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Child Abuse Prevention, Treatment & Welfare Services | Children's Bureau

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Children in Poverty - Effects of Poverty on Children

It's no question that poverty and its effects harms communities and even entire countries, but did you know that socioeconomic status directly impacts children as well? Children living in poverty experience a wide variety of risk factors, ranging from health concerns to increased difficulties at school. Unfortunately, about 15 million children (approximately 21% of all children!) in the United States live in low-income families (incomes below the federal poverty line or poverty threshold), a measurement that has been shown to underestimate the needs of working families. Research shows that on average, families require a household income of about twice that amount to cover basic expenses. It is no secret that poverty in America is an epidemic that needs to be confronted head-on! Besides having difficulties meeting basic, everyday needs, here are just a few of the many other ways child poverty harms children of all ages:

The Health Risks of Childhood Poverty

Most are unaware of just how greatly low-income households & extreme poverty can influence child health and cognitive child development. However, poverty does indeed impact growth from early childhood, starting with brain development and other body systems. Poverty itself can negatively affect how the body and mind develop, and economic hardship can actually alter the fundamental structure of the child's brain. Children who directly or indirectly experience risk factors associated with poverty have higher odds of experiencing poor health problems as adults such as heart disease, hypertension, stroke, obesity, certain cancers, and even a shorter life expectancy.

In addition to brain development and health risks associated with holding low-socioeconomic status, a child's mental health is at risk of being greatly affected as well. Low-income parents and children are more likely to be affected by challenges with mental health and mental illness. These mental health problems often impair overall academic achievement and the ability of children to succeed in school. The effects of poverty can place these children at a higher risk of involvement with child welfare and juvenile justice agencies.

Growing Up in Impoverished Neighborhoods

Unfortunately, children who are poor are more likely to be raised in impoverished neighborhoods. These types of neighborhoods that have concentrated poverty levels are often associated with difficulties in academics, behavioral and social issues, and worsening health. Additionally, these children are more likely to live in neighborhoods where they are exposed to environmental risk factors. These socioeconomic risk factors may include malnutrition, pollution, food insecurity, housing instability, economic hardship, led exposure, violence, and crime.

In regards to violence, even indirect exposure (such as witnessing a violent act or simply knowing of its occurrence) has shown to leave adverse developmental outcomes. As a result of family income inequality, poor children are also disproportionately more likely to attend schools in districts with fewer resources, less funding from local tax dollars, less parental involvement due to longer, lower wage working hours, facilities that are inadequate, and with school leadership that has a much higher turnover.

Poverty and Academics

In addition to these macro-level factors that influence neighborhood schools, poverty affects the way children learn as well. For starters, children who directly or indirectly experience risk factors associated with poverty or low parental education have higher than a 90% chance of having 1 or more problems with speech, learning, and/or emotional development. Also, kids who are experiencing poverty at home often have difficulties focusing at school. (You cannot learn well on an empty stomach!) There are also often higher levels of stressors and issues that these young children are worried about after school, in addition to having to worry about completing their homework.

The Impact of Children in Poverty Within The Family

Because children grow within the context of a family unit, it is important to recognize how poverty affects the household as a whole. Firstly, parents living below the poverty level often have difficulties meeting basic economic needs for their families, such as paying for rent, food, utilities, clothing, education, accommodations, health care, health insurance, transportation, and child care. Living in poverty often means having limited access to health care, food and housing security, greater risk of school drop-out for children, homeless, unemployment due to lack of education or child care and, unfortunately, not reaching one's full potential.
Poverty Status and Stress
Additionally, stress and alienation have negative impacts connected to having little or no income. For parents, financial uncertainty is their major stressor when trying to meet their family's basic needs. According to the "Stress in America" survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (2017), the proportion of adults who reported that stress impacts their physical and mental health and overall well-being is significantly growing.

Unfortunately, poverty status and stress are two markedly consistent factors among perpetrators of child abuse, and they are intrinsically intertwined. While there are multiple causes of child maltreatment (such as mental illness, intimate partner violence, substance abuse, poor parenting skills, unmanaged anger, lack of coping strategies, or other individual issues), the correlation between poverty and stress, abuse, and neglect cannot be ignored. Children that experience these traumatic events (also known as adverse childhood experiences) are more likely to develop a variety of health problems, behavioral issues, or even substance abuse disorders down the road. The negative effects of adverse childhood experiences will only lead to further problems as the child develops from teen to adulthood.

Multiple studies have found environmental complexities and material deprivations to be causes of serious physical abuse. For example, low income, uneducated caregivers, single parent households, an incarcerated parent, teen pregnancy, unemployment, and living in the midst of community violence are macro-level socioeconomic factors that undoubtedly lead to stress in the family.

Additionally, inadequate bonding between the child and their caregivers, intimate partner violence in the home, a physical or mental disability (either the parent or the child), and other health problems (such as being born prematurely), are micro-level issues that place parents under tremendous mental stress, which may translate into abusive behavior. Younger children are more vulnerable to abuse as well, as 46.5% of child abuse fatality victims were younger than one year old, and 34.5% were between the ages of one and three ("Child Welfare Information Gateway," n.d.).

Furthermore, poor families living in poverty may not have access to adequate resources. Family income inequality creates high risk for neglect, criminal activity, and physical abuse due to additional stress in the home. While it is significant to note that most parents living in poverty or under stressful circumstances will not abuse or neglect their children, kids who grow up in poverty are at a greater risk for maltreatment overall.
The Cycle of Poverty
You may have heard the term, "The Cycle of Poverty." The cycle of intergenerational poverty refers to the idea that poor parents raise their children in poverty, who are then more likely to become poor parents themselves. It is important to keep in mind that children are more vulnerable to negative consequences of poverty, than adults. While various types of risk factors exist for impoverished households (such as including single parent or single income households and low parental education), the best protection against further increasing the child poverty rate is access to the labor market, quality childcare, and adequate employment and education for parents.

In fact, according to Harvard's Center on the Developing Child, it is best and more useful to intervene right at the start of development, rather than to try to fix things later. In other words, if we provide the right tools for parents and poor families in need, their children will have greater chances to get out of poverty and become successful as adults. Children who live in poverty are affected by one or more risk factors that have been linked to academic failure and poor health, a perfect combination for remaining in the cycle of poverty. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (2017), between three and 16 percent of children are affected by poverty in combination with another risk factor. An example of a risk factor may include single parent households or parents with no or low education (1.7 million). These alarming numbers will continue to rise if no adequate intervention is used.

So, what can be done?

Today, the leading strategy to break the cycle of poverty in families is the two-generation approach, which aims to improve the family's economic growth and circumstances by supporting parents both as workers and as parents. If low-income parents are provided with the opportunity to receive higher education, then they will be given the chance they need to compete for higher pay.

Furthermore, if low-income parents are provided with quality child care and access to resources like children's therapy, then their children's development will improve. Additionally, while we mentioned the numerous health outcomes that can arise from growing up in poverty, studies have shown that ending intergenerational poverty can greatly reduce these odds. Overall, by helping both generations reach their highest potential, we are helping multiple generations reach economic growth in order to escape the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
Parental Education as Protective Factor
Children who attend child care at an early age and whose parents have a high educational attainment, experience positive developmental benefits at a higher rate, compared to children who do not, including:

By age 18 months, there is a significant difference in vocabulary between children whose parents have a high educational attainment and attend a high-quality child care, compared to children whose parents have a low educational attainment and low income. By age 3, children whose parents have a college degree have a vocabulary 2-3 times larger than children whose parents did not earn a high school diploma.

By age 3, children with employed parents have a vocabulary of about 575 words compared to children with unemployed parents, who have a vocabulary of about 300 words.

Children with educated parents have someone in their own home who understands the struggles associated with academics and can help them push through the everyday obstacles.

Overall, parental education is indeed a significant predictor of child achievement. For example, in an analysis of data from several large-scale developmental studies, researchers concluded that maternal education was linked significantly to children's intellectual outcomes even in the face of poverty. Additionally, an examination of the direct effects of parental education, but not income, on children's standardized achievement scores found that both parental education and household income exerted indirect effects on parents' achievement-fostering behaviors, and subsequently children's achievement, through their effects on parents' educational expectations.

By helping parents gain the resources and support needed to pursue an education, we can not only help them and their children, but their entire family and community for generations to come.
School as a Protective Factor
Likewise, it is no mystery that children's own education is a tremendous protective factor in poverty as well. However, you may be surprised to learn that even school attendance alone can help change the course of their lives! Primarily, it has been said that "Every child is one caring adult away from a success story." Attending a school in which there is at least one adult who cares - whether that is a teacher, school social worker, counselor, principal, or administrative assistant - can cultivate resilience in children.

What you can do - TODAY!

Along these same lines, you can choose to be that positive, caring adult in a young child's life! You can volunteer to be a mentor, classroom aide, a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for foster youth, work at an after school club, invite your own child's friends over more often, volunteer in your communities child abuse prevention program, or even be a foster or adoptive parent! You can truly make a difference in a child's life.

Another big way that you and your family can help a young child, family, or even whole community is by giving, both of your time and finances! Donate to an organization that serves children in poverty, or sign up to volunteer at an event. Some individuals have even gone to their local school district and paid overdue lunch fees for students! Remember, it's hard to learn when you're hungry, and food insecurity disproportionately impacts low income families living below the poverty line! To make an effort towards poverty reduction, donate to local food banks, free clothing closets, and diaper banks. Tutoring children in need is also a huge way to help children's lives and make a difference in reducing the growing poverty rate!

Additionally, we can help achieve extreme poverty reduction by spreading awareness of the effects of poverty on children! Talk to your friends, family, government representatives, school officials, and community members about the harmful effects and impacts of growing up in poverty. Be an advocate for children's lives by supporting children's rights, change, and hope in your own community and neighborhood! Share this article on social media, as well as factsheets, and other information about childhood poverty and how widespread it truly is in the United States. No child should grow up in poverty - let's all do our part to help!

Sources:
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/five-numbers-to-remember-about-early-childhood-development/ http://people.auc.ca/brodbeck/4007/article9.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27244844 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26787551 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9299837 https://www.samhsa.gov/capt/practicing-effective-prevention/prevention-behavioral-health/adverse-childhood-experiences https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15982107

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Poverty and its Effects on Children | Children's Bureau

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Learn more about poverty and its effect on children. Be an advocate for children's lives - explore ways to get involved and make a difference!

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Addressing Race and Racism Head-On in the Classroom

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Addressing Race and Racism Head-On in the Classroom

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Addressing Race and Racism Head-On in the Classroom

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From featuring stories of resistance to making sure kids see themselves represented in the classroom, a few things to keep in mind when teaching American history.

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How to Be a 'Poverty-Disrupting Educator'

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How to Be a 'Poverty-Disrupting Educator'

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Of the approximately 73 million children living in the United States today, over 12 million live in poverty. That's 17 percent, or around one out of every six kids. Statistically speaking, there's a high probability that some of the children who walk the halls of your school or sit in the seats of your classroom are experiencing significant economic hardship.

Poverty yanks kids off the track: Studies suggest that it places children in a prolonged state of catch-up when it comes to foundational skills like literacy and language development, chasing after their more affluent peers. They may have limited or no access to basic human necessities like food and clean water, fixed housing, hygiene, and consistent uninterrupted sleep-conditions that impact their physical and cognitive development and abilities, their mental health, and their internal motivation to succeed in school.

"Many of us grew up hearing admonitions from parents that we should clean our plates 'because there are children starving in India' (or China or Africa)," William Parrett and Kathleen Budge write in their book Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools, 2nd Ed. "It was not clear how eating everything on our plates would help hungry children, but what was clear was that hunger was a terrible thing that happened to other people in faraway places."

But, as Parrett and Budge illustrate in their book, neither hunger nor poverty plagues only people in faraway places. The authors, who are professors emeritus at Boise State University, synthesized their findings from research and close observation inside of 12 high-performing, high-poverty schools-in American cities such as Brownsville, Texas, and Murtaugh, Idaho-into a case study of practices, policies, and mindsets that change student outcomes.

Despite the difficulties of the challenge, they remain resolutely optimistic, maintaining that "any high-poverty school can become a high-performing school."

I sat down with Parrett and Budge to discuss systemic classism and societal stereotypes about poverty, what they mean by "poverty-disrupting educators," and why so much of their work begins with confronting mindsets.

Paige Tutt: In the second edition of your book Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools, you mention an educator's "mental map"-"the images, assumptions, and personal perspectives that we hold about people, institutions, and the world in general (Argyris & Schön, 1974), formed by our lived experiences." Why should we examine our mental maps about poverty?

William Parrett: For 15 years, we've been asking educators the same question: "What do people in this country believe about people who live in poverty?" Ninety-eight percent of the time, what's the first thing they say? "They're lazy."

If we're not just tolerating, but actually educating, all kids in this country, what do we have to do to be successful at that? If we have mindsets and misconceptions about people that live in poverty, how are we going to look at those kids when they come in our door?

Kathleen Budge: Often, on a phone call with somebody who wants us to come work with them-it could be a superintendent or a principal-they will say they're worried about people's mindsets. They'll say: The teachers don't think the kids can learn, they have low expectations of the kids, they blame the kids-all of these things.

Nobody at any school we've studied said to us, "To address these mindsets, we spent one or two years really engaged in a deep study of systemic classism in the United States." What they did instead was get to know the students and their families very well, and developed much more grace, compassion, and empathy around what the families were facing.

Tutt: Is this related to what you call "an inquiry stance"?

Parrett: Yes. Many schools want to figure out poverty. They want a simple answer, an approach, a program, and then they'll be there. But the high-performing, high-poverty schools know it's a journey, and you have to do the work if your kids are going to succeed.

Budge: Right. Educators who ask lots of open-ended questions and make deep connections with students' families through things like home visits; that decide they're going to really focus on literacy, and then see growth in what kids achieve academically; that engage in some kind of professional development with an aim of really trying to understand poverty-that combination of focusing on relationships, experiencing academic success, and investing in professional development puts people in a time and place to examine their mental maps, to surface and think about their biases and ultimately challenge them.

Under those conditions, an educator's mental map about what they are capable of as teachers-and what their students are capable of as learners-fundamentally changes. The work dispels some of the stereotypes that they are likely carrying around in their minds.

Eventually, poverty-disrupting educators grow into self-efficacy and act from a conviction that they can influence how well students learn, even those who appear to be unmotivated. They know their content well, understand and can apply theories about human learning and motivation, use research-based practices effectively, and engage in reflective practice.

Tutt: You suggest that high-poverty schools should ask questions about the community they serve more broadly: What has happened in the community that has shaped collective experience? Who are the "haves" and "have-nots"? What do families believe is the purpose of the school?

Why is it important to understand things at a community level?

Budge: These questions increase educators' awareness of both the historic and contemporary marginalization of people who live in poverty. They also help them become more conscious of the ways in which power and privilege has operated, and continues to operate, in the local context, including the way in which their own power and privilege plays out. Educators who lack that context are likely to be less effective-or even harmful-because their perspectives aren't grounded in the inequities experienced by the community or the local schools, so they may not be responsive to the assets and strengths found in both.

When these questions are asked, we have seen systems, structures, and pedagogies change at the classroom, school, district, and community levels.

At the district and community level, for example, we've witnessed changes in systems and policies that ensure state-of-the-art schools are built in low-income neighborhoods, and funding is differentiated for schools based on need. Partnerships with community organizations have been developed to address the interests and needs of low-income students and their families: mentoring programs, scholarship programs, community schools, food banks, medical clinics, and before- and after-school programs.

Tutt: What about the questions educators ask about the school itself and the students they serve?

Parrett: Asking the right questions in the school starts with knowing your kids first. We often ask the educators we work with: Do you know how many kids in this building have a caring, meaningful relationship with an adult? The common response is often "How would you know that?" But you can know that by getting the adults in the building together and going through the kids one by one. What do you know about each child? Can you name a teacher or staff member the student has a relationship with? And then, can we share that information and lean on each other to help reach the kids who are vulnerable or alone?

You've got to be really curious about the kids that aren't succeeding, as well as the kids that are. If you want kids in high-poverty schools to attend college, for example, ask yourself why they can't go. The college placement exams are requirements-who's going to pay that $110 for the ACT exam? That was a huge equity issue that had to be uncovered. Now a lot of districts pay for this, as well as for kids to take AP classes. We would say that is broadening your understanding of-and becoming more aware of-the impact of poverty on kids.

Tutt: Both of your books talk about this notion of poverty disruption. What does it mean to be a poverty-disrupting educator?

Budge: There are two overarching attributes of a poverty-disrupting educator.

Stephen Covey has this great piece in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People about being proactive as opposed to a reactive person, being "response-able." It's a play on the word responsible. Poverty-disrupting educators take "response-ability" for themselves. They are able to choose their responses and refrain from blaming conditions, circumstances, or other people. They view their professional learning not only as a cognitive exercise, but also as an "identity-shaping" endeavor that is not just about "acquiring skills and information" but also about "becoming a certain person." This entails knowing as much as you can about your own mental model related to poverty and people who live in poverty. You have to understand the work starts with you-and you have to be willing to do this tough work, to surface implicit bias, and to question your assumptions when you fail.

Tutt: Does the role of poverty disruptor differ depending on your role in a school's ecosystem?

Budge: Absolutely. A key difference between a teacher's and a principal's ability to disrupt poverty is the principal's broader sphere of influence. A principal has the authority to say, "We're going to change the way we do business here, because it isn't working." That authority-informal and formal-has a really powerful effect over whether teachers are going to be willing to challenge the status quo in their classrooms and in the school more broadly.

Leadership can create safe environments for teachers to innovate, for them to feel they can step out and say something that is in their gut but they were scared to mention. Maybe a teacher is seeing something going on in another colleague's classroom that they know isn't really good for kids, but there's a culture of "I stay in my classroom and I don't advocate outside it." That's changing because of the equity-oriented, social justice-oriented work that's happening in schools, but it's still really hard for teachers to do if the principal isn't on board.

We rarely see a school where the teachers will challenge the status quo without having the principal absolutely insisting that the status quo's not working well for all kids. That is a key piece.

Tutt: In your book, you write that "once excellent teachers and staff are hired, the challenge then becomes retaining them," especially because the challenges in high-poverty schools are often greater than in more affluent ones. How can administrators invest in approaches to avoid staff burnout?

Parrett: When a teacher knows their time is being valued and knows they've got a group of encouraging peers around them and a leader that supports them and has a relationship with them, they'll feel a whole lot differently about staying in that school and doing this work.

But this all starts with good, competent hiring-getting the very best people you can. The typical sequence of hiring is at the end of the school year when teachers are worn out, burned out, tired, they leave and the principal handles filling those positions. If you think about one teacher affecting how many kids over how many years, it doesn't take a lot of math to understand the importance of getting a good, promising teacher.

Then you have to actively support them; use the resources around you in your school to encourage and develop relationships among your staff. We know from talking to educators in so many of these high-performing, high-poverty schools that they don't have high turnover. In fact, teachers actively seek to get hired into these schools. The staff work hard together and they get better together.

Budge: The most successful schools hire for fit and mission orientation. They might have prospective hires come and actually spend time in the school and observe candidates in that environment. They might even ask them to teach, or have kids conduct interviews of the prospective teacher and provide input to the principal or the hiring team.

Tutt: The work is challenging and the conditions can be stressful-what are some ways you've seen schools make this work more sustainable?

Parrett: Burnout was a looming concern. In a few of the 12 schools we studied, we observed programs that provide counseling for educators, wellness programs, mindfulness training, accountability support partners, and many other supports.

One of the districts that we work with, they've set a policy that after six o'clock at night on weekdays, all nonessential communication stops. And the same is true from six o'clock Friday night until six o'clock Sunday night. So unless it's an emergency, administrators tell staff, "we don't want you to be sending or receiving emails. Admin won't be calling you. We're going to respect your time away from school-ensure you take time to rest, to recover, to do whatever you need to do. We know it's hard work, and when you're here, we want you on it."

Tutt: Whose problem is poverty? Is it a broader societal issue or something that schools can have a considerable impact on? Is it both?

Budge: We don't bother arguing the chicken-and-egg question. A lot of scholars do: "Society has to improve before schools can" versus "No, schools have to improve before society can." We tend to start with something that another scholar, Paul Gorski, said: "Are you taking care of your own house first?" What is it that you can do within your sphere of influence?

There is a ton that schools can do if they are willing to challenge the status quo, to challenge the system. Schools make a huge difference in the lives of kids, and those kids can break the cycle of poverty. So schools do have a role, even amidst this larger, broader societal piece that really does also need to change.

The questions we would ask educators are the questions we ask in the book: What have you done in your sphere of influence? What can you do within those parameters-and have you actually done those things?

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How to Be a 'Poverty-Disrupting Educator'

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Over 12 million American kids live in poverty. What role can schools play in disrupting its pernicious effects?

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Welcoming Immigrant Students Into the Classroom

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Welcoming Immigrant Students Into the Classroom

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By Sara Burnett This blog post was originally posted on Edutopia.org by Sara Burnett of the Community Education Center of the American Immigration Council and contains useful recommendations in line with the Tellin' Stories approach to family engagement. The photos are from the day-to-day work of Teaching for Change in schools in the D.C. metro area. Read about Teaching for Change's resources for educators to teach about Central America here.
According to the Pew Hispanic Research Center, there are roughly 1.7 million undocumented students under age 30, who are enrolled in high school, have graduated or obtained a GED, or are currently enrolled in elementary or middle school. Additionally, this past summer our nation witnessed a spike in unaccompanied minors crossing our southern border with more than 50,000 children fleeing persecution from Central America and Mexico. Most of them await immigration court dates while staying with relatives or sponsors, but in the meantime, our laws require that they attend school. In 1982, the Supreme Court determined in Plyer v. Doe that all students, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to access K-12 education.

As the number of immigrant students increases, and sometimes in areas not historically associated with large immigrant populations, teachers and administrators are often seeking assistance with not only how to enroll these students, but also how best to meet their needs in the classroom. We've compiled a few best practices to create a welcoming classroom for immigrant students as well as some helpful Do's and Don'ts for building relationships with them and their families.
DO put out the welcome mat.
Building Relationships
DON'T demand documentation.
Send a message that all students, regardless of immigration status, have a right to attend your school and are welcomed.
DO seek support from mental health professionals and community groups.
It benefits no one when you use a lack of documentation (birth certificate, immigration status, social security number, etc.) to prevent an undocumented student from enrolling at a public school. A May 2014 letter (PDF, 170KB) issued jointly by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education offers guidance for how schools can enroll students even if they lack certain documents.
DO reach out to parents, guardians, and/or sponsors.
Some recently-immigrated students have experienced trauma from violence witnessed in their home country. Having a school counselor check in with all immigrant students is good idea not only to help students adjust to a different culture, but also to process any trauma, if encountered. Some students may need support for how to deal with difficult situations in non-violent ways.
DON'T think that lack of response means lack of caring. DO tell students about administrative relief.
As teachers, we hear this often: calling home and saying a few positive words about a student can go a long way toward establishing a good relationship with the student and his or her family. If language is an issue, ask a friend, teacher, or student to translate a letter or email home into the native language. Even if it's not entirely correct, the effort will be appreciated.
DO hold undocumented students to high expectations.
A parent, guardian, or sponsor may work long hours, or they may be afraid to talk with you because of a language barrier, their own immigration status, etc. Continue reaching out in a friendly, inviting way.
DO check in with your recently immigrated students.
Deferred action is a temporary relief from deportation. The DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program has been expanded, and a new DAPA (Deferred Action for Parental Accountability) program has been created for parents of a son or daughter who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. While neither program is a path to citizenship, it allows families to remain together in the U.S. temporarily and receive employment authorization. Point students and their families to the Administrative Relief Resource Center to see if they qualify, to learn the steps to apply, to contact an immigration lawyer, etc.

In some cases, you may have to scaffold materials depending on a student's language proficiency, but the level of challenge should be equitable. College is quite possible for them as more and more states have enacted their own versions of the DREAM Act, making higher education accessible for thousands of undocumented students.

Ask them how they feel about their school work, what they miss about their home country, what they like and don't like about America, and what questions they have. Give them daily or weekly opportunities to write and/or talk about their immigration experience with you and fellow students.

Continue reading here.

Related Resource: Teaching for Change's campaign to Put Central America on the Map in Schools, including free lessons and resources for classroom teachers.

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Welcoming Immigrant Students Into the Classroom - Teaching for Change

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This blog post was originally posted on Edutopia.org by Sara Burnett of the Community Education Center of the American Immigration Council and contains useful recommendations in line with the Tellin' Stories approach to family engagement. The photos are from the day-to-day work of Teaching for Change in schools in the D.C.

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Promoting Gender Equality in the Classroom

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Promoting Gender Equality in the Classroom

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AVISO LEGAL Y FINALIDAD DE LA PÁGINA WEB
En cumplimiento del artículo 10 de la Ley 34/2002, de 11 de julio, de Servicios de la Sociedad de la Información y Comercio Electrónico (LSSICE) se detallan los datos identificativos de la entidad
CONDICIONES GENERALES DE USO DEL SITIO WEB
ELESAPIENS LEARNING & FUN, S.L., con C.I.F. B-86432101 y domicilio social en c/ c/ Orense 20, 2-10, 28020, Madrid. España, inscrita en el Registro Mercantil de Madrid el 24 de abril de 2.012, en el Tomo 29.859, folio 143, hoja número M-537264, inscripción 1ª, es una empresa dedicada a producir y comercializar productos educativos y de entretenimiento digitales. A través de este aviso legal se pretende regular el acceso y uso, y en general, la relación entre este sitio web, accesible en la dirección de Internet http://www. elesapiens.com, y los usuarios del sitio web.

Las Condiciones Generales regulan el uso del sitio web de ELESAPIENS LEARNING & FUN, S.L., con C.I.F. B-86432101 y domicilio social en c/ Orense 20, 2-10, 28020, Madrid, España, inscrita en el Registro Mercantil de Madrid el 24 de abril de 2.012, en el Tomo 29.859, folio 143, hoja número M-537264, inscripción 1ª, al que se accede mediante la dirección http://www.elesapiens.com.

La existencia de las presentes Condiciones Generales de Uso no excluye la presencia de otras disposiciones o condiciones de acceso a las diversas secciones que componen el sitio de ELESAPIENS LEARNING & FUN, S.L.

Dentro de la expresión "sitio o sitio web" se comprenden -con carácter delimitativo, pero no limitativo- los datos, textos, gráficos, imágenes, animaciones, creaciones musicales, vídeos, sonidos, dibujos, fotografías y otros incluidos en el mismo, y, en general, todas las creaciones expresadas por cualquier medio o soporte, tangible o intangible con independencia de que sean susceptibles o no de propiedad intelectual de acuerdo al Texto Refundido de la Ley de Propiedad Intelectual. Asimismo, también se entenderán incluidos en este sitio web todos los microsites a los que se pueda acceder desde el presente sitio web, excepto que dicho microsite, expresamente recoja unas condiciones de uso propias, en cuyo caso se le aplicarán éstas.

El uso del sitio web de ELESAPIENS LEARNING & FUN, S.L, implica el conocimiento y plena aceptación de las advertencias legales y condiciones vigentes en cada momento en que el usuario acceda al mismo y que a continuación se especifican.

Asimismo, la utilización de determinados servicios a disposición de los usuarios de este sitio oficial puede estar sometida a condiciones especiales, advertencias o instrucciones que también deberán ser consultadas y aceptadas sin reservas por aquellos.

El usuario visitante es consciente de que el acceso y utilización de los servicios y contenidos del sitio se realiza bajo su única y exclusiva responsabilidad.

El usuario utilizará los servicios y contenidos exclusivamente para fines particulares con exclusión de cualquier modalidad de utilización posterior de los mismos con ánimo de lucro o reporte de algún beneficio, directo o indirecto.

En caso de que el usuario no acepte estas condiciones generales o, las condiciones particulares que regulen el uso de un determinado servicio y/o contenido destinado a los usuarios del sitio web y que dicha entidad determine, el usuario deberá abstenerse de acceder al sitio web o en su caso abandonarlo.

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TERMINACIÓN
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La suscripción a un Plan de Suscripción Gratuito, supone expresamente el conocimiento y aceptación de las condiciones de acceso a los contenidos de dicho Plan por el usuario.

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Strategies to promote gender equality in the classroom

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It is critical for children to recognize gender inequalities and grow without stereotypes or prejudices in order to create a more equitable society. Teaching equality, in a cross-curricular way, from different subjects to areas of the school, is the first step to combat inequality [...]

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Diversity and Inclusion Classroom Posters

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Looking for a way to promote inclusion and diversity in your classroom?Display these posters to help ALL students feel represented and supported! This set includes 8 non-editable posters with the following phrases:be kindbe yousmall hands change the worldlove wins togetherall are welcomebetter toget...

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For decades, researchers have found that teachers in public schools have undervalued the potential for academic success among students of color, setting low expectations for them and thinking of cultural differences as barriers rather than assets to learning.

In response, scholars developed teaching methods and practices-broadly known as asset-based pedagogies-that incorporate students' cultural identities and lived experiences into the classroom as tools for effective instruction. The terms for these approaches to teaching vary, from culturally responsive teaching and culturally sustaining pedagogy to the more foundational culturally relevant pedagogy. Though each term has its own components defined by different researchers over time, all these approaches to teaching center the knowledge of traditionally marginalized communities in classroom instruction. As a result, all students, and in particular students of color, are empowered to become lifelong learners and critical thinkers.

This explainer unpacks what it means to be a culturally responsive teacher, how all these research terms are related, and where other academic concepts such as critical race theory tie in-or not.

What is the definition of culturally responsive teaching?

Culturally responsive teaching means using students' customs, characteristics, experience, and perspectives as tools for better classroom instruction.

The term was coined by researcher Geneva Gay in 2000, who wrote that "when academic knowledge and skills are situated within the lived experiences and frames of reference for students, they are more personally meaningful, have higher interest appeal, and are learned more easily and thoroughly."

It's the kind of teaching that helps students of color see themselves and their communities as belonging in schools and other academic spaces, leading to more engagement and success.

What is culture, and why is it relevant to student learning?

Culture refers to the customs, languages, values, beliefs, and achievements of a group of people. Students' culture and lived experiences that influence how they understand and make sense of the world or themselves are an integral part of who they are as learners. As Emily Style, the former founding co-director of the National SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity), once wrote, "Half the curriculum walks in the door with the students."

While more than half of public school students are students of color, most schools are organized around the mainstream culture of white Americans. The culture that many students experience at home and in their communities is not always represented at school-or is represented in a stereotypical way.

Also, 80 percent of teachers are white. Research has found that teachers are just as likely to have racial biases as non-teachers, and those biases tend to influence the expectations they have for their students and their ways of managing their classrooms. For example, past research has found that white teachers have lower expectations for Black students than they do for white students, and those can turn into "self-fulfilling prophecies" when students internalize them or when teachers change their approach to students as a result of their mindsets.

One study found that white teachers were more likely to praise a poorly written essay if they thought it was written by a student of color than if they thought the essay was by a white student. Teachers' racial biases can also result in decreased access to advanced coursework and higher rates of suspensions.

When did culturally responsive teaching start?

Culturally responsive teaching stems from the framework of culturally relevant pedagogy, which was introduced by scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings in the 1990s. Ladson-Billings was tired of the commonly held narrative that Black children were deficient and deviant, and that there was something wrong with them. Instead, she wanted to find out what was right with Black children, their families, and their communities. To do so, she researched the practices of effective teachers of Black students.

For about two years, Ladson-Billings observed teachers who were identified by both principals and Black parents as being excellent. The teachers had different ways of teaching, but they all had high expectations for their students and fostered academic success. They also all valued and integrated themselves in the community from which their students came.

Ladson-Billings distilled the commonalities in those teachers' beliefs and practices into the framework of culturally relevant pedagogy, which she defined as a model that "not only addresses student achievement but also helps students to accept and affirm their cultural identity while developing critical perspectives that challenge inequities that schools (and other institutions) perpetuate."

There are three components of culturally relevant pedagogy:

student learning-prioritizing students' intellectual growth, including their ability to problem-solve;

cultural competence-creating an environment where students affirm and appreciate their culture of origin while also developing fluency in at least one other culture; and

critical consciousness-teaching students how to identify, analyze, and solve real-world problems, especially those that result in societal inequities against marginalized groups.

So, what are the characteristics of culturally responsive teaching?

Gay's research shows five essential components of culturally responsive teaching:

A strong knowledge base about cultural diversity. Teachers should understand different racial and ethnic groups' cultural values, traditions, and contributions to society, and incorporate that knowledge into their instruction.

Culturally relevant curricula. Teachers should include multiple perspectives in their instruction and make sure the images displayed in classrooms-such as on bulletin boards-represent a wide range of diversity. Teachers should also contextualize issues within race, class, ethnicity, and gender.

High expectations for all students. Teachers should help students achieve academic success while still validating their cultural identities.

An appreciation for different communication styles. Teachers should understand different communication styles and modify classroom interactions accordingly. For example, many communities of color have an active, participatory style of communication. A teacher who doesn't understand this cultural context might think a student is being rude and tell the student to be quiet. The student may then shut down.

The use of multicultural instructional examples. Teachers should connect students' prior knowledge and cultural experiences with new knowledge.

Doesn't that require teachers to reinforce stereotypes about students of color and even discriminate against white children?

In short, no. While the academic framework of culturally responsive teaching and other asset-based pedagogies emerged from how to best support students of color, it evolved into a teaching approach that serves all students, regardless of their racial background.

Sharroky Hollie, the director of the nonprofit Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning, works with teachers to practice what he calls cultural and linguistic responsiveness. In his work, he talks about the rings of culture, meaning the various aspects of students' identities that can impact how they interact with the world around them.

To Hollie, it's not just about thinking of ways to validate and incorporate a student's racial background into the classroom. It's not about thinking of students in a one-dimensional, stereotypical way. Culturally responsive teachers must also consider the student's gender, age, socio-economic status, whether they live in the suburbs or a rural area, and more.

"It's not as simplistic as we're trying to value our students of color," he said. "We're actually trying to value the rings of culture that they bring to our schools, regardless of their racial background."

For instance, in predominately white school districts, there are white students who, due to where they live or their family's socio-economic status, are underserved by their school district and could benefit from a culturally responsive approach to education, Hollie said.

What is culturally sustaining pedagogy, and how is it different than culturally relevant teaching?

Schools are still places where white norms are considered the default standard in the curricula, behavioral expectations, linguistic practices, and more. Culturally sustaining pedagogy says that students of color should not be expected to adhere to white middle-class norms, but their own cultural ways of being should be explored, honored, and nurtured by educators.

The framework builds on the work of Ladson-Billing and others but offers a "loving critique" that cultural relevance in the curriculum is not enough for students in today's world, given demographic shifts toward a more diverse society. Paris and Alim also argue that asset-based pedagogies, like culturally relevant teaching, traditionally haven't paid enough attention to young people's more fluid relationships with their identities.

Ladson-Billings has embraced the evolution of her foundational pedagogy, writing in 2014 that "culturally sustaining pedagogy uses culturally relevant pedagogy as the place where the beat drops." She also told Education Week that she is now paying close attention to how teenagers shape culture, an aspect that wasn't present in her original work.

It's important to remember that these asset-based pedagogies-culturally responsive, culturally relevant, and culturally sustainable, among others-are not in conflict with each other. While their frameworks vary, they all have the same goal of dismantling a deficit approach to educating students of color and focusing instead on their strengths, assets, and communities in the classroom.

What does the research say about the effectiveness of these teaching frameworks?

A 2016 synthesis of decades of research on culturally responsive teaching and related frameworks found that engaging in culturally affirming practices across subject matters, including mathematics and science, led to positive increases in students' understanding and engagement with academic skills and concepts.  For instance, students in high school math class could learn about statistics by assessing the probabilities of racial profiling cases in various neighborhoods or using other datasets applicable to their communities that bring up questions about justice and injustice.

Culturally responsive teaching and similar approaches to teaching also increased students' motivation, interest in content, and the perception of themselves as capable students, among other benefits, the study found. Brittany Aronson, an associate professor in educational leadership at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a co-author of the study, said, whenever teachers drew direct connections between classroom lessons and students' experiences outside of school, students could see greater value in the academic content as it applies to the real world. Such work helps students see themselves as knowledge producers and researchers.

Overall, teaching that makes school relevant to students helps them succeed both in terms of quantitative measures such as high test scores, and more qualitative measures such as becoming life-long learners able to ask critical questions about the world around them, both in and out of school, Aronson said.

What are some examples of culturally responsive teaching?

Teachers who practice culturally responsive teaching have a classroom full of books featuring characters and images that represent a variety of ages, genders, ethnicities, and other types of diversity. They share the achievements and expertise of people from different ethnic groups in every subject area. They include multiple perspectives when discussing historical and contemporary events, including those from oppressed groups who are often left out of the narrative. And they encourage students to draw on their prior knowledge and cultural experiences to make connections to the academic content.

Culturally responsive teaching also must have an element of critical consciousness, where students are empowered to critique and analyze societal inequities. For example, Teddi Beam-Conroy, an associate teaching professor at the University of Washington, was teaching the Declaration of Independence to a class of 5th graders. When they got to the line that said, "All men are created equal," Beam-Conroy asked her students, "Who were the men who were considered equal at that point?" To illustrate the point, she asked everyone to stand up-and then told them to sit down if they didn't identify as male, if they didn't identify as white, or if their parents rented instead of owned a home.

That exercise opened the door to a conversation about how Americans weren't all equal in the late 18th century. Beam-Conroy's students discussed when women and African Americans got the right to vote-and what implications that has had on the composition of U.S. Congress or the Supreme Court. The critical consciousness piece is "examining how historically, power has been distributed and guarded among particular folks who make the laws," Beam-Conroy said. "Fifth graders can understand that."

Culturally responsive teaching can also involve a deeper reimagining of classroom codes of conduct. For instance, in some students' culture, talking while someone else talks shows how invested and engaged they are in the conversation, said Hollie with the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning. Culturally responsive teachers find ways to incorporate that verbal overlap into their lesson rather than seeing it as rude or worthy of discipline.

What isn't culturally responsive teaching?

Researchers note that some educators say they're practicing culturally responsive teaching, but it's an overly simplified version. For example, for some teachers, a multicultural school potluck meal or adding diverse books to their classroom library sufficiently counts as affirming students' culture in education. But culturally responsive teaching is deeper, more critical work.

"There's a tendency to truncate culturally responsive teaching to be about a whole myriad of things-it's about relationships, it's about anti-racist education, it's about diverse books," said Zaretta Hammond, the author of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. "It's like that old parable of the king who asks nine blind men to describe an elephant. Each one grabs a different part of the elephant. 'Oh, it's flat and wide'-he's got the ear. 'No, it's like a rope'-he's got the tail. No one has the whole picture."

Too often, she said, white progressive educators view culturally responsive teaching as an add-on to their regular instruction instead of a fundamental shift in their pedagogy. For example, a teacher might think students of color just need to see themselves in order to feel motivated and do the work, so she'll incorporate diverse books into her classroom or syllabus-but not change anything to the content or her way of instruction.

Another common misconception is that culturally responsive teaching is a way of addressing student trauma, which is a deficit-based ideology that assumes the universal experience of people of color is one of trauma, Hammond said.

How widespread is culturally responsive teaching?

Most teacher-preparation programs have also incorporated culturally responsive teaching into their courses. And some school districts, including New York City and Baltimore City, have adopted a culturally responsive and/or sustaining approach to education.

Still, experts say it's difficult to pinpoint exactly how many teachers have adopted these asset-based pedagogies because some may use only certain tenets. For instance, helping students develop a critical consciousness is often ignored.

What does all of this have to do with critical race theory?

Critical race theory, broadly speaking, is an academic concept with the core idea that race is a social construct, and racism is not only the product of individual bias or prejudice but is also embedded in policies and systems, such as a legal system-or as some scholars such as Ladson-Billings propose, an educational system.

Aspiring K-12 teachers in graduate level courses may study aspects of critical race theory to better understand how school systems are designed in ways that don't serve the needs of students of color. But critical race theory is not taught as a guide for classroom instruction, nor is it typically used as a culturally relevant or culturally responsive lesson plan for kids and teens, said Aronson with Miami University.

Asset-based pedagogies, like culturally relevant or culturally responsive teaching, are not the same thing as critical race theory. They have different theoretical bases and different goals. However, there might be some commonalities-for example, the questions students are encouraged to ask about social systems, including education, may ring close to the consciousness critical race theory is meant to evoke.

In an interview with Education Week, Ladson-Billings stressed that culturally relevant teaching, as she defined it, has nothing to do with critical race theory. But opponents to critical race theory have glossed over those nuances, she said, adding that deliberative public debate is hard when people don't know what they're talking about.

"The attack on anything that allows more participation and moves us toward equity is going full force," she said.

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Here's what it means to be a culturally responsive teacher and where critical race theory ties in-or not.

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Race: The Power of an Illusion, Ep. 1: The Difference Between us

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Race: The Power of an Illusion, Ep. 1: The Difference Between us

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Instructional Equity with Zaretta Hammond

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Instructional Equity with Zaretta Hammond

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A Conversation About Instructional Equity with Zaretta Hammond

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Collaborative Classroom board member Zaretta Hammond shares her insights about instructional equity, the importance of distinguishing between multicultural education, social justice education, and culturally responsive education, and the "inequity by design" of our education system.

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Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty

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Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty

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For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families, according to a new analysis of 2013 federal data, a statistic that has profound implications for the nation.

The Southern Education Foundation reports that 51 percent of students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the 2012-2013 school year were eligible for the federal program that provides free and reduced-price lunches. The lunch program is a rough proxy for poverty, but the explosion in the number of needy children in the nation's public classrooms is a recent phenomenon that has been gaining attention among educators, public officials and researchers.

"We've all known this was the trend, that we would get to a majority, but it's here sooner rather than later," said Michael A. Rebell of the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College at Columbia University, noting that the poverty rate has been increasing even as the economy has improved. "A lot of people at the top are doing much better, but the people at the bottom are not doing better at all. Those are the people who have the most children and send their children to public school."

The shift to a majority-poor student population means that in public schools, a growing number of children start kindergarten already trailing their more privileged peers and rarely, if ever, catch up. They are less likely to have support at home, are less frequently exposed to enriching activities outside of school, and are more likely to drop out and never attend college.

It also means that education policy, funding decisions and classroom instruction must adapt to the needy children who arrive at school each day.

"When they first come in my door in the morning, the first thing I do is an inventory of immediate needs: Did you eat? Are you clean? A big part of my job is making them feel safe," said Sonya Romero-Smith, a veteran teacher at Lew Wallace Elementary School in Albuquerque. Fourteen of her 18 kindergartners are eligible for free lunches.

She helps them clean up with bathroom wipes and toothbrushes, and she stocks a drawer with clean socks, underwear, pants and shoes.

Romero-Smith, 40, who has been a teacher for 19 years, became a foster mother in November to two girls, sisters who attend her school. They had been homeless, their father living on the streets and their mother in jail, she said. When she brought the girls home, she was shocked by the disarray of their young lives.

"Getting rid of bedbugs, that took us a while. Night terrors, that took a little while. Hoarding food, flushing a toilet and washing hands, it took us a little while," she said. "You spend some time with little ones like this and it's gut wrenching. . . . These kids aren't thinking, 'Am I going to take a test today?' They're thinking, 'Am I going to be okay?' "

The job of teacher has expanded to "counselor, therapist, doctor, parent, attorney," she said.

Schools, already under intense pressure to deliver better test results and meet more rigorous standards, face the doubly difficult task of trying to raise the achievement of poor children so that they approach the same level as their more affluent peers.

"This is a watershed moment when you look at that map," said Kent McGuire, president of the Southern Education Foundation, the nation's oldest education philanthropy, referring to a large swath of the country filled with high-poverty schools.

"The fact is, we've had growing inequality in the country for many years," he said. "It didn't happen overnight, but it's steadily been happening. Government used to be a source of leadership and innovation around issues of economic prosperity and upward mobility. Now we're a country disinclined to invest in our young people."

The data show poor students spread across the country, but the highest rates are concentrated in Southern and Western states. In 21 states, at least half the public school children were eligible for free and reduced-price lunches - ranging from Mississippi, where more than 70 percent of students were from low-income families, to Illinois, where one of every two students was low-income.

Carey Wright, Mississippi's state superintendent of education, said quality preschool is the key to helping poor children.

"That's huge," she said. "These children can learn at the highest levels, but you have to provide for them. You can't assume they have books at home, or they visit the library or go on vacations. You have to think about what you're doing across the state and ensuring they're getting what other children get."

Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, was born in a charity hospital in 1959 to a single mother. Federal programs helped shrink the obstacles he faced, first by providing him with Head Start, the early-childhood education program, and later, Pell grants to help pay tuition at the University of Texas, he said.

The country needs to make that same commitment today to help poor children, he said.

"Even at 8 or 9 years old, I knew that America wanted me to succeed," he said. "What we know is that the mobility escalator has simply stopped for some Americans. I was able to ride that mobility escalator in part because there were so many people, and parts of our society, cheering me on."

"We need to fix the escalator," he said. "We fix it by recommitting ourselves to the idea of public education. We have the capacity. The question is, do we have the will?"

The new report raises questions among educators and officials about whether states and the federal government are devoting enough money - and using it effectively - to meet the complex needs of poor children.

The Obama administration wants Congress to add $1 billion to the $14.4 billion it spends annually to help states educate poor children. It also wants Congress to fund preschool for those from low-income families. Collectively, the states and the federal government spend about $500 billion annually on primary and secondary schools, about $79 billion of it from Washington.

The amount spent on each student can vary wildly from state to state. States with high student-poverty rates tend to spend less per student: Of the 27 states with the highest percentages of student poverty, all but five spent less than the national average of $10,938 per student.

Republicans in Congress have been wary of new spending programs, arguing that more money is not necessarily the answer and that federal dollars could be more effective if redundant programs were streamlined and more power was given to states.

Many Republicans also think that the government ought to give tax dollars to low-income families to use as vouchers for private-school tuition, believing that is a better alternative to public schools.

GOP leaders in Congress have rebuffed President Obama's calls to fund preschool for low-income families, although a number of Republican and Democratic governors have initiated state programs in the past several years.

The report comes as Congress begins debate about rewriting the country's main federal education law, first passed as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty" and designed to help states educate poor children. The most recent version of the law, known as No Child Left Behind, has emphasized accountability and outcomes, measuring whether schools met benchmarks and sanctioning them when they fell short.

That federal focus on results, as opposed to need, is wrongheaded, Rebell said.

"We have to think about how to give these kids a meaningful education," he said. "We have to give them quality teachers, small class sizes, up-to-date equipment. But in addition, if we're serious, we have to do things that overcome the damages of poverty. We have to meet their health needs, their mental health needs, after-school programs, summer programs, parent engagement, early-childhood services. These are the so-called wraparound services. Some people think of them as add-ons. They're not. They're imperative."

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Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty

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For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families, according to a new analysis of 2013 federal data, a statistic that has profound implications for the nation.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain

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To close the achievement gap, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement. Culturally responsive instruction has shown promise, but many teachers have struggled with its implementation―until now.

In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain compatible culturally responsive instruction.

The book includes:

Information on how one's culture programs the brain to process data and affects learning relationships

Ten "key moves" to build students' learner operating systems and prepare them to become independent learners

Prompts for action and valuable self reflection

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students [Hammond, Zaretta L.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

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National

Warning: This graphic requires JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience.

Rapid growth among certain racial and ethnic groups means the nation is becoming more diverse more quickly than expected.

Census data from 2020 shows America is growing, but not equally.

The data, released Thursday by the Census Bureau, will provide insight into local communities, help officials redraw congressional and state political lines, and be used to determine much federal funding for the next decade.

Major population gains in the Southern and Western regions of the country bolstered a 7.4 percent national increase in population over the past decade, with some of the biggest changes in Texas, Florida, Georgia and Washington state. Despite the gains, the pace of national growth slowed to its lowest rate since the 1930s.

[ How the racial makeup of where you live has changed since 1990]

The data shows that as the country grows, its racial makeup is changing. In an increasing number of places, no individual race constitutes a large majority of the population.

The biggest driver of both growth and diversity: the Hispanic population.

Hispanic population booms across the country

In 1990, Hispanics accounted for 9 percent of the U.S. population. Now, they account for 18.7 percent,becoming the largest non-White minority group and the second-fastest-growing single-race demographic group.

Hispanics also account for half of the nation's population growth in the past decade, showing increases in nearly every county across the United States.

In Florida, the Hispanic population also flourished - and not just in the southern part of the state. Central Florida is home to a large Puerto Rican population, which continued to grow after Hurricane Maria caused many to flee the island in 2017. New Cuban residents also added to Florida's population. In recent history, Cubans have been in the top 10 immigrant groups in the United States. The top four counties of residence for Cuban immigrants - approximately two-thirds of the Cuban American population - are all in Florida.

[ How America's 'places to be' have shifted over the past 100 years]

Immigration accounts for only a portion of the growth in the Hispanic population.

Instead, most of the growth stems from natural increases - more births than deaths - which is reflected in the diversity of the youngest Americans. Over half of the U.S. population under 15 identified as non-White for the first time in 2019. In the census a year later, almost 53 percent of people under 18 identified as non-White. Of that group, Hispanics made up half.

Widespread Asian population growth

The Asian and Pacific Islander population saw a growth pattern similar to Hispanics but on a much smaller scale. Despite relatively small numbers, Asians grew at rates faster than any other single-race group.

Seattle's booming technology industry is attracting new residents to the area. The software developer career path is Seattle's most common job, and in the United States 1 in 3 software developers are Asian, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The tech scene in Seattle also has the highest percentages of foreign-born workers in the United States.

A large portion of growth in the Asian population can be attributed to immigration. Since 2009, the increase of Chinese and Indian immigrants made annual Asian immigration counts higher than such numbers for Hispanics. Almost 60 percent of Asian Americans were born in another country.

[ Secret use of census info helped send Japanese Americans to internment camps in WWII]

The Asian American population grew by 36 percent over the last decade, and projections do not show gains slowing down anytime soon. By 2060, the Asian population in the United States is expected to pass 46 million, nearly four times what it was in 2000.

Black Americans move away from rural counties

Before the turn of the 21st century, the Black population was the largest minority group in the nation. Black Americans gained roughly 2.3 million people since 2010 but have roughly stayed consistent in share of the U.S. population, hovering around 12 percent, for the past three decades.

The movement of Black Americans away from Chicago echoes patterns of a "reverse Great Migration." Slowly beginning in the 1970s and continuously gaining traction, the group is moving to the suburbs and back to the South. Black people are moving to the South for a multitude of reasons: greater economic opportunity, lower cost of living, and high cultural and familial affinities.

[ Where America's developed areas are growing: 'Way off into the horizon']

While the Black population is shifting across the United States, it is also changing shape. Black Americans who identify as a single race are aging, adding five years to their median age since 2000, while multiracial Black people are younger than any other group - they have a median age of 16. Hispanics are the largest non-White U.S. population under 18, followed by Black people as the second-largest non-White group in the same age range.

American Indian and Alaska Native population saw modest gains nationwide

In the past decade, the American Indian and Alaska Native population increased by almost 11,000 people. It's the smallest growth the group has seen since at least 1990, with only a 0.5 increase. After a 5 percent undercount of people living on reservations in the 2010 Census, the bureau prioritized accuracy in 2020.

American Indians continue to move away from reservations and other tribal lands to cities because of increased educational and employment opportunities elsewhere, as well as more comprehensive health care.

Most American Indians and Alaska Natives reside in the West, the only region that gained population among this group. The small 3.3 percent increase in the West was bolstered by only three states - New Mexico, Idaho and Montana - that grew at rates above the national average.

[ A churning Golden State on the eve of new population numbers]

The American Indian and Native Alaskan population has continuously grown since 1960, when Americans were able to choose their racial identity on census forms. It is unclear which factors primarily contribute to the population increases - high births, low deaths and immigration counts on their own would not suffice. Some researchers say it could be a cultural shift: less stigma and more pride in being of native identity.

White population falls for the first time

This census marks the first decade the total number of people who identify as non-Hispanic Whites declined. The population decreased by 5.1 million. It is the first time this has happened in the 230 yearssince the enumeration started.

The White population suffered from two disproportionate characteristics that defined their decade: high mortality and low fertility. The shifts mean the group is becoming older, and the nation's younger generations are becoming less White over time.

[ The number of White people in the U.S. fell for first time since 1790, according to new data from the 2020 Census]

As recently as 1990, three-fourths of the U.S. population identified as White, a proportion that is rapidly declining. Now, only 57.8 percent of the population identifies as White. Roughly4 in 10 people identified as non-White in this census, a figure that is predicted to continue growing as the nation moves toward the next decennial census in 2030.
Show More Brittany Renee Mayes is an opportunity year fellow on the social issues team. She joined The Washington Post as a graphics reporter in June 2018. Adrián Blanco Ramos is a graphic reporter in the graphics department at The Washington Post. He previously worked at Spanish newspaper El Confidencial focusing on data visualization, data analysis and investigative journalism. He participated in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist's Paradise Papers investigation. Zach Levitt is a graphics reporter focusing on cartography for The Washington Post. He previously worked at National Public Radio and the Los Angeles Times. Ted Mellnik explores and analyzes data and maps for graphics, stories and interactives.

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Mapping America's racial population shifts over the last decade

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National Warning: This graphic requires JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience. Rapid growth among certain racial and ethnic groups means the nation is becoming more diverse more quickly than expected. Census data from 2020 shows America is growing, but not equally.

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Anti-Racism Book List For Kids: Starting To Talk About Race

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Anti-Racism Book List For Kids: Starting To Talk About Race

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[Image description: Illustration from All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold & Suzanne Kaufman. Children of various races and faiths pointing to locations on a world map.] If you're nervous about talking about race with your kids, these books about racial diversity will give you an easy place to start destigmatizing difference & celebrating racial diversity. Bold and *marked books are written or illustrated by #OwnVoices makers of color. Raising Luminaries is free and accessible for readers who can't afford a paywall. Donate or shop using an affiliate link via| Paypal | Venmo | Ko-fi | Buy a t-shirt | Buy a book Anti-Racism For Beginners: Part 1 Acknowledging & Celebrating Racial Diversity Posts may contain affiliate links, which allow me to earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Check out the full affiliate disclosure along with my statement of accountability. If you're into supporting libraries (please do!) more than consumerism, you can also support my work directly:

...

" How do I teach my kids to be anti-racist when I'm still learning myself?"
- Anonymous, Books For Littles Facebook Group (archived)

...

It's normal to get flustered when when our children talk about race. But if we let nervousness keep us silent and still, our fear becomes a weapon.

Growing up, I was told that discrimination would magically disappear if we stop acknowledging racial difference. All people are the same. Skin color doesn't matter. Only bad people are racist. If we are all nice and well-behaved, racism will go away.

This is the fallacy of colorblind ideology. It's a tool to keep us complicit in white supremacy. Don't be a tool.

We must talk about race with young kids. Racism thrives in silence.

When we refuse to talk about race at an early age, children absorb our silence as shame. We're taught that if we have nothing nice to say - say nothing at all. Well - white folks are aggressively silent when it comes to race! Does that mean that being Brown or Black is something to be ashamed of?

Kids pick up when we refuse to acknowledge racial difference - and how we treat people of color. Why are we surprised then, to see nice, well-behaved children reflect unconscious bias against people of color, then grow into adults who blame people of color for violence and harm against them?
(It's your job to be that adult.)
Your child needs at least one adult to speak truth to BS about racial assumptions.

My White mother who openly talked about race from birth - and how society would perceive and treat me because of my multiracial heritage. She raised me to understand that discrimination against me was not my fault. Violence would happen to me because of my race, my gender, my class but it wasn't caused by me - it was caused by white supremacy.

The Mominator refused to let me internalize the idea that I deserved racism. To do that, she first needed to acknowledge my race and the fact that I would have obstacles in life that white kids didn't.

We can help our children understand racism - and empower them to work toward racial equality.

Raise kids of color to feel proud of their culture and their right to self-advocate.

Raise white kids to recognize their duty to stand up against injustice.

But first, you've gotta acknowledge that racial differences - even though they are an imaginary, human-imagined construct, exist as a real thing in our society, with real-life impact on real-life people.

Start by telling our kids that yes - we do see skin color and racial identities.

For folks who were never given space to talk about racism and discrimination as kids (or even racial diversity), it's scary to start. We don't want to say the wrong thing and mess it up.

No worries, we are going to start very gently with non-controversial, easygoing books that just show kids that racial diversity exists. In future collections, we'll get into more emotionally loaded topics - like racial discrimination, racial privilege, colorism, and the subtle tools that uphold white supremacy, such as white fragility and respectability politics.

And this diversity is glorious.

Acknowledge & Celebrating Racial Diversity

From two anonymous BFL members:

"My daughter came home saying she didn't like her brown skin and wanted white skin and 'bright' hair instead. I'm looking for books that reinforce pride in who she is."

"My white daughter said to me the other day, 'I don't like dark skin. ' I ran to the internet to research books like these."

Yikes.

Use these comments as learning opportunities. Read these books to discuss biases they've absorbed during a quiet time home together (story time!) Encourage kids to speak bias aloud so they can hear how ridiculous it sounds, think about where it comes from, and realize how it develops.

When children point out that they like particular skin tones, body shapes, or hair textures more than others - don't shout at them or insist they are wrong. Kids this age can't untangle feelings from fact. Shaming them for a gut reaction is just going to get them to clam up.

Instead, help them untangle bias from fact on their own. Ask why they feel this way. Use in an open, non-judgemental tone. Keep asking questions to unpack these assumptions. We're not here to tell them what to think, we're here to model critical thinking about racial bias moving forward.

Discuss how all bodies are good bodies - how we differ, and what we have in common.

All Are Welcome, *Lovely, We're Different, We're The Same

Acknowledge & Celebrate Cultural Diversity

When we over-simplify racism, we tell kids that racism is simply bias against people based on skin color - it's not.
How do we counter the entrenched dominant narrative's focus on whiteness?
(That's colorism, another problem we can tackle later.)

Racism expands beyond skin color - it's assumptions and discrimination against individuals and groups of people, based on racial identity. This includes not just skin color, but also cultural norms and behavior, language, and other markers of racial and ethnic identity.
*On The Day You Begin, *Where Are You From?, *Alma And How She Got Her Name
White supremacy is assuming that racism would be over if people of color just assimilated and acted more like white people, that assimilation is even a goal for people of color, and that non-white culture is deviant or inferior to whiteness.

Read stories that show how people of color are not monolithic - we're complex individuals who can't be reduced to the caricatures of mainstream media. Our ethnic heritage is something valuable worth exploring, and our ancestors traditions, achievements, and challenges have an impact on who we are today.

But our race and ethnicity is not the only thing that defines us. Show kids how we all have a right to pride in our heritage - just not at the expense of punching down another culture.

Not pictured: *Islandborn is another lovely book, which I recommend with reservations. In 2018, several survivors came forth about Junot Díaz's problematic behavior toward women. One of these reports has been shown to have been overblown - but I'm not comfortable with the way we're dismissing all survivors of his actions because of this. The book itself is great - so I'll let you decide how to move forward with all that on your own.

Explain How Diversity Makes Us Stronger

Having a broad range of experiences to draw from, mindsets to brainstorm, and abilities to solve the problems facing humanity is a very good thing. Human diversity is good for all of humanity and evolution and stuff. I am pretty sure this is SCIENCE.

The idea that winnowing humanity into one make-believe-super-race, or segregating us all into silos based on our racial identity sounds ABSURD. Right? RIGHT?!

Obviously some families are not absorbing the fact that genetic diversity is good for society and the fate of humanity, so we have to make this clear. That whole 'melting pot' assimilation thing our teachers celebrated 20 years ago turned out to be a bad idea.

What we need is more of a chunky stew, with folks proudly retaining and celebrating our individual racial and cultural identities while cognizant of the challenges and discrimination many groups face. These books help kids see how diversity makes us stronger.

Stay Curious, Stand Brave & Talk About Race

Don't stop here. Now that your kids understand that human skin, hair, and all of that stuff comes in a broad change of colors, shapes, and textures - help them see how all people deserve basic human rights, respect, and kindness.

Click here for part 2 of raising Anti-Racist Kids - Children's Books That Teach Kids About Social Power & Paternalism

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Anti-Racism For Kids 101: Starting To Talk About Race - Books For Littles by Raising Luminaries

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Books to help kids to unpack racial bias so they can hear how ridiculous it sounds, think about where it comes from, and realize how it develops.

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All Are Welcome – 🏫 Read aloud kids book about diversity and going to school!

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Race Matters: America in Crisis, A PBS NewsHour Special

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How the Toxic Stress of Poverty Hurts the Developing Brain

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How the Toxic Stress of Poverty Hurts the Developing Brain

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How does 'toxic stress' of poverty hurt the developing brain?

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Transforming Your Classroom with Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Transforming Your Classroom with Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Education So White? Transforming Your Classroom with Culturally Responsive Teaching

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The Brain on Poverty | Jessica Sharpe | TEDxGreenville

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What's CODE SWITCH? It's the fearless conversations about race that you've been waiting for. Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race with empathy and humor. We explore how race affects every part of society - from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between.

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Think you’ll never have to ask for help? Here’s your chance to prove it.

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Picture Books that Illuminate Hunger, Poverty, & Homelessness in America

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Picture Books that Illuminate Hunger, Poverty, & Homelessness in America

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Picture Books that Illuminate Hunger, Poverty, & Homelessness in America — Doing Good Together™

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Explore these complicated issues through the power of story, and get inspired for your next service project or kindness activity.

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Some ideas on how to minimize gender bias in our teaching practice and curriculum.

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How To Help Kids In Poverty Adjust To The Stability Of School After Break

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How To Help Kids In Poverty Adjust To The Stability Of School After Break

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The first day back from winter break can be restless.

Many children are still coming down from the excitement of the holidays. Two unstructured weeks away from school - with strange food, rituals and relatives - can be overwhelming for many children, especially when it grinds to a halt after the new year and normality resumes.

But for students whose families are struggling in poverty, time away from school isn't an exciting blip on an otherwise calm school year. For them, it can be a crippling time of insecurity when it comes to food and shelter.

And teachers can tell.

"They come back to school and it is super obvious how exhausted they are," says Sonya Romero Smith, a kindergarten teacher in Albuquerque, N.M., where she has worked with many families in poverty.

Romero Smith leads a course for her local union on how teachers can work with the most vulnerable students, like those living in poverty. She says fatigue is just one sign that a student's break might have been chaotic.

"Clothes are dirty at this point," Romero Smith says. "There's an inability to stay focused - sometimes that's hunger or some form of neglect." A student might become aggressive or clingy, she says, or might not want to go home at the end of the day.

With 1 in 5 children in the U.S. living below the poverty line, this scenario plays out in classrooms nationwide every January.

Living in poverty is often stressful, with families grappling to find the next meal, a warm place to sleep or quality child care. Those experiences, repeated over and over again, can actually change a child's brain.

Chronic stress can inhibit a child's ability to manage his or her behavior, says Ross Thompson, a University of California, Davis professor who studies child social-emotional development. It can also affect language and memory skills.

Children - regardless of home life - manage behavior by predicting their environment, Thompson says. After an unpredictable winter break, teachers need to give students room to ease back into school - and this might be harder for those from chronically stressful homes.

"Expecting that young children are going to be capable of sitting in circle time is probably not the best expectation," says Thompson, who added that shortening time spent sitting still and adding more active lessons into the day might ease students back into the school routine.

Using verbal transitions and songs - like a cleanup song - helps remind students how school works, he says.

On a larger scale, Thompson says training teachers to be aware of what might be going on in some students' lives can build empathy. Instead of kicking disruptive students out of the classroom, administrators can prepare teachers with strategies that address some of the issues that chronic stress can bring.

In Sonya Romero Smith's classroom, however, some students still have a hard time readjusting, despite the added reminders and slower pace.

She says tangible securities go a long way - like having some food and clothes available.

"Those first few days, make that environment safe again. It's OK that they're tired," says Romero Smith, who became the foster parent to two of her former students.

Not all teachers can foster a student, but they can point families to resources like shelters, community centers, libraries and public transportation options, says Romero Smith.

There's also a simple message that teachers can use before the break begins: "You're going to come back. Don't worry. We'll be together again in this many days," she says, showing them exactly what that looks like on a calendar.

She says she considers this extra work an ethical responsibility.

"If school is the place where you're supposed to get knowledge and realize what the world has to offer," she says, "it should be the safest place, where you have the ability to show your greatness."

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How To Help Kids In Poverty Adjust To The Stability Of School After Break

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Returning to school after a few weeks away is a tough transition for many kids, but it's even harder for children living in stressful homes.

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Understanding Poverty in the Classroom: Changing Perceptions for Student Success

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People who live in poverty consider life in different ways than those who have adequate basic resources. Many educators tend to see the world through their middle-class worldview. Because of this, they do not understand these significant and often rational differences. They may misinterpret behav...

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How One Woman Reinvented School To Combat Poverty

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How One Woman Reinvented School To Combat Poverty

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How One Woman Reinvented School To Combat Poverty

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How to Support Students Experiencing Homelessness

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How to Support Students Experiencing Homelessness

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In San Leandro, California, history haunts. The fog that rolls over the yachts and golf courses on the coast disappears into the same air that held the smoke and screams for justice from this summer's protests.

The suburb has a legacy of exclusion. After World War II, covenants kept property owners from selling space to people of color-especially Black people from nearby Oakland. San Leandro was built, in many ways, to keep people out.

Dr. Sonal Patel felt the weight of that history when she talked to Black families about their experiences with racism as they lived and worked in the surrounding communities. She felt that weight acutely after the September 11th attacks. A kindergarten teacher at the time, she listened as Sikh and Muslim families expressed to her that they felt unwelcome in the city.

"I'm not sure we want to live in the community," she remembers them telling her. "We're having a hard time walking to school." During this time, Patel says, many Sikh and Muslim families left the school community and left San Leandro altogether.

Back then, the district lacked concrete plans to address these families' concerns. Today, Patel serves as the assistant superintendent of educational services for the San Leandro Unified School District. She looks back on these experiences as teachable moments-and as turning points.

"We have made a really concerted effort to really outreach and ensure that our school district is conscious of the history and legacy of what's happened," she says, citing the long-unaddressed need for anti-racist policies and the consequences of not having proactive plans in place immediately following 9/11.

In 2016, when xenophobia once again threatened to unmoor entire communities, students from San Leandro High School's Social Justice Academy made a presentation to the school board. They didn't want history to repeat itself.

They wanted to be a sanctuary school-and a sanctuary district.

What Is a Sanctuary School?

Like sanctuary cities, sanctuary schools are not firmly rooted in a single, legal definition. Instead, the "sanctuary school" label broadly signals a commitment to protecting undocumented students and their families from federal immigration enforcement, especially in school spaces.

This is necessary, in part, because the barrier between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and school campuses is razor-thin. The only thing keeping ICE from entering schools is an internal policy-ICE's "Sensitive Locations Memorandum" from 2011. The memo also lists churches, funeral homes and hospitals as sensitive locations where arrests won't be made.

But in Pennsylvania this past March, a man from Honduras was detained inside a hospital and taken into ICE custody. For many undocumented people, it was a terrifying reminder that the memo may not protect them, even in their most vulnerable moments. Someone seeking life-saving care could be separated from their family-so why not someone taking their child to school? Why not someone walking to homeroom?

"Everything that we've seen from this administration leads us to believe that we ought not be surprised about what they do," says Paul Chavez, the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's immigrant justice work in Florida. He says it's important for schools and districts to draw a line in the sand with comprehensive sanctuary policies.

After all, public schools have a legal obligation to enroll undocumented students and remove barriers to equitable education. Sanctuary schools take this responsibility and add to it a recognition that equal access to education cannot happen in a space in which students from immigrant families feel unsafe.

According to Immigrants Rising, a nonprofit advocating for institutional and policy change, sanctuary schools uphold that promise of safety by, at the least, refusing to share student information with federal immigration authorities; restricting those authorities' access to campuses; keeping school officers from serving as resources to those authorities; and providing supports that serve undocumented students and students with undocumented family members.

These core qualities of sanctuary schools parallel a long history of local resistance.

A Call to Action

The modern U.S. sanctuary movement is most often traced back to the 1980s, when synagogues, churches, campuses and entire cities offered refuge to people fleeing civil war in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala-a rebuke of Reagan-era intervention in the region and immigration policies denying refugees "asylee" status.

The movement regained steam more than 20 years later. As refugees once again arrived in the United States from Central America in large numbers, the Obama administration drastically increased immigration enforcement, at one point surpassing 400,000 deportations in a single year.

Against a backdrop of mass deportation and raids by ICE, schools saw students traumatized and families afraid to send their kids to class. Districts in Albuquerque, Los Angeles and San Francisco passed sanctuary resolutions and policies in response.

Upon the election of President Trump-whose campaign rhetoric had included promises to close the southern border, increase ICE enforcement and ban immigration from Muslim-majority countries-those fears multiplied. By late 2016, calls to address them head-on had become urgent.

"Kids were not coming to school. There was a huge drop in November. And then you had kids coming to school crying," says Roseann Torres, a second-term member of the school board in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).

At that time, OUSD already had a sanctuary policy in place. It had been instituted after a 2008 incident when an ICE officer allegedly escorted a student's mother to a school campus before detaining her. But threats of increased ICE enforcement resurfaced that community trauma, Torres says, and in the aftermath of Trump's election, "everybody went into panic mode."

It became clear that they needed to dust the old policy off and address its actionability. In December of 2016, with the support of fellow representative Shanthi Gonzalez, Torres introduced a new sanctuary resolution.

The resolution's language affirmed students' right to education and all school services regardless of immigration status. It also encouraged improved history curricula and engagement with current events, partnerships with community-based and legal aid organizations, policies that protected students and their personal data from ICE, and training for staff to see these promises through.

The resolution passed. It was among the first of a post-2016 wave across the United States.

The following month, President Trump issued executive orders attempting to mandate cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. In the 100 days after he signed those orders, more than 41,000 people were arrested for civil immigration offenses.

Students-and schools-immediately felt the devastating repercussions. In February 2017, a raid in Las Cruces, New Mexico, resulted in a 60 percent increase in student absences. Cities like Miami, Des Moines, Portland and Milwaukee created or revised sanctuary school resolutions to tighten protections for undocumented students and families.

California led the way. By September of 2017, 118 of the state's school districts had declared themselves "safe havens" or sanctuaries. Oakland was one of those districts. So was San Leandro.

In the aftermath of the 2016 election, as anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric and executive orders descended from the highest office in the land, the San Leandro community had wanted to know where their schools stood-and if they'd be protected. Spurred by student activists and a proactive school board, Dr. Sonal Patel and others got to work.

"Schools by design aren't necessarily safe havens," Patel says. "You have to actually, actively make them so."

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In San Leandro, California, history haunts. The fog that rolls over the yachts and golf courses on the coast disappears into the same air that held the smoke and screams for justice from this summer's protests. The suburb has a legacy of exclusion.

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Immigrant Students Describe What it was Like to Come to America

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Immigrant Students Describe What it was Like to Come to America

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Coming to America - English Learners Speak Out

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Rights of English Learners, immigrant students, and migrant farmworker students in schools

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Rights of English Learners, immigrant students, and migrant farmworker students in schools

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Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators

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Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators

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This guide was created for educators, school support staff and service providers who teach, mentor and help open the doors of opportunity for undocumented youth and unaccompanied and refugee children currently living in the United States. Educators, school support staff and service providers are often the first individuals a student and/or family comes out to as undocumented.

Moreover, they are often the first ones to witness the impact of increased enforcement measures on students and their families.

Schools should be safe havens that embrace all students and families, regardless of citizenship and national origin, and that includes unaccompanied and refugee children. The 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe ruled that undocumented children have a constitutional right to receive a free public K-12 education, which provides the means to becoming a "self-reliant and self-sufficient participant in society," the court wrote, and instills the "fundamental values necessary to the maintenance of a democratic political system." However, today's increased enforcement measures by the Department of Homeland Security and campaign promises made by the incoming administration threaten that right for thousands of undocumented youth and the 4.1 million U.S.-born children who live in mixed-status households with at least one parent or family member who is undocumented.

Facts About Undocumented Students

An undocumented student is an aspiring citizen who came to the United States without legal documentation or who has overstayed his or her visa. These students:

Often don't know they are undocumented until they begin the college application process;

Don't qualify for federal grants or loans, even if they are in financial need and their parents pay taxes;

Are racially and ethnically diverse, from all corners of the world, and are part of the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Educator's FAQ About Immigration Raids

What impact do raids have on children and youth?

Research consistently shows that immigration enforcement actions have a harmful impact on the health, safety, academic performance and overall well-being of children, including U.S. citizen children living in mixed-status families. According to a 2010 report by the Urban Institute, children who witnessed parents or family members apprehended in a home raid were much more likely to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder than children whose parents were arrested in other settings, including greater changes in sleeping and eating patterns and much higher degrees of fear and anxiety. Several teachers in North Carolina also reported significant behavioral changes and increased absenteeism among students following a local community raid, including among U.S. citizen students.

Are there places where raids are prohibited?

Yes, with exceptions. According to a policy memorandum released by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in 2011, commonly referred to as the "sensitive locations memo," ICE officers and agents are to refrain from enforcement actions at least at the following locations and events:

schools (including preschools, primary schools, secondary schools, colleges and universities, and other institutions of learning, such as vocational and trade schools);

hospitals;

churches, synagogues, mosques and other institutions of worship, such as buildings rented for the purpose of religious services;

funerals, weddings and other public religious ceremonies; and

public demonstrations, such as a march, rally or parade.

Note: The sensitive locations policy memorandum may be reversed. School leaders should stay informed about possible changes.
Is there a federal law that prevents schools from sharing student information?

Yes. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), schools are prohibited, without parental consent, from providing information from a student's file to federal immigration agents if the information would potentially expose a student's immigration status. If ICE agents present a school with a removal warrant (deportation order), the school is still permitted to refrain from providing student information, as the warrant is administrative, not judicial. Under FERPA, schools may disclose directory information without consent, but they are required to allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Some schools [and the Southern Poverty Law Center] have also interpreted the Plyler decision as prohibiting them from requiring students to provide Social Security cards or birth certificates as a condition of enrollment, test taking or participation in school activities. For more on FERPA, see familypolicy.ed.gov.

What Educators, School Support Staff and Communities Can Do

Issue a statement-in English and in other languages spoken at the school-articulating that the school supports immigrant students/parents and affirming publically that it is a welcoming site.

Stress the importance of taking proactive steps to ensure the safety and well-being of children and entire communities.

Distribute "know your rights" materials to students, families and communities about what to do if a raid occurs or an individual is detained.

Identify a bilingual person at your school who can serve as the immigration resource advocate in your building or on your campus.

Work with parents to develop a family immigration raid emergency plan.

Provide a safe place for students to wait if a parent or sibling has been detained.

Provide counseling for students who have had a family member detained by ICE.

Work with your school board to pass a resolution affirming schools as welcoming places of learning for all students, distancing the schools from enforcement actions that separate families.

Strengthen relationships with local institutions of higher education and community-based organizations that can support the needs of unaccompanied children and students with interrupted formal education.

Maintain-in English and in other languages spoken at the school-a list of resources, such as the names of mental health providers, social workers, pro bono attorneys and local immigration advocates and organizations that can be shared with your students and their families.

Partner with a pro bono attorney, legal aid organization or immigrant rights organization to schedule a "know your rights" workshop on campus to inform students and families about their rights.

Find out if there is a local immigration raid rapid response team. These teams usually consist of attorneys, media personnel and community leaders who may be able to provide support.

Participate in National Educators Coming Out Day, held annually on November 12, and "come out" in support of undocumented students.

Participate in National Institutions Coming Out Day, held annually on April 7.

For additional tools and model resolutions to create safe, welcoming environments for all students, visit aft.org and see the toolkit for this story.

Taking Action Beyond The Classroom

Advocate to stop raids and halt deportation proceedings.

Unaccompanied children and youth should be in school, not in detention centers awaiting deportation. Educators can play an important role in protesting raids and halting deportation proceedings. For example, if a student has been detained by ICE, you can send a letter of inquiry to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, asking for prosecutorial discretion to be exercised or considered, or you can file a formal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

You can also distribute the United We Dream deportation defense guide, which was published to inform members of Congress and other elected officials about the role they can play in stopping the deportation of their constituents and other community members.

Elected officials have successfully advocated for individuals in removal proceedings for years and continue to employ this process to help immigrant communities even today. The guide is also a useful resource for community advocates and people in deportation proceedings seeking support from their elected officials. Download the guide here.

Adopt resolutions.

School districts are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of all their students while they are in school. One way to create a welcoming school environment and protect undocumented students while in class and on school grounds is to pass a resolution that restricts ICE agents' access to school property, similar to the one the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) passed in February 2016. The LAUSD resolution:

Forbids immigration enforcement agents from going on campus without approval from the superintendent and the LAUSD law office.

Forbids school staff from asking about a student's immigration status or that of family members.

Provides teachers, administrators and other staff with training on how to deal with immigration issues and how to notify families in multiple languages of issues.

Asks all schools to treat students equitably, including those receiving free and reduced price meals, transportation and other services.

Requires the superintendent to come up with a plan to provide assistance and information for students and families "if faced with fear and anxiety related to immigration enforcement efforts."

Such resolutions can also improve protections for students by affirming that the schoolhouse doors are open to all students, no matter their prior academic attainment or their language proficiency. For additional information about what actions cities and counties can take to protect immigrants and make communities welcoming places for all, visit Cities for Action.

Make public statements.

Educators, administrators, students and community allies can make public statements denouncing immigration enforcement raids to reassure students and families that their local school remains a safe haven.

Create an online petition to prevent a student's deportation.

Online petitions are powerful tools for building public awareness and community support. See the NotOneMoreDeportation.com petition for 19-year-old Kimberly Pineda Chavez, who was detained in the United States after escaping violence in Honduras.

Organize a rally or walkout opposing ICE raids and deportations.

In February 2016, educators and community allies in Durham, North Carolina, organized a rally in support of a high school student detained by ICE. Actions like this help to support individuals fighting their deportation cases. The student's teachers even mailed school assignments to his detention facility to help him stay on top of his work. "There is nothing that will hold me back from giving a kid his classwork and finish their education and graduate," teacher Ellen Holmes told a local news station.
Editor's note This content was originally published by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and its partners: United We Dream's Dream Educational Empowerment Program, the National Immigration Law Center and First Focus. This excerpt was adapted and reprinted with generous permission from the AFT.

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Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators and School Support Staff

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This guide was created for educators, school support staff and service providers who teach, mentor and help open the doors of opportunity for undocumented youth and unaccompanied and refugee children currently living in the United States. Educators, school support staff and service providers are often the first individuals a student and/or family comes out to as undocumented.

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ICE Raids Provoke Fear in Latino Families

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ICE Raids Provoke Fear in Latino Families

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ICE raids and White House schemes provoke fear in Latino families

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Donald Trump pledged in his campaign that, upon taking office, he would unleash U.S. immigration agents to chase down the “bad hombres” among the millions of undocumented immigrants in the country.

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America Arias is an Emmy-award winning news producer and Dreamer. The goal of AMERICA'S DREAMERS is to share inspiring stories, resources and knowledge from brilliant leaders, entrepreneurs and influential celebrities... So that you can be inspired to chase your own American dreams!

America Arias is an Emmy-award winning news producer and Dreamer. The goal of AMERICA'S DREAMERS is to share inspiring stories, resources and knowledge from brilliant leaders, entrepreneurs and influential celebrities... So that you can be inspired to chase your own American dreams!

Aspiring Immigration Activist

As someone who is very interested in pursuing immigrant/human rights as a career and is interested in studying immigration law, this episode was amazing to listen to! To not only hear the perspective of an immigration lawyer, but also of two DACA recipients, has only served to solidify my desire to enter that field and strive to make a positive difference! Thank you so much!!!!

Inspiring

I enjoy the way the host America does her interviews. She asks important question to the guest speakers to stay on topic with what the listeners are curious about. The speakers have great stories & are very relatable. Keep doing your thing girl & also I'd love to be you best guest!

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America Arias is an Emmy-award winning news producer and Dreamer. The goal of AMERICA'S DREAMERS is to share inspiring stories, resources and knowledge from brilliant leaders, entrepreneurs and influential celebrities... So that you can be inspired to chase your own American dreams!

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Children's Books About the Immigrant Experience

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Children's Books About the Immigrant Experience

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Immigrants contribute to our society and community today just as much now as they have in the past.

Which, unless you're Native American, you are like me, a descendant of an immigrant. My ancestors came from northern Europe.

Where did yours come from?

I find that knowing people who have immigrated to our country is so rich because it gives us a global perspective. And, it reminds us of how many immigrants are doing essential jobs that contribute to our community.

As a child, my family in a small Washington town hosted refugees fleeing their country. I remember families from Vietnam and El Salvador. These families left an impression on me. I learned that people have different languages, experiences, and food preferences. But that ultimately, all people want is safety and a chance at a better life.

As a teacher, I taught many immigrant children whose language, foods, and cultures added depth to our classroom. And, it was my honor, as a facilitator, to set up a respectful class culture so that other children who noticed differences could be curious and most importantly, kind to their immigrant classmates. Sometimes when children see differences, they can be unkind so we must model for them how to make space for their observations and have respectful, enlightening discussions about our differences.

My daughter's kindergarten class felt like the United Nations - which, incidentally, made their Flat Stanley projects amazing. She knew immigrant kids from all sorts of other countries. For her, it was normal to hear other languages, accents, and names.

Do you know immigrants in your own life?

Do your kids have children from other countries in their classrooms?

Do your children know immigrants and what it means to immigrate from another country?

Whether or not you are in a community with immigrants at this precise moment, you can help your children learn about the challenges of moving to a new country and culture and the ways that immigrants contribute to our nation.

How?

Read stories.

That's one of the best ways to learn about immigrant experiences.

Immigrant stories build understanding and empathy.

Because we need to raise children who will understand that all people matter.

When we personalize big topics like immigration with stories, it reminds us that behind the big issue of immigration are people's stories, individual stories, and they matter.

Picture Books About Immigrants

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
A mom and child journey to a new place to live. When they arrive in the new country, they find that books help them develop both their language skills and also their voices. Exquisite artwork.

The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story by Aya Khalil, illustrated by Aaait Semirdzhyan
This wonderful story shows the value of being bilingual and sharing your language and culture with others! Kanzi's new teacher values Kanzi's culture and language. She helps Kanzi share her Egyptian culture and Arabic language with her classmates, building bridges, and friendships with her new classmates.

Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleishman, illustrated by Bagram Ibotoulline
A little girl's Italian grandfather shares his immigration story with her by showing her objects stored in tiny matchboxes in a cigar box that spark his memories. Since he couldn't read or write before he came to America, the objects are his way to remember his life.

A Day's Work by Eve Bunting
In a story about honesty and immigration, a young boy named Francisco accompanies his non-English speaking grandfather to look for a day labor job. Francisco lies to get his grandfather a job as a gardener, even though the grandfather knows nothing about it. The grandfather learns of the lie and the two of them tell the client and work to fix the client's gardens.

I'm an Immigrant Too! by Mem Fox, illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh
This worthwhile book shares the immigration stories of people living in Australia who consider themselves Aussies but originally came from places like China, Somalia, England, and Italy. A beautiful celebration of immigration! " My auntie came from Athens with her brother and her niece. And now we live in Adelaide because it's so like Greece. "

When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest, illustrated by P.J. Lynch
With great sadness, a poor European village girl leaves her beloved grandmother for immigration to America narrating a story of European immigration.

by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui
(graphic novel)
A young boy wakes up early to go fishing with his dad. As they fish for their dinner, Bao helps his dad build a fire and put the fish in a bucket. While they're together, Bao's dad recalls fishing in his home country of Vietnam. The blue-black illustrations and precise prose help us feel the stillness of the early morning hours and the strong bond between father and son. Later that night, the entire family gathers together to eat the morning's catch.

by Susana Gomez Redondo and Sonja Wimmer, illustrated Lawrence Schimel

Lyrical and descriptive, two girls, one who is an immigrant, develop a friendship based on kindness even though they don't speak the same language. " With a finger, I drew a welcome for her, warm and soft, like long scarves and fluffy pillows. " When Saida arrived, the friends teach each other new words and build a friendship.

Chapter Books About Immigrants

After moving from China to the U.S., Mia and her parents eventually find a live-in job at a motel where they end up working around the clock for very little pay. Mia helps out by working at the front desk. She befriends the weekly tenants and uses her English skills to write letters advocating people in tough spots. Not only is this a memorable coming-of-age immigrant story but it also shows the determination and hard work of immigrants like Mia's family. Based on the author's childhood, I can't recommend this book enough - it's very well-written.

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
Written in evocative verse, follow a young girl from her home in Syria as she moves with her mother to the United States. Jude's journey is one of growing up, being brave, and discovery. Kids will see how Jude navigates her new situation as she relates to other ESL students in their safe classroom space, finds new friends, and performs in the school play. Her insights on life in America will help readers understand the immigrant experience.

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
This Newbery Honor book in verse shares the story of a girl named Hà who is fleeing Vietnam with her family and immigrating to the southern United States. Ultimately, her immigration transition is difficult yet sometimes funny. Based on the author's childhood experiences.

It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
Although it may sound like a heavy book, this is a funny, realistic story about growing up and living in a culture that is not your own. It's the late 1970s and Zomorod (Cindy) and her family are back in the U.S. from Iran -again. Nevertheless, she's desperate to fit in with the other kids despite facing both family pressures and anti-Iranian prejudice.

After a happy, hardworking life in the U.S., Guerrero's parents are deported to Columbia, leaving Diane behind just as she's about to start high school. Diane survives by staying with different friends, moving when they don't have space for her, trying to be invisible, and excelling in school. Her true story is an incredible journey of survival and strength that will profoundly affect readers.

by Katherine Applegate
Kek immigrates to America where he's separated from his mother. In his new home of Minnesota, he makes friends with a foster girl, an old woman, and a sad cow. This powerful chapter book shows the challenges of immigration, survival, and finding a new home.

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21 Children's Books About the Immigrant Experience

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Immigrants contribute to our society and community today just as much now as they have in the past. Which, unless you're Native American, you are like me, a descendant of an immigrant. My ancestors came from northern Europe. Where did yours come from?

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Differentiating Instruction: A Guide for Teaching English-Language Learners

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Differentiating Instruction: A Guide for Teaching English-Language Learners

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Differentiating Instruction: A Guide for Teaching English-Language Learners

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Create an Inclusive, Welcoming & Accepting Classroom!
Product Description:
This product includes 10 individual posters that promote equality and LGBTQ+ acceptance in the classroom. Put these posters up on your wall or bulletin board to show your students that your class is safe, valued and cared about. With the social justice movements going on in our world right now, such as LGBTQ+ rights, Black Lives Matter, Animal Rights and more it is time educators teach students the value of diversity, and how much love there is for all students and families, regardless of their identity. All students are unique and valued, and should be treated as such. We are better together :)
What's Included?
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Interested in adding Diversity Posters as well? Check out my Diversity Classroom Posters for beautiful posters that support multiculturalism!
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Equality Pride LGBTQ+ Posters Poster Set Inclusive Welcoming Accepting Classroom

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EASY PDF DOWNLOAD!Create an Inclusive, Welcoming & Accepting Classroom!Product Description:This product includes 10 individual posters that promote equality and LGBTQ+ acceptance in the classroom. Put these posters up on your wall or bulletin board to show your students that your class is safe, ...

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Ways to Support English Learners in the Classroom

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Ways to Support English Learners in the Classroom

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Listen to this post as a podcast:
A note on terminology: The acronym ESL is used less often now in schools than it used to be, because we recognize that many students who are learning English already speak several other languages, so English would not be a "second" language. I use it several times in the post because schools sometimes refer to the teachers as ESL teachers, and the term is still widely used as a search term for this topic. My intent in using the acronym is to make this post easier to find online.

You have a new student, and he speaks no English. His family has just moved to your town from Japan, and though he receives English as a Second Language (ESL) support, he will also be sitting in your room every day to give him more exposure to his new language. How can you be a good teacher to someone who barely understands you?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, an average of 9 percent of students in U.S. public schools are English Language Learners (ELLs); that number is closer to 14 percent in cities. Although many of these students start off in high-intensity, whole-day English programs, most are integrated into mainstream classrooms within a year, well before their English language skills would be considered proficient.

How prepared are you to teach these students? If you're like most classroom teachers, you have little to no training in the most effective methods for working with English language learners (Walker, Shafer, & Iiams, 2004). So that means we have a problem here: Lots of ELL kids in regular classrooms, and no teacher training to ensure the success of that placement.

Below, three ESL teachers tell us what they know about the things regular classroom teachers can do to improve instruction for ELL students. These 12 strategies are simple, they are not very time consuming, and best of all, they will help everyone in your class learn better:

1. Make it Visual

"Avoid giving instructions in the air," says Melissa Eddington, an Ohio-based ESL teacher. "ELL kids have a harder time processing spoken language." So instructions - even basic directions for classroom procedures - should be written on the board whenever possible. Challenging concepts should be diagrammed or supported with pictures. And modeling the steps of a process or showing students what a finished product should look like can go a long way toward helping students understand. "Sometimes showing our students what to do is all they need in order to do it," Eddington says. Not only will this kind of nonlinguistic representation improve comprehension for ELL students, it will help all of your students grasp concepts better.

2. Build in more group work.

"Kids aren't just empty glasses that we pour stuff into and then at the end of the day they dump it back onto a test," says Kim, an ESL teacher who was the subject of my very first podcast interview. "If you really want the kids to learn, they've got to be engaged." That means less teacher-led, whole-class instruction, and more small groups, where students can practice language with their peers in a more personal, lower-risk setting. And if ELL students attend your class with a resource teacher, make use of that person: In most cases the resource teacher doesn't have to work exclusively with the ESL students; they can work with smaller groups that happen to contain these students, helping to improve the teacher-student ratio and give kids more time to practice.

3. Communicate with the ESL teacher.

Mary Yurkosky, a former ESL teacher in Massachusetts, credits much of her students' success to the strong relationship she had with the regular classroom teachers. "The classroom teachers were always talking to me about what they were doing in their classes," she says. "They made it so easy for me to support them: If a teacher was going to be doing a unit on plants, I could make sure we used some of that same vocabulary in the ESL class."

Ideally, this could be systematized, where ESL teachers could regularly get copies of lesson plans or collaborate with regular classroom teachers to build solid back-and-forth support, but "it doesn't have to be that much work," Yurkosky insists. "Just talk to each other. Talk about what's going on in your classrooms, invite each other to special presentations, share what your students are learning, and the words will naturally find their way into the ESL class."

4. Honor the "silent period."

Many new language learners go through a silent period, during which they will speak very little, if at all. "Don't force them to talk if they don't want to," says Eddington, "A lot of students who come from cultures outside of America want to be perfect when they speak, so they will not share until they feel they are at a point where they're perfect." Just knowing that this is a normal stage in second language acquisition should help relieve any pressure you feel to move them toward talking too quickly.

5. Allow some scaffolding with the native language.

Although it has been a hotly debated topic in the language-learning community, allowing students some use of their first language (L1) in second-language (L2) classrooms is gaining acceptance. When a student is still very new to a language, it's okay to pair him with other students who speak his native language. "Some students are afraid to open their mouths at all for fear of sounding stupid or just not knowing the words to use," Yurkosky says. "Letting them explain things or ask questions in their first language gets them to relax and feel like a part of the class."

And this doesn't only apply to spoken language. If you give students a written assignment, but the ELL student doesn't yet have the proficiency to handle writing his response in English, "Don't make them just sit there and do nothing," Eddington says. "Allow them to write in their first language if they're able. This allows them to still participate in journal writing or a math extended response, even if you can't read what they write." There has even been some evidence that allowing second-language learners to pre-write and brainstorm in L1 results in higher-quality writing in L2 in later stages of the writing process (Yigzaw, 2012).

6. Look out for culturally unique vocabulary.

"For most of these kids, their background knowledge is lacking, especially with things that are unique to American or westernized culture," says Eddington. It's important to directly teach certain vocabulary words: "Show them videos of what it looks like to toss pizza dough, show pictures of a juke box or a clothing rack - things that are not common in their own language."

One way to differentiate for ELL students is to consider the whole list of terms you're going to teach for a unit, and if you think an ELL student may be overwhelmed by such a long list, omit those that are not essential to understanding the larger topic at hand.

7. Use sentence frames to give students practice with academic language.

All students, not just English language learners, need practice with academic conversations. Sentence frames - partially completed sentences like "I disagree with what _________ said because..." - show students how to structure language in a formal way. Keep these posted in a highly visible spot in your classroom and require students to refer to them during discussions and while they write.

For this kind of language to really sink in, though, Kim says it has to become a regular part of class. "They won't do it if it's not the norm in the class, because they'll be embarrassed to use it among their peers," she says. "But if they can put it off on the teacher and say, Oh, well, you know, Miss Kim makes me talk like this, then they don't look as hoity-toity as they would otherwise."

8. Pre-teach whenever possible.

If you're going to be reading a certain article next week, give ESL students a copy of it now. If you plan to show a YouTube video tomorrow, send a link to your ESL students today. Any chance you can give these students to preview material will increase the odds that they'll understand it on the day you present it to everyone else. "That kind of thing is wonderful," Yurkosky says. "The kids feel so empowered if they've had a chance to look at the material ahead of time."

9. Learn about the cultural background of your students...

Our second-language populations grow more diverse every year. Taking the time to learn the basics of where a child comes from - exactly, not 'somewhere in the Middle East/South America/Asia/Africa' - tells the student that you respect her enough to bother. Kim remembers one time when she had to set the record straight about the diverse South American population at her school: "I was listening to the teachers talking about the 'Mexican' kids in our building," she says, "and I was like, 'We don't have any Mexicans.'" Not taking the time to at least correctly identify a child's country of origin, much like not bothering to pronounce their name correctly, is a kind of microaggression, a small, subtle insult that communicates hostility toward people of color. Make a commitment to be someone who bothers to get it right.

Once you have the country straight, take things up a notch by learning about students' religious and cultural practices. If he is a practicing Muslim, he should be told if one of the pizzas you ordered for the class party has sausage on it. If she comes from a culture where eye contact with adults is viewed as disrespectful, you'll know not to force her to look you in the eye when she's talking.

10. ...but don't make a child speak for his entire culture.

In her podcast interview, Kim shared a story about watching a teacher ask a new Iraqi student how he felt about the war in his country, right in the middle of class. "That's not cultural inclusiveness," she explains. "I've seen teachers do this and then pat themselves on the back. The students' English is limited so they can't express themselves very well, and they don't want to 'represent'; they just want to be there." If you anticipate a theme coming up in your class that's going to be relevant to one of your students, have a conversation with them in advance, or check with your ESL teacher to see if they think it's appropriate for in-class discussion.

11. Show them how to take themselves less seriously...

By modeling the risk-taking that's required to learn a new language, you help students develop the courage to take their own risks, and to have a sense of humor about it. "I tried to say the word 'paint' ( pinta) in Portuguese and instead I said the word for 'penis' ( pinto). They all roared with laughter while I stood there with a What?? look on my face," Yurkosky says. "When they explained what I'd said, I laughed so hard! I told them that laughing was fine because sometimes mistakes are really funny, but ridicule is never okay."

12. ...but always take them seriously.

One of Kim's pet peeves about how teachers interact with English language learners is the way they often see students' efforts as 'cute,' missing the whole point of what the student is trying to say. "A student will be desperate to communicate, and the teacher will get distracted by the delivery and miss the message," she says. "That's painful for me to watch." It bothers her when teachers mistake a lack of language for a lack of intelligence or maturity. When a child can't express themselves as well as they would in their native language, it's far too easy to assume the concepts just aren't in their heads.

"It breaks my heart when I hear teachers say (ELL kids) don't know anything," says Eddington. "These are brilliant kids and they know a lot. They just can't tell us in English yet." Make a conscious effort to see past the accent and the mispronunciations and treat every interaction - every student - with the respect they deserve.

"They're doing twice the job of everybody else in the class," Kim adds, "even though the result looks like half as much." ♦

Further Reading

The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide is one of the highest-rated books on teaching English-language learners available. In addition to offering an overview of the research on second-language learners and best practices in teaching ESL, it also includes a whole section on teaching ESL in the content areas and another specifically geared toward teaching ELL students in mainstream classrooms.
References:
Walker, A., Shafer, J., & Iiams, M. (2004). "Not in my classroom": Teacher attitudes towards English language learners in the mainstream classroom. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2(1), 130-160.

Yigzaw, A. (2012). Impact of L1 use in L2 English writing classes. Ethiopian Journal of Education and Sciences, 8(1), 11-27.

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12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

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Advice from three ESL teachers on the things regular classroom teachers can do to help English language learners thrive in mainstream classrooms.

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Comprehensible Input Demo for Language Rich Classrooms Training

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Rooted Linguistics: Serving Teachers of Multilingual Learners

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Multilingual learners count on us to provide high-quality, comprehensible, and culturally responsive instruction in each lesson in every classroom.

Here are 22 practical and efficient ways (in no particular order) we can support emergent bilinguals as they climb to become our future global leaders.
​
*The terms multilingual, emergent bilingual, and English learner are used interchangeably in this article and also include the acronyms MLs, EBs, and ELs.

1. Showcase ALL Students and Their Work. Displaying pictures of students and their families on the walls helps each learner to feel seen and validated in the learning space. This creates a sense of belonging and builds community among the class. Hanging student work on the walls, such as writing and art, can also send clear messages to learners that the classroom is for learners and learning.

2. Know, , & Use their Names. That's right. Validating a student's identity with their given name is important. Avoid making an "American" name for a child. If you aren't sure how to a name, ask, repeatedly if needed. Some teachers have students record how they prefer to be called on Flipgrid. This allows the teacher and classmates to replay the video/sound at their leisure as many times as necessary.

9. Have Students Collaborate With Peers. Through peer collaboration, students learn in ways that we, teachers, can't provide. As
4. Provide Access to Grade Level Curriculum. When Emergent bilinguals have access to grade-level curriculum with linguistic accommodations and scaffolds they are less likely to fall behind academically. It's important to remember that acquiring a language is not a deficit, but rather that a first language is an asset that can be used as leverage.

5. Embrace and Love Them. Kids that think their teachers love them and feel they are loved for who they are, achieve more. Even if a child can't speak English yet, they can still think and feel. A smile goes a long way.

7. Value ALL Language and Literacy. Many teachers will say that they value languages and literacy but how can we quantify that belief in our daily work with students? Actions speak louder than words, right?

Learn a few words in students' primary languages

Use students' primary language(s) on the walls

Provide books & resources in L1 when available

Encourage translanguaging and the full use of students' language repertoire

​
8. Provide High-Quality 1st Teach. This is a big one. MLs who receive initial instruction that is insufficient will often fall further behind academically and linguistically. When this happens over an extended period of time, many MLs have difficulty exiting state ESL programs and are often labeled LTELs (or long-term English learners). On the other hand, those that receive high-quality, first teach that amplifies language and is comprehensible, thrive academically and develop language simultaneously.

​ Vygotsky taught us, learning is social. When multilingual collaborate with monolingual English-speaking peers the reciprocal learning that happens among them is invaluable. Group work, approach, literature circles, and book clubs are just a few examples of collaborative settings.
10. Use Visuals. Visuals transcend all languages. When we see a visual representation, no matter the language we speak, we can begin to access our prior knowledge and schema.
​

12. Amplify Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Years ago, the idea was that when working with English learners we needed to simplify instruction so they could understand it. Now we know that we can "KEEP the content and amplify the language" (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). This was a quote a heard Okhee Lee say during a presentation she did for teachers of ELs. No more watering down curriculum. Scaffold UP!
​

13. Hold High Expectations. Multilingual students are brilliant. We have to believe they CAN DO it! With our support, they can do everything monolingual English speakers can do. We set the ceiling for them. It's a matter of how high are our expectations. What do we believe? Our belief creates potential and that potential builds action. Action creates results. The cycle continues. Believe big!

16. Encourage Drawing & L1. When we look at learners from their assets, we recognize that there are many ways to express ideas, share information, demonstrate knowledge, and be creative. English (or any language) does not determine intelligence. Allowing students to draw, sketch, and use their L1 (or first language) helps them recognize that thinking and learning are valued.

17. Provide Small Group Instruction. Gathering students in small groups helps to lower the student-teacher ratio allowing for more intimate instruction. A small group can be one-to-one like a conference between the student and the teacher or a group of 3-5. It's important that small groups be fluid and heterogeneous to avoid stigmatizing learners. Multilingual learners benefit from small group instruction because it can lower the
affective filter and provide time for direct and explicit instruction with the careful guidance of the teacher.

18. Create Warm & Welcoming Spaces. Classroom environments that capture kids' hearts will no doubt build their minds and allow language to flourish. The goal is for English learners and their families to feel safe to take risks and feel that they belong and are valued in our campuses and our classrooms.
​

20. Collaborate with Colleagues. Collaborating with our colleagues helps our students. We need each other. Our colleagues know things that we don't know and we can learn from one another. As an ESL Co-Teacher and later an ESL Facilitator, I had the honor of going into classrooms and working alongside numerous teachers on my campus/district. That was the best professional learning. Our peers are our greatest teachers!

21. Monitor Progress & Growth. If we want emergent bilinguals to grow in language and content, we need to know where they are and become intentional about the steps to help them get to the goals. Goal setting alongside EBs has become a more common practice too. Many teachers sit alongside students to discuss goals and progress.

22. Stop for Checkpoints with Feedback. Formatively assessing during lessons helps us to form the next steps in instruction. I think of formative assessment (checkpoints) as a thermometer. We take the temperature and then based on the results, we adjust the thermostat (instruction) and provide feedback to students. On the other hand, if we rarely stop to check on students' understanding, we might go for hours or days not realizing that students have missed key understandings. Large gaps may form and by this time it becomes difficult to re-route the learning that has solidified.

So there they are, again, in no particular order. 22 ways to support multilingual learners in everyday instruction.

Scroll down to download and print the full article.

Step 1. Divide educators into 4 groups. Have educators number off 1-4 in their groups. (4 groups of 4 if possible).

Step 4. Have everyone break into groups by their #s to discuss what they read. #1s in one area, #2s in another, #3s, and 4s.
Possible Discussion Prompts
Step 5. Have everyone rejoin their original group (from step 1) to share the main takeaways from the reading & discussion.
Step 6. Debrief the article and the jigsaw routine (which is a collaborative, structured, yet student-centered process). What are your take-aways? What supported you? How might this support MLs?

Step 1. Number off 1-22.

Step 2. Each person reads their respective # from the list.

Step 3. Line up 1-22.

Step 4. Give partners time to share and discuss what they read.
Possible discussion prompts:

Step 5. Direct ONE line to rotate to the right while the other line stays in place. Now each person will have a new partner to share with again.

Step 6. After a few rounds, debrief the article and the speed dating routine (which is a collaborative, structured, yet student-centered process). What are your take-aways? What supported you? How might this support MLs?

Free download for printing:

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22 Things Educators Can Do NOW to Support Multilingual Learners

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Multilingual learners count on us to provide high-quality, comprehensible, and culturally responsive instruction in each lesson in every classroom. Here are 22 practical and efficient ways (in no...

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How to Encourage Gender Equity and Equality in the Classroom

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How to Encourage Gender Equity and Equality in the Classroom

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As an elementary school teacher, you may think your students are too young for discussions about gender. But did you know that children as young as four years old already express discriminatory beliefs based on gender? The earlier we can empower children with the belief that all gender identities (including their own) deserve respect, the better prepared all students will be for success.

Here we'll discuss what gender equality is, how it differs from gender equity, and why both gender equity and equality need to have a place in your curriculum. Then learn how to make your classroom a safe and welcoming place for all students.

What Are Gender Equality and Equity?

First, let's explain what we mean by gender. Gender is here defined as a student's social identity as male, female, or non-binary-the last of which refers to students who identify as a gender other than "male" or "female." Gender definitions also include transgender students, who identify as a gender that is different from their biological sex.

Gender equality involves empowering all students and providing them with the same human rights.[7] It also includes correcting biases students hold about themselves or gender identities other than their own. As a teacher, you'll work with many students, some of whom might have trouble understanding their own or other students' gender. That's why it's so important to be aware of and find ways to affirm your students' identities.[14] You can positively change the way your students see both themselves and others.

According to the ACT Center for Youth, true gender equality can be reached when these three needs are met for all students:[9]

Equitable access and use of resources

Equitable participation

Safety or freedom from violence

And how is gender equality different from gender equity? It can be helpful to look at gender equality as the end goal and gender equity as the means to get there.[8] Gender equity refers to promoting fairness in education, as well as confronting stereotypes and biases that have historically limited a student's potential. When we achieve gender equality, all students will be free to pursue their education without fear of discrimination or harassment because of their gender.

The Importance of Gender Equity and Equality in the Classroom

Why confront gender bias in the classroom as early as possible? A survey involving over 2,000 children ages 4 to 16 found that from an early age, children make assumptions that confirm gender stereotypes.[2] Children learn how to think about themselves and others from the messages they hear in society. And often, these messages include stereotypes about gender that stick with them for the rest of their lives.

In the classroom, students often encounter implicit or explicit assumptions about gender.[12] For example, girls interested in STEM subjects may be discouraged if others say such topics aren't very "feminine" pursuits. And the prevalence of this stereotype may be linked to the fact that more than 50% of all women in STEM ultimately leave their field due to hostile work environments.[8] Also, 75% of all transgender students report feeling unsafe at school, which affects their academic achievement in very serious and harmful ways.[10]

You can make a difference for younger students by teaching them to find strength in their gender identity and to treat kindly those with different identities than their own. According to Today's Parent writer Gordon Nore, children are often already thinking about their gender and how it relates to the world around them. As a teacher, you can help facilitate their thoughts and discussions in healthy ways. You can also promote better understanding among your students for those who are different from themselves.

Four Ways to Promote Gender Equity and Equality in Education

Looking for ways to discuss gender equality issues in your classroom and move towards gender equity? We've put together four examples of how you can promote gender equality for all of your students.

Be a Role Model for Your Students

Students, especially younger children, often learn by imitation.[2] As a teacher, be aware of your own assumptions about gender and try to correct your biases as you notice them.

In relevant situations, empower your students to believe in their potential to achieve their dreams regardless of their gender identity-and that their gender is a strength, never a weakness. Also, use language in class that is inclusive of transgender and non-binary students, such as using the name and pronouns that a student goes by, even if it is different from their school records.[11]

Don't Connect Gender to an Ability or Personality Trait

Sometimes our language can reinforce assumptions about gender. Be aware of the language you use in class, and avoid making assumptions about anyone's ability, profession, or personality based on their gender.

For example, TeachThought suggests you include a female construction worker or male nurse in a class assignment (such as a story problem) to challenge your students' assumptions and promote gender equity.[1] It can also be helpful to avoid making wide generalizations about gender in class, such as the assumption that boys are louder and girls are quieter, or assuming that all of your students identify as their birth sex.

Include Gender Equality in Your Curriculum

Many textbooks are problematic when it comes to gender. Often they don't include many notable female figures, tokenize the experiences of women, and stereotype gender roles in harmful ways.[5] If you're able to pick the textbook you use, try to find one that is known for its equitable treatment of gender.

If not, try to supplement your curriculum by teaching your students about both men and women who challenged their society's ideas about gender and changed their communities in meaningful ways. It can also be helpful to include gender non-conforming and transgender people in your curriculum to help students with these identities feel represented and accepted.

Teach Students to Be Aware of Personal Biases

One of the best ways to confront gender discrimination in the classroom is by simply making your students aware of it. Teach students about implicit bias, or beliefs we might hold about ourselves or others because of sexist messages we have heard.[3]

Tell your students that many people hold these biases, and it doesn't mean they are bad people. The important thing is for students to acknowledge their own assumptions. Once they do, they can challenge them to actively change those assumptions-to recognize that a person's abilities are not linked to their gender.

Sources:
1. TeachThought Staff. 6 Ways You Can Promote Gender Equality In Your Classroom. Retrieved from teachthought.com: teachthought.com/education/6-ways-can-promote-gender-equality-classroom/.
2. Elesapiens Staff. Strategies to promote gender equality in the classroom. Retrieved from elesapiens.com: https://www.elesapiens.com/blog/strategies-to-promote-gender-equality-in-the-classroom/
3. Briggs, S. How to Teach Students About Gender Equality. Retrieved from opencolleges.edu: https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/gender-equality/.
4. United Nations Development Programme. Almost 90% of Men/Women Globally Are Biased Against Women. Retrieved from undp.org: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/news-centre/news/2020/Gender_Social_Norms_Index_2020.html.
5. Klein, S. Handbook for Achieving Sex Equity Through Education. Retrieved from eric.ed.gov: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED290810.pdf.
6. Bailey, S.M. Shortchanging Girls and Boys. Educational Leadership, May 1996, 53(8), pp. 75-79.
7. United Nations Staff. Gender Equality: Why it Matters. Retrieved from un.org: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Goal-5.pdf.
8. ForbesWomen Staff. Why We Need Gender Equity Now. Retrieved from forbes.com: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellevate/2017/09/14/why-we-need-gender-equity-now/.
9. ACT for Youth Center of Excellence. Understanding Gender and GenderResearch, Facts, and Findings. Retrieved from actforyouth.net: www.actforyouth.net/resources/rf/rf_gender1_1213.pdf.
10. National Center for Transgender Equality. Youth & Students. Retrieved from transequality.org: https://transequality.org/issues/youth-students
11. Welcoming Schools Staff. Affirming Gender in Elementary School: Social Transitioning. Retrieved from welcomingschools.org: https://www.welcomingschools.org/pages/affirming-gender-in-elementary-school-social-transitioning/
12. Smith, M. J., & Payne, E. Binaries and biology: Conversations with elementary education professionals after professional development on supporting transgender students. The Educational Forum, 2016, 80(1), pp. 34-47.

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How to Encourage Gender Equity and Equality in the Classroom

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Teachers, here's how to make sure every child in your classroom is treated fairly and with respect through gender equity and equality.

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Picture Books: When Aidan Became A Brother

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Kyle Lukoff

A sweet story about a transgender boy becoming himself and preparing to welcome a new sibling. Aidan wants everything to be perfect for the baby's arrival but learns that he already has all that he needs to be a big brother.

Reading level: PK-3, ages 4-7

Pink is for Boys

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Robb Pearlman

This celebration of the colors of the rainbow, featuring a diverse cast of characters, encourages kids to reject rigid gender norms and follow their passions.

Reading level: PK-3, ages 4-8

Julián is a Mermaid

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Jessica Love

Beautifully illustrated and imagined, this award-winning book relates the story of Julián and his supportive abuela. Inspired by some magically dressed-up women he sees on the subway, Julián creates his own unforgettable mermaid costume. The author has also published a second book, Julián at the Wedding.

Reading level: PK-3, ages 2-6

Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Jodie Patterson

Penelope knows that he is a boy, and also a ninja! Will the rest of the world see his truth? Based on a real story, this book is written by the mother of a transgender son.

Reading level: PK-3, ages 4-8

Jacob's New Dress

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Ian Hoffman

Jacob wants to wear a dress to school. Will his parents allow it? What will the other kids say? In a follow-up book, Jacob's Room to Choose, Jacob and his friend Sophie confront the gendered bathroom divide, and in Jacob's School Play: Starring She, He and They, readers meet a nonbinary character.

Reading level: PK-3, ages 4-8

Jamie is Jamie

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Afsaneh Moradian

It's Jamie's first day at a new school, and there are dolls and cars to play with! Jamie's classmates are curious about whether Jamie is a boy or a girl, but Jamie teaches them that you can't determine a person's gender from their interests. In a follow-up book, Jamie and Bubbie, Jamie shows his grandmother how to be respectful of people's pronouns.

Reading level: PK-3, ages 4-8

A House for Everyone

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Jo Hirst

Friends of different gender identities each do their part to construct a house in the schoolyard.

Reading level: PK-3, ages 4-8

Pepito Has A Doll/Pepito Tiene Una Muñeca

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Jesús Canchola Sánchez

Pepito hides his beloved doll so that the other kids won't make fun of him. Then a new student, Miguel, arrives—will he become an understanding friend to Pepito? Written in English and Spanish.

Reading level: 1st-2nd grade

Ho'onani: Hula Warrior

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Heather Gale

Ho'onani doesn't feel like she is completely a girl (wahine) or a boy (kane). Can she succeed in leading a school performance of a traditionally male hula chant? Ho'onani's story celebrates nonbinary gender identity and Hawai'ian culture.

Reading level: PK-3, ages 4-8

Neither

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Airlie Anderson

In the Land of This and That, everyone is either a blue bunny or a yellow bird. Everyone, that is, except Neither. Will Neither find a place to fit in?

Reading level: PK-3, ages 4-8

One of a Kind, Like Me/Único Como Yo

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Laurin Mayeno

Danny and his mother rush to the store to find the perfect dress for him to use as a princess costume for the school parade. Written in English and Spanish.

Reading level: ages 4-8

Call Me Max

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Kyle Lukoff

In this series of books by transgender writer Kyle Lukoff, Max affirms his identity and learns, alongside his friends, not to make assumptions about people based on their gender. Sequels Max and the Talent Show and Max on the Farm feature Max and his friends having new adventures.

Reading level: grades 2-4, ages 7-9

A Kids Book About Being Transgender', 'A Kids Book About Being Non-Binary', and 'A Kids Book About Being Inclusive' from A Kids Book About and the Gender Cool Project

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Three new nonfiction titles written by kids and for kids, these books feature the powerful, positive stories of young people who stand up for themselves and others.

Reading level: ages 5 and up

Middle Grade: The Other Boy

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By M.G. Hennessey

Shane Woods is a typical 12-year-old boy. He plays baseball, draws comics, and hangs out with his best friend, Josh. But there is something about Shane that even Josh doesn't know. Who will stand beside him if his secret is revealed?

Reading level: grades 3-7, ages 8-12

Ana on the Edge

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By A.J. Sass

Figure skating champion Ana-Marie Jin is not enthused about skating a princess-themed program. Being around her new friend Hayden, a transgender boy, she is beginning to feel comfortable with the boyish side of herself. Will Ana reveal her nonbinary identity to everyone?

Reading level: grades 3-7, 8-12 yrs

George

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Alex Gino

With a little help from her friends, George can step into her true gender and play the role of Charlotte in the class play of Charlotte's Web.

Reading level: grades 3-7, ages 8-11

The Deep and Dark Blue

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Niki Smith

In this graphic novel, twins flee when their house is usurped by a coup and take on female gender identities in order to hide with a tribe of magical women. As they plot their revenge and their return, however, one of them realizes that she wants to continue living as a girl.

Reading level: grades 3-7, ages 8-12

Too Bright to See

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Kyle Lukoff

Eleven-year-old Bug spends the summer before middle school trying to untangle two mysteries: a ghost in the house, and Bug's gender identity. By the transgender author of the picture books When Aidan Became A Brother and the Max series.

Reading level: grades 5-6, ages 10-12

Snapdragon

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Kat Leyh

Witches, ghosts, queerness and trans identity—this graphic novel has it all, and will speak to anyone who ever identified as a misfit.

Reading level: grades 5-9, ages 10 and up

Lily & Dunkin

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Donna Gephart

An award-winning story about two unforgettable kids: Lily, who is transgender, and Dunkin, who has bipolar disorder.

Reading level: grades 5-6, 10 and up

Gracefully Grayson

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Ami Polonsky

Grayson is coming to realize that she is a girl, and, with the support of a teacher and a friend, she prepares to audition for a female role in the school play.

Reading level: grades 3-7, ages 8-12

Young Adult: All Out: The No-Longer Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Edited by Saundra Mitchell

Seventeen tales featuring queer youth across the centuries.

Reading level: grades 10-12, ages 13-17

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Susan Kuklin

This book uses text and photos to document the real stories of six transgender and nonbinary teens as they transition to become their true selves.

Reading level: grades 9-12, ages 14-17

If I Was Your Girl

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Meredith Russo

In this award-winning novel, written by a transgender author, Amanda Hardy is falling for a boy named Grant. Will she tell him everything about herself, including her former gender identity?

Reading level: grades 8-12, ages 13-18

The Prince and the Dressmaker

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Jen Wang

By day he is Prince Sebastian, in search of a bride. By night he is Lady Crystallia, fashion icon of Paris. Frances is his best friend, and the creator of his incredible dresses—how long will she keep this secret?

Reading level: grades 7-9, ages 12 and up

Not Your Sidekick

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By C.B. Lee

A tale of friendship and superpowers, or lack thereof, featuring a queer female protagonist and her transgender best friend. In a follow-up title, Not Your Villain, transgender boy Bells takes center stage.

Reading level: grades 7-12, ages 12 and up

Double Exposure

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Bridget Birdsall

Fifteen-year-old Alyx Atlas was born intersex and raised as a boy, but she knows she's a girl, and after some major life changes she begins living as one in a new school in a new state. She makes the girls' varsity basketball team and they're on a winning streak, but one jealous teammate is determined to figure out what Alyx's secret is and reveal it to everyone.

Reading level: grades 6 and up, ages 12 and up

Anger is a Gift

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Mark Oshiro

This award-winning novel features a group of teens with different racial, sexual, and gender identities banding together to stand up for their community.

Reading level: grades 7-9, ages 14-18

Felix Ever After

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Kacen Callender

Black, queer, and trans, Felix Love worries that he will never find his happily-ever-after. But when he plots revenge on an anonymous harasser, the results aren't anything that he expected.

Reading level: grades 9-12, ages 14 and up

None of the Above

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By I.W. Gregorio

Kristin Lattimer seems to have a picture-perfect teenage life. Then she discovers that she was born intersex. How will she manage her new identity, and what will she do when the whole school finds out?

Reading level: grades 9-12, ages 14 and up

Pet

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Akwaeke Emezi

A 15-year-old transgender girl named Jam, and an unusual monster named Pet, set forth to save their society from pressing danger in this award-winning speculative novel.

Reading level: grades 7-9, ages 12 and up

Symptoms of Being Human

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Jeff Garvin

Genderfluid teen Riley Cavanaugh faces pressure from all sides. To cope, he writes an anonymous blog about his life—but what will happen when his identity is discovered?

Reading level: grades 9 and up, ages 14 and up

Dreadnought: Nemesis Book 1

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By April Daniels

Danny Tozer's run-in with the great Dreadnought leaves her with superpowers—and the female body that she's always known was hers. Can she adjust to her new identities in time to save the world from a cyborg named Utopia? Dreadnought confronts new enemies and new truths in the follow-up title 'Sovereign: Nemesis Book 2.'

Reading level: grades 7-9, ages 12 and up

Wandering Son, Book 1

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Shimura Takako

In this Japanese manga, we meet Shuichi and Yoshiro who aren't comfortable with their gender. Can a fifth grade drama production give them the opportunity to show everyone their true selves?

Reading level: grades 9-12, ages 13-16

Lizard Radio

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Pat Schmatz

15-year-old Kavali is having a great time at CropCamp, until she is pressured to pick a gender in this dystopian sci-fi tale.

Reading level: grades 9-12, ages 14-17

When the Moon Was Ours

Courtesy of Amazon.com

By Anna-Marie McLemore

Best friends Miel and Sam star in this magically real romance featuring painted moons, witches, and flowers that grow from human skin.

Reading level: grades 7-9, ages 12 and up

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36 Gender Inclusive Books for Kids and Teens

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Picture books, middle grade, and YA titles featuring trans, non-binary, and gender-creative characters.

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Preliminary Information

On the next page you'll be asked to select an Implicit Association Test (IAT) from a list of possible topics . We will also ask you (optionally) to report your attitudes or beliefs about these topics and provide some information about yourself.

We ask these questions because the IAT can be more valuable if you also describe your own self-understanding of the attitude or stereotype that the IAT measures. We would also like to compare differences between people and groups.

On the IAT, you may find it easier to pair certain attributes with one group of people compared to another. Your IAT results may depart from your personal beliefs.

Note: This site is designed for adults, aged 18 or older.

Data Privacy: Data exchanged with this site are protected by SSL encryption. Project Implicit uses the same secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) that banks use to securely transfer credit card information. This provides strong security for data transfer to and from our website. IP addresses are routinely recorded, but are completely confidential. For research purposes, data without directly identifying information is made publicly available. You can find more information on our Data Privacy page.

Important disclaimer: In reporting to you results of any IAT test that you take, we will mention possible interpretations that have a basis in research done (at the University of Washington, University of Virginia, Harvard University, and Yale University) with these tests. However, these Universities, as well as the individual researchers who have contributed to this site, make no claim for the validity of these suggested interpretations. If you are unprepared to encounter interpretations that you might find objectionable, please do not proceed further. You may prefer to examine general information about the IAT before deciding whether or not to proceed.

If you have questions about the study, please contact Project Implicit at questions@projectimplicit.net. To obtain more information about the study, ask questions about the research procedures, express concerns about your participation, or report illness, injury or other problems, please contact:

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I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT test performance with which I may not agree. Knowing this, I wish to proceed I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT test performance with which I may not agree. Knowing this, I wish to proceed using a touchscreen OR using a keyboard.

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On the next page you'll be asked to select an Implicit Association Test (IAT) from a list of possible topics . We will also ask you (optionally) to report your attitudes or beliefs about these topics and provide some information about yourself.

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Gender Stereotype | Gabriella Haug | TEDxYouth@TFIS

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Keeping Girls in STEM: 3 Barriers, 3 Solutions

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Stereotypes and cultural norms dampen girls’ interest in STEM, but educators can counter the disparities with small changes to their practice.

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This episode is an informal roundtable, bringing together key youth activists who contributed to the Gender Transformative Education brief, launched in December 2021, with Plan International, Transform Education, UNGEI and UNICEF Education.

The brief was developed through a highly consultative and intergenerational process, bringing together the voices of global, regional and national education and gender practitioners, academics, ministers, activists and experts. Young feminist activists and youth-led organizations played a critical role in co-creating the brief, which explains how to "do" g

This episode is an informal roundtable, bringing together key youth activists who contributed to the Gender Transformative Education brief, launched in December 2021, with Plan International, Transform Education, UNGEI and UNICEF Education.

The brief was developed through a highly consultative and intergenerational process, bringing together the voices of global, regional and national education and gender practitioners, academics, ministers, activists and experts. Young feminist activists and youth-led organizations played a critical role in co-creating the brief, which explains how to "do" g

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what is gender transformative education?

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‎What is gender transformative education? on Apple Podcasts

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This episode is an informal roundtable, bringing together key youth activists who contributed to the Gender Transformative Education brief, launched in December 2021, with Plan International, Transform Education, UNGEI and UNICEF Education. The brief was developed through a highly consultative and...

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Although families, educators, and other significant adults in young children's lives have no control over children's gender identities, they have extensive influence over children's health and social-emotional wellbeing by communicating to them messages of being either respected and affirmed or shamed and rejected. Gender non-confirming or binary children have better mental health when adults support them in expressing their authentic gender identities ( Include NYC).

Gender Identity and Gender Expression

Gender identity is "who you know yourself to be." It is important to know that gender identity exists on a spectrum. A person's gender identity can be masculine, feminine, or other.

Gender expression is how you express your gender to others, whether through behavior, clothing, hairstyle, the name you choose to go by, etc. Words to describe someone's gender expression could be "masculine," "feminine," "androgynous," etc. ( Caring for Kids)

Supporting Non-Confirming or Binary Young Children

Assuming your child's gender expression is a form of rebellion or defiance can be harmful to them and to your relationship. Listen to them and ask questions about how they are feeling.

Focus on what brings your child joy and security. A child living with supportive parents and caregivers is likely to be a happier child. Don't try to shame or punish your child for their gender expression or identity.

Connect with other families who have a gender-diverse child. This can help reduce any isolation you and your child might be experiencing. Look for an in-person or online support group.

Don't belittle or ridicule your child's gender expression or allow others in your family to do so. Don't prevent your child from expressing gender in public or at family activities to avoid it making you or someone else uncomfortable.

Speak positively about your child to your child and to others. Show your admiration for your child's identity and expression of it. (Mayo Clinic)

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Support Gender Non-Conforming or Binary Young Children

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Although families, educators, and other significant adults in young children's lives have no control over children's gender identities, they have extensive influence over children's health and social-emotional wellbeing by communicating to them messages of being either respected and affirmed or shamed and rejected.