemic and uncertainty about the future of their education," Krista Soria, Assistant Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships for SERU, said in an email to The Daily Californian.

➤ The researchers had recommendations for faculty members to support students with disabilities while teaching remotely and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these suggestions included making on-video participation in Zoom optional, and embedding resources for students pertaining to food and nutrition, and mental health and wellness within learning management systems.

"Faculty, staff, and administrators should take a trauma-informed approach to teaching students, working with students, and developing policies to support students this semester," Soria said.

Read more at https://bit.ly/2UsgGCS.

BEYOND ACCOMMODATION: ACT SETTLES CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ABOUT DISCLOSING STUDENTS' DISABILITIES

ACT Inc. has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it improperly disclosed the disability status of some test-takers to colleges and scholarship organizations. According to the Los Angeles Times, a class action lawsuit was filed in California in 2018, alleging that ACT had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act by flagging on ACT test scores whether students had received special testing accommodations or extra time during the test.

ACT did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, but in a press release, it said the organization will make significant changes to its practices. The settlement is the largest ever agreed to by an admissions testing company.

Abstract

T he COVID-19 pandemic has affected students with disabilities at large public research institutions more than their peers, according to a survey conducted by the Student Experience in the Research University Consortium. Researchers surveyed more than 30,000 students at nine large public universities, and the survey was administered between May and July 2020. The survey examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on five areas of student well-being: the ease of transition to remote learning, the financial impact of COVID-19, students' health during the pandemic, students' feeling of belonging and engagement, and their future plans post-COVID-19.

"Students with physical, learning, neurodevelopmental, and cognitive disabilities were less likely to believe that they feel like they belong on campus and less likely to agree that the campus supported them during the pandemic," the researchers wrote in the survey. In addition, survey responses indicated that students with disabilities were more likely than their peers to experience financial hardships, and food and housing insecurity during the pandemic.

In fact, the survey found that students with disabilities were three times more likely than their peers to experience food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Provide more resources on wellness, mental health

Other key findings from the survey include:

➤ A greater percentage of students with disabilities (53-70%) experienced major depressive disorder that may be linked to the pandemic, compared to 34% of students without disabilities.

➤ The survey findings indicated that the challenges students with disabilities already face in higher education are exacerbated by the conditions created by the pandemic. "Students with ADHD often express that their home environments are too distracting for them to effectively complete their homework, students with major depressive disorder are experiencing unprecedented levels of isolation and loneliness, and students with generalized anxiety disorder are encountering significantly higher levels of anxiety due to the ambiguity surrounding the pandemic and uncertainty about the future of their education," Krista Soria, Assistant Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships for SERU, said in an email to The Daily Californian.

➤ The researchers had recommendations for faculty members to support students with disabilities while teaching remotely and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these suggestions included making on-video participation in Zoom optional, and embedding resources for students pertaining to food and nutrition, and mental health and wellness within learning management systems.

"Faculty, staff, and administrators should take a trauma-informed approach to teaching students, working with students, and developing policies to support students this semester," Soria said.

Read more at https://bit.ly/2UsgGCS.

BEYOND ACCOMMODATION: ACT SETTLES CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ABOUT DISCLOSING STUDENTS' DISABILITIES

ACT Inc. has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it improperly disclosed the disability status of some test-takers to colleges and scholarship organizations. According to the Los Angeles Times, a class action lawsuit was filed in California in 2018, alleging that ACT had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act by flagging on ACT test scores whether students had received special testing accommodations or extra time during the test.

ACT did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, but in a press release, it said the organization will make significant changes to its practices. The settlement is the largest ever agreed to by an admissions testing company.

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COVID‐19 disproportionately impacts students with disabilities across all sectors

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T he COVID-19 pandemic has affected students with disabilities at large public research institutions more than their peers, according to a survey conducted by the Student Experience in the Research University Consortium. Researchers surveyed more than 30,000 students at nine large public universities, and the survey was administered between May and July 2020.

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Low-income and students with learning disabilities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 learning loss, Peabody College experts say

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Low-income and students with learning disabilities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 learning loss, Peabody College experts say

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We can’t find that page. Please try one of the following: Check the address for a typo. Check the navigation links above. Return to the previous page. Search our site: The vanderbilt.edu site and its related web pages are maintained by many different departments and organizations at Vanderbilt University. Every effort is made to keep […]

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Educational Lessons and Activities for Students with Learning Disabilities

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Educational Lessons and Activities for Students with Learning Disabilities

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People and communities across the world are increasingly aware of the challenges individuals with disabilities face on a daily basis. Specifically, there is a heightened awareness of the educational needs of students with autism, dyslexia, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Down syndrome, and other conditions. Despite this growing understanding of the struggles students with learning disabilities encounter, schools frequently lack the resources required to overcome these difficulties and provide rewarding learning experiences to all their students. In many cases, teachers and administrators aren't aware of how frequently these students can participate in standard class lessons and activities.

Many teachers lack confidence in their ability to build strong educational relationships with the children in their classes who have learning disabilities. These teachers can partner with social workers to find ways to reach those students who may be struggling. A social worker can help provide information to a teacher regarding a learning disability and how it impacts the student's classroom performance. Social workers can also work with the student to develop behavior management strategies and offer counseling to help improve their mental and emotional well-being. And social workers can collaborate with a child's family to better understand the options and resources that are available to help address that student's disability.

Here's a look at several tips and techniques that social workers can use to spark learning for these children, along with helpful resources available for social workers, teachers, schools, and parents who are looking to provide a top-flight education for children who are differently abled.

Statistics on Students with Learning Disabilities

A large part of the growing awareness of students with learning challenges is a result of improved collection of data on the number of students in need of assistance and the most effective approaches for providing the help the students require.

The percentage of public school students served by federally funded special education programs increased from 8.3 percent to 13 percent between the 1976-1977 and 2014-2015 school years.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) attributes the increase to the enactment in 1975 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The change does not indicate a large increase in the number of students with learning disabilities over four decades, but rather a growing awareness of these conditions and enhanced methods of identifying them in students. For example, there were 93,000 students with autism served by IDEA in the 2000-2001 school year. By 2014-2015, the number jumped to 576,000 as a result of improved techniques for diagnosing students with autism.

In the 2015-2016 school year, there were 6.7 million students aged 3 to 21 who were receiving special education services.

According to the NCES, 34 percent of students who received special education services in 2015-2016 were identified as having a specific learning disability. Twenty percent of these students had a speech or language impairment, 9 percent were diagnosed with autism, and 6 percent were identified as developmentally delayed.

The percentage of students aged 6 to 21 served by IDEA who spent most of their school day in general classes increased from 47 percent in 2000 to 63 percent in 2015.

NCES figures show that in the 2015-2016 school year, 95 percent of students participating in IDEA programs were enrolled in "regular schools." The percentage of students who spent less than 80 percent of their time in general classes during the school day dropped from 30 percent in 2000-2001 to 19 percent in 2015-2016. This data could suggest that general classes have become more accommodating to students with learning disabilities over the years or, potentially, that there aren't enough resources to assist students with learning disabilities, among other possible explanations.

Lesson and Activity Ideas for Students with Disabilities

Not every teacher has the training and access to resources required to provide students with learning disabilities with the education each child deserves. However, teachers and administrators can still make an impact by creating lessons and activities that engage the special-needs students and address each student's situation. Social workers are also immensely beneficial in their ability to provide knowledge, support, and resources to teachers and students, helping to ensure that their unique needs are being met and addressed.
Reinforce positive social skills and behavior through stories
Children on the autism spectrum often find it difficult to learn social skills. The education site Scholastic explains that presenting lessons about proper social interactions in story form can help students by providing guidance on social norms that the student relates to easily. For example, if a student with a learning disability is acting out against another student, the social worker can tell the student with the disability a story that reinforces why the negative behavior is inappropriate, and then offer positive alternatives the student can use in the future.
Use multisensory learning activities
For students with dyslexia, learning to read and write is a challenge. By incorporating activities that use the student's other senses, teachers can help them engage with and retain information through fun and more accessible activities. According to Dyslexic.com, multisensory learning includes writing words and sentences using tactile materials such as uncooked pasta or LEGOs, participating in group scavenger hunts for letters and words, and incorporating physical activities when practicing spelling, such as shooting a basketball or doing a jumping jack for each letter while spelling a word.
Encourage routines, responsibilities, and positive relationships for energetic students
Students with ADHD often have trouble staying still in class. The student's movements can disrupt classmates. The ADDitude site recommends that social workers work with teachers to create strict routines to help students with ADHD stay on top of their responsibilities. To reduce the fidgeting that frequently accompanies ADHD, ADDitude suggests providing students with opportunities for positive physical activity, such as cleaning the classroom bookshelf or organizing materials stored in the classroom. Students with ADHD and other learning disabilities often benefit from being placed next to a peer who exhibits strong learning habits.
Use visuals to help establish rules and enhance learning
Visuals can often be more beneficial to students with autism than standard instruction techniques are. These tools help children acquire knowledge, better understand social norms, and learn to adopt specific behaviors. For example, students with autism can be persuaded to finish an activity they don't enjoy by being promised a favored activity afterward. The Scholastic site recommends creating if/then cards to reinforce the concept that completing one task, such as spelling exercises, will result in being allowed to play with the classroom's pet or indulge in another enjoyable activity. The cards also help students understand the guidelines and expectations of the class.
Encourage students to grow their vocabulary
Students with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia face specific learning challenges, but a common one for all of these students is growing their vocabulary. According to the Learning Disabilities Association of America, parents, teachers, and social workers can use creative methods that are fun and effective to encourage these students to enhance their vocabulary. For example, a teacher might challenge a student with learning disabilities to apply visual tools to remember three new words each week. Teachers can also provide classroom incentives to help motivate students with ADHD or dyslexia to boost their vocabularies.
Make sure other students are aware of their classmate's disability
Students with learning disabilities often encounter negative stereotypes from their classmates and, at times, from teachers. People who cling to these stereotypes haven't been educated to understand the student's condition. Social workers can bridge this gap in understanding, helping to explain the nature of the disability to these people in an informative and compassionate manner, and helping them understand ways they can support the student with learning disabilities. Let other members of the class know what to expect as a way of alleviating some of the struggles a student with disabilities may face. Social workers should encourage teachers to create learning environments where all students can participate in learning activities meant specifically for students with disabilities, if their participation won't interfere with the student's educational experience.

Further Resources for Helping Students with Disabilities

Beyond individual lesson plans and other approaches designed for teachers to use in the classroom, many resources are available for social workers that focus on working with families to assist in the education of a child with learning disabilities.
Learning Disabilities Association of America: Support and Resources for Parents
In addition to providing detailed information about a range of specific learning disabilities, the organization provides resources that give parents guidance and advice about their interactions with a child with learning challenges. Topics include recent news and reports on activities by government agencies that relate to students with disabilities. The site features summer reading tips for parents and information about keeping children with disabilities safe outside the classroom.
U.S. Department of State: Internet Resources for Learning Disabilities
The State Department has compiled an extensive list of resources that serve to educate individuals about specific disabilities. The organizations listed in the directory provide support and fun educational activities for students with learning disabilities. They also include tips and suggestions for teachers who work with children with disabilities.
Understood.org: Your Parent Toolkit
Helping a student with learning disabilities begins by understanding the nature of the disability itself. Understood.org helps parents determine whether their child may have a disability or condition that would hinder his or her ability to learn. The site provides specific, customized information on various conditions and explains the impact of the disability from the child's perspective. For example, if a child in seventh grade is struggling with writing, has problems with nonverbal learning, and suffers from dyspraxia (also called developmental coordination disorder), parents will receive recommendations for resources to meet that child's specific needs.
Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities
This organization promotes the idea that just because a child has a learning disability doesn't mean the child isn't intelligent. Smart Kids helps parents identify and nurture their child's talents and the activities in which they thrive, even if they struggle in other educational areas. The site's Community page allows parents to connect with other parents dealing with similar issues and to pose questions to experts on topics related to educating children with learning disabilities.
TeachingLD: Current Practice Alerts
As awareness of learning disabilities increases, the methods that teachers and parents use to interact with learning-challenged children continue to evolve and improve. New studies and research in teaching techniques provide deeper insights and novel strategies to provide these students with a quality education. Current Practice Alerts keep individuals in the loop regarding which methods are most beneficial to children with learning disabilities and which are falling out of favor.

Leading the Effort to Deliver Quality Education to All Students

In today's educational environment, students are often facing learning disabilities that impact how they perform in school and how much they successfully adjust to a classroom environment. Despite the prevalence of these disabilities, students, parents, and teachers still may not be immediately aware of how to help a child overcome these challnges and obtain the best education possible. Social workers can illuminate teachers, students, and families about these conditions and develop solutions that help children with disabilities obtain a meaningful and impactful education.

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Students with Learning Disabilities: Lessons & Activities | Regis College

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People and communities across the world are increasingly aware of the challenges individuals with disabilities face on a daily basis. Specifically, there is a heightened awareness of the educational needs of students with autism, dyslexia, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Down syndrome, and other conditions.

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Working with Children with Special Needs

It is inevitable that you will have the opportunity (and pleasure) of working with special needs students in your classroom. You may need to make accommodations for some and modifications for others. Providing for the needs of special education students will certainly be one of your greatest challenges as a professional educator. Consider these tips and strategies.

Jabberwocky

When working with special needs students, two terms you are sure to encounter are accommodation and modification. An accommodation is a device, material, or support process that will enable a student to accomplish a task more efficiently. Modification refers to changes to the instructional outcomes; a change or decrease in the course content or outcome.

Students with Learning Disabilities

Learning disabled students are those who demonstrate a significant discrepancy, which is not the result of some other handicap, between academic achievement and intellectual abilities in one or more of the areas of oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, mathematics reasoning, or spelling.

Following is a list of some of the common indicators of learning-disabled students. These traits are usually not isolated ones; rather, they appear in varying degrees and amounts in most learning-disabled students. A learning disabled student ...

Teaching learning-disabled youngsters will present you with some unique and distinctive challenges. Not only will these students demand more of your full-time and patience; but so, too, will they require specialized instructional strategies in a structured environment that supports and enhances their learning potential. It is important to remember that learning-disabled students are not students who are incapacitated or unable to learn; rather, they need differentiated instruction tailored to their distinctive learning abilities. Use these appropriate strategies with learning-disabled students:

It's Elementary

Offer learning-disabled children and students with developmental delays a multisensory approach to learning. Take advantage of all the senses in helping these students enjoy, appreciate, and learn.

For additional information on teaching learning-disabled students, contact the Learning Disabilities Association of America at 4156 Library Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15234; 412-341-1515; www.ldanatl.org.

Students Who Have Higher Ability

Students of high ability, often referred to as gifted students, present a unique challenge to teachers. They are often the first ones done with an assignment or those who continually ask for more creative and interesting work. They need exciting activities and energizing projects that offer a creative curriculum within the framework of the regular classroom program.

Characteristics of Gifted Students

Gifted students exhibit several common characteristics, as outlined in the following list. As in the case of learning-disabled students, giftedness usually means a combination of factors in varying degrees and amounts. A gifted student ...

Teaching Gifted Students

If there's one constant about gifted students it's the fact that they're full of questions (and full of answers). They're also imbued with a sense of inquisitiveness. Providing for their instructional needs is not an easy task and will certainly extend you to the full limits of your own creativity and inventiveness. Keep some of these instructional strategies in mind:

To obtain additional information on teaching gifted students, contact the National Association for Gifted Children at 1707 L Street N.W., Suite 550, Washington, D.C. 20036; 202-785-4268; www.nagc.org.

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Prepare to teach the students with special needs you may have in your classroom using this advice on accommodating and modifying your lessons to meet the needs of everyone. New teachers will find this resource particularly valuable.

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Teaching Strategies for Students With Special Needs

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Teaching Strategies for Students With Special Needs

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Teaching Strategies for Students With Special Needs

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In the United States, special education is free in the public education system, thanks to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

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A disability awareness reading brought to you by Boone County Family Resources

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The principal of an internationally recognized trauma-informed school explains what this form of education is-and what it isn't.

ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) have made their way into the mainstream over the past couple of years, even showing up in a segment that Oprah did for 60 Minutes. And because ACEs have a profound effect on children, the concept has been taken up in the world of education. Approaching education with an understanding of the physiological, social, emotional, and academic impacts of trauma and adversity on our students is driving changes in our systems.

However, these changes are not coming without misconceptions. As the principal of Fall-Hamilton Elementary, an internationally recognized trauma-informed school, I've encountered many misconceptions about trauma-informed education over the past five years. As educators move toward understanding the impact of trauma, including ACEs, and how creating and maintaining positive relationships can serve as a buffer to the negative impacts of trauma, it's vitally important to understand what trauma-informed education is and is not.

6 Misconceptions About Trauma-Informed Education

1. Trauma-Informed education is solely about a student's ACE score: The ACE study conducted by Kaiser Permanente and the CDC is credited with increasing public awareness of the potential negative health outcomes of adults based on their adverse childhood experiences.

That increased awareness is good, but trauma-informed education is not solely concerned with students' ACE score. We should use the ACE study as a catalyst to look deeper into understanding the broad scope of adversity that children are experiencing but that the study did not include. Trauma-informed education includes examining the influence and impact on students in our schools of factors such as racism (explicit, implicit, and systematic; and microaggressions) as well as poverty, peer victimization, community violence, and bullying.

2. Educators must know a student's ACE score to successfully intervene: It is not imperative to know a child's ACE score or specific traumatic experience to provide effective interventions. Being trauma-informed is a mindset with which educators approach all children.

Research indicates that strong, stable, and nurturing relationships foster a feeling of belonging that is essential for all students but is absolutely imperative for healing with students who have experienced trauma. Karen Treisman, a clinical psychology specialist, says, " Every interaction is an intervention." As educators, we must understand the impact of daily positive interactions and affirmations for our students.

3. Trauma-informed education is about fixing kids: Our kids are not broken, but our systems are. Operating in a trauma-informed way does not fix children; it is aimed at fixing broken and unjust systems and structures that alienate and discard students who are marginalized.

If we view our trauma-informed approach as fixing kids, that creates a deficit mindset. Many kids are doing the best they can in the moment. We must meet all students where they are while supporting them with strong, stable, and nurturing relationships.

4. Trauma-informed educators don't give students consequences for inappropriate behavior: There needs to be a clear understanding of the difference between consequences and punishment. Consequences by definition are designed to teach, while punishment relates to personal suffering.

It's important to set clear boundaries and expectations and then to support students into success. When students do not meet expectations or disregard boundaries, it is imperative to teach and reteach the expectations through consistent consequences.

5. Sometimes you have to escalate a confrontation with a student to calm them down: Co-regulation is the idea of keeping calm in order to help calm a student who is experiencing anger, frustration, or fear. A dysregulated adult cannot regulate a dysregulated child. Raising our level of intensity is not a strategy that works.

We should instead use strategies that honor the student's emotions and need for space while also getting their systems to calm in a safe way. This can be accomplished through first making sure that we really are calm and then by validating the student's experiences and emotions in order to get to the root of what is causing those emotions.

This doesn't mean excusing any poor choices the student may have made-it means ensuring that they're in a state where they can understand and accept any consequences, which is necessary if they are to learn from the experience.

6. I'm a teacher, not a therapist-this isn't my job: As educators explore the complexities of being trauma-informed, we need to remember that trauma-informed work is a journey and not a destination. It doesn't mean that teachers need to do the work of professional therapists. Our part in helping students with trauma is focusing on relationships, just as we do with all of our students. The strong, stable, and nurturing relationships that we build with our students and families can serve as a conduit for healing and increasing resilience.

Becoming trauma-informed in our daily practice is truly a process of learning and adjustment, but it is a worthwhile process.

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The principal of an internationally recognized trauma-informed school explains what this form of education is-and what it isn't.

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Addressing the Heightened Crisis of Childhood Trauma

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Addressing the Heightened Crisis of Childhood Trauma

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It wasn't all that long ago when Rep. Ayanna Pressley was laughed out of rooms when as a councilwoman in Boston she'd try to have serious policy discussions about the impact of childhood trauma.

"When I first started to name the issue of childhood trauma 12 years ago," the Massachusetts Democrat says, "people would look at me quizzically and didn't understand what childhood trauma is or how pervasive it is. They tended to stereotype or minimize who was impacted by it."

Then, in March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic swept the country, shuttering schools for more than 50 million children - millions of whom relied on them for food, physical and mental health care, shelter and safety. It thrust millions of parents into unemployment and set in motion a mental health crisis that, after more than a year of loss, grief and isolation, has manifested in breathtaking levels of anxiety, depression, drug and alcohol use, gun violence and domestic abuse.

The Week in Cartoons: June 7-11

"During the pandemic, all the root causes of trauma have been exacerbated," she says. "Destabilizing factors on households like unemployment, growing poverty, food insecurity, being unhoused, experiencing misplacement, fear of deportation, exposure to gun violence and domestic violence - all those variables were exacerbated."

Pressley, who introduced a bill last legislative session to address childhood trauma, says she first realized how the pandemic was magnifying it when she held a youth town hall a few months after the onset of the pandemic, which she called a "devastating confirmation" of the mental health challenges children were battling, including anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.

"So right now, what I'm doing is ensuring that while we are headed into a recovery, this is one that is trauma-informed and that we leave no one behind - and that includes our children," she says. "As we talk about transitioning out of remote learning fully, we have to be mindful of what will best support our children to recover from the trauma they experienced at unprecedented levels over the last year."

On Thursday, the congresswoman reintroduced that bill, proposing $460 million to tackle what's become a pandemic in its own right.

Pressley's goal, she says, is to disrupt the cycle of intergenerational trauma by providing resources to state public health departments, which would then direct the funding to community-based organizations with a track record of effectively helping families in the communities they serve. The aid could be used for a host of things, including housing, food, mental health, home-visiting programs and more.

"I'm encouraged by the increased awareness," she says. "The pandemic has laid bare many inequities and has elevated people's consciousness of all these systemic challenges and I hope has brought about a greater sense of urgency to address them."

An analysis published Wednesday of available research about the pandemic's impact on children's well-being from the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights shows its sweeping adverse impacts and trauma-inducing experiences disproportionately impact children that were already underserved before its onset.

Somewhere between between 37,300 and 43,000 children lost a parent to COVID-19, losses which appear to have hit families of color especially hard, according to early data. Black children are estimated to account for 20% of those who lost a parent, despite making up only 14% of all children in the U.S.

Throughout the pandemic, Black and Hispanic people faced higher risk of contracting the virus because they were disproportionately classified as essential workers, the report suggests. At the same time, they also bore the brunt of the early economic collapse since they were also more likely than others to be employed in sectors where businesses shut down. The one-two punch resulted in a surge in hunger and food insecurity among children of color, as well as a spike in homelessness.

"Many students in underserved communities are facing multiple traumas as a result of the pandemic, and our states and districts must be responsive by targeting resources in schools and communities with the fewest resources," the report underscored.

In addition, while nearly all students have experienced some challenges to their mental health and well-being during the pandemic, early research shows Black, Hispanic and Asian students, as well as LGBTQ adolescents, have disproportionately been harmed by loss of regular access to student organizations and supportive peers and teachers.

Early research also shows the pandemic increased the risks of sexual harassment, abuse and violence, including from household members and intimate partners, as well as online harassment from peers - again, disproportionately experienced by already marginalized children.

"The best gift you can give a child is a stable adult, and many adults have been destabilized because of gentrification and displacement, because of working at low wages, because of being underemployed or unemployed, because of a fear of deportation and exposure to violence," Pressley says. "Our schools have increasingly played more of a role and that is why investment in those wraparound services are so critical."

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has been pushing states and school districts to dedicate at least some of the federal aid from the most recent coronavirus relief package to addressing trauma students experienced over the last year, including increased social, emotional and mental health challenges - especially for students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, migratory students and other underserved students.

Pressley would prefer to address the trauma head-on, with a dedicated and permanent funding stream - and she's been trying to lobby the White House to throw its weight behind her.

For months now, she's been pressing the Biden administration to hold a summit on combating community trauma in order to explore the most effective community-based solutions for healing coming out of the pandemic.

"This is both about recovery from the pandemic, charting a more equitable path forward that addresses the root causes of trauma and also - given the disproportionate adverse childhood trauma that impacts marginalized communities - this is an issue of racial justice as well," she says. "These are all things that the administration has alluded to as priorities."

"When the White House says that racial justice and racial equity are a priority of theirs, along with a robust recovery from the pandemic, I do see addressing childhood trauma as key to that strategy."

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Addressing the Heightened Crisis of Childhood Trauma

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It wasn't all that long ago when Rep. Ayanna Pressley was laughed out of rooms when as a councilwoman in Boston she'd try to have serious policy discussions about the impact of childhood trauma.

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Post-COVID, teachers must deal with students’ shared trauma

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Post-COVID, teachers must deal with students’ shared trauma

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By Dr. Tommy Wells and Regan Davis

For 12 months, most students have experienced education in a remote setting, whether part or full time. The arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine holds out the promise that in-person learning will resume by the fall; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has offered guidelines for a safe return even before then. But whenever students return to the classroom, they will do so having shared a traumatic experience.

This is sure to pose unexpected challenges both for students and for educators. In particular, students may have difficulty transitioning back to in-person learning after being remote, and often isolated, at home for most of the school year.

Returning to school following a long bout of virtual learning will require a shift to the function of classrooms. Educators need to prioritize social and emotional skills.

Childhood trauma is associated with barriers to school achievement, as traumatic stress can disrupt social, emotional, cognitive and brain development. Specifically, childhood trauma can adversely impact students' self-regulation and executive functioning skills-organization, comprehension and memorization, for example. This has negative consequences for learning, as shared by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. With current and future circumstances presenting unprecedented obstacles, it is important for teachers to make students' trauma and healing a priority above all else, including the pressure for academic success.

Returning to school following a long bout of virtual learning will require a shift to the function of classrooms. While focusing on data and using it to drive instruction must be a focus, teachers need to understand that data will, and should, look different. Educators need to prioritize social and emotional skills within their trauma-informed practices in the classroom and pair those with academics to create an environment that best serves students.

As described in Education Week last year, "regulating emotions, managing stress, empathizing with others, and maintaining relationships-all social-emotional skills-will be key to helping students overcome the trauma and challenges brought on by the pandemic so that they are in a state of mind to learn come fall."

To comprehend academic content, both students and educators must first begin to heal from the trauma brought on by COVID-19, and teachers can facilitate students' recovery by providing support both inside and outside the classroom. As teachers adapt to become more trauma-informed, they could consider the following elements:
Classroom Environment
Focus on building relationships that are rooted in safety and connection. Teachers should focus on activities that build relationships, such as holding community circles. Community circles can provide a safe space for students while promoting respect, empathy and communication skills.

Establish classroom norms and routines in concert with students that promote predictability. Teachers can engage students in developing classroom rules that focus on safety, respect and responsibility while ensuring that these rules align with schoolwide policies. Classroom rules, along with a daily agenda and a visual timer, can be posted as reminders for students. Visual reminders are particularly helpful for transitioning between activities, which can be challenging for students who have experienced trauma.

Teach social and emotional skills. Whether through an established curriculum or teacher-created lessons, students benefit from direct instruction in social and emotional skills, such as lessons on empathy, emotional regulation and interpersonal skills. Teachers can also role-play scenarios for self-regulation and problem solving. For further information, educators should review the resources provided by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) at https://casel.org/.

Be visible outside the classroom. Educators should actively monitor the halls during class transitions or join classes for lunch. Interacting with students in informal settings can further strengthen relationships.

Minimize exclusionary discipline practices. Employ practices that keep students in school, such as restorative discipline practices that focus on repairing relationships between peers or staff. For additional information, educators could review resources provided by the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative.

Set boundaries between work and personal time. Teachers can maintain office hours for communication with staff, students and families that limit working in the evenings and on weekends.

Establish meaningful routines, such as mindfulness, journaling or disconnecting from technology. Educators can also focus on monitoring their diet and levels of hydration, finding sustainable exercise and trying strategies to improve sleep. More resources can be accessed through Panorama Education.

As schools prepare for an in-person return to learning, the key point to remember is that intentional and meaningful relationships must be established with students. After the unpredictability of the last year, many may experience a lack of trust, hyperactivity or dissociation, among numerous other reactions.

As Jessica Minahan, a licensed and board-certified behavior analyst, special educator and school consultant, wrote in 2019, "Students can't learn unless they feel safe. When it comes to student trauma, there is much that is beyond educators' power, but there is also a great deal they can do to build a supportive and sensitive environment where students feel safe, comfortable, take risks, learn and even heal."

When educators find ways to connect with and support students, they begin the process of healing, which so many of our students will need when returning to in-person learning.
Dr. Tommy Wells is an assistant professor in the Annsley Frazier Thornton School of Education at Bellarmine whose research interests include education policy, school leadership, and trauma-informed practices. His current courses include Trauma-informed Classrooms, Creating Trauma-informed Schools, and Research Methodology for School Leaders.

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Post-COVID, teachers must deal with students' shared trauma

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By Dr. Tommy Wells and Regan Davis For 12 months, most students have experienced education in a remote setting, whether part or full time. The arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine holds out the promise that in-person learning will resume by the fall; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has offered guidelines for a safe return even before then.

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As I write this, many schools are closed in Texas . And the closures aren't pandemic related. They're closed because of a storm that led to a massive utilities failure. One Texas teacher shared on the WeAreTeacher's Facebook page that her school's pipes froze and then burst. Another teacher posted that her school's library caught on fire. Yet another said she is trying to teach students online through rolling blackouts. We are two months into the year, and the winter storm in Texas is just the latest challenge facing America's teachers. In 2021, it seems every day means confronting new problems and their impacts on our kids.

Tomorrow is not simply another day at school

On January 6th, protesters stormed the United States Capital for the first time since August 24th, 1814. We saw the news coverage and tried to process what was happening in disbelief. We couldn't help but wonder how to talk to our students about the attack because there was no lesson plan for that, just like there was no plan for how to continue schooling during an unprecedented global pandemic. Kylene Beers wrote a blog post that reminded us "that tomorrow is not simply another day at school." We agreed and couldn't help but wonder: when was the last normal day of school? And when will there be one again?

Teachers are teaching through trauma

There are a lot of resources out there about how teachers can best support students who have experienced trauma, but there aren't many for how teachers can navigate teaching through trauma. There isn't a person in this country that hasn't experienced trauma this year. There's been constant disaster-from climate change and social injustice to the pandemic. And no one is immune to the effects. Some of us freeze; others fight, flee, or fawn. That's our brain's way of trying to protect ourselves from danger or disaster.

There's an elephant in our classrooms

I've never met a teacher who isn't optimistic or at least tries to be. We are masters at leaving our problems at the classroom door and putting on a happy face so we can "show up for our kids." But I can't help but wonder if we're doing a disservice to ourselves and our students. How can we not talk about what is happening with our students? I understand the fear. Some of us feel that it is not appropriate for us to discuss what's happening. Isn't that their families' job? Others don't feel it's developmentally appropriate to talk about what's happening. But whether we talk about the elephant or not, it is there.

It is Americans protesting after George Floyds' death. It is an angry and violent mob storming the Capitol. It is a virus that has killed 500,000 Americans and counting. No student is immune. And no teacher is either. While we can't control what is happening-or even see it coming-we can support our students to express their feelings. And that doesn't mean we have to take sides or bring our politics and personal beliefs into our classrooms (unless we choose to).

How to talk to students about what's happening

So how do we know what to say and how to talk to our students when we are still experiencing trauma? Sure there are a lot of expert opinions on this, but we wanted to hear straight from teachers. Here's what they're doing.

Use terms that kids can understand

"As a teacher, if I can't make my students feel safe, then no learning is happening. So we need to discuss this in terms that kids can understand, in a way that helps them to see that we are here to support them and that we are here to make them feel safe. We don't need to get into the ins and outs of who's right and who's wrong. We just need them to know that we have their backs and that this room is a sanctuary for learning." -Kareem

Talk about what we do with big feelings

"We talked about 'big feelings' and what we do with them. The kids made great suggestions! Tell someone, write it down, breathe the feelings in and then let them go, exercise, draw a pic, etc. What I don't want them to do is bottle up those feelings and shove them down." -Karen

Be a safe space

"My high schoolers brought it up, and we talked about it openly and honestly with raw emotions and feelings and opinions, and it was one of the best conversations I've had with my kids. I did my best to remain unbiased and let them come to their own conclusions and decisions and opinions." -Tamara

All aspects of life belong in school

And if you're looking for an expert opinion, The Washington Post interviewed Elizabeth Dutro, an expert on trauma and learning and a fellow at the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Here's what she had to say, "When teachers allow children and youth to witness their struggles, humanity and vulnerabilities, students are positioned as active participants in a reciprocal process of being present as witnesses for one another. In addition, teachers' sharing helps to demonstrate to students that all aspects of life belong in school, that they are seen, heard and valued in the classroom, and that their experiences matter as a source of knowledge."

Show students, I see you, I hear you, I value you

Our students are watching us closely right now. They are looking to us for guidance on how to make sense of everything that is happening both in and out of school. When we create space for them to share their experiences, feelings, reactions, and worries, we are showing them that we see them, we hear them, and we value them. And while we don't have all the answers, we can show them that we will be there to weather the storm.

Looking for more? Check out Black Lives Matter At School Resources, 9 Resources on Trauma Informed Schools, and Create a Toolbox for Care. For support with teaching through trauma, look into Resilient Educator.

Do you have other resources that support teachers who are teaching through trauma? Share in the comments below.

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As I write this, many schools are closed in Texas . And the closures aren't pandemic related. They're closed because of a storm that led to a massive utilities failure. One Texas teacher shared on the WeAreTeacher's Facebook page that her school's pipes froze and then burst.

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After a Year of Trauma for All, How Can We Discipline More Fairly?

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After a Year of Trauma for All, How Can We Discipline More Fairly?

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Students of color are often disciplined more harshly. We can't let that happen this year.

Credit: October 2021

Over a year ago, many of us saw on screen the public murder of George Floyd, a Black man accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill. This story played out on national television, YouTube, and elsewhere on the internet. A police officer kneeled on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes until he suffocated to death. Even when Floyd lay motionless, the officer refused to take his knee off his neck as the paramedics checked Floyd's pulse-to find none. The world watched Floyd plead for his life, even yelling out to his deceased mother. This happened in the midst of a pandemic, which so far has claimed the lives of more than 600,000 Americans.

Kids Are Facing Trauma-Including in School

The Floyd incident caused severe anxiety in a lot of people, especially children and adults of color. These types of tragic incidents tend to happen to Black and Brown people more often than any other group. Experiencing or witnessing violent events like this can lead to trauma-and we must realize that the events of last year may have caused trauma in many of our students.

There are four ways to experience trauma: directly, watching something happen to someone else, hearing about something that happened to someone else, or repeated exposure to a stressful experience. I know the Floyd incident-and many similar incidents I've personally witnessed or experienced over the years-has affected me and my Black friends. I've been traumatized over and over in my life, including at school. I had to push through pain, obtain my education, and try to be a model student while many of my friends were killed (Carlos Jefferson, Michael Butler, Tony Binion, Larry Shotwell, Billy Williams, Anthony Day, and Monterrio Holder, to name a few). I watched as many of my peers were disciplined harshly and suspended from school or (later) given long prison sentences for minor offenses. I often wonder whether these friends' outcomes would've been different if they'd been treated differently by educators.

My Black friends' experiences of being "pushed out" of school are common. Data from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights show that in the 2011-2012 school year, Black students-especially males-were more likely to be suspended than white students. Black male students represented 8 percent of enrolled students but accounted for 25 percent of students who received an out-of-school suspension. In all, 1.2 million Black and Latino males were suspended from K-12 schools in this country in the 2011-2012 academic year (Smith & Harper, 2015). Educator and author Pedro Noguera (2008) notes that Black males are often seen as being generally threatening, disruptive, uncooperative, and defiant, while their white male counterparts are more likely to be seen as engaging in specific discipline issues or violations, like smoking or fighting-not as "trouble" overall.

The disparities in how Black and white students are disciplined are real, and explain why so many Black males are suspended, sometimes for lesser offenses than those committed by their white counterparts. The data don't lie. I'm sure some students deserved to be suspended. But too many are disciplined inappropriately, suspended, or even end up in the criminal justice system because an educator didn't have the tools to prevent such outcomes from happening. We must ask, when students are suspended, where's the possibility for rehabilitation? How can kids improve their behavior if they are never taught? How can a student learn within an institution that has policies in place that lead them to fail, such as "three strikes and you're out" rules? To tell someone they have three chances, and then, if they don't get it right, proclaim you're done with them is degrading and cruel. Learning within such a situation takes an emotional toll.

The mistreatment I received from educators when I was in school is still fresh in my mind. Teachers' tone changed when interacting with students of color. Instead of being supportive, they sounded angry. I and many other Black students assumed they were upset because they had to teach us. Discipline was harsh and swift, with paddling, suspensions, and public humiliation the norm.

In 7th grade, a coach slammed me up against the wall in front of my friends and teammates. It traumatized me. To this day, when I think about the physical and mental pain I felt, I wish I could have somehow defended myself. That coach should have been fired, or at least disciplined-but I was the one who was made to feel inferior and inadequate. Another time, I said hello to a kid who spoke to me in the lunch line. A white female teacher snatched me by the arm and put me in the back of the line behind several classes that had just arrived. By the time I got my lunch, I only had a few minutes to eat. I was angry, hurt, and hungry. I don't recall that teacher ever explaining why I was removed.

I also remember the unwarranted and disturbing labels teachers put on me: aggressive, lazy, a troublemaker, won't amount to anything. Yes, I heard this from actual educators who were supposed to educate me and motivate me. Instead, their words tore down my self-esteem.

When Anxiety Looks Like Defiance

Many students carry the burden of anxiety and depression into school. This was true even before COVID-19. Two years ago, seven in ten U.S. teens said anxiety and depression are a major problem among people their age in their community, according to a Pew Research Center survey (Horowitz & Graf, 2019). The numbers have likely increased during the pandemic, as many students report feeling lonely. Pre-criminalization, fear of gun violence, harassment, parental incarceration, and worry for their families' financial stability-all experienced more by Black and Latino students-can intensify isolation and loneliness.

Students' negative emotions sometimes surface in ways that look like defiance or disrespect. Some educators misinterpret fearful behavior as aggressive behavior or as kids wanting to cause trouble. But children who have experienced trauma need to know that someone cares. Some may need professional help.

I was one of those children. But instead of receiving empathy and care, I was reprimanded. Instead of being affirmed, I was told that kids like me weren't college material. I actually had an educator tell me I needed to work on learning a trade because I wasn't "college material" and would eventually be working with my hands. I'm not good at working with my hands. Despite her disparaging statement, I knew I was capable-but imagine a student who's more impressionable. Such an interaction could change the trajectory of a student's life, for the worse.

"Servanthood Spirit"

This fall, most schools will go back to in-person learning after 15 months or so of mostly virtual learning. Some students will come back stressed out, anxious, or depressed. Besides the stresses of learning online, some may have been neglected, overworked, or even abused by parents. Many will be behind academically. It will take patience, kindness, self-control, and a positive attitude to help them have a positive reentry. We'll need caring and humility in our hearts to bring hurt students back to a sense of normalcy.

One word that comes to mind in dealing with students now is servanthood. Servanthood is the act of giving yourself to and for others, seeking to meet the needs of others, not your own. Leadership requires servanthood, especially when educating students and motivating them to be great. You can develop a servanthood spirit as you engage-and discipline-students this fall:

Stay humble. Live in your humility. Stay out of your pride. Don't take what kids do or say personally. Respond with empathy, understanding there's a deeper issue that needs to be addressed.

Offer compassionate discipline. Disciplining with care means explaining what a student did wrong and helping him understand accountability-and that you will give him another chance to get it right. It may mean being transparent about issues you faced when you were a student and how you overcame them. Be the example you want to see by offering students understanding and practical suggestions, not more anger and frustration. For instance, if a student begins yelling in your classroom, instead of kicking them out, walk through seven questions commonly used in restorative practices that change the trajectory of school discipline:

1. How did it happen?

2. What part did you play in it?

3. How were you affected by what you did?

4. Who else was affected by what you did?

5. What can you do to repair the harm?

6. What do you need to do to make it right?1

Face your shortcomings. Identify some weaker areas you want to work on, such as a short temper or tendency toward negative thoughts. Ask a trusted colleague, reflect carefully, or watch yourself on video to help you do this. Consider how those shortcomings affect your relationship with students. How might you improve in one of these areas?

Be at peace. Don't let anything or anyone compromise your joy. Protect your peace-but protect your students' peace, too, by checking your tension at the door. Give yourself a moment to recover after a tense interaction or situation. Take breaks as needed, vent to someone, or meditate regularly.

Check Your Biases!

Part of humbly serving others is understanding where you might have a bias or blind spot. Everyone has biases, often unconscious ones, triggered by things like race or by emotions like fear, anxiety, or envy. A biased perception can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and teachers' discipline styles have been shown to differ depending on a student's race (Riddle & Sinclair, 2019). The key is to be aware of biases and how they affect your interactions with students-and try to get past them. Here are four suggestions:

Watch your word choice. Words are extremely important. Words can help or hurt students; when a child hears something repeated often, they start believing it. So be mindful of your words. My 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Sangster, one of the most effective teachers I've had, always told students, "You matter," "you are somebody," and "you are smart." Those words, spoken more than 40 years ago, still resonate with me and my former classmates.

Avoid stereotyping. Racial microaggressions are everyday insults sent by people who are unaware of the messages they are sending. One way to avoid microaggressions is to consciously avoid stereotyping kids. Don't assume that just because a student comes from a tough, low-income neighborhood, they don't want to learn. Don't assume that a student coming from an affluent household has it all together. You won't always know their circumstances. Get to know students. Ask questions to gain a deeper understanding of each student's situation.

Be sure your messages reflect your intentions. If you want all your students to be successful, your messages and actions should reflect that. If they don't, students will pick up on it. What kind of energy are you feeding your students? Do you start every day with a positive phrase or affirmation? Do you tell students you believe in them-and show it? Frequently express your positive desires for your students. Be consistent with that message, no matter the circumstances.

Prioritize relationships. Build healthy relationships with students-through caring, respect, fairness, empathy, and support. Forming relationships strengthens trust and eliminates anxiety on both sides. It creates a healthier working environment. You can see the impact of developing relationships when former students come back to see you and tell you where they are in their lives. It's a joy to hear their positive memories of interactions with you as well as what they learned from you.

Correct false narratives. Another way to combat bias-and perhaps the problem of harsher discipline for Black and Brown kids-is to display positive images of men and women of color around classrooms and the school. Students and educators need to see positive images of Black and Brown adults besides athletes and entertainers. They should see doctors, lawyers, educators, police officers, etc. All students need to learn the stories of Black history, Latino history, and Asian history. One reason biases form is that people don't understand each other, so they make judgements based on false narratives, shallow media accounts, or the influence of family and friends.

Avoid Stereotyping

Don't assume that just because a student comes from a tough, low-income neighborhood, they don't want to learn. Don't assume that a student coming from an affluent household has it all together.

Part of Cultural Competence

To be a culturally competent educator means more than embracing students' diversity. It means having a system of discipline built on healthy relationships, trust, respect, empathy, and accountability-not on harsh punishment. This not only creates a positive school culture; it helps students perform at higher levels-which increases internal stability and elevates the institution. Especially now, let's discipline all our students in ways that show we care.

Related Resource

Read more from Robert Jackson in Becoming the Educator They Need: Strategies, Mindsets, and Beliefs for Supporting Male Black and Latino Students.

References

Horowitz, J. M., & Graf, N. (2019). Most U.S. teens see anxiety and depression as a major problem among their peers. Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center.

Noguera, P. A. (2008). The trouble with Black boys: The role and influence of environment and cultural factors on the academic performance of African American males. New York: Wiley and Sons.

Riddle, T., & Sinclair, S. (2019, April 23). Racial disparities in school-based disciplinary practices are associated with county-level rates of racial bias. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Smith, E. J., & Harper, S. (2015). Disproportionate impact of K-12 school suspension and expulsion on Black students in southern states. Philadelphia, PA: Center for Study of Race and Equity in Education.

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After a Year of Trauma for All, How Can We Discipline More Fairly? - ASCD

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Over a year ago, many of us saw on screen the public murder of George Floyd, a Black man accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill. This story played out on national television, YouTube, and elsewhere on the internet.

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Trauma-Sensitive Schools and Socialand Emotional Learning: An Integration

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Trauma-Sensitive Schools and Socialand Emotional Learning: An Integration

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Trauma-Informed Resources for Students and School Staff

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Trauma-Informed Resources for Students and School Staff

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Schools, especially those which subscribe to trauma-informed practices, are often the most important places in a community for educators, students and parents to receive support when a crisis occurs; our schools provide a familiar environment where the needs of students, their families and faculty can be met in one place. In the aftermath of a recurring and terrifying theme of cowardly acts of violence against the men, women and children of countless schools across the country, the American Federation of Teachers' Share My Lesson has selected lesson plans, webinars and go-to guides for educators and the wider community to help grieving and fearful students cope in the aftermath of a tragic event or recent trauma. We believe it is best left to the discretion of teachers and parents when it comes to speaking to students about the news. Visit this collection of trauma-informed free resources, and see our Today's News Tomorrow's Lesson for news resources designed for students on recent tragedies.

Consider reading this blog post, Managing Your Distress in the Aftermath of a Shooting and a recent article on Proven Methods to Counter Childhood Adversity.

#9 Top Collection of 2017 #6 Collection of the Decade

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Trauma-Informed Resources for Students and School Staff

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Schools, especially those which subscribe to trauma-informed practices, are often the most important places in a community for educators, students and parents to receive support when a crisis occurs; our schools provide a familiar environment where the needs of students, their families and faculty can be met in one place.

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Developing Best Practices for Trauma-informed Teaching and Learning

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Developing Best Practices for Trauma-informed Teaching and Learning

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Background

Stress associated with trauma is likely present in every student gathering at Duke University - not only in each student organization and residence hall, but also in every classroom and laboratory. Students bring experiences of past trauma with them and also experience diverse forms of stressors and trauma while at Duke, including sexual assault. In a 2018 survey, 47.8% of Duke undergraduate women reported unwanted sexual contact since matriculating.

While in recent years Duke has invested heavily in providing high-quality mental health and support services to trauma survivors and curbing the rate of campus sexual assault, there is a need to attend carefully to how stress and trauma show up in classrooms and academic programs. Students who are trauma survivors bring essential insights and perspectives to classroom contexts but may also experience academic challenges.

Trauma survivors may respond strongly to particular texts, topics or contexts that evoke memories of trauma and stress. Faculty may wonder how to foster a learning environment in which all students can thrive and may be uncertain about how to manage trauma-related content in the classroom (such as in the case of conflicting information about "trigger warnings"). There is a clear need for trauma-informed education for students and faculty that will explore the ways that trauma shows up in the classroom, increase empathy for those who are struggling and promote a positive learning experience.

Project Description

This project will develop and implement seminars for students and faculty on trauma-engaged teaching and learning and will collect data to inform future efforts to better support trauma survivors in the classroom.

The project will build on work from the 2020-2021 team that explored a series of essential questions including: How does trauma affect students' experience of academic work at Duke? How do students perceive faculty approaches to addressing trauma in the classroom? How do faculty perceive, address and engage in the way that trauma affects learning in the classroom? How might classes be taught, and academic programs be administered, in order to cultivate an environment in which survivors of trauma can thrive in their academic work?

The 2020-2021 team used the data collected in response to these questions to develop Trauma Engaged Duke (TED), a series of informational seminars for students from Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, the Divinity School and the School of Medicine. TED seminars educated students about the effects of stress and trauma - broadly defined to include child abuse and sexual violence as well as stress and trauma in the context of racism, homophobia and other forms of social oppression. Participants learned where they can receive additional information and care and completed survey questionnaires assessing their knowledge of trauma before and after the seminars. Selected participants engaged in focus group interviews, which resulted in the development of a foundational qualitative dataset.

In 2021-2022, this team will focus on understanding and supporting how faculty members experience and address student trauma in the classroom. Team members will develop and implement TED seminars geared toward faculty and run TED seminars for undergraduates and graduate students. The team will also conduct faculty focus groups designed to understand how faculty experience matters around trauma in the classroom setting.

Anticipated Outputs

Primary qualitative data; three academic articles on trauma-informed undergraduate education; theological education and medical education materials

Student Opportunities

Ideally, this team will include 4 graduate students and 4 undergraduate students. Students interested in psychology, African American studies, gender, sexuality and feminist studies, global health, cultural anthropology, neuroscience and education and/or human development will bring a range of perspectives crucial to understanding the issues related to trauma in the instructional context. Master's- and doctoral-level students from the Divinity School, the Graduate School and the School of Medicine will speak from their own professional and educational contexts. Team leaders seek to recruit a graduate student with training and interest in qualitative research methods.

Students, staff and faculty will work together in team meetings to learn about how the effects of trauma can affect the learning environment for survivors and others. Graduate students will serve as teaching assistants. Undergraduate students will be involved in creating and leading a series of Trauma Engaged Duke seminars with the aim of broadening the knowledge and understanding of trauma among students in order to shape the culture of Duke into a more trauma-informed one. Team members will assist in coding deidentified data from faculty focus groups.

Students will emerge from this project with deep theoretical and practical understanding of trauma theory, how adaptations to trauma give rise to problematic trauma sequela and the challenges and opportunities associated with trauma-informed teaching practices. Undergraduates will learn to teach other students about trauma, speak to faculty about students' experiences, participate in project design and data analysis, and contribute to papers as appropriate. Graduate students will explore trauma-informed pedagogy in their own academic contexts, participate in project design and analysis, and contribute to papers as appropriate. All team members will learn how to design interview questions for focus groups and collect and synthesize qualitative data. Divinity students, in particular, will become better prepared to work with difficult topics such as biblical texts of violence, wartime ethics and pastoral care contexts of trauma.

A postdoctoral fellow in psychology will serve as project manager.

Timing

Fall 2021 - Spring 2022

Fall 2021: Conduct multiple Trauma Engaged Duke seminars; analyze data; conduct trauma literature review; assist with writing article based on qualitative data from project

Spring 2022: Conduct multiple Trauma Engaged Duke seminars; transcribe and analyze focus group data

This Team in the News
Making the Most of Duke, Summer 2021
Crediting

Academic credit available for fall and spring semesters
See earlier related team, Developing Best Practices for Trauma-informed Teaching and Learning (2020-2021). Image: Duke University first-year medical students listen to a lecture about the brain in the Learning Hall of the Trent Semans Center, by Jared Lazarus/Duke Photography

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Developing Best Practices for Trauma-informed Teaching and Learning (2021-2022)

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Stress associated with trauma is likely present in every student gathering at Duke University - not only in each student organization and residence hall, but also in every classroom and laboratory. Students bring experiences of past trauma with them and also experience diverse forms of stressors and trauma while at Duke, including sexual assault.

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NEA's COMMITMENT

The National Education Association (NEA) is committed to ensuring that school is a safe, welcoming, and inclusive place where all students can thrive, regardless of circumstance or ZIP code, and where educators have the support and resources they need to be successful. We believe supporting students who suffer from childhood trauma requires whole school involvement and transformation. All school employees play a crucial role in supporting students impacted by childhood trauma. In keeping with this vision, the Association and its affiliates are actively engaged in finding ways for schools and educators to address the issue of trauma and its implications for learning, behavior, and school safety.

FRAMING THE ISSUE OF TRAUMA

From school shootings that shock the nation with grim regularity to the daily toll of violence, poverty, abuse, and addiction in our communities that rarely makes headlines, America's students and their families often experience traumatic events that can shape their lives forever.

Decades of research and studies have established that children who experience adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) not only are more likely to exhibit negative behaviors at school, but are more likely to develop risky behaviors. They are more likely to face a host of negative health consequences over their lifetimes, including reduced life expectancy. Data from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) showed that 46 percent of America's children had experienced at least one adverse childhood experience with the number rising to 55 percent for children aged 12 to 17. One in five U.S. children had two or more ACEs.

Given the pervasiveness of ACEs across the population, most educators encounter trauma-affected students throughout their careers, whether they know it or not. Often these students exhibit a sudden change in behavior, from social withdrawal to violent outbursts or self-harm. When an educator frequently interrupts instruction to address disruptive behavior, teaching and learning for the entire class can suffer.

These outbursts and the punishments that often follow affect the psychological well-being and safety of both educators and students and, left unexamined, contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline that NEA is committed to eradicating.

ADDRESSING THE ISSUE OF TRAUMA

Unions and districts across the country are working together to address the epidemic of trauma in schools with students' and educators' needs in mind. They are collaborating to transform schools into "trauma-informed" or "trauma-sensitive" environments, taking deliberate steps to become safe havens for every student and safe working environments for every educator.

ACEs awareness and engagement on a national level is imperative to ensure students are healthy, safe, engaged and supported so that they are ready to learn. Trauma-sensitive and trauma-informed environments allow educators the opportunity to collaborate in a way that supports a student's mental and physical health so that learning can occur. School communities that engage in paid professional development, practice and support for all school employees create a culture that builds resilience for all students. Trauma-sensitive focus on education fosters a school climate where students feel safe and confident in their ability to learn, can differentiate between trauma induced behavior and appropriate behavior, and connect with adults and peers in a positive manner.

NEA believes that supporting students' needs around the issues of trauma will enable them to come to school ready to learn and meet academic challenges that reinforce the development of life skills, mental stimulation, and student learning. When schools become trauma sensitive, they strive to ensure that all students are receiving the supports they need to succeed.

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Supporting students who suffer from childhood trauma requires whole school involvement and transformation. NEA and its affiliates are actively engaged in finding ways for schools and educators to address the issue of trauma and its implications for learning, behavior, and school safety.