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English Language Learners Book on Teaching Strategies 

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English Language Learners Book on Teaching Strategies 

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This is a highly recommended book about giving students the opportunity to learn by doing and encouraging them to take risks and learn from their mistakes.

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Great teaching is about facilitating intrinsic motivation and self-directed learning. It's about giving students the opportunity to learn by doing and encouraging them to take risks and learn from their mistakes. These same methods and skills apply equally to the huge number of English language learners (ELLs) now in American classrooms.

Written by an award-winning practitioner, English Language Learners: Teaching Strategies that Work offers educators a five-step method for teaching this burgeoning population. Rather than viewing these students through the typical lens of the "deficits" they might have, the process helps educators recognize and use the assets ELLs bring to the classroom.

The five principles around which the process revolves are: building relationships, accessing prior knowledge through student stories, developing student leadership, learning by doing, and reflection. The book shows how these ideas can be used in all subject areas to help ELLs master both content and language using "high-order" thinking skills. In addition to providing detailed lessons, the book shares a framework teachers can use to create their own lessons, and it shows how to take advantage of technology and games as teaching tools. References to extensive research studies are included to provide evidence of effectiveness, and each lesson is linked to state standards in English language development.

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Great teaching is about facilitating intrinsic motivation and self-directed learning. It's about giving students the opportunity to learn by doing and encouraging them to take risks and learn from their mistakes.

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Instructional Strategies for Supporting ELL 

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Instructional Strategies for Supporting ELL 

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This news article offers thirteen strategies for supporting ELL students

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The new question-of-the-week is:
What are effective teaching strategies for newcomers?
Newcomers to the United States often have low-proficiency in English but, depending upon their age, might have had considerable education in their home language.

What are the most effective teaching strategies educators can use with this population, which is certain to grow under President Biden's immigration policies?

Several experienced educators are contributing responses to this question: Michelle Shory, Irina McGrath, Luisa Palacio, Sean McWherter Ed.D., and Ciera Walker. Michelle, Irina, and Luisa were also guests on my 10-minute BAM! Radio Show. You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

Before we get to today's guest contributors, I'd like to share a few of my favorite strategies:
1. Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM)
In the PWIM, students and teachers first label an image with words, then categorize them, followed by using the words to write sentences about the picture. They next categorize the sentences, turn them into paragraphs, and finally, write a title.

You can learn more about the PWIM here and here.
2. Games
You can't go wrong with games. In the classroom, zillions of different ones can be played with mini-whiteboards, and they can be modified for online use by using a tool like Whiteboard.fi. Quizizz is also great for online use, and it has countless games already premade for just about any topic you want to teach!
3. Dialogues 4.Freire's Learning Sequence 5. Language Experience Approach (LEA)
Promoting Interaction
Michelle Shory and Irina McGrath are Google Certified trainers and co-creators of ELL 2.0, a website that offers tools and resources for teachers of English-learners. Irina V. McGrath, Ph.D., works for the Kentucky education department as an education recovery specialist. She is also a co-director of the Louisville Writing Project (LWP) and the University of Louisville and Indiana University Southeast adjunct who teaches ESL/ENL instruction as well as assessment, literature, and cultural- and linguistic-diversity courses. Michelle Shory, Ed.S., is a district ESL instructional coach in the Jefferson County public schools, Louisville, Ky. She is passionate about literacy and helped establish Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Louisville.
Teaching students who are newcomers (students in their first year of enrollment in a U.S school) is a privilege-it changes an educator's outlook, practice, and heart forever; however, working with newcomers requires a lot of cognitive, physical, and emotional energy. But we challenge you to find a more rewarding experience in all of education. Where else do you get to see such incredible growth and change? And you will probably keep relationships with these students long after they leave your classroom.
Research
In order to support newcomers in the most effective way, teachers should do their homework on students-research their cultures, history, language, and education systems. You can find resources here and here.

Learning about newcomers will help you connect with your students and their families, give you ideas on how to make your curriculum culturally relevant, and help you address your own assumptions and misconceptions.
Relationships, Self-Advocacy, and Routines
Before starting with the first "real" lesson, begin with relationships, self-advocacy, and routines.

When focusing on relationships, start with names. Teachers should know how to pronounce student names-and students should know how to pronounce each other's names. Also, students need to be fully seen. Educators must take time to learn about their students' interests, families, and topics they love to study. Teachers should also share about themselves-share hobbies, family pictures, etc. Classrooms (especially newcomer classrooms) need to feel safe because we are encouraging students to be vulnerable each day when they are using a new language.

Dr. Stephen Krashen instructs educators to "lower the affective filter" as a way to increase comprehension. Lowering the affective filter includes helping kids feel comfortable by speaking more slowly, using gestures, and including high-interest materials. All of this is most effective when classrooms are warm and comfortable.

Educators will want to begin by teaching independence on day one. Show students how to use technology like Microsoft's Immersive Reader, Google Translate, or Socratic from Google. Demonstrate planning and organization skills (like using a digital calendar or Google Keep). It is also a good idea to make sure that students know how to ask for help from a teacher when they don't know the answer to a question.
Instructional Supports and Considerations
One last addition is to set up strategies to support interaction. WIDA researchers found that ELs spend on average less than 10 minutes per day speaking in class. This is unacceptable from a social-emotional and academic lens-ELs need to engage frequently in classroom conversations. When thinking about structures, consider Kagan structures or QSSSA from Seidlitz.

When facilitating lessons, always remember to include visuals, gestures, and repetition. ESL consultant and teacher Carol Salva's students report these strategies as the most helpful.

It is also important to consider teaching themes. Krashen's research demonstrates the power of "deep reading" on a topic and how it supports ELs in acquiring language. Themes boost engagement and confidence because students are continually building their expertise about a topic. Additional research (highlighted in Natalie Wexler's work) has proven that reading comprehension is largely based on background knowledge. So, whenever teachers build students' knowledge of the world, they are also supporting comprehension.

Finally, when teaching newcomers, educators should not discount the expertise in the room. Be sure to tap into students' "funds of knowledge," a term coined by Dr. Luis Moll that represents cultural resources and knowledge that students bring to the classroom. Always include at least one entry point for newcomers to bring in their cultural and linguistic expertise. One example might be a unit on religions, holidays, or education systems around the globe.

In conclusion, teachers play an important role in ensuring social, emotional, and academic success of newcomer students. The more effort teachers put into getting to know their students, teaching them self-advocacy skills, and building on their funds of knowledge, the greater chance their students will have of reaching their highest potential and succeeding personally and professionally.

ELLs 'Need to Feel Safe'
Luisa Palacio is an ESL and Spanish teacher from Colombia with 19 years of teaching experience. Luisa holds a bachelor's degree in modern languages: English and French, and an M.A. in TESOL from Greensboro College. Currently, she teaches K-12 at Northampton County schools in North Carolina and Spanish with South Carolina Virtual Education:
We always consider content relevancy, the use of visuals, vocalization, facial expression, among others. However, what ELs need at first is to feel safe, comfortable, and confident in their new environment.

The school system works in a completely different way in every country. I believe one of the first things we need to do with newcomers is to show them how school works, classroom routines, how to sign in and out of school, how to move around campus, how to get their meals, how to login on their technological devices, explain schedules, share possible extracurricular activities in which newcomers could participate, etc. Newcomers need modeling, not only for the language but also for the culture. Newcomers need to be shown what to do and how to do it, what to say and how to say it. As teachers, we need to be aware of the cultural shock newcomers go through so that we can help the process to run a bit smoother.

Every newcomer should have a mentor to shadow him/her during the first days of school, someone who can introduce them to their teachers, who makes teachers aware that this EL is in their class and will need some extra attention. In my opinion, cultural awareness should be the first teaching strategy. Newcomers are facing a new culture, and they also need to feel their own culture is valued. Thus, it is important to generate activities that allow students to share their culture, so they make comparisons and connections by sharing about a subject they master and a subject that is relevant.

'Language-Learning Goals'

Sean McWherter, Ed.D., is the director of restart programs for the Guilford County schools in North Carolina. He is the author of A Road Map to PLC Success published by Routledge Eye on Education, 2017, and Unpacking your Learning Targets: Aligning Student Learning to Standards, published by Routledge Eye on Education, 2020:

With the rapidly increasing population of English-language-learners in many schools across the U.S., it is becoming ever more important for regular education teachers and administrators to know how to support these students and their families.

I feel that oftentimes educators mistakenly believe that ELLs have trouble learning or that they learn differently from native English speakers and that their education is best left to the English as a second language or ELL teacher. This could not be further from the truth; the educational barriers ELL students face are accentuated by language and cultural barriers, not an inability to learn.
Utilize Language-Learning Goals
Many educators are aware that the use of learning targets in the classroom is an instructional best practice and that students learn better when teachers utilize clear daily learning goals (Marzano, 2009; Reeves, 2010; Kareva & Echevarria, 2013). For ELL students, it is especially important to include both lesson and language-learning goals.

The lesson objectives should be focused on the grade-level content while the language objective should align to one of the four domains of English-language development (ELD), which are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. A teacher's experience with creating and using language objectives in their instruction is important to ensure that ELLs have equal access to the curriculum (Hudson, Miller, & Butler, 2006; Short, Echevarría, & Richards-Tutor, 2011; Marcos and Himmel 2016). When planning a lesson, everything should intentionally lead students to mastery of the learning targets while providing students with a variety of meaningful activities and high-quality instruction.
Increase Student Engagement and Interactions
To support student engagement, as well as the lesson and language objectives, liberally employ the use of visuals to reinforce both spoken and written words. Capitalize on the use of gestures, often exaggerated, for added emphasis, speak slower and be sure to enunciate your words, repeat important words or phrases, and be sure to use fewer idioms. Many ELL students have not attended schools in their new county and may be unfamiliar with cultural references. Take the time to thoroughly review texts to identify potentially confusing language and concepts so that you can build the background knowledge of your ELL students prior to exposing them to potentially confusing material (Kareva & Echevarria, 2013).

Incorporate high-frequency vocabulary words throughout all content areas and be sure to provide instructions and other important information in multiple formats. Don't just tell the students what you want them to do, write it, provide an example/exemplar, and act it out or model the activity if possible.

Provide multiple opportunities for ELL students to interact with their peers in small groups where they can practice speaking and listening in low-risk settings that will produce language-learning outcomes (Saunders & Goldenberg, 2010).
Build Positive Relationships and Cultural Connections
Building relationships with your students is the foundational component of successful teaching and learning, and there is a multitude of research that supports this idea. According to a review of 46 research studies, students that feel valued and appreciated are more likely to demonstrate both short- and long-term improvements in academic engagement, attendance, grades, and behavior, while also having a reduced dropout rate (Sparks, 2019).

Begin forming relationships with your ELL students by learning about their individual culture, traditions, religion, hobbies, family dynamic, and background. Stay respectful of their personal boundaries and understand that they may need time to settle into their new environment before opening up. (National Clearing House for English Language Acquisition, n.d.). Having a positive relationship with a student's family can also help support their education.

Remember some of the families may only have very little or even no formal schooling experience in this country, so taking the time to show them what school is like and how they can get involved are critical first steps to forming a parent partnership. (Short & Boyson, 2012)

Stations
Ciera Walker is a sixth-year systemwide ELL teacher in east Tennessee:
Newcomers that might have the same level of English do not necessarily grow and learn at the same rate. This is due to many factors, such as previous schooling experience and the background of the student and their family. I use stations as a strategy to meet the needs of all of my newcomers.

What? Stations provide students with an opportunity to work with a partner on specific skills to boost their language learning and language acquisition.

When? We do stations most Thursdays and every Friday.

How? Students eventually work their way up to a goal of 12-15 minutes per station. The teacher starts a timer, and students rotate through the stations with their partner.

Who? I generally group my students by ability in English (homogeneous groups), but occasionally, if they have a great ,I will let them choose their partners (in more heterogeneous groups).

Why? The purpose of stations is to provide students with practice in skills they are learning in the ESL classroom and the general education classroom. Students have opportunities to practice skills during stations while the teacher provides individualized mini-lessons to help with the language-learning process. Stations are practical and provide teachers with opportunities to use best practices in teaching students a new language. It is extremely important to be purposeful, organized, and use a system to make stations go smoothly! It takes a lot of planning to teach students the stations so they can work independently. I take a lot of time to "front-load" the expectations and provide students time to practice. Students generally start stations independently after fall break.

Each year, I change up my stations depending on my students' needs or new ideas I find. Below are some of my favorites that are easy to maintain and enjoyed by the students. I recommend teachers keep stations simple and choose one activity per station, especially in the beginning. As students become more familiar, you can add on to the complexity of each station.

Teacher: Students meet with the teacher and work on individualized needs (letter work, word work, reading stories, fluency, comprehension, etc.). I like to use Reading A-Z or ReadWorks to help structure this station.

Listening: Students work on EPIC books, Unite for Literacy, or listen to books on tape/cd. You can get a headphone splitter from Amazon for pretty cheap if you have limited devices so students can listen together.

Library: Students read a book and complete a simple graphic organizer about what they read.

Computer Station: Choose a safe website for students to play on. I like starfall.com for my primary students and I am hoping to implement typing websites for my older students next year.

Speaking: I use Vocaroo or Flipgrid. For Vocaroo, I usually have picture cards with vocabulary words students might need; students retell the story. For Flipgrid, I usually have a video for students to watch or I ask them a question and they must respond.

Writing: This station is the one that evolves the most throughout the year. Using picture prompts, sentence stems/frames, and word banks is crucial for the writing station.

Word Work Games: This station has many games that work on foundational reading skills. Eventually, students have different boxes/baggies they pull from (depending on their level).

1. Bang: Have different sets of 10-12 words (letters, sight words, vocabulary words, etc.). Label 1-2 cards "Bang." Students pour cards out of baggies into a box. They reach in the box and grab a word, say the meaning or read the word. If they pull "bang," then all their cards must go back in the box.

2. Roll, read, write: Create a 7x6 table. Type in the target words that correspond with a number on a die. Put the sheet in a pocket protector and have students write the word with an Expo marker when they roll the die.

3. Oodlu.org: Create vocabulary sets. Students answer questions and get to play premade video games. Easy to use and create-a class favorite!

Stations are a versatile and practical way to provide students with practice on new skills they are learning and to differentiate instruction for newcomers with varying levels of language acquisition.

Thanks to Michelle, Irina, Luisa, Sean, and Ciera for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.
Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email (The RSS feed for this blog, and for all Ed Week articles, has been changed by the new redesign-new ones won't be available until February). And if you missed any of the highlights from the first nine years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below. I am also creating a Twitter list including all contributors to this column.

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Thirteen Instructional Strategies for Supporting ELL Newcomers (Opinion)

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Five educators share effective instructional strategies to use with English-language-learner newcomers, including using images and games.

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This chart shows the do's and don'ts of teaching ELL in the classroom.

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This video shows how to differentiate instruction for ELL students and how to make it accessible for all students.

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Differentiating Instruction: A Guide for Teaching English-Language Learners

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How to Support ELL's in Every Aspect of the Classroom

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How to Support ELL's in Every Aspect of the Classroom

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This blog explains how teachers can support these learners in all areas of the classroom.

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What You Need to Know About ELL Students

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What You Need to Know About ELL Students

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This website explains what ELL is, how it is effective, and how to communicate with these students.

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Achievement gaps between English language learners (ELLs) and non-ELL students are deeply rooted, pervasive, complex, and challenging for National Education Association affiliates and members.

The good news is that NEA is actively addressing the complex issues by engaging in research and advocacy and proposing strategies that we can pursue individually and collectively to help eliminate those gaps.

What do schools need to effectively address ELL students. Schools need the following to effectively address ELL students?

Schools need to promote:

A research-based process for the effective teaching of ELLs

Curriculum design and lesson planning based on sound pedagogical principles, practices, and high standards

Strategic methods for making grade-level materials and resources comprehensible for ELLs

Research-based training on theory, culture, diversity, social status, and policy of language acquisition

Training, technical assistance, and/or funding for programs and services for ELL students

Advocacy that will increase awareness as to the coalitions that support educators who work with ELLs

Resources that will help educators learn more about effective, differentiated teaching strategies specifically addressing ELLs.

How can I effectively partner with ELL families and communities?

All families want the best education for their children, and ELL families are no different. English Language Learners of all ethnicities cite education as a priority for their children, and for the majority of Hispanics-the largest group of ELLs in the nation-education outranked every other issue on national surveys.

Families are your most valuable allies for advocating for the rights of ELL students. Use the following advocacy strategies as helpful starting points for partnering with ELL families and communities.

Be open to different forms of parental engagement. Families are involved in their childrens' education in a variety of ways. Offer them a variety of opportunities for being involved.

Don't forget about extended families. Extended families and community members often play a significant role in the lives of English language learners. Welcome them into the classroom and at school events.

Increase families' comfort levels being at school. Provide programs that directly benefit them (e.g., free English classes, information about immigrant rights or community services).

Recognize and eliminate barriers to family involvement. Identify ways the school can support families participating in school activities and events by providing services like childcare, transportation to and from events, interpreters, dinner, flexible meeting times, and dual language resources.

Build relationships with family and community. Developing trusting and respectful relationships with parents will go a long way toward helping ELL students succeed in school. Many districts have launched home visit programs as a way to enhance parent-teacher communication, help teachers learn more about their students, bridge cultural gaps, and show parents and students how much teachers care. Participating in local community events also helps show you are invested in the life of the community and helps inspire trust.

Immigration status matters. Recognize that families of ELLs may be dealing with various factors associated with their immigration status. They may have feelings of dislocation and unfamiliarity with cultural and institutional norms. Take care in the type of information you request, and contact the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights for guidance in navigating this issue.

Use multiple ways of communication. Ask families what form of communication works best for them: email, notes home, phone calls, face-to-face school drop-off or pick-up. Communicate in families' preferred language if possible. If this is not possible, find a trusted, bilingual interpreter who can accompany you to a meeting and whom you feel would be comfortable around parents.

Learn about your ELLs' families. Allow your students to do projects that help you gain insights into their family and cultural backgrounds. Encourage families to come to the classroom and share one aspect of their culture. Let the family member and the student be the experts.

Share resources and your expectations for students with families. Give all parents information about opportunities that will help ensure their children don't make harmful decisions or fall behind academically. Start sharing information early (e.g., talk about college planning in junior high so families know the type of coursework required).

Make sure parents know their rights. Rights for parents of ELLs are often an amalgamation of district, state, and federal requirements. Identify and share resources that will help parents understand and exercise their rights in proactive ways, not just when faced with an issue.

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English Language Learners: What you need to know | NEA

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NEA is actively addressing the complex issues English language learners face by engaging in research and advocacy, and proposing strategies that can help eliminate gaps in achievement.

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This website offers ten different websites to help ELL students learn English.

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If you're an ESL teacher or the parent of a child learning English, you don't have to go at it alone.

These days, there are tons of useful websites for ESL students to practice all aspects of the English language.

Many of these websites are jam-packed with fun activities that will have children coming back for more. And there's plenty of free content available, too!

Keep reading to discover the 10 best websites for ESL students and some tips for using them at home or at school.

Whether you're assigning extra practice for homework or trying to raise your child bilingual, you'll likely find some great support that's easily accessible online.

Contents

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

There are over 100 interactive activities here to help kids from preschool to grade 8 develop skills in English literacy. Not only that, but there's a wide variety of books children can read directly on the website, such as "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."

Even the arcade games allow children a chance to practice their reading in order to play games successfully. All the games are safe for kids, and they encourage children to manipulate the keyboard and mouse so they can learn to be independent on the computer.

Featured resource: Grammar Gorillas, a game where players have to recognize parts of speech to feed bananas to gorillas.

Tip for home use: Have your child pick a game from the arcade section and practice reading instructions so they can complete games independently.

Tip for school use: Pick an appropriate book or comic on the site to read to small groups or the whole class.

It's worth it to spend time digging through all the interactive resources that this website has to offer. Featuring resources such as writing contests, videos, apps and digital resources for educators, children will never tire of the wide variety of activities on this site.

It's not specifically made for ESL students, but the activities are simple and engaging enough for English learners to play along while picking up new words and phrases.

Featured resource: For really young learners, check out "Work It Out Wombats!" This cute series follows a family of problem-solving wombats and comes with printables, activities and games.

Tip for home use: Explore the PBS Parents section where you can get tips and activities to help your child learn, all organized by age. There are over 800 crafts and even fun recipes you can make with your child. Use their birthday party materials to organize an English-only get-together for your child and their friends or classmates!

Tip for school use: Explore PBS Learning Media, where PBS has teamed up with leading educational developers to provide free resources such as infographics, videos and interactive games to use in the classroom.

This free resource is full of engaging material and a huge variety of activities for kids of any age. The activities cover the breadth of language skills and all of them can be adapted for home or classroom use.

Featured resource: The "Print and make" section, where you'll find crafts, flashcards, worksheets and coloring pages your English learner(s) can use at home or at school.

Tip for home use: Check out the Parents section, where you can find expert advice on helping your child learn English, information about English courses and a plethora of resources you can use at home.

Tip for school use: Use the "Word of the week" to teach your students a new word at the beginning of every class! You can also print many of the exercises to give to students as homework.

Although this website requires a subscription to access its full features, it's worth it if you have multiple children or teach classes of varying literacy levels. You can print books according to levels and topics, create your own books and search for appropriate benchmark tests.

Featured resource: Their three-part process to determine the appropriate level of texts for your students and when they're ready to move up to the next level.

Tip for home use: Work with your child using the read-aloud texts before bedtime or while you're on the go, during road trips or commutes.

Tip for school use: Create accounts for each student to keep track of progress and assign individual activities within the parameters of your class, or as a supplemental resource.

This free website helps children from PreK to 6th grade learn a variety of subjects including English. There are over 300 games organized by theme (animals, food, sports, etc.), plus handouts, writing prompts, and more.

You can also purchase a monthly Premium Family or Classroom Plan to get rid of ads and get full mobile access for multiple devices.

Featured resource: Common Core Standards. Here, you can choose your child's or students' grade level, subject (such as English language arts) and a specific skill like language or writing. You'll be shown a list of standards, such as "Form and use the simple verb tenses," plus games they can play that will help them develop that specific skill.

Tip for home use: Find out what your child is learning at school, and have them play games at home that align with that vocabulary theme or language skill. If you're homeschooling, use the Common Core Standards to keep your child on track.

Tip for school use: If you have a TV or projector in your classroom, you can play certain games like crossword puzzles as a class. Or you can print them out and distribute them. Use the holiday-themed crossword puzzles to celebrate the holidays as they come up, and the other thematic games to reinforce vocabulary.

One of the biggest book publishers, this website does not disappoint. Separated by resources for parents and teachers, Scholastic Kids features activities such as reading contests, interactive scrapbook games and printables.

Featured resource: Home Base. A free, educational space where kids can interact with their favorite stories, characters and fellow fans. You can get the mobile app or download it directly onto your computer.

Tip for home use: Check out Scholastic's Parents section where you'll find a plethora or resources and tips to help your child get the most out of the resources on the website.

Tip for school use: Check out the section of the website dedicated to educators, where you'll find a variety of teaching materials including comprehensive reading guides and even personalized consulting from education experts who can help you take your teaching to the next level.

The website is equally as fun as the activities featured in their monthly print magazine. Resources include animated stories, a poetry maker and a section where kids can send in their work and be featured on the website.

Featured resource: Hidden Pictures, where children have to look for images hidden inside a larger picture.

Tip for home use: Play Hidden Pictures with your child to help with vocabulary building.

Tip for school use: Create listening and reading stations so students can listen along to different stories and poems.

All the materials on Breaking News English are based on news headlines and current events from around the world. Most news stories are available in three or four different reading levels. Plus, each story comes with a variety of handouts and activities to practice listening, reading, grammar, spelling and vocabulary.

As an added bonus, users can complete online quizzes and download stories as mp3 files. For extra listening practice, check out the site's podcast.

Featured resource: Speed Reading Lessons. Choose from different news articles to help with reading fluency.

Tip for home use: Have your child pick a story they're interested in, or pick one for them based on their interests. Encourage your child to read by rewarding them with a corresponding game at the end.

Tip for school use: Break up the class into reading abilities and read the same story with different levels. Students can then pair up or get together in groups of three to summarize the text and complete discussion questions together.

For more news articles for English learners, visit this post:

This website features reading resources for children from preschool to first grade. There are guided reading materials and supplemental reading resources as well as phonic activities so kids can have fun while completing levels. Everything is developed by teachers and parents in the US, so you can rest assured that the resources have been tested.

Featured resource: Road to Reading. Download this program featuring interactive activities to help children develop phonemic skills.

Tip for home use: Register for a free account and download games for you and your child to play together.

Tip for school use: Download full resources for guided reading activities for your class.

Featuring one of the largest collections of free books for children, the website has made it so that anyone can access their books, even without registering. Users can search for books according to language, age level and genre. You can sign up for an account where you can bookmark books and save your favorites for later reading.

Featured resource: Books by Language, where you can find bilingual books in your learner's native language and English. With text in both languages, early learners can follow the story while picking up English as they read.

Tip for home use: Have your child read to you (or vice versa) before they go to bed at night. If they find a book they like, have them read the same one for extra fluency practice.

Tip for school use: Have each student sign up for an individual account and save searches to use during independent reading time or during guided reading groups.

How Can Children Learn English Using Websites?

Work together, learn together. Adults forget sometimes that they need to model the behavior they want to see in children. If your student or child never sees you being interested in using the resources you provide them, how can you expect them to be interested at all?
Start off with exploring websites together and learning how to use the games or activities together. The more you're involved with the learning process, the more your child or student will be motivated to explore on their own eventually.

Find topics that interest the student. Make sure you spend time with your children or students to figure out what they're personally interested in the most, which is the key to motivation. Cater website resources to what they like, as well as to what they need to work on the most.
For example, on , y ou can assign authentic English videos as homework. This allows you to cater the topic to each individual student, whether you think they'll enjoy learning with a music video or a TED talk.

FluentU's videos are optimized for students with interactive subtitles (allowing students to click on any word to see its meaning and add it to a flashcard deck), as well as multimedia transcripts, keyword banks and personalized exercises following each video and flashcard deck. This program is an easy way to help your kids learn without it feeling like learning.

Make it fun. Find some way, any way, to make websites as interactive as possible (because not all of them are set up for interaction). Try turning games into friendly competitions between adults and kids, and you might see that this can help revive interest in learning English.

Go outside. Sometimes all it takes is a change in scenery to motivate children. Take a mobile device or your laptop to places like a park, or even your back porch, and watch children get excited about practicing their English.

Don't take too long. Children have shorter attention spans than adults. If you make them focus on something too long, they'll lose interest. It'll eventually feel like they're being forced into an activity, and children will rebel against practicing their English. If you're doing lessons, limit activities to 10 minutes or less. For activities where they're reinforcing skills already learned, spend no more than 20 to 30 minutes a day doing these, depending on their age.

Helping your child learn English can be fun if you provide them with the right stimulation and tools. Use any of the above websites, and you'll be on your way to seeing happy and engaged students!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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10 Best Websites for ESL Students and Young Learners | FluentU English Educator Blog

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Looking for websites for ESL students to support their learning? You can avoid getting overwhelmed by the options because we've narrowed them down for you! Click here for the 10 best websites, plus key resources and tips for using them at school or at home.

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These resources help support teachers in their goal to reach ELL students in a more productive way.

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With a growing population of English Language Learners in the classroom, many teachers feel underprepared to support the individual learning needs of ELL students. Fortunately, onli

ne resources are available to help teachers explore strategies and give learning opportunities to these students.

From printed materials to digital tools, a variety of materials can help ELL students develop language and literacy skills that will prepare them for comprehending classroom curriculum. Integrating hands-on resources and setting up flexible grouping can also help teachers develop ways to support ELL students at various skill levels.

Here are five valuable resources that can give a teacher foundational support for ELL students in all areas of study, including science and STEM education.
Colorin Colorado
Coloring Colorado offers a variety of articles, books, videos and tools for educators and families of English Language Learners. This resource provides information on science courses that can help ELL students become successful in STEM education.
ESL Library
This website provides materials for ELL teachers around the world. It covers a variety of topics that can benefit ELL adults, teenagers, and young learners. From learning grammar to discussing real-world issues, ESL Library provides a wide range of lessons and worksheets with topics that keep ELL/ESL students engaged in learning.
ESL Gold
For free resources that include daily lessons, videos and vocabulary activities, ESL Gold offers materials for all skill levels of English Language Learners. It also provides one-on-one tutoring to help students outside of the classroom.
One Stop English
Teaching tips and ELL methodology can be accessed on One Stop English. Lesson plans are categorized foe ELL students of all ages and even include language lessons focused on real-world application, including science materials related to a STEM program.
Activities for ESL Students
Through the contribution of thousands of teachers, this website shares activities, lessons and tests for ELL students. Categories are broken into the student's native language to more easily help them recognize English grammar and vocabulary.
Communities and Blogs
Communities and blogs on the topic of ELL are also available for teachers including, Teacher Talk and the English Blog. Edutopia is another valuable resource with a variety of ELL strategies that can boost student engagement including articles on using technology and art to build language skills.

Academic success for ELL students largely depends on learning basic language skills that are applicable to classroom curriculum and real-world situations. By supporting ELL students with engaging and interactive resources, they will be more prepared in their future education.

Check out why this school district uses STEMscopes for their ELL students: https://youtu.be/0CFRZubYk3w

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5 Resources for Teaching ELL Students in the Classroom

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With a growing population of English Language Learners in the classroom, many teachers feel underprepared to support the individual learning needs of ELL students. Fortunately, onli ne resources are available to help teachers explore strategies and give learning opportunities to these students.

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This video explains the goal of differentiating and how teachers can differentiate instruction to better reach ELL.

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Differentiating Instruction: A Guide for Teaching English-Language Learners

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This website explains six strategies for teaching ELL.

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Over 10 percent of students in the United States-more than 4.8 million kids-are English language learners (ELLs), and the number is on the rise. Though these students do not learn differently than their native-English-speaking peers, they do have particular educational needs.

To learn about these needs-and best practices for addressing them-I interviewed a range of educators and observers, including Larry Ferlazzo, an educator and author of The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide; longtime teachers of English as a second language (ESL) Emily Francis and Tan Huynh; and the journalist Helen Thorpe, who spent a year observing a teacher who works with ELLs.

The group emphasized that the strategies listed here, which include both big-picture mindsets and nitty-gritty teaching tactics, can be incorporated into all classrooms, benefiting both native English speakers and ELLs.

1. Cultivate Relationships and Be Culturally Responsive

No surprise here. A successful classroom, our educators agreed, is one in which students feel known, appreciated, and comfortable taking emotional and intellectual risks. That requires intentional planning and consistent messaging by the teacher.

Emily Francis, an ESL teacher in Concord, North Carolina, makes clear that she wants her students to "embrace their culture and their language as a foundation of who they are" and to consider their acquisition of a new culture and language "not as subtractive, but as additive." To help support students who may never have attended school before or may be coping with migration-based trauma, Francis emphasizes that little things make a big difference. "The first thing that I need to think about is, how is my student feeling in my classroom?" she says. "Are they sitting next to a buddy they can ask a question in their home language? Do they feel comfortable tapping me on the shoulder if they have to go to the bathroom?"

But creating a supportive environment is also about cultivating an appreciation of diversity-it's critical that both the curriculum and the classroom environment honor and reflect the lives of the students. For instance, Francis makes certain that her classroom library is reflective of her students' diverse backgrounds and identities.

ESL teacher Katie Toppel, who teaches near Portland, Oregon, champions the value of home visits to get to know students' families and takes care to incorporate the particulars of students' lives, such as pets' names and favorite sports, into lessons. Students are most engaged when they feel a personal connection to a lesson or unit, a connection that's created in part by a teacher's investment in culturally competent relationships.

2. Teach Language Skills Across the Curriculum

English language learners should not be learning the fundamentals of English in isolation; they should be applying their developing language skills to rich academic content in all subjects.

"It is key that in mainstream classrooms, teachers understand their role as language teachers," says Valentina Gonzalez, a district leader in Katy, Texas, suggesting that all teachers should be aware of the specialized idiom they work within. "If we teach math, then we teach the language of mathematics. If we teach science, then we teach the language of science." Math teachers, in other words, should take the time to teach the unfamiliar vocabulary of mathematics- add, subtract, calculator, solve -concurrently with the teaching of math skills.

3. Emphasize Productive Language

The educators I interviewed agreed that productive language skills-hard-to-master dimensions of language fluency like speaking and writing-should be front and center from day one, even if students feel hesitant about them.

Beginning ELLs often develop receptive language skills like listening and reading first. Educators who are unaware of the typical path to fluency may believe that students who can follow verbal or written directions will be able to produce oral or written language, but that's usually not the case.

To support reluctant speakers, Tan Huynh, an educator who blogs at Empowering ELLs, suggests using sentence frames. "For example, when a science teacher wants ELLs to produce a hypothesis, they might offer the sentence, 'If _____ was added, then _____ because _____.' This sentence frame provides clues that empower ELLs to sound and think like scientists," Huynh says.

Andrea Honigsfeld, a professor of education at Molloy College in Rockville, New York, suggests that all lessons touch on every letter of the acronym SWIRL, which stands for Speak, Write, Interact, Read, Listen. The approach intentionally privileges productive language skills "from the beginning," she says.

4. Speak Slowly-and Increase Your Wait Time

Easier said than done. Still, many of the teachers I spoke to said this simple change is vital. You can record yourself speaking in class to measure your cadence, and adjust.

"Adding in an extra three to five seconds after we pose a question offers all students time to think," explains Gonzalez. "However, for English learners, it also gives time to translate, process their thinking, translate back into English, and develop the courage to answer. If we call on students too quickly, many of our students will stop thinking about the answers-or trying to answer at all."

That means undoing some of our own habits, according to Larry Ferlazzo, a high school ESL teacher in Sacramento, California. "Researchers have found that typically most teachers give one to two seconds between asking a question and expecting a student response," he says. "The same researchers have shown that if you wait three to five seconds, the quality of responses is astronomically greater."

5. Differentiate-and Use Multiple Modalities

All kids learn better when they engage with material in multiple ways: Lessons that involve writing, speaking, drawing, and listening, for example, give students four opportunities to deepen their understanding of the work. For ELLs, those additional engagements also provide a little breathing room so they can work through the language barrier.

Helen Thorpe, a journalist who spent a year observing Eddie Williams's classroom in Denver in order to write a book about immigrants called The Newcomers, marveled at Williams's method of differentiation. "Eddie would enunciate very clearly in English multiple times, he would write it on the board, and he would go to the projector to give a visual. And, finally, he'd be asking the kids to verbalize aspects of the lesson themselves," she says, tracing Williams's efforts to move his students from receptive to productive language fluency.

Toppel uses a strategy called QSSSA to scaffold classroom discussions with ELLs. The letters stand for Question (the teacher poses a question, then gives ample think time); Signal (a designated motion like a thumbs-up, a finger on the nose-something that lets students indicate that they're ready to answer); Stem (the teacher provides a sentence starter for the question-for example, for "What is your favorite place to read a book?" the stem might be, "My favorite place to read a book is _____"); Share; and Assess.

6. Incorporate Students' Native Languages-and Don't Be Afraid of Technology

Bilingualism is the goal, of course, not replacement.

Ferlazzo uses a strategy called "preview, view, review," which leverages a student's native language skills as a foundation for learning the new language. He introduces a topic and encourages students to preview it in materials in their home language (often using multilingual videos and other online resources); he then teaches the topic in English, and then has students review the information in their home language.

Ferlazzo also encourages teachers to embrace technologies that students find helpful, like Google Translate. He stresses that the app can be a useful way for students to translate words quickly-but warns that it can quickly "become a dependency" if it's used as more than a handy dictionary.

Thorpe agrees that Translate can take pressure off teachers, who sometimes find that they "just stand at the front of the room and say things over and over. And if the kids didn't know what those words are, they're out of luck." Translation technology means you can say it once (or twice) and let the students use the technology to translate key words and phrases.

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6 Essential Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

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We interviewed educators with decades of experience in teaching ELLs and tapped a network of experts and observers to find the strategies that work.

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This blog explains the evolution of ELL and its objectives.

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Ever heard of the term ELL and wondered, "What is ELL?" It sounds a lot like ESL, and it's related! ELL stands for English language learners. The term is slightly different from ESL though, and we will explain how and why it was created.

The importance of knowing English for education and business is a high priority and expanding need in the global community. Second only to Mandarin Chinese, English is the most spoken language in the world. That's why a lot of non-native English speakers become English language learners (ELL).

If you fall into this category as a learner or you are an ELL teacher who helps students learn English, this article is filled with ELL strategies to help!

What Is ELL?

An ELL is defined as anyone who does not learn English as their first and primary language. According to the National Education Association, ELL learners are the fastest growing student population. It's estimated that roughly one-fourth of all students in public school by 2025 will be ELLs.

The most common native languages that ELL children speak include: Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Chinese, Somali, Russian, Haitian, and Hmong. While some students may speak English on a basic level, these students need extra help in learning English academically.

The Evolution Of "ELL"

The term ELL originated as an alternative to ESL (English as a Second Language). In 2011, people at the Fresh Voices from Long Journeys: Immigrant and Refugee Students conference in Canada brought it to the world's attention that some English language learners are not learning English as their second language. That makes the term "ESL" technically incorrect.

As such, ELL is becoming a more popular and politically correct term to ESL, especially by educators. Furthermore, ELL also encompasses students who are learning English as an academic necessity. For example, ELL may refer to a student's academic performance in English-language subject classes.

Objectives Of ELL

ELL objectives may vary depending on the program or country in which a student is learning English.

However, at the heart of ELL stands the same goal - to prepare students to speak English as quickly and proficiently as possible. The objective is so students can not only excel in academics, but they can also partake in social activities and have the ability to communicate with their peers and teachers.

Taking ELL a step beyond primary and secondary school is the objective for students to perform well in institutes of higher education. For the most part, proficiency in English is a requirement for many schools.

At the University of the People, admissions requirements are relatively low compared to most other institutions. However, one of the two requirements is that students have proficiency in English, and that's because all classes are taught online in English.

When students are able to speak English from a young age, it will set them up for more opportunities in education and careers down the line.

7 Types Of ELL Programs

Each program that offers ELL can choose from a variety of ways to initiate the courses. These may span the following:

1. The ESL Pull-Out Program

Students remain in the same academic classes as their native English speaking peers, but at a certain point, they are "pulled out" to go learn English separately.

2. Content-Based ESL Program

The goal is to incorporate English at an understandable level within context to teach. For example, teachers may use visual aids and gestures to teach vocabulary and concepts.

3. English-Language Instruction Program

When there are students who speak many different languages, the teacher will solely teach in English.

4. Bilingual Instructional Program

As the name implies, classes are taught in both the student's native language as well as English. The best scenario to implement this program is when teachers are in a classroom in which the bulk of students speak the same native language.

5. Transitional/Early-Exit Program

With the goal to have students learning entirely in English as quickly as possible, this instruction is a blend. It starts off by first helping students understand concepts and fluency by teaching in their native language. Then, once concepts are mastered, teachers will switch to instruction in English only.

6. Maintenance/Late-Exit Program

As the antithesis of the aforementioned style of teaching, the late-exit program maintains teaching in a student's native language until they are considered fluent in English. Only then will instruction switch to English. In this way, students can maintain fluency in multiple languages concurrently.

7. Two-Way Bilingual Program

Teachers who are bilingual have the opportunity to teach in both languages. There's a 50/50 balance in instruction for both native English speakers and English language learning students.

What Is An ESL Teacher?

To make any of these programs function properly, teachers must motivate their students. While that could be said about any form of education, ESL teachers play a special role for ELL students.

ESL teachers are those who connect non-native speakers to English language learning. They support ELL students and connect them to a new culture and way of learning.

6 Strategies For Helping ELL Students In The Classroom

As an ESL teacher, you play a pivotal role in the success of your ELL students. Not only are you their primary source to learn a new language, but you also are opening the door to a new world of opportunities and connections.

There are various strategies for how to best work with ELL students in any classroom settings. Here are some best practices:

1. Cultural Responsiveness

Teaching English doesn't negate the fact that every language is important and useful to the world. ESL teachers can help a student acclimate by also paying homage to their culture. When a student feels seen and understood, they will be more likely to take risks, both emotionally and intellectually.

2. Teach Language Across Subjects

English spans every subject. As such, teaching English in isolation as it pertains to language alone is insufficient. You can incorporate English language learners across subjects while still introducing new words, concepts, and understanding.

3. Productive Language

It's common for students learning a new language to only want to listen. However, productive language skills like reading, writing, and speaking should be introduced from the get go. You can help students set up sentences by offering fill in the blank versions so that they can use context clues to write or speak in complete sentences, even if they just know a few words to begin.

4. Speak Slowly

It's natural to expect immediate responses when teaching an engaged classroom. However, when you work with students who are learning a new language, it's important to practice patience and speak slowly. Additionally, give an extra few seconds for students to respond to questions.

5. Multiple Modalities

Incorporate various ways of teaching and student engagement throughout a lesson. One specific strategy to try is expressed through the acronym "QSSSA." This stands for:

Question: Ask a question

Signal: Gesture that it's a student's turn to answer the question (try a thumbs up, or a light tap on the shoulder, for example)

Stem: Begin the answer for the student and then let them fill in the rest of the sentence

Share: Allow a student to respond and fill in the blank

Assess: Only provide feedback or a response after the student has completed their thought

6. Technology

It should go without saying that technology can be a great resource and friend to both ESL teachers and ELL students. From using tools like Google Translate to allowing students to play video games and go online in English, the various modalities in which technology can help a student learn are seemingly infinite.

Teaching ELL Students: 3 Things To Know

When teaching and learning a new language, there are obvious challenges that will arise. However, it's important to keep in mind that it's a process and all forms of progress should be celebrated.

Here are some expectations that are likely to occur and ways to manage them effectively:

1. A Silent Period

Many students take time to adjust to speaking or learning in a new language. As such, they may be understanding the curriculum, but they are hesitant to speak. Be patient with silent periods.

2. Develop Non-Verbal Communication

To assist even more so during silent periods, try to communicate non-verbally. Allow students to play charades, gesture or even draw responses to questions they know answers to.

3. Utilize Peers

A nice way to help ELLs integrate into the classroom is to assign a native-English-speaking buddy to be by their side. This way, they can both form friendships and learn from someone who is their peer.

Final Tips: Supporting ELL Students In The Classroom

Try these final recommendations to better support your ELL students:

Use visuals

Assign group work

Honor their silent period

Practice scaffolding education

Use sentence frames and stems

Incorporate cultural vocabulary

Learn about their native culture and show appreciation

Listen carefully and patiently

The Wrap Up

Learning English or any new language can be challenging and overwhelming. But, as an ESL teacher, you have the power in your hands to support English language learners by utilizing these best practices.

Strategies for ELL students will be increasingly needed as the number of ELL students continues to grow. Regardless of the type of ELL program initiated, students should feel supported and heard while increasing their English proficiency. You can make all the difference!

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What Is ELL In Education And Why It's Important

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Ever heard of the term ELL and wondered, "What is ELL?" It sounds a lot like ESL, and it's related! ELL stands for English language learners. The term is slightly different from ESL though, and we will explain how and why it was created.

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"We now know that when children are educated together, positive academic and social outcomes occur for all the children involved."

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By Leslie Soodak, Ph.D. Pace University
and Elizabeth Erwin, Ed.D. City University of New York - Queens College The Benefits of Inclusive Education
Inclusive education happens when children with and without disabilities participate and learn together in the same classes. Research shows that when a child with disabilities attends classes alongside peers who do not have disabilities, good things happen.

For a long time, children with disabilities were educated in separate classes or in separate schools. People got used to the idea that special education meant separate education.

But we now know that when children are educated together, positive academic and social outcomes occur for all the children involved. We also know that simply placing children with and without disabilities together does not produce positive outcomes. Inclusive education occurs when there is ongoing advocacy, planning, support and commitment.

Here are key findings about the benefits of inclusion for children and families:

* Parents' visions of a typical life for their children can come true.

All parents want their children to be accepted by their peers, have friends and lead "regular" lives. Inclusive settings can make this vision a reality for many children with disabilities.

* Children develop a positive understanding of themselves and others.

When children attend classes that reflect the similarities and differences of people in the real world, they learn to appreciate diversity.

* Friendships develop.
What It Means To Be Inclusive
Schools are important places for children to develop friendships and learn social skills. Children with and without disabilities learn with and from each other in inclusive classes.

* All children learn by being together.

Because the philosophy of inclusive education is aimed at helping all children learn, everyone in the class benefits. Children learn at their own pace and style within a nurturing learning environment.

These are the principles that guide quality inclusive education:

* All children belong.

Inclusive education is based on the simple idea that every child and family is valued equally and deserves the same opportunities and experiences. Inclusive education is about children with disabilities - whether the disability is mild or severe, hidden or obvious - participating in everyday activities, just like they would if their disability were not present. It's about building friendships, membership and having opportunities just like everyone else.

* All children learn in different ways.
Common Misconceptions About Inclusive Education
Inclusion is about providing the help children need to learn and participate in meaningful ways. Sometimes, help from friends or teachers works best. Other times, specially designed materials or technology can help. The key is to give only as much help as needed.

* It is every child's right to be included.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act clearly states that all children with disabilities should be educated with non-disabled children their own age and have access to the general education curriculum.

Some opinions about inclusive education are based on unsound information. Three common myths about inclusion are:

1. Separate is better. Segregation doesn't work.

Whether children are separated based on race, ability, or any other characteristic, a separate education is not an equal education. Research shows that typical children and children with disabilities learn as much or more in inclusive classes.

2. Children must be "ready" to be included. All children have to the right to be with other children their own age.
From PBS.org "Inclusive Communities"
A child with disabilities does not have to perform at a certain grade level or act exactly like the other children in their class to benefit from being a full-time member in general education.

3. Parents don't support inclusive education. Parents have been and continue to be the driving force for inclusive education.

The best outcomes occur when parents of children with disabilities and professionals work together. Effective partnerships happen when there is collaboration, communication and, most of all, TRUST between parents and professionals.

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By Leslie Soodak, Ph.D. Pace University and Elizabeth Erwin, Ed.D. City University of New York - Queens College The Benefits of Inclusive Education Inclusive education happens when children with and without disabilities participate and learn together in the same classes. Research shows that when a child with disabilities attends classes alongside peers who do not have disabilities, good things happen.

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PowerPoint on Inclusion in the Classroom Setting

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PowerPoint on Inclusion in the Classroom Setting

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This PowerPoint presents the idea of inclusive classrooms and the success it has for its learners.

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Successfully reported this slideshow.

1. 1. Stefanie Gilmer<br />CI 583 Section 2<br />Special Education Inclusion in the General Education Classroom<br />

2. 2. a legal, moral, ethical, and civil right."<br />But, does it work?<br />"Inclusion is...<br />

3. 3. More often than not, schools are leaning towards full inclusion in the classroom-there are pro's and con's.<br />Is this best for all students involved?<br />What does the research show?<br />What does the law <br /> say?<br />Problem Statement<br />

4. 4. What does an inclusion classroom look like?<br />Usually, two teachers<br />Sometimes, a general education teacher and a special education assistant<br />Students consist of special education and general education students, taught together<br />Difficult to tell which students have IEP's and which do not<br />Video<br />

5. 5. Disabled students do as well, if not better, in an inclusive classroom compared to a separate classroom.<br />Inclusion helps with socialization of disabled students.<br />Advanced students become more accepting, and start to offer help to their struggling peers.<br />Pro's<br />

6. 6. Not all students learn best in this environment.<br />Some students need more individualized instruction, at a slower pace.<br />A general education classroom can provide too much stimuli.<br />Con's<br />

7. 7. Learn from each other<br />Begin to see class as one large group, as opposed to two separate groups<br />Students with varying needs<br />Skills are developed and refined<br />Benefits for Teachers<br />

8. 8. IDEA<br />Provision of public education<br />Least restrictive environment<br />Section 504<br />Used less frequently<br />Federal Law Requirements<br />

9. 9. Greer vs. Rom City School District<br />Sacramento City Unified School District vs. Holland<br />Oberti vs. Board of Education of the Borough of Clementon School District<br />Poolaw vs. Parker Unified School District<br />School District of Wisconsin Dells vs. Z.S.<br />Landmark Court Cases<br />

10. 10. Strategies to Promote Successful Inclusion<br />More ideas<br />

11. 11. Although there are downsides to full inclusion classrooms, it seems that the research shows the benefits outweigh the risks. <br />Provides benefits for all students and teachers/assistants involved.<br />Conclusion<br />

12. 12. Gaillard, P. (n.d.). The inclusion classroom. Retrieved from http://techinclusion.tripod.com/<br />Inclusion in the classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy_files/InclusioninClassroomTips.pdf<br />King, E. N. (2008, November 4). The benefits of an inclusion classroom [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://schoolpsychologistfiles.blogspot.com/2008/11/benefits-of-inclusion-classroom.html<br />Schultz, K. (2007, March 15). Special education inclusion. Retrieved from http://www.weac.org/Issues_Advocacy/Resource_Pages_On_Issues_one/Special_Education/special_education_inclusion.aspx<br />Bibliography<br />

13. 13. Scullion, T. (n.d.). Collaboration and teaching strategies for the inclusion classroom. Retrieved from http://www.wjcc.k12.va.us/jbms/FACULTY/ScullionTim/index-2.htm<br />Teaching autism students in inclusive classrooms. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/autism-students-in-inclusive-classrooms.html<br />Team teaching full inclusion. (2010). [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vShPt32MjpI<br />Bibliography Continued<br />

Recommended

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Successfully reported this slideshow. 1. Stefanie Gilmer CI 583 Section 2 Special Education Inclusion in the General Education Classroom 2. a legal, moral, ethical, and civil right." But, does it work? "Inclusion is... 3. More often than not, schools are leaning towards full inclusion in the classroom-there are pro's and con's.

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Video's That Will Change Your Mind on Inclusion

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Video's That Will Change Your Mind on Inclusion

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This blog provides different videos on how inclusion has benefited diverse students and the impact it has on their education.

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Think Inclusive | The Official Blog of MCIE

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I don't know which side of the fence you are on regarding inclusive education. And for all intents and purposes...it does not matter. This post could just as easily have been called, No...Really...I'm Not Crazy...Inclusive Education Works! Usually, when I talk to people who are not familiar with the idea of having students with disabilities (including significant disabilities) in the general education setting, they say they are having a hard time "wrapping their head around it" or want to see "what it actually looks like." So...just for those of you who need to see it to believe it, I have picked out five videos that will most definitely change your mind about whether inclusive education is really a good thing or not (or at least they should).

Including Issac

Including Issac is a 13-minute video about a boy with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and his story of inclusion in a private Christian school in Michigan. It takes commitment from a school on all levels to make inclusive education work for students with significant disabilities and this a clear example of how coming together for the benefit of one student can benefit all students. Watch this beautifully filmed and powerful video.

Damian's Inclusion Project

This video was made by the Georgia Department of Education (2011) to highlight a pilot inclusive education program for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in cooperation with Cobb County Schools. Check out the follow-up video to see how Damian progressed through his 4th-grade year (from 2014).

Thaysa

Thasya Lumingkewas, 8, has autism and thrives at Maple Wood Elementary School in Somersworth, NH. The school has implemented Response to Intervention (RtI), Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This film highlights the power of presuming competence, differentiated instruction and augmentative and alternative communication.

Tana Vogele's Story

Every year since Kindergarten, Tana Vogele has been included in general education classrooms despite her significant physical and intellectual disabilities. Watch this compelling video about the friendships that have been nurtured during her 4th grade year and what inclusion does to a classroom and school community.

Axel

AXEL open captioned FINAL HD 1080p from Dan Habib on Vimeo.

This short film (16:39) focuses on Axel Cortes and the staff at Idelhurst Elementary School in Somersworth, NH. Axel is a fifth grader with autism who is non-verbal and exhibited significant behavioral challenges when he arrived at school. Axel came to Idelhurst during his 5th grade year from another school where he was exclusively in self-contained settings and was being taught preschool/kindergarten level. Through effective implementation of supports - including AAC, UDL, RtI, social stories, visual schedules and positive behavioral supports - Axel was able to learn 5th grade general education curriculum in a general education classroom within a few months. His challenging behaviors also decreased, and he thrived through interaction and engagement with 'typical' peers. Once Axel had an effective means of communication, the staff found that Axel was was bilingual and bi-literate (his family speaks Spanish at home).

This film illustrates the potential for students with significant cognitive disabilities to achieve high academic outcomes. The film has received support from the National Center and State Collaborative (NCSC).

The video shows how Axel accesses his environment via Augmentative and Alternative Communication as well as how his classmates accept him into their community. Watch how Axel is learning to type independently and makes strides with communicating his wants and needs in the general education setting.
Sometimes we need to see examples of inclusion to really understand that it is possible and happening all over the world. Perhaps you are the one who can influence your local school to implement inclusive practices.

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5 Videos That Will Change Your Mind About Inclusive Education

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I don't know which side of the fence you are on regarding inclusive education. And for all intents and purposes...it does not matter. This post could just as easily have been called, No...Really...I'm Not Crazy...Inclusive Education Works!

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This video shows first hand how inclusion helps those with disabilities in their education setting.

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This blog shows different examples of how inclusion can be incorporated into the classroom.

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BY Tim Villegas

What Does Inclusion Look Like?

One of the questions that I get asked the most being an advocate for inclusive education is, "What does it look like?"

Honestly, I think that is the hard part. Inclusion (with a BIG I) is going to look different depending on each school and student. That is why I think it is helpful to see it as a framework as opposed to a one-size-fits all system. But that does not solve the problem that you don't really know what it looks like until you see it. In any case... here are 10 videos that I think are good examples on how particular schools put inclusion into practice. I know that once I saw these, it was impossible for me to go back to my old way of thinking. It is my hope that they will have the same effect on you.

"Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation (SWIFT) is a national K-8 center providing academic and behavioral support to promote the learning and academic achievement of all students, including those with the most extensive needs.

SWIFT advances equity and excellence for ALL through the promotion of five core domain areas to support grade level academic and social learning:

Administrative Leadership, Family and Community Partnership, Inclusive Education Framework, Inclusive Policy Structure and Practice and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

One of six nationally recognized SWIFT Knowledge Development Sites, the Dr. William W. Henderson Inclusion Elementary School in Dorchester, MA, is featured in this film and highlights some of the SWIFT domains and accompanying features."

"A closer look at the transformation of Somersworth High School, site of Who Cares About Kelsey?, through School Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. The film highlights student leadership and data-driven decision making."

At The IDEAL School, children of varying abilities all learn the same topics, but each student does so at their own level with an individual lesson plan tailored to their needs. Specialized services like speech and physical therapy are provided during elective periods so that no student misses out on academics or feels different.

The school, which was started by a group of parents, is built around the idea that inclusion is merely a form of diversity. School leaders and parents say that the extremely inclusive model of education breeds an environment of total acceptance where each child values the strengths of their peers."

"Most importantly, we recognized that the path to full inclusion is a process; it doesn't happen all at once. For schools just getting started I'd recommend taking the following steps:

1. Help all teachers acquire special education licensure.

2. Read or watch a film about inclusion, and create lots of opportunities to discuss them.

3. Reserve lots of time to talk about doubts, fears and questions as a staff.

4. Be explicit with children and families about why inclusion is a community value.

5. Create time/space for discussion about inclusion with students and families.

Who Decides the Limit on a Person's Learning?

"I understand where critics of full inclusion are coming from," Ayla concluded. "It's very easy for inclusion to go horribly wrong, resulting in an environment where the learning shuts down for everyone. One question I would ask, though, is who decides the limit on a person's learning? Full inclusion does not mean students are without supports. With the right supports, who knows what children will learn from one another? It doesn't seem right to me to eliminate peer models for learning and behavior. It also doesn't seem right for children to not have an opportunity to develop relationships and understanding or compassion for people who struggle in different ways. Inclusion done properly is responsive to student needs. There isn't one model for it."

"We began with a parent's vision of an inclusive community for families with and without disabilities. The hope was to use technology, particularly computers, to include individuals with special needs and their typically developing peers into one classroom environment." See more here.

"I don't know which side of the fence you are on in regard to inclusive education. And for all intents and purposes...it does not matter. This post could just as easily have been called, No...Really...I'm Not Crazy...Inclusive Education Works! Usually when I talk to people who are not familiar with the idea of having students with disabilities (including significant disabilities) in the general education setting they say they are having a hard time "wrapping their head around it" or want to see "what it actually looks like". So...just for those of you who need to see it to believe it, I have picked out five videos that will most definitely change your mind about whether inclusive education is really a good thing or not (or at least they should)"

I think everyone has a story of how inclusion has gone wrong. It is harder to find really good examples of inclusive education. Do you have any to add to this list? Please share them with us in the comments section below!

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10 Examples Of Inclusion: For Those Who Need To See It To Believe It - Friendship Circle - Special Needs Blog

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What Does Inclusion Look Like? One of the questions that I get asked the most being an advocate for inclusive education is, "What does it look like?" Honestly, I think that is the hard part. Inclusion (with a BIG I) is going to look different depending on each school and student.

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This article explains what inclusion looks like and how educators can make their classrooms more inclusive.

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Inclusion is creating a community in your classroom that includes both students with and without disabilities. Research shows us that not only is inclusion best practice, but it benefits ALL kids and should be part of your classroom management strategy.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education define inclusion inearly childhood programsas:

including children with disabilities in early childhood programs together with their peers without disabilities

holding high expectations

intentionally promoting participation inalllearningandsocial activities

using individualized accommodations

using evidence-based services and supports

fostering:

development

friendships with peers

sense of belonging

This applies to allkids, regardless of the severity of their disability. And it can be scaled up for school-aged children as well. (The research below is geared towards early childhood, which is my background. However, there is also strong support for inclusion in higher grades). Inclusion is about making the classroom ready for the child, not making the child ready for the classroom.

What Does Inclusion Look Like?

It may be more helpful to look at some examples of what inclusion is not.

Graphic created by author

What Inclusion IsNOT

Let's start by looking at some things that "inclusion" is NOT.

Practicing different skills in different areas than peers without disabilities.

Practicing skills during different routines than peers without disabilities.

Entering the classroom for designated periods of time only (e.g., recess, music time, snack).

Leaving the classroom for separate instruction ("pull-out").

WhatISInclusion?

Now let's look at what inclusion IS! Inclusion means that all children have:

Accessto typical settings, routines, curricula, and physical locations.

Participationas full members of the classroom community, including full engagement in both academic and social environments.

Supportfor individualized education (IEP) and support for the teachers and families that help kids succeed.

Benefits

Inclusive classrooms have the same or better academic results for children with special needs.

Typically developing children develop more empathy in inclusive classrooms.

Teachers and parents of children both with and without disabilities who have participated in an inclusive class would recommend inclusion to others.

Children with disabilities (across severity of disability) experience positive growth in social skills, adaptive behaviors, literacy and language skills, and cognition.

Typically developing children in high quality inclusive classrooms have similar or better academic performance as those in segregated classrooms.

It's the law! IDEA mandates that children should be educated in the "least restrictive environment." That's inclusion, and it can work for any child.

How Do I Make My Classroom More Inclusive?

Have a community mindset that's focused on welcomingall children.

If you are a general educator,work togetherwith the special educator and therapists. Incorporate them and the skills they are teaching into your lessons, especially when individualizing for students with special needs.

Work with your team to advocate for inclusion. This includes when you meet with specialistsat IEP meetings. Share research and problem solve solutions to make it work.

Get creative about individualization. Remember, providing individual support to help a student succeed is a big part of making inclusion work!

Seek out training and professional development (for instance, from theCouncil for Exceptional Development).

Be an inclusion champion!Often, schools don't practice inclusion because they do things the way it's always been done. Learn about inclusion and promote its practice.

Stuck? Reach out to me in the comments below. I'd love to help!

Resources
Research and Policy Statements (Early Childhood)

Blogs, Resource Lists, and Stories

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Inclusion: Helping All Students Belong in Your Classroom!

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Inclusion is creating a community in your classroom that includes both students with and without disabilities. Research shows us that not only is inclusion best practice, but it benefits ALL kids and should be part of your classroom management strategy. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S.

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TedTalk: Sara Mauldin Shares Her Experiences on Inclusion

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TedTalk: Sara Mauldin Shares Her Experiences on Inclusion

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This is an insightful TedTalk on growing up with diverse learners and how important inclusion is in today's world of education.

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Sara Mauldin recognizes that she grew up in a society which separates people with disabilities. It encourages a perception that individuals with disabilities are lesser humans than those without. Mauldin advocates for the celebration, not seperation, of all people. As a special education teacher and a disability rights advocate, Mauldin has dedicated her adult career to including students with disabilities in the classroom and on the playground. She is working towards a future in which children with disabilities and children without are all allowed to learn and play together, and to share the same humanity.

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These podcasts show insight as to those who have experienced inclusion and its benefits for diverse learners.

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If you've never heard of the Inclusive Digital Expression and Literacy (IDEAL) program out of Georgia State University, you're in for a treat!

IDEAL is an inclusive, post-secondary education program with a unique focus on creative and digital media.

We are so excited to bring you this conversation with Cara Davis,...

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Disability rights is the next frontier in civil rights. We believe education is the key to building an inclusive society and ensuring that all students are given an equal opportunity. The Inclusive Education Project Podcast, hosted by Special Education and Civil Rights attorneys, Amanda Selogie and Vickie Brett, offers a fresh, smart perspective on what it takes to truly make our educational systems and communities inclusive.

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Video on the Trend of Inclusive Classrooms

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Video on the Trend of Inclusive Classrooms

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The superintendent in this video, talks about the trend toward inclusive classrooms.

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When inclusion is done well, everyone in the class benefits. It strengthens the ability of all kids to work together, understand and value different points of view, think critically, and be successful learners.

Inclusive classrooms also reduce stigma. Imagine this kind of learning community:

Understanding inclusion

Is it inclusion?

This chart, developed by inclusion expert Nicole Eredics, can help you understand what inclusion is and isn't.

Child spends the majority of the day in the general education classroom.

Child spends the majority of the day in a special education classroom and goes to a general education classroom for one or two periods.

Child's desk is included with the other groups of desks in the classroom.

Child's desk is away from the other desks in the classroom.

Child has access to and is included in classroom lessons and activities that are adapted or modified to meet his/her special needs.

Child works on his/her own curriculum.

Child attends outside activities with the class including assemblies, field trips, enrichment classes, and recess.

Child is given alternate activities and options with other special education students.

Child is an independent, valued, and respected classroom member.

Child is looked upon as helpless, needy, and dependent.

The child's paraprofessional facilitates access to the curriculum and classroom activities.

The child's paraprofessional determines access to the curriculum and classroom activities.

The paraprofessional encourages child to complete work as independently as possible, while providing support when needed.

The paraprofessional does not provide many opportunities for the child to complete work independently and "hovers."

Child receives specialist support (therapy, speech, and language) with minimal disruption to the class routine and program.

Child is pulled from the classroom lessons and activities for specialist suport without consideration for what the child will miss.

The teacher can identify your child's strengths and areas for improvement.

The teacher refers to the specialists and paraprofessionals to identify child's development.

Child can name classmates and has many common classroom experiences.

Child does not know classmates and does not have many common classroom experiences.

The trend toward inclusive general education classrooms

Can special education students thrive in general education classrooms? Watch Carl Cohn, a former superintendent, talk about the trend toward inclusive classrooms (also called inclusion classrooms). Hear his tips on what to ask if a school suggests your child should be in a separate, self-contained classroom. Learn more at Understood, 4 Benefits of Inclusion Classrooms.

Read about a New York City public school program called ASD Nest in this article from The Atlantic: What School Could Be If It Were Designed for Kids With Autism.

Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In

This video, "Meeting the Needs of the Whole Child," overview is part of the Edmonton Public Schools' Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In initiative. The District was selected as a change agent for Alberta's Action on Inclusion initiative - to share information about best practices to welcome, include and support students' needs in the classroom and community. (Edmonton Public Schools, Alberta, CA) View all of the "Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In" video >

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Inclusive Classrooms: A Primer for Teachers

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When inclusion is done well, everyone in the class benefits. It strengthens the ability of all kids to work together, understand and value different points of view, think critically, and be successful learners. Inclusive classrooms also reduce stigma. Imagine this kind of learning community: "Inclusive classrooms are filled with diverse learners.

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This is a great visual on how this movement affects the classroom and its students.

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This article explains the value and benefit of this approach.

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The Power of Letting Children Learn Together

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Everyone benefits when all children, regardless of their differences, are educated together.

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This guide offers information as to the inclusion approach and provides different accommodations and modifications that help make this process be effective for diverse learners.

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The term inclusion captures, in one word, an all-embracing societal ideology. Regarding individuals with disabilities and special education, inclusion secures opportunities for students with disabilities to learn alongside their non-disabled peers in general education classrooms. Honestly establishing a successful inclusive classroom varies in complexity, based upon the challenges created by the disability at hand. However a knowledgeable approach and positive attitudes on the parts of parents and teachers proves vital to triumphing over any obstacles which may emerge.

Inclusion: What is it? Theory and Practice

A knowledgeable approach and positive attitude toward inclusion begins by understanding the concept and the theory behind it. Why integrate children with special needs into a general education classroom? Who benefits? What results? Special education professional Gretchen Walsh M.S. Ed., who runs the Academic Support Center at Notre Dame College, gives a concise synopsis when she says "Inclusion is important because through our diversity we certainly add to our creativity. If you don't have a diverse classroom or a diverse world, you don't have the same creative levels and I think our strength lies in our diversity." See What's Inclusion? Theory and Practice for an in-depth look into this idea.

Adaptations, Accommodations, and Modifications

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), students with special needs have the right to receive necessary curricular adaptations. Adaptations include accommodations and modifications. Students who receive accommodations are held to the same academic expectations as their general ed classmates; on the other hand, modifications entail making changes that lower these expectations. Curricular adaptations vary based upon each learner's individual needs. Individualized education programs (IEPs) list what accommodations or modifications a student should receive. To obtain a more comprehensive glimpse into adaptations read Adaptations, Accommodations, and Modifications.

The General Ed Teacher's Guide to the Inclusive Classroom

The complexity involved in integrating students with disabilities into general education classrooms can make this process seem intimidating or overwhelming to a general education teacher. If you feel this way, take comfort in the realization that you are not alone. Actually the fact you find yourself currently exploring this website indicates you are journeying down the right path. As already noted, a knowledgeable approach proves vital to a thriving inclusive environment. So, be sure to consider the strategies shared within The General Ed Teacher's Guide to the Inclusive Classroom.

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What is Inclusion? An Introduction from Special Education Guide

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The term inclusion captures, in one word, an all-embracing societal ideology. Regarding individuals with disabilities and special education, inclusion secures opportunities for students with disabilities to learn alongside their non-disabled peers in general education classrooms. Honestly establishing a successful inclusive classroom varies in complexity, based upon the challenges created by the disability at hand.

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This slideshow explains the benefits of this approach and principals to follow when creating this type of classroom.

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1. 1. Culturally Responsive Teaching "It is an approach that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes" -G lo ri a L ads on-Bil li ngs

2. 2. Three important starting points:There are three facets to culturally responsiveteaching:1. Knowing yourself and your own culture.2. Knowing your students and their cultures.3. Sharing your culture so that your students feelcomfortable sharing theirs.

3. 3. Culturally Responsive Teachers have......Sociocultural Consciousness...a respectful attitude towardstudents from culturally diverseclassrooms...commitment and skills to actas an agent of change...constructivist view of learning...a passion for learning about students

4. 4. Culturally Responsive Principals1. Communication of High Expectations: Sharingwith students that they will succeed.2. Active Teaching Methods: Promote studentengagement.3. Teacher as Facilitator:4. Positive Perspectives on Parents and Familiesof Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

5. 5. Culturally Responsive Principals5. Cultural Sensitivity: Learn about culturesrepresented in your classroom, and use what you learn!6. Reshaping Curriculum: Capitalizes on backgroundsrather than negating them.7. Student Controlled Classroom Discourse: Studentshave the opportunity to control parts of the lesson.8. Small Group Instruction: low pressure groups todevelop academics.

6. 6. Ideas for Implementing in the ClassroomInquiry ProjectsSmall Collaborative GroupsDialogueClassroom AppearanceBuilding on student'sinterests, using examplesfrom students lives

7. 7. Ideas for Implementing in the ClassroomUsing community resourcesCreating many paths to learning withinstructional methodsReflective WritingSimulations and GamesExploring Family HistoryLearning about history and current events ofdifferent cultures

8. 8. Resources...http://www.nccrest.org/Briefs/Teacher_Ed_Brief.pdfhttp://knowledgeloom.org/practices3.jsp?location=1&bpinterid=1110&spotlightid=1110

Recommended

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1. Culturally Responsive Teaching "It is an approach that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes" -G lo ri a L ads on-Bil li ngs 2. Three important starting points:There are three facets to culturally responsiveteaching:1. Knowing yourself and your own culture.2.

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Anchor Chart for Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Anchor Chart for Culturally Responsive Teaching

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This visual helps provide a guide and specifics on how this strategy should effectivity be implemented into the classroom.

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How Culturally Responsive Teaching Differs From Traditional Teaching

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How Culturally Responsive Teaching Differs From Traditional Teaching

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This article offers nice resources for teachers to use when beginning this method as well as a chart that aids as a visual to better understand the differences.

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What do we mean by Culturally Responsive Instruction?

Inclusive content covered in the curriculum, reflecting the diversity of society. Students

from diverse backgrounds see themselves and their experiences in the curriculum.

Build on students' prior knowledge, including their culture and language.

Based on the idea that culture is central to student learning because there is strong

evidence that cultural practices shape thinking processes.

What are some elements of Culturally Responsive Teaching?

Communication of high expectations

Active teaching methods that promote student engagement

Positive perspectives on parents and families of culturally and linguistically diverse

Reshaping the curriculum so it is culturally responsive to the background of students

Culturally mediated instruction, characterized by the use of culturally mediated

cognition, culturally appropriate social situations for learning, and culturally valued

knowledge in curriculum content.

Student controlled classroom discourse

Small group instruction and academically-related discourse

From The Knowledge Loom: Culturally Responsive Teaching

Why is cultural proficiency important?

It is a tool for creating an environment in which everyone has equitable access to

success. Elements include:

o Managing the dynamics of difference

o Institutionalizing cultural knowledge

From Culturally Proficient Instruction: A Guide for People Who Teach

TK California Teaching Tools:

EL Educational Leadership:

Creating a Culturally Responsive Special Education Classroom:

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2) Culturally responsive resources - SPEDhealy

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What do we mean by Culturally Responsive Instruction? Inclusive content covered in the curriculum, reflecting the diversity of society. Students from diverse backgrounds see themselves and their experiences in the curriculum. Build on students' prior knowledge, including their culture and language.

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Strategies and Examples for Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Strategies and Examples for Culturally Responsive Teaching

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This blog was helpful in providing different ways educators can incorporate this approach into their classroom setting.

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All Posts

No single teaching approach will engage each student at once, but building a strategy to consistently deliver culturally-responsive teaching lessons will help you appeal to diverse learners with distinct backgrounds.

Rooted in differentiated instruction principles, culturally-responsive pedagogy aims to link content - from delivery to assessment - with students' ancestral and contemporary cultures.

To augment their understanding and responsiveness, this involves:

Empowering students to share thoughts

Integrating diverse work and study practices

Understanding student learning needs and styles

Emulating culturally-significant instruction styles, such as oral storytelling

To help you plan and deliver lessons that resonate with a diverse classroom, we'll explain what culturally responsive teaching is and how it is implemented.

We also put together 15 culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples that will resonate with diverse students and foster an inclusive classroom environment.

These strategies are available as a downloadable list below for quick reference so you can reference them during classroom instruction.

Let's start with some simple explanation of what culturally responsive teaching actually means.

What is culturally responsive teaching?

Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is a pedagogy that acknowledges and embraces students' cultures, languages and experiences - and relates them to classroom learning.

Culturally responsive teachers are actively aware of the various cultural backgrounds present in their classrooms, and act as a facilitator of lessons that can resonate with each.

It is not an easy task - creating this learning environment requires not only a high level of cultural competence, but also an intentional effort to learn about students' backgrounds and cultures.

It can be majorly beneficial to closing achievement gaps between students of different backgrounds and addressing inequities in the classroom. You can also create stronger partnerships with your students by fostering a learning environment where they are represented clearly.

Conditions for creating a culturally-responsive classroom

Reflected in the 15 strategies and examples in the next section, there are four conditions any teacher must fulfill to establish a culturally-responsive classroom, according to an authoritative academic book about the subject called Diversity and Motivation.

As you prepare and deliver any lesson, strive to:

Establish inclusion

This starts by highlighting how the topic you're teaching may relate or apply to students. For example, many societies and cultures have fireworks festivals.

While such a festival runs, you could teach how to calculate speed using fireworks in sample questions. Establishing inclusion also involves regularly grouping students with different classmates, encouraging discussion to solve problems. In doing so, they can share unique perspectives and diverse background knowledge.

Develop positive attitudes

This further focuses on relating content to students. A popular method is allowing them to choose between activities and assessments that let them showcase their values, strengths and experiences.

For example, while providing clear learning goals and evaluation criteria, encourage students to submit their own project ideas.

Enhance meaning

You can bolster lesson content by drawing connections with real-world issues, asking students to use opinions and existing knowledge to address them.

For example, when teaching about government, you could contextualize concepts through municipal political issues. When appropriate, use student jargon to clarify these issues or improve communication in general.

Foster confidence

Make the assessment process less intimidating by offering different ways to demonstrate skills and understanding. For example, avoid handing out quizzes that are purely multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank.

Among other question types, mix in problems that involve writing short- and long-form answers. After, give students time to assess their own progress and performance, helping them focus on growth.

Meeting these four conditions largely relies on using specific approaches, such as the 15 explored below.

15 Culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples

1. Learn about your students

At the start of the year or semester, demonstrating a desire to adapt your teaching style to students can help them feel valued. Because open communication should uncover their learning needs and preferences, try:

Distributing questionnaires, asking about interests

Handing out surveys, gathering information about learning styles

Holding open discussions, allowing students to talk about positive experiences from past classes

Once you've gathered enough information, tell the class you'll focus on adjusting your teaching approach to help them learn as best as they can. Students should quickly warm up to you.

2. Interview students

You'll build a stronger understanding of students' values and habits - as well as strengths and weaknesses - by individually asking them questions. While running a large-group exercise, pull each student aside for a few minutes. Ask about:

Hobbies

Their favourite lessons and activities

Which kinds of exercises help them remember lessons and improve skills

Note what each student says to identify themes and different preferences. Then, when possible, relate content to their interests and deliver lessons that appeal to shared strengths.

3. Integrate relevant word problems

Many students will take a greater interest in math if you use word problems to contextualize equations. Working with 41 7th grade students throughout an academic year, a study published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education used such contextual learning strategies to increase test scores by more than 44%. Create culturally-relevant word problems by:

Including student names to make subject matter relatable

Linking to student interests, such as by measuring the shot distance of a famous soccer player

Referencing diverse cultures, such as by determining the diameter of a specific ethnic food platter

Using these word problem tips will not only help you establish a culturally-responsive classroom, but engage students more than by using abstract questions.

4. Present new concepts by using student vocabulary

Delivering relatable content goes beyond math class. In any subject, you can grab and keep student attention by using their vocabulary to build understanding before moving to academic diction. Let's say many of your students are sports fans with family from soccer-crazed nations. Use a soccer example to demonstrate metaphors in language arts class:
Andrea Pirlo is an eagle on the pitch, armed with vision sharp enough to detect the smallest openings and recognize opportunities his opposition can't.
This kind of culturally-responsive language should open the door to presenting challenging skills and concepts, engaging students while doing so.

5. Bring in guest speakers

Guest speakers can bring context and passion to history, geography and social studies lessons, capturing student interest.

A war veteran could deliver a vivid narrative of his or her experiences. A mountaineer could give a striking recount of scaling Lhotse. Both could answer questions many teachers would struggle with, while engaging students much more effectively than a slideshow.

Plus, according to a study by the Economics of Education Review, students are often encouraged to work harder when they share a background with an educator. So, diverse guest speakers may inherently engage and motivate students who share a culture with them.

6. Deliver different forms of content through learning stations

Whether due to culture, socialization, preference or learning needs, students respond differently to different types of content. You can provide a range of material to each student by setting up learning stations. Each station should use a unique method of teaching a skill or concept related to your lesson.

For example, students can rotate between stations that involve:

Playing a game

Creating artwork

Watching a video

Reading an article

Completing puzzles

Listening to you teach

After going through each station, you can help students further process the material by holding a class discussion or assigning questions to answer.

7. Gamify lessons

Want another way to consistently diversify content and its delivery, appealing to different learning styles? Gamify some lesson elements. Easy-to-implement practices include:

Offering rewards, such as badges, for completing specific tasks or achieving certain scores

Setting a clear learning goal for the lesson, charting progress throughout the class to motivate students

Creating an "instruction manual" for a project, which contains the rubric and best practices for earning a high grade

Plus, gamifying your lessons is a way of making connections with contemporary gaming culture - helping students within this culture process and demonstrate understanding of content.

8. Call on each student

Call-and-response - the practice of asking students frequent questions while giving lessons - usually keeps them engaged, but also enables them to share thoughts and opinions. Involve everyone by:

Encouraging the sharing of personal perspectives, when a question allows for it

Calling on students without their hands up, acclimatizing them to speaking amongst peers

Asking a question after each new point or thought, having a student teach back the concept you just spoke about

By lesson's end, this call-and-response approach should allow each student to speak at least once.

9. Use media that positively depict a range of cultures

Children process content more effectively when their cultures and languages have places in the curriculum, according to an oft-cited academic book about teaching in multiracial schools.

Using media, such as books and movies, that positively depict a range of cultures and are relevant to your syllabus can partially address this need. Finding options through databases such as IMDB or American Literature isn't a tough task.

As a bonus, using different media should boost engagement levels.

10. Offer different types of free study time

Free study time typically appeals to students who prefer solo learning, but many cultures prioritize learning in group settings. You can meet both preferences by dividing your class into clearly-sectioned team and individual activities, such as the following:

Provide audiobooks, which play material relevant to your lessons

Create a station for group games that teach curriculum-aligned skills

Keep a dedicated quiet space for students to take notes and complete work

Allow some students to work in groups while taking notes and completing work, away from the dedicated quiet space

Presented with these options, free study time should appeal to a wider range of learners.

11. Encourage students to propose ideas for projects

By asking students to submit ideas for their own projects, the benefits of choice extend beyond free study time. Specifically, they should build confidence by showcasing their strengths and existing background knowledge.

So, encourage them to pitch ideas for taking a project from concept to completion. A student must show how the product will meet academic standards in his or her pitch. If the idea falls short, give the student ideas to refine it. If the student can't refine the idea, he or she can choose a project from a list of options you provide.

Not only will you be pleasantly surprised by some pitches, but you may generate ideas for future culturally-responsive exercises and assessments.

12. Experiment with peer teaching

There'll almost always be some student vocabulary and communal practices you never pick up on. But you can fill these gaps through peer teaching. Relatively-simple exercises include:

Students who read and discuss story passages with peers recall more content and score higher on assessments, according an Ohio University pilot study. And, according to a science education study, students who work in pairs and groups typically perform better on tests that involve reasoning and critical thinking.

Such results are largely achieved due to students discussing and rationalizing concepts in their own words, many of which belong to contemporary cultural lexicon and are not academic.

13. Establish cooperative base groups

Cooperative base groups - which come from collaborative learning pedagogy - allow students to regularly learn and process content together.

Your role consists of creating groups of three or four, scheduling meeting times and detailing agendas for them. Filling knowledge gaps and encouraging communication is also involved. Students' roles focus on supporting each other while striving to meet learning goals over the year.

While working in base groups, students can:

Review lessons

Take on guided research

Address each other's questions

Complete in-class assessments

The connection to culturally-responsive teaching is the same as peer learning: cooperative base groups encourage students to make sense of concepts you've taught by using their own words and thoughts.

14. Run problem-based learning scenarios

The flexibility of problem-based learning lends itself to culturally-responsive teaching. This is because, when presenting a relatable real-world problem for your students to solve, two cultural connections will typically occur.

1. First, there will likely be a cultural link in the question, whether it's explicit or students make it themselves.

2. Second, because they can apply different approaches toward problem-solving, they may use unique cultural perspectives.

But if you want to create a scenario with explicit cultural ties, consider:

Encouraging students to take historical, sociological and anthropological viewpoints

Framing the problem using ethnic events - for instance, solving logistical challenges of running a heritage festival - in the area

Regardless, the student-centred nature of problem-based learning will allow your class to use culturally-relevant examples and information when appropriate.

15. Involve parents by using take-home letters

Involving parents in their child's learning is a core part of almost any culturally-responsive teaching approach -- they act as the main educators in many societies and can provide cultural context. When starting a new unit or trying out an education tool for the first time, consider sending a letter home to parents.

For reference, here's the letter Prodigy provides to its teachers. This opens the door to parent participation. While not all parents will be subject matter experts, most should be able to provide guidance.

Downloadable list of culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples

Click here to download and print a simplified list of the 15 culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples to keep at your desk.

Interested in other teaching strategies to deploy in your classroom?

Culturally-responsive teaching strategies overlap in important ways with many other pedagogical approaches. Consider researching other teaching and instructional strategies to help bolster your approach, or combine different elements of each strategy!

Active learning strategies empower, engage, and stimulate your students as they put them at the center of the learning process.

Experiential learning activities, in contrast to traditional learning activities,aim to develop knowledge and skills through direct, firsthand experience.

Project-based learning involves an open-ended approach that sees students work alone or collectively to work on engaging, intricate curriculum-related questions or challenges..

Inquiry-based learning is broken down into four categories, all of which emphasize student questions, ideas and analyses.

Adaptive learning focuses on changing - or "adapting" - content for each student on an individual basis, especially with the help of technology.

Social emotional learning activities help students build social skills, establish healthy relationships and manage their emotions.

Final thoughts about culturally-relevant pedagogy

Delivering culturally-responsive lessons can not only help you engage students, but allow them to make personal connections with content.

Student populations across your school district are comprised of different races, backgrounds, cultural identities and socioeconomic statuses - it's important that teaching practices reflect and embrace these differences.

Greater student investment should lead to other benefits, such as more rigor and motivation. A happier, focused classroom is the ideal outcome.

Prodigy is a digital game-based learning platform that delivers a range of culturally-relevant math content through engaging word and scenario-based problems. Standards-aligned, it's used by millions of teachers and students across the world.

Create your free teacher account

Create your free teacher account

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Culturally Responsive Teaching: Definition, Strategies & Examples

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Need to engage your diverse classroom? Try using these 15 culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples, complete with a downloadable list.

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This is a list of compiled resources for Culturally Responsive Teaching.

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Culturally Responsive Instruction

Culturally responsive teaching is a research-based approach that "invites students to bring their expertise to the table" (Fleming, 2019) by identifying and harnessing the assets of students who have historically been underserved in schools. Here are some resources providing an overview to CRT.

Overviews: Research & Resource Guides

Overviews: Articles, Blogs, and Tools

Resources from Zaretta Hammond

Books

Videos and Podcasts

Key Concepts

Funds of Knowledge

Cultural Orientation: Collective vs. Individual

Classroom Resources

Culturally Responsive Books

Academic Language & Literacy

Inquiry and Project-Based Learning (PBL)

Making Local Connections

Student Populations: Resource Collections

American Indian/Alaska Native Students

English Language Learners (ELLs)

Students with Special Needs

Equity Issues

Bias

Race

Culturally Responsive Family Engagement

References

Fleming, J. Personal communication. October 15, 2019.

Fleming, J., et al. (2015). More Mirrors in the Classroom: Using Urban Children's Literature to Increase Literacy. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.

Hamayan, E., et al. (2013.) Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners. Delivering a Continuum of Services. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Rothstein-Fisch, C. and Trumbull, E. (2008). Managing Diverse Classrooms: How to Build on Students' Cultural Strengths. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Vigil, Karla. Personal communication. November 1, 2019.

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Culturally Responsive Instruction: Resource List

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Culturally responsive teaching is a research-based approach that "invites students to bring their expertise to the table" (Fleming, 2019) by identifying and harnessing the assets of students who have historically been underserved in schools. Here are some resources providing an overview to CRT. Resources from Zaretta Hammond Equity Issues Bias Race Fleming, J.

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This book is about how various cultural experiences, and frames of reference, make learning more relevant for the student which in turn makes learning more effective.

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The achievement of students of color continues to be disproportionately low at all levels of education. More than ever, Geneva Gay's foundational book on culturally responsive teaching is essential reading in addressing the needs of today's diverse student population. Combining insights from multicultural education theory and research with real-life classroom stories, Gay demonstrates that all students will perform better on multiple measures of achievement when teaching is filtered through their own cultural experiences. This bestselling text has been extensively revised to include expanded coverage of student ethnic groups: African and Latino Americans as well as Asian and Native Americans as well as new material on culturally diverse communication, addressing common myths about language diversity and the effects of "English Plus" instruction.

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The achievement of students of color continues to be disproportionately low at all levels of education. More than ever, Geneva Gay's foundational book on culturally responsive teaching is essential reading in addressing the needs of today's diverse student population.

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News Article on How Teachers Are Implementing The Culturally Responsive Approach

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News Article on How Teachers Are Implementing The Culturally Responsive Approach

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This news article offers six steps to creating a more culturally responsive classroom and how it benefits the students.

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The U.S. reached an important milestone several years ago-minority students now comprise the largest demographic group in our nation's public schools. While there is great diversity within our student population, the majority of educators still do not share the same cultural experiences with the diverse students they serve.

However, many effective teachers have consistently been sensitive to and culturally aware of student backgrounds. These educators intuitively understand that the more inclusive their classroom is, the more engaged their students will be, and that engagement ultimately leads to achievement.

Culturally relevant teaching respects the traditional backgrounds of students as an asset in the classroom. In my own experience as a young child, I grew up in the U.S. with my parents having just arrived from Cuba, speaking no English. At the time, my teacher had very limited resources to help English learners, but she connected with me, and made a sincere effort to communicate with my parents and my family-and that made all the difference. My teacher made it clear through her words and actions that she was invested in me and my success. Just as my teacher did for me all those years ago, educators can all invest in the success of bilingual and multilingual students.

As educators, we are trained with the deficit model, which interprets that students who have limited English proficiency have an educational deficit that needs to be addressed. Transforming our classrooms necessitates that teachers investigate their own attitudes about different cultures-understanding any preconceptions they may have held and learning to value each student, including their background and the culture they bring to the classroom to share with their classmates.
Opportunities for bilingualism
In school year 2016-17, states reported almost 5 million emergent bilingual students across the U.S.-approximately 10 percent of the students in our public schools. It also may be surprising to learn that most U.S. students with limited English proficiency are actually U.S. citizens. Eighty-five percent of these were born in the United States, compared to 15 percent who were foreign-born. This truly sparks my curiosity: Why do English Learner (EL) programs typically assume all students are recently arrived immigrants when almost three-quarters of them were born in this country and speak some English?

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José A. Viana, Senior Advisor, Education Partnerships, Lexia Learning

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6 steps to a culturally responsive classroom

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The U.S. reached an important milestone several years ago-minority students now comprise the largest demographic group in our nation's public schools. While there is great diversity within our student population, the majority of educators still do not share the same cultural experiences with the diverse students they serve.

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This graph shows what is included in this practice.

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Strategies for Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Strategies for Culturally Responsive Teaching

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This article explains why Culturally responsive teaching is important and lists strategies educators can use to incorporate this approach into their own classrooms.

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Over the past few decades, students, their experiences, upbringings, and backgrounds have changed. Classrooms now reflect families of varying races, cultures, and socioeconomic statuses. As a result, the way teachers educate these students must change, too, says Cherese Childers-McKee, assistant teaching professor in Northeastern University's College of Professional Studies. One of these shifting approaches to education is known as culturally responsive teaching.

Below, we explore the concept of culturally responsive teaching, compare it against traditional teaching models, and offer a number of strategies that you can use to incorporate the approach into your own methods.

Download Our Free Guide to Earning Your EdD

Learn how an EdD can give you the skills to enact organizational change in any industry.

What is culturally responsive teaching?

Culturally responsive teaching, also called culturally relevant teaching, is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning. Traditional teaching strategies emphasize the teacher-student dynamic: The teacher is the expert and adheres strictly to the curriculum that supports standardized tests while the student receives the knowledge. This teaching method is outdated, Childers-McKee says.

"Teachers have more diverse classrooms today. We don't have students sitting in front of us with the same background or experience, so instruction has to be different," she says. "It needs to build on individual and cultural experiences and their prior knowledge. It needs to be justice-oriented and reflect the social context we're in now. That's what we mean when we talk about culturally responsive teaching."

Culturally Responsive vs. Traditional Teaching Methods

Culturally responsive teaching can manifest in a number of ways. Using traditional teaching methods, educators may default to teaching literature by widely accepted classic authors: William Shakespeare, J.D. Salinger, and Charles Dickens, for example, adhering to widely accepted interpretations of the text.

Culturally responsive teaching, on the other hand, acknowledges that there's nothing wrong with traditional texts, Childers-McKee says, but strives to include literature from other cultures, parts of the world, and by diverse authors. It also focuses on finding a "hook and anchor" to help draw students into the content using their past experiences.

"This way, students can see themselves in some of what they're reading and not just the white, western world. The learning is more experimental, more hands-on," she says. "Instead, you're showing them a worldwide, multicultural community and looking for different interpretations while relating it to what it means for society today."

Why is culturally responsive teaching important?

Culturally responsive teaching is especially pertinent today because the traditional education path from school to college to a career and life in the suburbs isn't a reality-or desire-for everyone, Childers-McKee says. Educators' approaches to teaching need to reflect these differences.

"That typical, mainstream education is not addressing the realities of today's students. Culturally responsive teaching isn't just for those students who don't come from white, middle-class, English-speaking families-it's an important teaching strategy for everyone. When done the right way, it can be transformative."

When integrated into classroom instruction, culturally responsive strategies can have important benefits such as:

Strengthening students' sense of identity

Promoting equity and inclusivity in the classroom

Engaging students in the course material

Supporting critical thinking

Here's a look at five culturally responsive teaching strategies all educators can employ in their classrooms.

5 Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies for Educators

1. Activate students' prior knowledge.

Students are not blank slates, Childers-McKee says; they enter the classroom with diverse experiences. Teachers should encourage students to draw on their prior knowledge in order to contribute to group discussions, which provides an anchor to learning. Taking a different approach to the literature that's taught in classrooms is one example of this.

2. Make learning contextual.

Tie lessons from the curriculum to the students' social communities to make it more contextual and relevant, Childers-McKee advises. "If you're reading a chapter in history class, for example, discuss why it matters today, in your school, or in your community," she says. "Take the concept you're learning about and create a project that enables them to draw parallels."

3. Encourage students to leverage their cultural capital.

Because not all students come from the same background, it's important to encourage those who don't to have a voice. Say, for example, you teach an English class that contains ESL students. It's important to find ways to activate the experiences they do have-their cultural capital, Childers-McKee says.

The teacher may choose a book for the class to read in which the ESL students could relate and feel like they could be the expert, for instance. As a teacher, Childers-Mckee's once chose a book that told the story of a child of migrant workers because some of her students came from an agricultural background.

"When you have a mixed classroom, you want those in the minority to feel like they are an expert. You want to draw from their experiences," she says. "I do caution that you don't want to cross a line and make 'Johnny' feel like he needs to speak for all Mexican people by putting them on the spot, for example. That's a line you need to walk."

4. Reconsider your classroom setup.

Take inventory of the books in your classroom library: Do they include authors of diverse races? Is the LGBTQ community represented? Do the books include urban families or only suburban families? Beyond your classroom library, consider the posters you display on your walls and your bulletin boards, too. "These are all small changes you can make to your classroom more culturally responsive," Childers-McKee says.

5. Build relationships.

Not all students want to learn from all teachers because the teachers may not make them feel like they're valued, Childers-McKee says. Teachers need to work to build relationships with their students to ensure they feel respected, valued, and seen for who they are. Building those relationships helps them build community within the classroom and with each other, which is extremely important, she says.

"When we think about culture and diversity, people often automatically think about black students, but people need to think broader than that, now," Childers-McKee says. "Some teachers whose students are all white and middle-class struggle with how culturally responsive teaching strategies apply to them. It's equally important for them to teach students about diversity. These aren't just teaching strategies for minorities, they're good teaching strategies for everyone."

Educating for the Future

Educators have the unique power to impact the lives of their learners. Making use of thoughtful, inclusive instruction can have positive effects on students that last far beyond their time in the classroom.

Employing culturally responsive teaching strategies is a small step toward enacting meaningful change in education. If you're interested in leading your organization toward positive change on a larger scale, earning an advanced degree is one way to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to do so.

Pursuing a degree, such as a Doctor of Education , will empower you to address the challenges currently facing education and improve the learning experience. Students of the program work with industry-aligned faculty on real-world organizational issues, allowing them to have an immediate impact on their professional environments.
To learn more about how an EdD can further your career while improving students' educational experiences, explore Northeastern's Doctor of Education program page, or download our free guide below.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching: 5 Strategies for Educators

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Culturally responsive teaching values students' cultural references in all aspects of learning. Here are five strategies to bring to the classroom.

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How to Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom 

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How to Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom 

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This video explains how teachers must focus on student's frames of reference and create inviting classrooms that include all diverse and cultural backgrounds.

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Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom

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Map of the Percent of Low Income Students in the US Public School System

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Map of the Percent of Low Income Students in the US Public School System

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"Poverty reduces a child's readiness for school because it leads to poor physical health and motor skills, diminishes a child's ability to concentrate and remember information, and reduces attentiveness, curiosity and motivation"

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This is a great Prezi presentation to provide a visual on how poverty impacts and affects students in today's schools.

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What are the negative affects? Poverty all around is a negative, it holds children back from receiving an education they deserve and makes it difficult to be able to focus on what is important at school How will this benefit or help teachers teach? Children who are well fed,

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Jessica Sharp describes the lives of some of her family members and how poverty affects all areas of one's life.

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The Brain on Poverty | Jessica Sharpe | TEDxGreenville

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This infographic shows graphs on those living in poverty.

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Report presents information on the percentage of children in Low income families, as well as by race. Although children with a full-time, y...

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This short video shows how those who live in poverty struggle between survival and learning and the realities they face daily.

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This article and video present statistics on how many students are affected by poverty; these figures are eye-opening.

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Accessing education is not easy in many poor areas of the world. Widening access to education is a key method in reducing global poverty. Here are 15 poverty and education statistics to better understand the relationship of how these two issues interplay.

1. There are more than 124 million primary or secondary school-aged children who are not in school around the world.

2. The reasons children do not attend school vary. Some children belong to families who cannot afford it, while others are too sick or too hungry to attend. All of these reasons trace back to poverty.

3. The cost of providing 13 years of education for a child living in a developing country is around $1.18 a day.

4. One of the first steps in overcoming poverty is receiving an education.

5. With each year of schooling, an individual's income potential increases by around 10 percent.

6. With more education, one has more opportunities.

7. Girls have a harder time accessing education than boys. Ten million boys and 15 million girls will never receive a primary education.

8. Gender inequality in education is predominantly seen among the poor.

9. If every girl had access to an education, the number of child marriages could decrease by 14 percent.

10. If a mother has the ability to read, her children have a 50 percent greater chance of surviving past the age of five.

11. Nearly 800 million people do not have the basic ability to read or write.

12. Conflict, one of many causes of poverty, is also a leading cause of disruption in education. About 35 percent of kids who are not in school are not receiving an education due to conflicts such as war.

13. Poverty decreases as more people have access to education. Investing in education leads to further development.

14. Rural areas yield more poverty and less access to education. A child from a rural area is twice as likely to not attend school as a child from an urban area.

15. According to WE Charity, $26 billion more each year would give every person a basic education, which is "less than five percent of what the U.S. military spent in 2015."

According to Children International, "education is one of the most powerful ways to reduce poverty and improve health, gender equality, peace and stability." These 15 poverty and education statistics show that access to education is key to overcoming poverty.

- Shannon Elder

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15 Important Poverty and Education Statistics to Know About

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Accessing education is not easy in many poor areas of the world. Widening access to education is a key method in reducing global poverty. Here are 15 poverty and education statistics to better understand the relationship of how these two issues interplay.

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This article offers some insight into the topic of poverty. World renowned author, Ruby Payne provides her viewpoint on this topic having herself lived in poverty growing up.

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by Jennifer C. Ng & John L. Rury - Teachers College Record, July 18, 2006

Current estimates show that historically high percentages of American children live in poverty. In order to serve them well, educators must understand the particular experiences and challenges these children face. Increasingly, the professional development of teachers on the topic is drawn from the work of Dr. Ruby Payne, a self-proclaimed expert on poverty and poor children. In this article, we examine the conceptual and empirical foundations of Payne's A Framework for Understanding Poverty and vignettes in an accompanying teacher workbook that depict the lives of poor children and their families. Situating Payne's argument within decades of scholarship conceptualizing poverty, we assess the extent to which it accurately reflects a contemporary, research-based comprehension of the issue. Reminiscent of earlier "culture of poverty" perspectives, Payne's work essentializes the values, behaviors, and orientations of poor people; reinforces misconceptions and popular stereotypes; and suggests poor people have choices about whether or not to remain in poverty. This has serious implications for how teachers come to understand the nature and causes of poverty, and it misdirects well-intentioned efforts to educate poor children by disregarding the larger social context in which they live and are expected to succeed.
Research indicates that poverty rates among American children have reached as high as 22 percent in recent years, and from this historically elevated figure, perhaps a third can be described as experiencing "persistent" or "long-term" poverty (Hernandez, 1997; Mayer, 1997; Brady, 2003). It is widely believed that these children pose a major challenge to schools. Many reside in central-city neighborhoods or relatively isolated rural areas, compounding existing obstacles to equal educational opportunities and academic success. (Books, 2004) Yet, studies consistently document that most educators themselves come from middle-class backgrounds, making it difficult for them to relate personally with students who live in poverty (Zeichner, 2003). As a result, the capacity of teachers to work with poor children is shaped by teacher educators, school district administrators, educational researchers, and other experts. It is not clear, however, just what lessons about the poor are being transmitted to teachers and other educators, and how they are being prepared to work with them more effectively. In the absence of a well-defined research base on educating children affected by poverty and corresponding programs of training and professional development, a wide range of perspectives and approaches can flourish.

Arguably, one of today's most conspicuous speakers on issues of poverty and education is Dr. Ruby Payne, president of a company called "Aha Process, Inc." and author of a self-published book titled A Framework for Understanding Poverty, currently in its fourth revised edition (2005). Payne has sold more than half a million copies of her book since 1996 as well as related workbook materials, and her organization conducts workshops and training sessions for tens of thousands of educators, administrators, and other human-service professionals across the country and abroad. A principal thrust of these activities is teaching people about poverty and working with poor children in school settings.
Payne's remarkable popularity reflects growing concern about poverty and its effects on children's educational experiences. As educators grapple with the challenge of meeting performance standards for all groups of students, districts have been actively seeking answers to the problem of working with children in poverty. Payne and her organization have been actively involved in these developments, providing professional development designed to explicitly address these issues. In this article, we examine the conceptual and empirical foundations of her work and conduct a critical analysis of descriptive case scenarios included in an accompanying workbook for teacher practice. What viewpoints do Payne's ideas about poverty represent? And what recommendations are conveyed in these training sessions? Situating Payne's argument within decades of scholarship about poverty, we assess the extent to which it accurately reflects a contemporary, research-based comprehension of the issue. The fact that her characterization of poverty mirrors earlier "culture of poverty" theses and lacks recognition of social structural dynamics contributing to inequality could have significant implications for how educators ultimately come to view poverty and the children who experience it.
Payne's framework for understanding poverty
In the introduction of her book, Payne explains that her expertise on poverty resulted primarily from being married for over 30 years to her husband, Frank, who grew up in "situational" (or temporary) poverty, but lived for several years with others who were in "generational" (or long-term) poverty. As she spent time with his family and got to know "the many other players in [their] neighborhood," her personal observations led her to conclude that there were major differences between those in generational poverty and those in the middle class-the most important of which were not about money (2005, p. 1). These insights were confirmed in her mind after Payne spent six years as a principal in an affluent, Illinois elementary school and was able to further contrast the differences she witnessed between children in poverty, the middle class, and wealth.
Payne recalls several informal conversations she had with concerned colleagues about the growing disciplinary problems they were experiencing as more and more of their students came from low-income families. She offered them her explanation of why these behaviors were occurring, and then word-of-mouth referrals from teachers, principals, district, and state officials launched her into a series of speaking engagements where she could more formally share her insights with other educational practitioners. Central to Payne's analysis of poverty is the idea that there are "hidden rules" which distinguish the thinking, values, and behaviors of people in poverty from those who are middle class or wealthy. And because most schools operate from an implicitly middle-class perspective foreign to poor children, educators must first understand the class culture from which their students come and then teach them explicitly the rules of the middle class needed to function more successfully in schools and society.
According to Payne, poverty is characterized not only by lack of financial resources, but also the extent to which individuals possess other resources such as emotional stability, mental skills, spiritual guidance, physical health and mobility, support systems, role models, and knowledge of a group's hidden rules (2005, p. 7). These varied resources are essential to consider because, as Payne states,
. . . the reality is that financial resources, while extremely important, do not explain the differences in the success with which individuals leave poverty nor the reasons that many stay in poverty. The ability to leave poverty is more dependent upon other resources than it is upon financial resources. (p. 8)
Payne argues the cultivation of emotional resources is of utmost importance, defined as "being able to choose and control emotional responses, particularly to negative situations, without engaging in self-destructive behavior. This is an internal resource and shows itself through stamina, perseverance, and choices" (2005, p. 7). The involvement of role models is critical, then, because "it is largely from role models that [a] person learns how to live life emotionally" (2005, p. 9). Although all individuals have role models, Payne cautions, "The question is the extent to which the role model is nurturing or appropriate" (2005, p. 9). Good role models and support systems should be able to offer advice about and demonstrate a more desirable alternative than living in poverty.
Being a teacher allows one quite naturally to serve as a role model or support to children in poverty. Payne explains,
Even with the financial resources, not every individual who received those finances would choose to live differently . . . But it is the responsibility of educators and others who work with the poor to teach the differences and skills/rules that will allow the individual to make the choice. (2005, p. 113)
A teacher's involvement is essential since "many individuals stay in poverty because they don't know there is a choice-and if they do know that, have no one to teach them hidden rules or provide resources" (2005, p. 62). Payne identifies education as:
. . . the key to getting out of, and staying out of, generational poverty. Individuals leave poverty for one of four reasons: a goal or vision of something they want to be or have; a situation that is so painful that anything would be better; someone who "sponsors" them (i.e., an educator or spouse or mentor or role model who shows them a different way or convinces them that they could live differently); or a specific talent or ability that provides an opportunity for them. (p. 61)
Given the "tremendous opportunities to influence some of the non-financial resources that make such a difference in students' lives" (2005, p. 25), Payne recommends that educators first learn to analyze the resources poor students and their families have before offering advice to improve their situation. To this end, the workbook that accompanies Payne's main text presents fourteen different scenarios of poor children and their current situations for educators to practice evaluating. Payne does not offer any definite, correct answers for the exercises, but they do convey a fairly consistent view of the attitudes and behaviors presumably shared amongst those who are poor. It is useful, for this reason, to carefully examine the descriptive case scenarios Payne provides in her effort to help educators better understand poverty, its effects on children, and its implications in school settings.

What characteristics and circumstances constitute poverty?
As indicated earlier, money is one of several resources included in Payne's framework for understanding poverty, but she argues that it is of only slight to moderate importance compared to other factors. The logic of a position that seemingly disassociates one's financial resources with one's class status may initially seem perplexing. However, a closer examination of Payne's descriptive scenarios depicting poor people's lives helps to illuminate her overall view about how different resources function to maintain poverty, as well as her resulting recommendations.
For example, in her main text, Payne differentiates between situational poverty, a temporary state caused by circumstances such as death, illness, divorce, and generational poverty, a state which endures for two generations or more (2005, p. 3). The importance of this distinction is linked to the prevailing attitudes she associates with each group- people in situational poverty are often too proud to accept charity, whereas people in generational poverty believe society owes them a living (2005, p. 47). Representing the mentality of situational poverty in Payne's accompanying workbook meant for teacher evaluation is Opie, a 12-year-old African American girl, and her mother, Oprah, a 32-year-old widow supporting a senile grandmother and unemployed uncle. Oprah works long hours as a domestic for a doctor, and although she is not paid very much, she takes public transportation and seems able to make ends meet. There is no mention of the family needing public aid, and in fact, Oprah is hoping to be able to save some money for future emergencies that might arise (1998, p. 16). Another example of situational poverty is Steve, a 17 year-old White male who was put out onto the streets by his alcoholic, abusive father. At 16 he found a full-time job earning minimum wage to secure an apartment for himself and, later, to take care of his brother as well. Steve works hard and "all [he] has time to do is go to work, go to school, and sleep" (1998, p. 23). In both scenarios, the individuals strive to be self-sufficient through legitimate forms of employment and persist in an effort to improve their life circumstances.
In contrast, though, the sense of entitlement supposedly fostered in generational poverty more commonly leads to illegitimate means of securing financial resources. For example, Juan is a six-year-old Hispanic boy who lives with his grandmother who cannot speak English, and a 25-year-old uncle, Ramon. Juan's father was killed in a gang-related shooting and his mother is in jail, so Ramon looks after Juan. In order to support the family, Ramon sells drugs with his gang and makes an average of $1,000 a week. Ramon does not expect to live past his thirtieth birthday because of his dangerous lifestyle, but he continues leading his gang and plans to kill a rival gang member and then flee to Mexico for a while (1998, p. 18). A similar situation is discussed in the scenario about Geraldo, a 13-year-old Hispanic male who is a prominent gang member in his neighborhood. Geraldo remains involved with his gang as a "matter of pride," and makes $4,000 in a week selling drugs, sharing it with 10 other members. Like Ramon, Geraldo anticipates he will be dead before he turns 25 and therefore believes, "You might as well enjoy life and girls." Ultimately, Geraldo admits, ". . . faithful is not in my vocabulary. I'm only faithful to them streets" (1998, p. 22).
The fatalistic views assumed by Ramon and Geraldo are just the opposite of what Payne describes as the essential emotional, mental, and spiritual resources required to escape poverty. Because Payne generally conceives of poverty-and staying in poverty-as at least partly a matter of choice, an individual must have the ability to identify and reason through various courses of action, particularly those necessitating deferred gratification and personal restraint. The scenario of Magnolia, a 16-year-old White girl in tenth grade who single-handedly takes care of her eight siblings because her mother is neglectful and irresponsible, exemplifies a person who possesses these critical resources. Magnolia demonstrates her emotional resources by refusing to steal from others, even though her mother instructs her to do it so they can have food to eat and "[she] can't remember a time when [she wasn't] hungry sometime during the week" (1998, p. 24). However, Magnolia's commitment to caring for her siblings is clear as she sneaks the welfare check out of the mailbox to buy food for the family before her mother can waste it gratuitously on herself. Magnolia gets Bs and Cs in school but aspires to be a teacher. Payne tells us that she could earn As if only there was time to do her homework and maximize her mental resources.
Magnolia, however, is an exceptional case in Payne's workbook. Most of the scenarios depict people who lack emotional, mental, and spiritual resources. For example, Habib is a "likeable and easily persuaded" 18-year-old, African-American male whose one great attribute is that he is "one heck of a fighter" (1998, p. 21). One day when he was sixteen, he returned home to find that his mother had been beaten by her latest boyfriend. After calling an ambulance for her, Habib went looking for her boyfriend but decided it might be a good idea to break into and rob a pawnshop instead. Payne suggests that this course of action represented Habib trying to resolve his anger, and when he was caught, he also had a gun in his pocket. Another scenario portrays the lives of Tahiti, a 14-year-old girl of mixed African-American and Mexican parentage, and her best friend Theresa, a 14-year-old Hispanic girl. Neither of the girls does well in school, and Tahiti's family life is fraught with drinking and abuse. In order to give their lives meaning, these girls actively try to get pregnant so they can "have something of [their] own" (1998, p. 25).
All of the people in Payne's scenarios have physical resources, although they function differently for men and women. While men gain advantage from their ability to fight and willingness to utilize violence (as seen in the scenarios of Ramon, Geraldo, and Habib), Payne indicates that women can use their bodies and sex to elicit favors. The scenario of John and Adele best illustrates the significance of a woman's physical resources. Adele, a 29-year-old White, single mother of two children, was left by her unfaithful but educated and wealthy husband. Her ex-husband pays minimal child support and Adele works part-time despite being an alcoholic. When Adele's car breaks down, she is financially unable to have it fixed and may get fired if she cannot report to work the next day. Adele assesses the available choices and determines that one way to solve her problem is to invite the mechanic over for dinner. The mechanic later calls and invites her out to dinner instead, mentioning that they might be able to work something out in terms of payment. Adele thinks, "It has been a long time since [I] have been out, and he is good-looking and seems like a nice man" (1998, p. 15).

Payne suggests that Adele would likely benefit from having a support system for times of need, and that Ramon, Geraldo, and Habib could use role models to teach them appropriate, less destructive behaviors. The scenario of Wisteria and Eileen attests to the importance that Payne attributes to support from extended family. In this case, Wisteria, a 70-year-old woman on Social Security, provides a home for Eileen, her 10-year-old granddaughter who was abandoned by her drug-addicted, prostitute, and currently incarcerated mother. Wisteria only receives about $150 a week and is in declining health, but her willingness to take care of Eileen means that the child will not be placed in a foster home. Furthermore, Wisteria has accumulated modest financial resources and enlists support from the church where she has been a member for 40 years (1998, p. 17).

The church is a critical institution in Payne's view, but it is unable to address the problems of poverty by itself. A church serves as a social support in the scenario about Maria and Noemi, a Hispanic mother-and-daughter pair from a devout Catholic family that receives food stamps but is otherwise quite loving and intact. What Payne suggests 10-year-old Maria learns from Noemi's role-modeling, however, is that she should get married, have children, and stay home like her mother (1998, p. 19). Similar patterns of early pregnancy are also perpetuated by the maternal example in the scenario of Tijuana Checosovakia, a 14-year-old African-American girl who had her first child when she was 11 (1998, p. 20); Sally's 15-year-old sister in the scenario of Sally and Sueann (1998, p. 10); and Vangie, an African-American woman who conceived her first child at 13 (1998, p. 12). Again, for Payne it is emotional and moral resources that count more than financial support. Even if the individuals and families in her various scenarios have adequate material means of subsistence, it is their values and behavior that most critically determine their prospects for escaping poverty.
Interestingly, the primary positive role models mentioned in Payne's scenarios are educators. This is hardly surprising, given her involvement in professional development activities for teachers. For instance, Magnolia's aspiration to become a teacher (discussed earlier) was inspired by the kindness of her own fifth-grade teacher who provided a Thanksgiving meal for her hungry family. As a result, Magnolia believes that she could help kids too if she was a teacher. In the scenario about Steve (also discussed earlier), it is a school counselor who persuades him to stay in school and graduate even though he is exhausted trying to balance a full-time job and classes. The counselor expresses faith in Steve's ability to learn, and personally meets him at 7:00 in the morning to provide algebra tutorials.
Through these interactions with teachers and other school officials, Magnolia and Steve have role models who can serve as their "sponsors" out of poverty. They can, in other words, finally be provided an opportunity to learn the hidden rules of the middle class to do well in school and become financially self-supporting, successful members of our society. Of course, these also are examples of educators who are going beyond the general call of duty, working with students outside of the normal workday and using their own resources rather than those of the school or district. What these individuals draw upon are emotional and moral resources as well, and their examples in Payne's scenarios reinforce the emphasis that she places upon these attributes. In framing the social problem of poverty in such basic human terms, Payne adds considerable force to her arguments about its origins and the possibilities for its resolution. On the other hand, the reality of working with such students is often considerably more complicated than her scenarios may suggest, and poverty may not be as closely tied to morality and associated "hidden rules" as she seems to believe.
A critique of Payne's framework
Without doubt, the conceptual clarity and apparent applicability of Payne's framework for understanding poverty are among its primary assets. Yet, given the heated scholarly debates regarding poverty over the last several decades, her authoritative-sounding pronouncements about children's socioeconomic status and their educational and behavioral outcomes are rather remarkable. This apparent certainty appeals to many people's common-sense notions of how poverty functions and how it can be eliminated. It is important to note, however, that the underlying logic of Payne's conception of poverty is not well-supported by contemporary social science research, and her straightforward explanations and conclusions may hold problematic implications for poor children and those educators who serve them. In the discussion that follows, we consider a number of potential criticisms of Payne's work, including her selective use of social science research to support her arguments about the impact of poverty on education and other outcomes for children in society.
One problem in Payne's framework of poverty is the extent to which she essentializes the values, behaviors, and orientations of those who are poor. Although Payne distinguishes between different circumstances of poverty, she routinely describes the poor in sweeping fashion as individuals who differ markedly from others in the middle and wealthy classes. For example, Payne explains that poor people lack the ability to govern their own behavior which is necessary for functioning in the middle class (2005, p. 77). As a result, the scenarios discussed earlier in this article are intended to illustrate how "the line between what is legal and illegal is thin and often crossed" so that the poor "simply see jail as a part of life and not necessarily always bad" (2005, p. 22). Also, she maintains that the poor assume their life circumstances are inevitable, so money is either shared or spent immediately. Disciplinary action is seen as being about penance and forgiveness rather than really changing negative behaviors; men value hard labor and identify as "a lover" and "a fighter" with bars and work as their main social outlets; and women learn that "sex will bring in money and favors. Values are important, but they don't put food on the table-or bring relief from intense pressure" (2005, p. 23-24).
Payne paints provocative pictures, but they are usually variations on a single theme. Life in poor families is characterized by constant chatter and background noise from the TV which is almost always on; disorganization and clutter; matriarchal and extended family structures; and multiple internal feuds "with nearly everyone having multiple relationships, some legal and some not" (2005, p. 51-56). Such scenarios convey powerful images, and all but a couple of them depict poor people as engaging in behavior of questionable moral character. Even if the main character in a story is a largely innocent student, she or he is usually presented as contending with adults who have proven to be morally weak. Whether it is an out-of-work uncle or a father in jail, an unwed pregnant sister or a drunken mother, the children in these stories are victims of the adults who have failed them. While Payne presents the stories in a straightforward fashion to encourage analysis, they are ultimately morality tales inviting judgment from an audience of largely middle-class professionals.
A second concern is that Payne's essentialized portrayal of the poor and problems related to poverty can lead to misconceptions or contribute to popular stereotypes about people in poverty. As noted earlier, central to Payne's analysis of poverty is the idea that there are "hidden rules" or "mental models" which distinguish the thinking and behavior of people who are poor from those who are middle class and wealthy. In identifying these characteristics, Payne appears to rely heavily on the work of Oscar Lewis (1968), Michael Harrington (1962), Richard Sennett (Sennett & Cobb, 1973), and other writers from the 1960s and early 1970s who, to one degree or another, endorsed a "culture of poverty" thesis about behavioral differences between the poor and others. Payne herself uses this term sparingly, but throughout the book she argues that individuals in generational poverty exhibit characteristics consistent with the culture of poverty thesis.
As evident in the descriptive scenarios, the poor are generally depicted as having a weak work ethic, little sense of internal discipline or future orientation, and leading lives characterized to one extent or another by disorder and violence. In making these characterizations, Payne seems to be unaware of the many studies dating from the late 1960s that challenged the culture of poverty thesis, in many instances directly testing the extent to which traits such as these were more prevalent among the poor than other groups. By and large, these studies found that such characteristics were not more likely to be evident in poor individuals or households. Indeed, people in poverty valued work, saving money, behaving properly, maintaining stable families, and a number of other "middle-class" attributes as much as their counterparts in higher social and economic strata. These results, moreover, held across groups with experiences of differing duration in poverty and across racial and ethnic lines (Roach & Gursslin, 1967; Irelan, Moles, & O'Shea, 1969; Coward, Feagin, & Williams, 1974; Davidson & Gaitz, 1974; Abell & Lyon, 1979; Carmon, 1985; Jones & Luo, 1999).
To put the matter another way, this body of research suggests that many of the attitudes that Payne attributes to the poor are also evident to varying degrees among the non-poor, groups that Payne would describe as the "middle class" and the "wealthy." After all, there is considerable evidence that individuals in these groups have characteristics of the sort that Payne attributes only to the poor: a variable work ethic, inability to save money, and uncertainty in interpersonal relationships. Recent studies indicate that traditional middle-class values on a range of issues have shifted in the past several decades. Divorce, for instance, is now widely seen as acceptable, a broad range of personal behavior is tolerated or accepted, and work judged to be demeaning is often spurned, even in the face of unemployment. (Thornton & Young-DeMarco, 2001; Jaynes, 2000) Mainstream values of the sort Payne holds up as exemplary appear to be considerably less prevalent today than in the past, throughout all segments of the population.
Much of the behavior Payne describes, consequently, is not exclusively a problem of the poor and may therefore reflect values that she incorrectly attributes to poverty. Middle-class or upper-class individuals, of course, are less likely to suffer as a result of such behaviors because, as Payne notes, having monetary resources makes the consequences of such attitudinal or behavioral characteristics considerably less dire. However, a major problem in her interpretation is suggesting that there may be a causal force to these attributes. While they may make it difficult for some to escape poverty under current social and economic conditions, there is little evidence that such traits are especially prevalent among the poor, and they do not explain why some people fall into poverty and others do not. Studies challenging the culture of poverty thesis have cast serious doubt on the proposition that a clearly distinguishable "culture of poverty" in fact exists. By and large, it is a term that has fallen out of use in the social science literature today.
The studies that Payne does reference offer little support for her formulation of "mental models" that distinguish the behavior of the poor. One study she cites a great deal is Susan Mayer's (1997) book, What Money Can't Buy. Mayer argues that ". . . activities, possessions and housing environments that are important to children's outcomes are only moderately related to parental income" (p. 113). In other words, the poor do not lack in resources necessary for children to succeed, and middle-class status is hardly a guarantee of a child's success. What matters are the "values" of parents, and Mayer (like many other researchers) offers scant evidence that the poor have different values than other groups. On the surface, of course, this point would appear to support Payne's argument, and it is no doubt for this reason that she cites Mayer's work. But Mayer's position is more complicated than this, and directly addresses the question of whether income is related to parenting practices, an issue at the core of Payne's argument. In examining this matter, Mayer reports that there is negligible difference between the poor and other families. After reviewing the evidence from survey data, she concludes, "These results provide little evidence that parents' income has a large influence on parenting practices. Nor do the results in this chapter suggest that parental income has a large effect on parents' psychological attributes other than their feelings of efficacy. And parental efficacy has only a moderate effect on children's outcomes" (1997, p. 124). By and large, according to Mayer, parenting practices and the values that inform them are generally unrelated to income. This is hardly a finding that provides support for Payne's framework for understanding poverty, despite her use of Mayer's book for confirmation of her theories.
Mayer does indicate that "some persistently poor parents are shiftless and neglectful," adding that their households exhibit "neither the moral nor the material standards that most Americans believe children require" (1997, p. 151). But she also makes it clear that families falling into this category are only a part of the persistently poor, who also suffer from illness, depression, and other limitations quite separate from their moral predilections. This suggests that poor families of the sort that Payne describes as reflecting "generational poverty" represent a modest proportion of the poor, perhaps less than a quarter and probably lower. Given these figures, it stands to reason that the children in such families would be a rather small fraction of all children, possibly just 3 or 4 percent. As Mayer concludes, "poverty alone is not synonymous with incompetence," and as the number of families living in poverty rises, "the average poor person becomes more like the average middle-class person" (1997, p. 152). This too is an argument in sharp distinction from Payne's, which suggests that the numbers of attitudinally deviant poor families are increasing (Payne, 2005, p. 61).
Another book Payne cites a number of times is a collection of studies edited by Greg J. Duncan and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn (1997) titled, Consequences of Growing Up Poor. Again, Payne appears to have been rather selective in choosing quotes from this source, as the various studies provide little support for her analysis. In the chapter examining the link between income levels and parenting practices, for instance, Hanson, McLanahan, and Thomson (1997) echo Mayer's points described above, "We found that household income and debt are only weakly related to effective parenting. Consequently, differences in the levels of parenting do not account for much of the association between economic resources and children's well being" (p. 219). While the researchers did find evidence that various approaches to parenting had different effects in poor and non-poor households (with control and supervision being less important in the latter), this did not materially affect the relationship between income and children's outcomes. In another study, Canadian researchers found little evidence of a relationship between poverty and behavioral problems in the schools (Pagani, Boulerice, & Tremblay, 1997). These and similar conclusions throughout the book indicate that the relationship between poverty, the values and behavior of parents, and the welfare of children are a good deal more complicated than Payne suggests.
What is perhaps most problematic about Payne's framework for understanding poverty is its underlying logic that suggests poor people have choices about whether to remain in-or escape from-poverty. As illustrated in the scenarios described earlier, Payne argues that the poor may not realize they have a choice to live differently, and even if they do recognize their own agency, they may be reluctant to exercise it without the aid of a sponsor who can model the appropriate use of emotional resources. Payne explains that in poverty,
There is a freedom of verbal expression, an appreciation of individual personality, a heightened and intense emotional experience, and a sensual, kinesthetic approach to life usually not found in the middle class or among the educated. These patterns are so intertwined in the daily life of the poor that to have those cut off would be to lose a limb. Many choose not to live a different life. And for some, alcoholism, laziness, lack of motivation, drug addiction, etc., in effect make the choices for the individual. (2005, p. 113)
As a result, Payne indicates that helping poor children develop self control requires both structure and choice so that they can recognize what behaviors are expected of them, identify the consequences accompanying particular actions, and ultimately "emphasize that the individual always has a choice-to follow or not to follow the expected behaviors" (2005, p. 78). Emphasizing that emotional resources are the most important factor in the perpetuation of poverty implies it is the poor themselves who bear the greatest responsibility for their condition, despite the extensive research literature suggesting otherwise. For example, Payne overlooks the predominant social and economic causes of poverty highlighted in social science literature such as deindustrialization, discrimination, unequal educational resources, and socioeconomic segregation (Massey & Denton, 1993; Wilson, 1996). These studies dispel prevalent beliefs that changing individuals' values and behavior can affect their social mobility, or that children in poor and lower-class households have the same objective opportunities for inter-generational social mobility as children from more affluent families.
Recent research on the state of the very poor in American society suggests that their social environment is considerably more influential than Payne's book indicates. The Gatreaux project in Chicago, for instance, has demonstrated that moving families out of inner-city communities with highly concentrated poverty can have a significant effect on the life chances of children and adults alike. Once relocated to middle-class neighborhoods, children performed better in school, adults found employment, and family prospects improved. (Kaufman & Rosenbaum, 1992) This research casts considerable doubt on the "mental models" theory that Payne postulates in her book. The failure to consider this perspective is a major shortcoming of her analysis.
Furthermore, although Payne's reference to individuals in situational and generational poverty does not correspond to data categories on the census and are thus difficult to quantify exactly, the research literature on poverty indicates that the largest group of these children are racial/ethnic minorities (mostly African-American) living in central-city neighborhoods where local employment opportunities are severely restricted. Payne, however, suggests that race is largely unrelated to poverty. In doing so, she sidesteps the critical issue of systematic, historical patterns of discrimination and exploitation that have contributed to the persistence of widespread poverty in the United States. Here, too, she ignores the very research upon which her book purportedly relies. A study cited by Payne reports that African-American families in 1980 were more than seven times more likely to experience "persistent" poverty (more than six years) than Whites. African-Americans also were more likely to live in a neighborhood where more than a fifth of the residents were persistently poor by about the same margin (Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, & Maritato, 1997). Children in these families often live in environments where the effects of "concentrated poverty" are evident, a term employed by William Julius Wilson to describe to describe the impact of deindustrialization and long-term unemployment on inner-city communities (Wilson, 1987, 1996). These statistics tell a different story about the relationship between poverty and race than Payne describes, particularly with respect to the "persistent" poor.
Meaningful efforts to educate poor children and work towards the elimination of poverty in society at large necessitate a commitment to understanding and reforming the existing structure of socioeconomic stratification. This entails a critical analysis of contemporary economic shifts and needs (Books, 2004; Kantor, 1999; Ranney, 1999; Wilson, 1987), as well as attention to the advantageous functioning of the system to particular groups of privileged people (Gans, 1995; Jencks, 1972). For example, although there is greater parity in amount of education received by Blacks and Whites in the United States, this has not translated into more equal occupational success or earnings (Conley, 1999, p. 86). Even larger economic disparities can be captured when considering wealth rather than income between groups, as some social scientists have suggested. Oliver and Shapiro (1997) explain,
Wealth is money that is not typically used to purchase milk, shoes, or other necessities. Sometimes it bails families out of financial and personal crises, but more often it is used to create opportunities, secure a desired stature and standard of living, or pass along a class status already obtained to a new generation. (p. 171)
The measure of one's wealth-including things such as inheritance, investments, and property-has the "particular attribute of quantifying the social value of ideas or objects" (Conley, 1999, p. 144).
Payne concludes that in conceptualizing poverty,
Naming the problem is the first step toward a solution, and the most important step, for if the problem is not named accurately the course of action based on that faulty assumption will only lead further and further from a solution. So naming problems accurately-making the correct diagnosis-is crucial because it is on those definitions that the theories of change and program activities are based. (2005, p. 169)

Yet, Payne's own viewpoint is largely unsubstantiated in current research literature. Through a detailed analysis of the descriptive scenarios Payne provides to accompany her framework for understanding poverty, it is clear that the poor are portrayed rather monolithically in their values and behaviors, which generally correspond to the culture of poverty thesis of the late 1960s and early 1970s. In like fashion, then, Payne recommends that educators serve to inspire and model change so the poor know there is a more desirable way of living. If only the problem of poverty could be so simply diagnosed, then the remedy would be fairly straightforward. Yet Payne's work may misinform well-intentioned efforts to educate poor children by locating the problem of poverty within the individual without regard to the larger social context in which they live and are expected to succeed.

The Payne phenomenon in perspective
Given the issues identified above, the influence of Dr. Ruby Payne presents something of a puzzle. If her viewpoint is so heavily tilted toward a certain perspective and the research base for her work is so questionable, what explains the popularity of her book and the apparent success of her workshops? As suggested above, the clarity of her explanation for poverty and related issues, along with the confident tone of her narratives and recommendations, may explain part of the appeal. The fact that she purports to draw upon decades of academic research no doubt lends credibility to her enterprise and its publications. But it is also possible that a good deal of the interest her perspective draws from educators is rooted in their own middle-class conceptions about the poor and the causes of poverty. Most educators, after all, are unfamiliar with the extensive research literature on poverty and its effects on children, and if Payne's citations seem to support their own views about the poor, they would hardly be in a position to challenge the interpretation of research that Payne offers. If they are predisposed to believing that the poor are lazy and impulsive as well as unreliable and temperamental, they are more likely to agree with Payne's analysis than to question it. In short, Payne may be popular simply because she echoes commonplace assumptions about why some individuals appear to succeed in American society while others do not.
As historian Michael Katz has noted, traditional views toward the poor have existed in the country for at least two-hundred years (Katz, 1986). In the past, observers of the poor distinguished between those considered "worthy" and "unworthy." The difference was typically linked to personal rectitude, much like the distinctions that Payne notes in separating "situational" from "generational" poverty. Her "mental models" conceptual framework and the scenarios she describes echo the ideas of middle-class welfare reformers from the past, for whom poverty was more a moral condition than a matter of economic status. Now, as then, children are depicted as victims of the problematic attitudes and behaviors their parents exhibit and deemed highly susceptible to inheriting the same dysfunctional worldviews. While this may elicit sympathy and concern for students who live in poverty, and perhaps cause teachers to devote more time and attention to their needs, it is unlikely to create a sound, research-based comprehension of the problems presented by poverty and the best ways to address them. Because of this, it seems unlikely that Payne's framework will lead to meaningful, long-term change in the circumstances of poor children's lives and the ability of schools to work with them.
Ultimately, it is necessary to consider whether the apparent success of Ruby Payne and her organization represents a failure on the part of teacher educators and the many social science researchers who have addressed the connections between poverty and schooling over the past several decades. After all, if thousands of professional educators have been misinformed to one extent or another by Payne's analytical framework, it is at least partly because the training they received in colleges and universities did not prepare them to critically assess its problems. If teachers and principals lack an understanding about how poverty and social class affect children's education, it may be because their own professional education provided little information or theory for them to draw upon for this purpose. At the same time, researchers focusing on these issues have not contributed to the development of successful in-service education programs that acknowledge the realities and needs of teachers and other education professionals in the classroom. Ruby Payne has thus filled a critical vacuum in the field. This, too, explains some of her success. Where others have been uninterested or perhaps unable to help teachers understand just how poverty and education are related, Payne and her collaborators have been quite willing to step into the breach.
Perhaps it is time for the research and teacher education community to take up the challenge of poverty and begin to engage the questions that Ruby Payne has addressed so actively for the past decade or so. This is not an easy undertaking since the links between poverty and schooling are far from fully understood. As a number of studies have noted, the particular mechanisms that account for why some individuals and families end up in poverty and remain there for any length of time are still poorly comprehended (Sawhill, 1988). Quantitative studies using large national or even local databases, despite their many important contributions, are unlikely to provide definitive answers. As the authors of a chapter on "intergenerational transmission of poverty" in the Duncan and Brooks-Gunn volume note, "While we know that growing up poor reduces children's economic mobility, these analyses tell us little about why" (Corcoran & Adams, 1997, p. 514). In their concluding chapter, Duncan and Brooks-Gunn refer to the absence of strong relationships between parental income and school performance in quantitative studies as an "enigma" (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997, p. 603). More fine-grained analyses of the effect of schooling and development of children living in poverty are needed before answers to these questions can be generated.
While teachers and schools do have an important role in addressing issues of educational opportunity and equity for poor children, much additional research will be necessary before effective programs of professional assistance for them can or should be undertaken. Ruby Payne's program, while doubtless well intentioned, is not based on a sound or thorough understanding of poverty and its causes. However, if her efforts to address the difficulties educators face in working with poor children generates increased research attention and a resolution to better connect researchers' findings with educators' instructional concerns, then perhaps her work will turn out to have been significant indeed.

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Kantor, H. (1999). Race, education, and joblessness in the inner city, 1970-1990. The Urban Review, 31(3), 225-242.
Katz, M. B. (1986). In the shadow of the poorhouse: A social history of welfare in America. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Kaufman, J. E., & Rosenbaum, J. E. (1992). . Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 14(3), 229-240.
Lewis, O. (1968). A study of slum culture: Backgrounds for La Vida. New York, NY: Random House.
Massey, D. S., & Denton, N. A. (1993). American apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Mayer, S. (1997). What money can't buy: Family income and children's life chances. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Oliver, M. L., & Shapiro, T. M. (1997). Black wealth/white wealth: A new perspective on racial inequality. New York, NY: Routledge.
Pagani, L., Boulerice, B. & Tremblay, R. (1997). The influence of poverty on children's classroom placement and behavior problems. In G. J. Duncan & J. Brooks-Gunn (Eds.), Consequences of growing up poor (pp. 311-339). New York, NY: Russell Sage.
Payne, Ruby K. (1996). A framework for understanding poverty: Modules 1-7 workbook. Highlands, TX: aha! Process, Inc.
Payne, Ruby K. (2005). A framework for understanding poverty. Highlands, TX: aha! Process, Inc.
Ranney, D. C. (1999). Class, race, gender, and poverty: A critique of some contemporary theories. In L. Kushnick & J. Jennings (Eds.), A new introduction to poverty: The role of race, power, and politics (pp. 39-56). New York, NY: New York University Press.
Roach, J. L., & Gursslin, O. R. (1967). An evaluation of the concept "culture of poverty". Social Forces, 45(3), 383-392.
Sawhill, I. V. (1988). Poverty in the U.S.: Why is it so persistent? Journal of Economic Literature, 26(3), 1073-1119.
Sennett, R., & Cobb, J. (1973). The hidden injuries of class. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
Thornton, A., & Young-DeMarco, L. (2001). Four decades of trends in attitudes toward family issues in the United States: The 1960s through the 1990s. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63(4), 1009-1037.
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Wilson, W. J. (1996). When work disappears: The world of the new urban poor. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Zeichner, K. M. (2003). The adequacies and inadequacies of three current strategies to recruit, prepare, and retain the best teachers for all students. Teachers College Record, 105(3), 490-519.

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Poverty and Education: a critical Analysis of the Ruby Payne Phenomenon by

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by Jennifer C. Ng & John L. Rury - Teachers College Record, July 18, 2006 Current estimates show that historically high percentages of American children live in poverty. In order to serve them well, educators must understand the particular experiences and challenges these children face.

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This video explains what poverty is and offers ways educators can implement best practices.

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Poverty Affects Education: You Can Help!

According to he National Center for Children Living in Poverty, about 15 million children in the United States today are living in Poverty. Learn more about how educators like yourself can help boys & girls living in poverty to overcome and achieve.

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This article explains how teachers can help their students just by providing hope.

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GrapeSEED: Accelerated English Language Acquisition Program

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What can we do to mitigate the impact of poverty in our children's education?

The good news is that there IS a silver lining for our children. ENVIRONMENT does play an enormous role in improvement. And who can create an alternative environment for boys and girls? YOU CAN! Without a doubt, this is no small task, and you may be thinking "Can I really give something to my students that will make an impact?"

According to renowned researcher Eric Jensen, there is. This is what he says:

"If you do nothing else as a teacher, provide hope. For many people living in poverty, hope and faith for tomorrow are the only things that keep them going each day. You MUST buy in to this fact : If brains can change for the worse because of hopelessness, they can change for the better because of hope. For students living in poverty, hope in not a frivolous luxury but an absolute necessity."

For more information about different types of poverty, how children are affected and how you can provide hope and change within the walls of your classroom, watch our webinar "Poverty Affects Our Children: You Can Help!" by Jodie Shell.

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How Poverty Affects Education & Our Children | GrapeSEED

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The good news is that there IS a silver lining for our children. ENVIRONMENT does play an enormous role in improvement. And who can create an alternative environment for boys and girls? YOU CAN! Without a doubt, this is no small task, and you may be thinking "Can I really give something to my students that will make an impact?"

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Children from low-income families often start school already behind their peers who come from more affluent families.

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Language: English | French

Abstract

Over the past decade, the unfortunate reality is that the income gap has widened between Canadian families. Educational outcomes are one of the key areas influenced by family incomes. Children from low-income families often start school already behind their peers who come from more affluent families, as shown in measures of school readiness. The incidence, depth, duration and timing of poverty all influence a child's educational attainment, along with community characteristics and social networks. However, both Canadian and international interventions have shown that the effects of poverty can be reduced using sustainable interventions. Paediatricians and family doctors have many opportunities to influence readiness for school and educational success in primary care settings.

Keywords: Education, Interventions, Poverty, School readiness

Résumé

Depuis dix ans, l'écart des revenus s'est creusé entre les familles canadiennes, ce qui est une triste réalité. L'éducation est l'un des principaux domaines sur lesquels influe le revenu familial. Souvent, lorsqu'ils commencent l'école, les enfants de familles à faible revenu accusent déjà un retard par rapport à leurs camarades qui proviennent de familles plus aisées, tel que le démontrent les mesures de maturité scolaire. L'incidence, l'importance, la durée et le moment de la pauvreté ont tous une influence sur le rendement scolaire de l'enfant, de même que les caractéristiques de la communauté et les réseaux sociaux. Cependant, tant au Canada que sur la scène internationale, il est possible de réduire les effets de la pauvreté au moyen d'interventions soutenues. Les pédiatres et les médecins de familles ont de nombreuses occasions d'agir sur la maturité et la réussite scolaire dans le cadre des soins de premier recours.

Poverty remains a stubborn fact of life even in rich countries like Canada. In particular, the poverty of our children has been a continuing concern. In 1989, the Canadian House of Commons voted unanimously to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by 2000 ( 1). However, the reality is that, in 2003, one of every six children still lived in poverty. Not only have we been unsuccessful at eradicating child poverty, but over the past decade, the inequity of family incomes in Canada has grown ( 2), and for some families, the depth of poverty has increased as well ( 3). Canadian research confirms poverty's negative influence on student behaviour, achievement and retention in school ( 4).

Persistent socioeconomic disadvantage has a negative impact on the life outcomes of many Canadian children. Research from the Ontario Child Health Study in the mid-1980s reported noteworthy associations between low income and psychiatric disorders ( 5), social and academic functioning ( 6), and chronic physical health problems ( 7). Since that time, Canada has developed systematic measures that have enabled us to track the impact of a variety of child, family and community factors on children's well-being. The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) developed by Statistics Canada, Human Resources Development Canada and a number of researchers across the country was started in 1994 with the intention of following representative samples of children to adulthood ( 8). Much of our current knowledge about the development of Canadian children is derived from the analysis of the NLSCY data by researchers in a variety of settings.

One of the key areas influenced by family income is educational outcomes. The present article provides a brief review of the literature concerning the effects of poverty on educational outcomes focusing on Canadian research. Canadian data are placed in the perspective of research from other 'rich' countries. We conclude with some suggestions about what we can do, as advocates and practitioners, to work toward reducing the negative impact of economic disadvantage on the educational outcomes of our children.

POVERTY AND READINESS FOR SCHOOL

School readiness reflects a child's ability to succeed both academically and socially in a school environment. It requires physical well-being and appropriate motor development, emotional health and a positive approach to new experiences, age-appropriate social knowledge and competence, age-appropriate language skills, and age-appropriate general knowledge and cognitive skills ( 9). It is well documented that poverty decreases a child's readiness for school through aspects of health, home life, schooling and neighbourhoods. Six poverty-related factors are known to impact child development in general and school readiness in particular. They are the incidence of poverty, the depth of poverty, the duration of poverty, the timing of poverty (eg, age of child), community characteristics (eg, concentration of poverty and crime in neighborhood, and school characteristics) and the impact poverty has on the child's social network (parents, relatives and neighbors). A child's home has a particularly strong impact on school readiness. Children from low-income families often do not receive the stimulation and do not learn the social skills required to prepare them for school. Typical problems are parental inconsistency (with regard to daily routines and parenting), frequent changes of primary caregivers, lack of supervision and poor role modelling. Very often, the parents of these children also lack support.

Canadian studies have also demonstrated the association between low-income households and decreased school readiness. A report by Thomas ( 10) concluded that children from lower income households score significantly lower on measures of vocabulary and communication skills, knowledge of numbers, copying and symbol use, ability to concentrate and cooperative play with other children than children from higher income households. Janus et al ( 11) found that schools with the largest proportion of children with low school readiness were from neighbourhoods of high social risk, including poverty. Willms ( 12) established that children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) households scored lower on a receptive vocabulary test than higher SES children. Thus, the evidence is clear and unanimous that poor children arrive at school at a cognitive and behavioural disadvantage. Schools are obviously not in a position to equalize this gap. For instance, research by The Institute of Research and Public Policy (Montreal, Quebec) showed that differences between students from low and high socioeconomic neighbourhoods were evident by grade 3; children from low socioeconomic neighbourhoods were less likely to pass a grade 3 standards test ( 13).

POVERTY AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

Studies emanating from successive waves of the NLSCY have repeatedly shown that socioeconomic factors have a large, pervasive and persistent influence over school achievement ( 14- 16). Phipps and Lethbridge ( 15) examined income and child outcomes in children four to 15 years of age based on data from the NLSCY. In this study, higher incomes were consistently associated with better outcomes for children. The largest effects were for cognitive and school measures (teacher-administered math and reading scores), followed by behavioural and health measures, and then social and emotional measures, which had the smallest associations.

These Canadian findings are accompanied by a large number of studies in the United States that have shown that socioeconomic disadvantage and other risk factors that are associated with poverty (eg, lower parental education and high family stress) have a negative effect on cognitive development and academic achievement, smaller effects on behaviour and inconsistent effects on socioemotional outcomes ( 17- 19). Living in extreme and persistent poverty has particularly negative effects ( 18), although the consequences of not being defined below the poverty line but still suffering from material hardship should not be underestimated ( 20). Furthermore, American studies found strong interaction effects between SES and exposure to risk factors. For instance, parents from disadvantaged backgrounds were not only more likely to have their babies born prematurely, but these prematurely born children were also disproportionately at higher risk for school failure than children with a similar neonatal record from higher income families ( 18).

It is worth noting that international studies have consistently shown similar associations between socioeconomic measures and academic outcomes. For example, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessed the comprehensive literacy skills of grade 4 students in 35 countries. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessed reading, math and science scores of 15-year-old children in 43 countries ( 21). At these two different stages of schooling, there was a significant relationship between SES and educational measure in all countries. This relationship has come to be known as a 'socioeconomic gradient'; flatter gradients represent greater 'equity of outcome', and are generally associated with better average outcomes and a higher quality of life. Generally, the PISA and the NLSCY data support the conclusion that income or SES has important effects on educational attainment in elementary school through high school. Despite the results shown by the PISA and the NLSCY, schools are not the ultimate equalizer and the socioeconomic gradient still exists despite educational attainment. Test results can be misleading and can mask the gradient if the sample does not account for all children who should be completing the test. A study ( 13) completed by the Institute of Research and Public Policy demonstrated only small differences between low and high socioeconomic students when test results were compared in those students who sat for the examination. However, when results were compared for the entire body of children who should have written the examination, the differences between low and high socioeconomic students were staggering, mainly due to the over-representation of those who left school early in the low socioeconomic group.

Longitudinal studies carried out in the United States have been crucial in demonstrating some of the key factors in producing and maintaining poor achievement. Their findings have gone well beyond a model that blames schools or a student's background for academic failure. Comparisons of the academic growth curves of students during the school year and over the summer showed that much of the achievement gap between low and high SES students could be related to their out-of-school environment (families and communities). This result strongly supports the notion that schools play a crucial compensatory role; however, it also shows the importance of continued support for disadvantaged students outside of the school environment among their families and within their communities ( 22).

A Human Resource Development Canada study ( 23) titled "The Cost of Dropping Out of High School" reported that lower income students were more likely to leave school without graduating, which agrees with international data. In a nonrandom sample for a qualitative study, Ferguson et al ( 24) reported that one-half of Ontario students leaving high school before graduating were raised in homes with annual incomes lower than $30,000. Finally, in Canada, only 31% of youth from the bottom income quartile attended postsecondary education compared with 50.2% in the top income quartile ( 25). Once again, the evidence indicates that students from low-income families are disadvantaged right through the education system to postsecondary training.

REVERSING THE EFFECTS OF POVERTY

The negative effects of poverty on all levels of school success have been widely demonstrated and accepted; the critical question for us as a caring society is, can these effects be prevented or reversed? A variety of data are relevant to this question, and recent research gives us reason to be both positive and proactive.

Early intervention

There is a direct link between early childhood intervention and increased social and cognitive ability ( 26). Decreasing the risk factors in a child's environment increases a child's potential for development and educational attainment. Prevention and intervention programs that target health concerns (eg, immunization and prenatal care) are associated with better health outcomes for low-income children and result in increased cognitive ability ( 27). However, it is the parent-child relationship that has been proven to have the greatest influence on reversing the impact of poverty. Both parenting style ( 28) and parental involvement, inside and outside of the school environment ( 29), impact on a child's early development. Characteristics of parenting such as predictability of behaviour, social responsiveness, verbal behaviour, mutual attention and positive role modelling have been shown to have a positive effect on several aspects of child outcome. Parental involvement, such as frequency of outings ( 29) and problem-based play, creates greater intellectual stimulation and educational support for a child, and develops into increased school readiness ( 26).

Interventions act to advance a child's development through a range of supports and services. Their underlying goal is to develop the skills lacking in children, that have already developed in other children who are of a similar age. There is general agreement that interventions should be data driven, and that assessments and interventions should be closely linked. A primary evaluation of a child and family support systems is, therefore, pivotal in the creation of individualized interventions to ensure success in placing children on a normative trajectory ( 30). Ramey and Ramey ( 30) determined that interventions have sustained success for children when they increase intellectual skills, create motivational changes, create greater environmental opportunities and/or increase continued access to supports.

Karoly et al ( 31) reported the magnitude of effects that early intervention programs have on children. Measured at school entry, they found a pooled mean effect size of around 0.3, with many programs having effect sizes between 0.5 and 0.97. This means that for many interventions, children in the program were, on average, one-half to a full standard deviation above their peers who were not in the program. Interestingly, they found that interventions that combined parent education programs with child programs had significantly higher effect sizes. Furthermore, interventions that continued beyond the early years showed significantly lower fade-out effects. The results strongly support the notion that early interventions should include the whole family and be continued beyond the early years. Constant evaluation of interventions should be completed to ensure that the benefits for children are maximized using these key components.

Highly regarded early interventions

The High/Scope active learning approach is a comprehensive early childhood curriculum. It uses cooperative work and communication skills to have children 'learn by doing'. Individual, and small and large group formats are used for teacher-and-child planned activities in the key subject areas of language and literacy, mathematics, science, music and rhythmic movement. There has been ongoing evaluation of the approach since 1962 using 123 low-income African-American children at high risk of school failure ( 32). Fifty-eight children received high-quality early care and an educational setting, as well as home visits from the teachers to discuss their developmental progress. By 40 years of age, children who received the intervention were more likely to have graduated high school, hold a job, have higher earnings and have committed fewer crimes.

Similar positive effects of preschool intervention were found in the evaluation of the Abecedarian project ( 33). This project enlisted children between infancy and five years of age from low-income families to receive a high-quality educational intervention that was individualized to their needs. The intervention used games focused on social, emotional and cognitive areas of development. Children were evaluated at 12, 15 and 21 years of age, and those who had received the intervention had higher cognitive test scores, had greater academic achievement in reading and math, had completed more years of education and were more likely to have attended a four-year college. Interestingly, the mothers of children participating in the program also had higher educational and employment status after the intervention.

One of the oldest and most eminent early intervention programs is the Chicago Child Parent Center program. The intervention targets students who are between preschool and grade 3 through language-based activities, outreach activities, ongoing staff development and health services. Importantly, there is no set curriculum; the program is tailored to the needs of each child ( 34). One crucial feature of the program is the extensive involvement of parents. Multifaceted parental programs are offered to improve parental knowledge, their engagement in their children's education and their parental skills. An evaluation of the Chicago Child Parent Center Program was completed by Reynolds ( 34) using a sample of 1106 black children from low-income families. They were exposed to the intervention in preschool, kindergarten and follow-up components. Two years after the completion of the intervention, the results indicated that the duration of intervention was associated with greater academic achievement in reading and mathematics, teacher ratings of school adjustment, parental involvement in school activities, grade retention and special education placement ( 34). Evaluation of the long-term effects of the intervention was completed by Reynolds ( 35) after 15 years of follow-up. Individuals who had participated in the early childhood intervention for at least one or two years had higher rates of school completion, had attained more years of education, and had lower rates of juvenile arrests, violent arrests leaving school early.

Later intervention

A common question concerns the stage at which it is too late for interventions to be successful. Recent findings (N Rowen, personal communication) from an uncontrolled community study in Toronto, Ontario, have suggested that a multisys-temic intervention as students transition to high school can produce dramatic results. The Pathways to Education project began because of a community (parents) request to a local health agency to help their children succeed in high school. The community consisted mainly of people from a public housing complex, with the majority of families being poor, immigrants and from visible minority groups. The Pathways project grew out of a partnership between the community, the health centre and the school board, and was funded by a variety of sources. The core elements of the program include a contract between the student, parents and project; student-parent support workers who advocate for the student at school and connect parents to the project and/or school; four nights a week of tutoring (by volunteers) in the community; group and career mentoring located in the community; and financial support, such as money for public transit and scholarship money for postsecondary education dependent on successful academic work and graduation. The Pathways project has been running for six years, and the results for the first five cohorts of students have been exciting. In comparison to a preproject cohort, the absentee and academic 'at-risk' rate (credit accumulation) has fallen by 50% to 60%, the 'dropout' rate has fallen by 80% to a level below the average for the board of education and the five-year graduation rate has risen from 42% to 75%. Of the graduates, 80% go on to college or university, compared with 42% before the Pathways project. While these initial results must be replicated in other communities, they suggest that, even at the high school level, interventions can be startlingly effective, even in a community with a long history of poverty, recent immigration and racism. As the proponents of Pathways move to replication, they will need to be careful to untangle the effects of community commitment, school board collaboration and the rich set of collaborations that have been a hallmark of this first demonstration project. Nevertheless, Pathways has made it clear that Canadian communities possess the capacity to change the education outcomes of their children and youth. While it takes resolve and resources to achieve such effects, initial analysis suggests that over the lifetime of the students, each dollar invested will be returned to Canada more than 24 times ( 36)!

Schools make a difference

Canadian and international research on educational outcomes has revealed important data on the effects of schools and classrooms. Frempong and Willms ( 37) used complex analyses of student performance in mathematics to demonstrate that Canadian schools, and even classrooms, do make a difference in student outcomes (ie, students from similar home backgrounds achieve significantly different levels of performance in different schools). Furthermore, schools and classrooms differ in their SES gradients (ie, some schools achieve not just higher scores, but more equitable outcomes than others). These general findings were corroborated by Willms ( 38) using reading scores from children in grade 4 and those 15 years of age from 34 countries. Once again, it was demonstrated that schools make a difference and that some schools are more equitable than others. According to Thomas ( 10), activities other than academics, such as sports and lessons in the arts, have been shown to increase student's school readiness despite SES. These activities should be encouraged in all schools to maximize school readiness. A key to making schools more effective at raising the performance of low SES students is to keep schools heterogeneous with regard to the SES of their students (ie, all types of streaming result in markedly poor outcomes for disadvantaged children and youth).

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Balancing the consistent evidence about the pervasive negative impact of poverty on educational outcomes with the hopeful positive outcomes of intervention studies, what can we do in our communities to attenuate the effects of poverty and SES on academic success? Here are some important actions:

Advocate for and support schools which strive to achieve equity of outcomes;

Advocate for and support intervention programs that provide academic, social and community support to raise the success of disadvantaged children and youth;

Make others aware of the short-, medium- and long-term costs of allowing these children and youth to fail or leave school;

Never miss a personal opportunity to support the potential educational success of the children and youth who we come into contact with;

Advocate for system changes within schools to maximize educational attainment (eg, longer school days and shorter summer vacations); and

Advocate for quality early education and care to minimize differences between children's school readiness before entering school.

Paediatricians and family doctors have many opportunities to influence readiness for school and educational success in primary care settings. Golova et al ( 39) reported intriguing results from a primary care setting. They delivered a literacy promoting intervention to low-income Hispanic families in health care settings. At the initial visit (average age 7.4 months), parents received a bilingual handout explaining the benefits of reading aloud to children, literacy-related guidance from paediatric providers or an age-appropriate bilingual children's board book. Control group families received no handouts or books. At a 10-month follow-up visit (mean age 17.7 months), there was no difference between groups on a screening test for language scores; however, intervention families read more often to their children, reported greater enjoyment of reading to children and had more children's books in their homes. Given this suggestive finding, there are a number of points that paediatricians and family doctors should consider as they deliver primary care:

Observe and encourage good parenting - mutual attention and contingency of interaction (taking turns and listening to each other), verbal behaviour (amount of talking and quality), sensitivity and responsiveness (awareness to signs of hunger, fatigue, boredom and providing an appropriate response), role modelling and reading to their children;

Encourage parents to increase their knowledge of child development, particularly age-appropriate needs of and activities for their children. Explain to them, for instance, how ear infections can severely affect a student's language development, and that good nutrition and hygiene can lower the frequency and severity of infections;

Encourage parents who do not have their children in institutionalized care to attend parent-child centres and programs. These programs usually do not charge fees and require no formal arrangements. Examples are the Ontario Early Years Centres, the Aboriginal Head Start Program in Northern communities, and programs related to the Alberta Children and Youth Initiative;

Indicate the importance of parental support and networks - keep a message board in your office and post a list of community-based organizations in your neighborhood; and

Keep in mind that poverty is not always obvious. One in five low-income families is headed by a parent who works full-time all year; thus, it is often difficult to tell if a family is in need ( 40).

REFERENCES

6. Lipman EL, Offord DR. Disadvantaged children. In: Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination. Canadian Guide to Clinical Preventive Health Care. Ottawa: Health Canada; 1994. pp. 356-68. [ Google Scholar]

7. Cadman D, Boyle MH, Offord DR, et al. Chronic illness and functional limitations in Ontario children: Findings of the Ontario Child Health Study. CMAJ. 1986;135:761-7. [[ PMC free article] [ PubMed] Google Scholar]

20. Gershoff ET, Aber JL, Raver CC, Lennon MC. Income is not enough: Incorporating material hardship into models of income association with parenting and child development. Child Dev. 2007;78:70-95. [[ PMC free article] [ PubMed] Google Scholar]

28. Chao R, Willms D. The effects of parenting practices on children's outcomes. In: Willms D, editor. Vulnerable Children. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press; 2002. pp. 149-66. [ Google Scholar]

29. Hango D. Parental investment in childhood and educational qualifications: Can greater parental involvement mediate the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage? Social Sci Res. 2007 (In press) [ Google Scholar]

37. Frempong G, Willms D. Can school quality compensate for socioeconomic disadvantage? In: Willms D, editor. Vulnerable Children. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press; 2002. pp. 277-304. [ Google Scholar]

Articles from Paediatrics & Child Health are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

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The impact of poverty on educational outcomes for children

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Over the past decade, the unfortunate reality is that the income gap has widened between Canadian families. Educational outcomes are one of the key areas influenced by family incomes. Children from low-income families often start school already behind ...

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Educational institutions have a responsibility to help combat and end racism.

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What we say can have an impact on students. In this book Pollack provides a framework for guiding you through the importance of language at schools.

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An essential guide to transforming the quotidian communications that feed inequality in our schools―from the award-winning editor of Everyday Antiracism
Words matter. Every day in schools, language is used―whether in the classroom, in a student-teacher meeting, or by principals, guidance counselors, or other school professionals―implying, intentionally or not, that some subset of students have little potential. As a result, countless students "underachieve," others become disengaged, and, ultimately, we all lose.

Mica Pollock, editor of Everyday Antiracism―the progressive teacher's must-have resource―now turns to what it takes for those working in schools to match their speech to their values, giving all students an equal opportunity to thrive. By juxtaposing common scenarios with useful exercises, concrete actions, and resources, Schooltalk describes how the devil is in the oft-dismissed details: the tossed-off remark to a student or parent about the community in which she lives; the way groups―based on race, ability, and income―are discussed in faculty meetings about test scores and data; the assumptions and communication breakdowns between counselors, teachers, and other staff that cause kids to fall needlessly through the cracks; or the deflating comment to a young person about her college or career prospects.

Schooltalk will empower educators of every ilk, revealing to them an incredibly effective tool at their disposal to support the success of all students every day: their words.

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schooltalk: rethinking what we say aboutand tostudents every day

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communication in education - united states

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education/teaching methods & materials - general

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educational equalization - united states

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pedagogy; teacher resource; professional development; social justice; intersectionality; language; anti-racism; literature; implicit bias; teacher mentoring; student mentoring; equity in schools; actionable tools & exercises; inclusive schools

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teacher-student relationships - social aspects - united states

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education/teaching methods & materials - general

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Schooltalk: Rethinking What We Say About-and To-Students Every Day

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Schooltalk: Rethinking What We Say About-and To-Students Every Day [Pollock, Mica] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Schooltalk: Rethinking What We Say About-and To-Students Every Day

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What it's like being a minority growing up in today's schools

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Being a white student in an African American school. This video depicts conversations with students on how race impacts their day to day lives in school.

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Life as a White Student in a 99% Black School in Segregated America

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Five books to help navigate this topic.

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What a month, huh? Protests in all 50 states and in cities around the world demanding equal justice, protection, and support of black lives.
Reading is just the beginning
As an educator, you are likely cognizant of the fact that you're living in a pivotal moment in history. As a lifelong learner, you see this as an opportunity to challenge your own misconceptions, rethink what's possible, and do your part to dismantle the stranglehold white supremacy has on every institution in this country. Welcome to the fight. We've been expecting you.

You've likely seen lists of books and resources to read during this transformational shift from not racist to actively anti-racist. The lists are numerous and detailed, often covering the history of whiteness, policing, and more. I won't try to duplicate those lists here, as they are plentiful. Here are links to some of the lists that I have found most helpful.

[Y]ou're living in a pivotal moment in history. [...] Welcome to the fight. We've been expecting you."

But here's the thing: Reading about racism and whiteness isn't enough. If all it took was a maxed-out library card and a few new boots on the ground at your local march, we would've done it by now. No, racism is so engrained, so entrenched in everything we do and experience, that reading about it is only the first step. We have so much to learn and unlearn. So many conversations to start and ideas to share. So I created a list of a different variety.
1. The Art of Showing Up by Rachel Wilkerson Miller 2. Just Schools: Building Equitable Collaborations with Families and Communities (Multicultural Education Series)3. Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger by Soraya Chemaly by Ann Ishimaru, edited by James Banks
Since this is a blog for educators, I wanted to add a few things to your personal summer syllabus. These materials may not explicitly cover the topic of white supremacy, black lives, or anti-racism, but they present ideas, frameworks, and new strategies to help you have challenging conversations; build community; create inclusive environments; and navigate where we go from here. This is a list of resources to help you build on your anti-racism work and begin to lead from your classroom.
4. Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success in Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time by Susan Scott 5. You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why it Matters by Kate Murphy It's a lot. All of this is a lot. Remember what you're doing it for.
This is a book about defining your own needs and learning how to take care of yourself so that you can be fully present and supportive of your friends and community.

Doing the work, like really doing the work, requires some serious introspection. It's hard and challenging and forces you to see the not-so-great parts of yourself, your community, your country. It's uncomfortable, and it's supposed to be. Do it anyway. And do it with gusto. You don't have to have all the answers or know if you're "doing it right." Just show up and be there for black lives.

While a lot of this work starts with you and your personal journey, it should continue in your classroom and school. Building an inclusive, welcoming, anti-racist school community is a group effort. This book tackles how to navigate relationships with families of color and build lasting relationships and collaborations rooted in different cultures, resources, and traditions.

Are you angry? If you're not, you're probably not paying much attention to the news.

Women have been conditioned to believe that anger is counterproductive and unladylike. Black women can't raise their voices without being considered "crazy" or "wild." Isn't that convenient for men in power trying to keep us quiet? Not anymore.

Reading about racism and whiteness isn't enough. [...] [R]acism is so engrained, so entrenched in everything we do and experience, that reading about it is only the first step."

This book encourages women to embrace their rage as the powerful resource it is-to harness it and use it against oppression. Ladies, with our powers combined? Imagine the possibilities.

Once you acknowledge how powerful and egregious white supremacy is in this country, it is difficult to see it the same way again. Explaining this to family, friends, or colleagues who haven't made the leap can be difficult.

This book offers great tips and approaches for how to break down some of the barriers that prevent meaningful conversations. It goes further to discuss how to navigate strong emotions and improve relationships through challenging dialogue. Yes, it's possible. And to move forward, it's necessary.

When the uprising after the murder of George Floyd began, my social feeds were littered with well-meaning people saying, "I'm listening." Listening is a great place to start, but only if you're doing it right. And let's face it, we're probably not.

Murphy takes a look at the neuroscience, psychology, and sociology of listening and talks to people who are literally and figuratively professional listeners (think bartenders, radio hosts, moderators) to learn from the best. It's got tons of advice and great tips for how you can be a better listener and truly use that power to empower others.

I can tell you from lived experience: Being black is awesome. It's the racism that's exhausting, oppressive, and limiting. Our stories are often told in the context of our suffering, from the Middle Passage and Jim Crow to mass incarceration, state-sponsored violence, and the countless murders of trans black women. While our heartache is ever-present, so is joy. There is joy here and those stories matter, too. That's what we're fighting for.

Black people can't do this on our own. We need help from people who get it. And when educators get it and lead from their classrooms, they can make a world of difference. Watch this video of Betsy Wright, an educator in New York, about how she's doing the work and why it matters.

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Anti-racism in your school: 5 books to help you navigate what's next - Teach. Learn. Grow.

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What a month, huh? Protests in all 50 states and in cities around the world demanding equal justice, protection, and support of black lives. Reading is just the beginning As an educator, you are likely cognizant of the fact that you're living in a pivotal moment in history.

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This article discusses how conversations about racism are crucial in bringing unity.

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November 2016 | Volume 74 | Number 3
Disrupting Inequity Pages 16-22

Rick Wormeli

We all build our own version of the human story and our role in it. We proceed daily, sure that our truth is the truth, then someone commits a horrific act of inhumanity that shreds our careful constructs. Then, it happens again, and again-and again, just as it did this past year with the multiple deaths of black men after interactions with police-and then the deaths of police officers.

The normal tools of interpretation and comfort seem to be gone. Who would think that in a caring, thoughtful democracy, we needed a large political movement to remind police officers-and all citizens-of the simple truth that black lives matter? Who would think that when a police officer was asked why he shot an autistic man's caretaker-who was lying with his hands in the air asking officers not to shoot-he'd answer, "I don't know" (Rabin, 2016)?

The violence among U.S. residents of different colors, cultures, religions, and political groups has heated to new levels. Social media may have exacerbated the divisive rhetoric and fanned the flames of hatred more than in past decades, but the intense distrust and contempt, and the inability to resolve these feelings in a civil manner, didn't start with social media. They are the new normal for many.

Rather than give in to the helplessness we feel to stop racism and our collective, civic hemorrhage, every institution must examine its own role in perpetuating (inadvertently and advertently) racist thinking and policies. We can't truly create equal opportunities for all until our institutions take specific actions to end that thinking and those policies. And ground zero for an equitable, nonracist society is the K-12 classroom.

Before we consider recent examples of racism and how it affects all Americans, let's be clear: No one is born racist. Racism is learned. Just as important, racism is not insurmountable.

What We're Up Against

In response to a recent Pew Research Center report that showed white and black Americans aren't on the same page about issues of poverty and racism, blogger Rob Wile (2016) noted, "While most black people think that higher levels of poverty and lower levels of economic mobility in their communities are the fault of America's legacy of systematic racism and under-investment, more white people are content to blame black people themselves."

Five years ago, I was giving a day-long presentation to a group of teachers in the United States. During a morning break, I overheard one woman say to another, "When we get that darkie out of the White House, we'll get this country back the way it should be." The other woman replied, "You got that right."

Refusal to respect other cultures isn't confined to interactions between blacks and whites. On commercial flights, passengers dressed in Muslim clothing who are texting on their phones have been asked to leave the plane because they are making other passengers uncomfortable. And some of my Hispanic students have told me their parents have been shadowed by security personnel as they shop at stores.

Imagine if, at a dinner celebrating local Cub Scouts and their achievements, the adult leader asked everyone to bow his or her head for a word of prayer before the meal. Then he prayed into the microphone, "Praise and glory be to You, O Allah. There is no God but You. Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful!" If this happened in most American Cub Scout packs, people of Christian, Jewish, and other faiths or no faiths would be offended that they were forced to bow their heads and listen to something foreign to their beliefs.

My family experienced something similar at a Cub Scout dinner. The pre-dinner prayer was full of Christian references like, "Through the one and only God, Jesus, our guiding savior, we are redeemed and made whole." This was in a diverse area near Washington, D.C., with a Scout pack full of Muslims, Jews, and people of other faiths as well as Christians. Imagine those non-Christian families' reactions to such a prayer.

I asked the leader if there might be a more inclusive prayer we could offer. She dismissed the concern. As I looked around the room at the faces of many parents and children, I saw the real lesson learned: You don't belong.

Not all disrespect and conflict is purely about race. Religious, cultural, and racial differences interweave. Stark differences result in fervent debate and divisiveness among Christians as well as among Muslims and Jews. Racism, however, is among the most insidious and deepest-running challenges of our time.

Moving Beyond Silence

Clearly, Americans must begin talking candidly together about race-starting now. We don't need to justify having focused conversations about racism in schools. I'm bothered by my own silence at times as I witness racism. After I overheard the comment about "that darkie [in] the White House," I didn't confront these women. It wasn't a proud moment; in my silence, there was tacit acceptance of racist thinking.

I'm upset at my silence about racist statements and behaviors by others that I've heard about but not witnessed personally. It might seem that because the incidents are second-hand, I'm absolved from speaking out against them. Yet, how do I reconcile that silence with my belief that each of us is free only if everyone is free? As Nelson Mandela (1995) wrote, "Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me. ... The oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed" (p. 624).

Besides the stunning cruelty of racism, letting it fester serves no one, not even the predominant group. We're in this together. It's ironic, then, that we focus on labeling differences among us, particularly whether those differences are negative or positive. For example, if a teacher looks at the students before her at the beginning of the school year, it's likely she will wonder who are going to be the easiest ones to teach. Isn't the one we assume to be easy to teach the student who most reflects our own culture, or the one who looks similar to a student from last year we enjoyed teaching? We're already sorting according to built-in biases. When we wonder who'll be the hardest to teach, we often guess the students who don't look like anyone we've taught before.

Humans have built-in "other"-isms in order to protect ourselves. We categorize people in terms of ourselves and, in many cases, interpret differences from us in a negative way. ( That music they play in their homes is annoying! Can't they eat less disgusting food?) We might even think, How sad. My neighbor who worships at a different church doesn't understand the higher truth. Or for easy identification, we might resort to caricatures, versions that emphasize one or two attributes we think a cultural group has. ( All Asians are gifted mathematicians. White people who live in trailers are alcoholics.)

Principles for Brave Conversations

I sometimes question whether white educators can accept that institutionalized racism exists and whether they can do so without succumbing to paralyzing guilt about their complicity in racism's growth or becoming so overwhelmed that they give up. I sometimes question whether black teachers and parents can embrace white teachers and parents who want to do right. Can they accept whites' sincere efforts to work together to end racist practices, even if they stumble or are unintentionally offensive?

But we have to try talking with one another, because biases and quick categorizations about people who are different from us are expressions of our limited experiences with them. Such categorizations are a slippery slope into classism and racism. With more experiences with others, we flesh people out in our minds and become comfortable with them. When we spend time with quadriplegics, for instance, we come to see them as individuals first, persons with paralyzed limbs a distant second. People with a hardened stance against LGBTQ rights soften when a member of their family reveals he is homosexual.

Yet talking about racism is uncomfortable. We avoid such conversations in schools because it could stir things up that we're unprepared to handle. We might lose friends or colleagues for a while-or longer. Or we're so afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing or appearing racist that we cripple constructive opportunities to talk about race and resolve conflicts. By approaching one another with good faith and caring, we can ease these fears. As Howard Stevenson (2014) writes,

Students, teachers, parents, and educators must expect, receive, and give affection (nurturing), protection (monitoring), and correction (accountability) while they take risks to become aware of and learn to resolve racial stress and conflict in daily social interactions. Without these ingredients, the risks of racial avoidance will be too great, and the improvement of race relations and racial climates within schools too arduous to complete.

Reviewing and agreeing on the principles below can help us have candid discussions about racism with our students-or among fellow educators.

▪ Assume that, at any given moment in the conversation, the other person is doing the best he or she can. Chances are, it's true.

▪ Forgive yourself and others for making mistakes, including inexact wording, muddled thinking, or unintended use of stereotypes.

▪ Suppress hidden agendas and the urge to preach or politicize.

▪ Remain nonaccusatory when you see things differently from another. Use phrases like, "It's been my experience that ___," "Tell me more about___," or "How did faculty at your last school respond to ___?"

▪ Seek first to understand, then to be understood (Covey, 2013).

▪ If you disagree with someone, paraphrase that person's point before responding. It helps him know that his comments were heard and considered.

▪ Avoid language that blames ("If it weren't for white people. ..." "They're always speaking Spanish together, so they must not want me around." "You're blind to white privilege.") Blaming thwarts honest conversation.

▪ Don't ask anyone to speak for a whole race if there's only one student or colleague in the group from a particular culture or race.

▪ Acknowledge that candid conversation makes us all vulnerable. Teachers' inner selves are on view daily by many constituencies-students, parents, administrators, and the general public. They are also subject to self-doubts and high expectations of professionalism. As a result, they may be hesitant to open those vulnerability gates too widely.

▪ Avoid associating the quality of a colleague's teaching with exploratory comments offered in conversation about racism. A peer can be a neophyte in such conversations, but effective in the classroom.

The questions in Figure 1 can help start robust conversations in school communities. As to how to launch these discussions, I don't recommend starting conversations on racism at a large faculty meeting. This often results in side conversations, cross-talking, and "knowing" glances passed among people, and personal buttons may be pushed. In large gatherings, many voices and perspectives don't get heard (in fact, a few teachers might hijack the conversation with their own agendas). A thoughtful exploration of issues involving racism in the school is better started in groups of no more than six. Build to a larger group experience after conversation skills have developed.

Figure 1. Questions to Start Faculty Discussions About Racism

Does racism exist in our schools? What does it sound or look like?

What would it take to create a truly race-neutral society? Do we want this?

Am I racist? Why, or why not? Am I open to others' critique when it comes to how I relate to other races?

Does the rise of certain groups' influence-Latino, Jewish, white, Muslim, or whatever-mean a decline in other groups' well-being? If people say yes, discuss whether this represent a "zero sum" mindset. Is this a mindset we want to communicate to students?

How can we counter negative stereotypes?

Are we responsible for teaching students and colleagues to recognize and confront racism?

What should we do when we inadvertently do or say something racist?

What do we communicate to the parents of our minority students about our expectations for their children?

How are we battling the student opinion that academic proficiency is inherently white?

Do we have a disproportionate number of administrative referrals for our minority students?

Choose faculty to lead these conversations who are good at making sure each voice is heard and valued. Give these leaders time to brainstorm constructive responses or strategies to diffuse any (intentionally and unintentionally) incendiary comments. If a point becomes particularly contentious, for instance, participants might record their thinking on index cards and pass them to the facilitator to read aloud. Dozens of books and websites on group facilitation provide helpful tips on small-group dynamics. For conversing on racism, I particularly recommend Ali Michael's Raising Race Questions: Whiteness and Inquiry in Education (Teachers College Press, 2014) and Howard Stevenson's Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools: Differences That Make a Difference (Teachers College Press, 2013).

Informing Our Conversations

To build a climate where such discussions bear fruit, we should immerse students and ourselves in learning experiences that will positively inform conversations about race. Lack of awareness about other races rarely helps a difficult conversation; it leads to misunderstandings, limited sharing, hurt feelings, and eventually, a discussion's demise. Experiences like these will help us sustain difficult interactions-and bring equal opportunity to students from nonmainstream cultures.

▪ Use fiction and nonfiction that will open students to different worlds, help them see situations from different perspectives, and build empathy.

▪ Try simulations and role-playing in which students can approximate the perspectives of others, but be sensitive to the fact that some of us can leave the role at the end of the learning experience. Anyone from a minority race or oppressed group can't slip out of the challenges at the end of the day: They live with them 24-7.

▪ Have your class regularly think about a contentious issue from one prevailing perspective, then give them 20 minutes to argue the same issue from the opposite perspective. Working with partners can help.

▪ Practice responses to scenarios involving racism. What should a teacher or student do if someone says something that might be perceived as racist? For instance, in a class discussion about the economy of the South during the Civil War, one student blurts out, "I wouldn't mind having slaves around to help me get a lot of work done!" (Stevenson, 2014). A thoughtful teacher might say something like, "Tobey, consider how someone coming from a culture severely traumatized by slave masters would hear your words just now. How would they feel about your comment about slavery? Would you like to rephrase your statement?" By rehearsing successful responses, we can create a picture of ourselves responding to an instance of racism, which increases the likelihood that we will respond.

▪ Hold students accountable immediately for racist statements and behaviors. You can do so in ways that let the student repair damage: "Terry, I know you're not naturally a racist thinker. Check your statement again: Is there anything there that could be construed as racist?" If a student consistently makes racially insensitive comments and needs a nonhumiliating boost in executive function skills-which is where much of the filtering of impulsive, inappropriate comments resides-you might videotape class discussions from time to time. In a private moment away from classmates, cue up the video to a place showing inappropriate comments from this student and ask him or her, "What did you say here? Look at the body language, faces, and responses from your classmates. Did you read the situation correctly? How could you have made a completely different comment that would demonstrate respect for people of color?"

▪ Talk to students about what you believe about race and equity. Successful teachers aren't afraid of teaching a community's values; they are not indifferent. It's important to model for students a vision of adults standing up for what they think is morally right. With racism, there is little ambiguity; intentional or unintentional discrimination against a person or group based on race or culture is against the law.

▪ Teach skills of debate and civil discourse, using materials from Teaching Tolerance, the National Speech and Debate Association, and the National Institute for Civil Discourse.

▪ Don't just skim information on the Civil Rights movement and its leaders, and don't limit its study to Black History Month. Give it full attention throughout the school year. Study more than just the struggles of black Americans. Civil Rights isn't just about equitable treatment for one group.

▪ Share news stories that surface racism in the local community and in national politics. Have students investigate school or community racism, if appropriate.

▪ Empower students to do something about racism in the media (and social media) when they see it, such as writing letters, making presentations, or analyzing a racist's arguments.

▪ Expose students to artworks and contributions by many different cultures and races and let them respond personally to those artifacts.

▪ Teach students and teachers to recognize and control micro-aggressions-the small, seemingly nonracist things people do, say, and think that are hurtful and may betray unconscious racism or bias. Examples include: avoiding eye contact with students outside our culture; telling a student her math work is excellent for a student who comes from such a poor background; demeaning service industry jobs or any job perceived as being done primarily by minorities ("If you don't study, you might wind up as a taxi driver"); and using language like saying black youths "rioted and turned violent," whereas white youths "protested unfair treatment."

▪ Have students write personal reflections about racial tension. Discuss how much people filter their language in trying to say it just the right way.

Securing a Nonracist Future

Part of our job as educators is to secure a nonracist future, so our response to racism in our schools must be clear and compassionate. Settling for indifference exacerbates the problem. And we can't afford to leave anyone out of this conversation. For instance, I'm a white male, so some people might think, How could he possibly understand this enough to be helpful? Some might even dismiss my ideas because of my race alone. Think about that idea-that because of my race, I have nothing of value to add to the community discussion on racism-and you'll see it's misguided. Every one of us is touched by racism. We all have a stake in positive race relations.

A conversation needs only two people. Let's each identify, today, one person on our faculty with whom we're willing to initiate a conversation on racism, regardless of the make-up of our student body or faculty. Whole futures are at stake-ours. Together, we are powerful.

▪ Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Spiegel & Grau, 2015)

▪ Raising Race Questions: Whiteness and Inquiry in Education by Ali Michael (Teachers College Press, 2014)

▪ Scarcity: The New Science of Having Less and How It Defines Our Lives by Sendhil Mullainathan (Picador, 2014)

▪ Dream Makers, Dream Breakers: The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall by Carl T. Rowan (Back Bay Books, 1993)

▪ What's Race Got to Do with It? How Current School Reform Policy Maintains Racial and Economic Inequity edited by Edwin Mayorga and Bree Picower (Peter Lang Publishers, 2015)

▪ Reading for Their Life: (Re)Building the Textual Lineages of African American Adolescent Males by Alfred W. Tatum (Heinemann, 2009)

References

Covey, S. (2013). Seven habits of highly effective people. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Mandela, N. (1995). Long walk to freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Boston: Back Bay Books.

Rabin, C. (2016, July 20). Cop shoots caretaker of autistic man playing in the street with toy truck. Miami Herald. Retrieved from www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article90905442.html

Stevenson, H. (2014). Promoting racial literacy in schools: Differences that make a difference. New York: Teachers College Press.

Wile, R. (2016, June 27). White people don't blame racism for black people's struggles. They blame black people. [blog post] Retrieved from Fusion at www.fusion.net/story/319381/black-white-gap-on-black-struggle/

Rick Wormeli ( www.rickwormeli.com) is a long-time teacher, consultant, and author of The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy, Good Stuff I Learned about Teaching Along the Way (2013) and Summarization in Any Subject (ASCD, 2004). Follow him on Twitter.

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November 2016 | Volume 74 | Number 3 Disrupting Inequity Pages 16-22 Rick Wormeli We all build our own version of the human story and our role in it. We proceed daily, sure that our truth is the truth, then someone commits a horrific act of inhumanity that shreds our careful constructs.

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Re-examining the curriculum, allowing student voices to be heard, and reforming discipline are three ways the education system can change the issue of race in schools

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A former AP language and composition teacher in Chicago, EDC's Elissa West-Frazier recalls looking at a list of authors that she was supposed to teach. The authors were largely white; her students were mostly Black and Latinx. So she undertook an effort to redesign the course so that most of the literature that students read was written by people who looked more like them.

"These students were in an AP course, and they were not seeing mirrors of themselves," West-Frazier says. "They needed to have those mirrors. So changing the curriculum was a structural way for me to deliver a clear message about that."

Like West-Frazier, many U.S. educators are taking a look at how schools' institutional practices-from the curriculum that is taught to the way that discipline is implemented-reinforce existing systems of power in the United States. But creating schools that intentionally try to unwind years of systemic racism is challenging and requires educators to critically consider the needs of all students in their classrooms. Here are three ways to start.

1. Re-examine the curricula

Many educators unconsciously reinforce and endorse systemic racism through what they teach, says West-Frazier, now an evaluator who reviews equity-based initiatives. She encourages educators to take a second look at their lesson plans and reading lists and think more critically about whose voices are heard and which perspectives are brought in.

"Your curriculum really says a lot about who you are," West-Frazier says.

After that critical re-examination, it's time to bring in authors, ideas, and stories that have historically been underrepresented in-or altogether absent from-the classroom. West-Frazier calls this "decolonizing the curriculum."

When West-Frazier did this in her own classroom, she got mixed responses from her colleagues. Some teachers questioned whether the new curriculum had the same rigor as the one it replaced. Others seemed surprised that she would even be allowed to change what she taught. But her results proved that highlighting more diverse voices did not mean that students were getting any less of a rigorous education.

"I had the highest test scores in the school," West-Frazier says.

2. Elevate students' voices

Giving students authentic opportunities to make their voices heard is a key step toward breaking down systems of oppression. To do this, teachers can assign projects that emphasize media making, promote civic engagement, or encourage students to reflect on how their own experiences have shaped their points of view, says Wendy Rivenburgh, an expert in project-based learning, media literacy, and civics education at EDC.

"You can promote a culture of racial equity through a culture of inquiry that really elevates student voice and experience," she says.

Rivenburgh, a former high school English teacher, recalls one popular assignment from her teaching days. Her class had just finished reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -and discussing some of the problematic language and descriptions within it. She asked students to debate whether or not the book should be a required text and make a recommendation to the chair of her school's English Department.

She says that it was such a popular assignment because students had the opportunity to express their viewpoints to someone in a position of power. It anchored the curriculum in a real-world context that reflected the debates over what students read and learn.

"It's important to provide students with a chance to explore their own biases and think about what role they can play in changing things," Rivenburgh says.

3. Reform the way discipline is handled

Moving toward racial equity in schools also requires a hard look at discipline policies, which often disproportionately affect students of color. There is also a demonstrated link between school suspensions, juvenile detention, and later incarceration.

Ricardo Perez-Pineda, a former middle school teacher and current international project coordinator at EDC, says that school leaders should think about how their school's disciplinary policies reflect their school's values-especially in the wake of recent protests for racial justice.

"If you're telling people that we have to re-examine our institutions, but you're not doing it internally within your own school system, especially around how students are disciplined, then that's a problem," Perez-Pineda says.

Perez-Pineda advocates schools implement the restorative justice approach to discipline. In that model, students who have broken school rules are not necessarily suspended. Rather they must find ways to repair the damage they have caused to both individuals and the community at large. He adds that the approach is a good way for schools that are trying to reduce suspensions to "practice what they preach."

But it's also essential that schools find opportunities to divert students who are at risk of falling into disciplinary actions in the first place. As a teacher in Los Angeles, Perez-Pineda did just that when he created a youth leadership group for students who often struggled with school discipline. The program emphasized positive peer relationships and encouraged youth to see themselves as leaders who could make a difference.

"If you're able to embed those kinds of positive practices throughout the school administrative system, then that goes a long way toward achieving a fairer, more equitable school," says Perez-Pineda.

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3 Ways Schools Can Support Racial Equity

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A former AP language and composition teacher in Chicago, EDC's Elissa West-Frazier recalls looking at a list of authors that she was supposed to teach. The authors were largely white; her students were mostly Black and Latinx.

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This chart depicts the high school drop out percentages among races

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Racial Inequality in Today's Education System

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Racial Inequality in Today's Education System

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This article explains the division by income, geography, class and race and how it affects minorities in school

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One of the best ways to unify a divided nation is to establish fair and equitable educational opportunities for every child. Because of the long-time structure of the United States system, that isn't happening in every community today.

Divisions by income, geography, class and race- or often a combination of them - exist throughout the country. In "Too Big To Fail: Millennials on the Margins," a 2018 report co-authored by ETS researchers Anita Sands and Madeline Goodman, data showed that Black millennials in the United States were approximately three times as likely to perform at or below the top levels in literacy and numeracy as White millennials. The data were from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).

"I certainly emphasize geographic inequalities that pervade American society, but they have morphed the last few decades into longstanding divisions by race," said Princeton professor and author Doug Massey. "As a result, there is more school segregation now than there was in 1965, if you put Blacks and Latinos together."

The difference in funding for Whites and Blacks is enormous. Recently, The New York Times described a report by EdBuild, which said that nonwhite districts received $23 billion less in funding than their predominantly white counterparts in 2016.
How We Got Here
Obviously, the 1960s was a decade of monumental change and a time when communities were trying to reconcile and implement the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, which ruled the forced segregation of schools was unconstitutional. But what the court didn't and couldn't ban was communities becoming geographically segregated by the divisions of income, class and race.

Massey estimated that the "movement toward school integration lasted for 15 to 20 years before it petered out and started to reverse itself." Wealthier people migrated from the cities to the suburbs and all one had to do is follow the money to find where the best schools were. As a result, many of the abandoned and poor cities had the worst schools.

School districts were formed along geographic, income and class lines and, yes, race was a factor as well, because it overlapped with the other reasons. "A child born to a family living in poverty is likely to grow up in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood" and "attend poorly performing schools," according to "Choosing Our Future: A Story of Opportunity in America," a report published by ETS in 2016.

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Tackling Racial Inequality in Education - ETS Open Notes

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One of the best ways to unify a divided nation is to establish fair and equitable educational opportunities for every child. Because of the long-time structure of the United States system, that isn't happening in every community today. Divisions by income, geography, class and race- or often a combination of them - exist throughout the country.

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Cornel West goes into detail on why race matters

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Racism in Education and The Affect on Students

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Racism in Education and The Affect on Students

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Racism affects where students will go for school, and their performance in school as well.

https://news.ets.org/stories/tackling-racial-inequality-in-education/