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Culturally Responsive Teaching Inquiry Resources

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Culturally Responsive Teaching Inquiry Resources

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Community Inquiry: Culturally Responsive Education - Wakelet

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This is a collection of resources supporting our inquiry into Culturally Responsive Education

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With the release of the Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard , parents, community members, educators, and organizers can find out whether curriculum in their schools is culturally responsive or culturally destructive. This is a much-needed resource that adds to an emerging toolbox to measure culturally responsiveness in the classroom.

Curriculum plays an essential role in students' lives, not only because it serves as a tool for their learning and growth, but because it influences how students understand the world and locate themselves within it. The stories told, history shared, and worldviews deemed worthy enough for exploration, contribute to the centering and normalization of certain people, cultures, and values. Curricula that only reflect the lives of dominant populations - for example, White people and culture, nuclear families, or able-bodied people - reinforce ideas that sideline students of color, linguistically diverse students, single parent/multi-generation/LGBTQ+ families, and differently-abled people. Culturally responsive curricula are necessary for culturally responsive classrooms and schools; that is why we created the Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard.

Creating the CRC Scorecard - the first tool of this kind - was quite the experience and challenge. There were two main tasks to tackle:

1. describing and critiquing culturally destructive curriculum,

2. and imagining and describing intersectional and critical, culturally responsive curriculum. It was much easier to talk about what culturally responsive curriculum was than to talk about what it , because there are so many examples of problematic curricula.

A quick google search will illustrate the abundance of racist textbooks, homework assignments, and curricula materials; including those "well-meaning" attempts at "diversity and inclusion." Just last year, a teacher in Sacramento designed a grammar-based homework assignment that included statements like, "The red men's name for corn was maize" and "Indians belong to the red race."

A nursing textbook's attempt to spotlight diversity and culture misinformed students that Black people "believe in prayer and laying on of hands to heal pain and believe that relief is proportional to faith" and that "Hispanics may believe that pain is a form of punishment and that suffering must be endured if they are to enter heaven."

While these examples are clearly racist, sometimes culturally destructive curricula may not be as blatantly obvious. Less obvious culturally destructive tendencies could include prioritizing animal characters over human characters of color, subtly affirming stereotypes, or communicating that female characters and characters of color need assistance and intervention from white male characters. The Scorecard was created to help a broad audience identify when they see culturally destructive curricula.

Our second task (and driving force behind the Scorecard) of imagining and describing culturally responsive curricula was particularly challenging because we centered the Scorecard development around textbooks, and we were unable to find existing standards for culturally responsive textbooks. Most CRE evaluation tools for K-12 schools focus on teachers and principals who carry out culturally responsive acts and practices. Initially, we struggled with the static limitations of textbooks but pushed ourselves to create an unyielding space for cultural responsiveness in textbooks, teacher's materials, and curricula. Along the way, we worked with parent leaders, community organizers, CRE experts, and educators. It is my hope that the Scorecard is useful and serves as a catalyst to further develop culturally responsive curriculum.

About the CRC Scorecard

The Scorecard should be used by anyone committed to culturally responsive and equitable education. A special background in teaching, curriculum design, evaluation, and/or parenting are not necessary. The best way to use the scorecard is to assemble a diverse evaluation team and follow the CRC Scorecard Guidelines. The Scorecard is divided into three sections: representation, social justice, and teacher's materials. It was designed with K-8 English Language Arts textbooks in mind but may be applicable to other grades and subjects. Using the Scorecard will be challenging and require users to reflect deeply, confront their own biases, and make difficult decisions; however, our youth deserve curriculum where they see themselves and others in dignified ways, and the scorecard is a step in that direction.

What is Culturally Responsive Education?

Culturally Responsive Education (CRE) is an evolution of multicultural education and rooted in Gloria Ladson-Billings and Geneva Gay's scholarship around Culturally Relevant/Responsive Teaching and Pedagogy which primarily focuses on teachers' perspectives, consciousness, instructional styles, curriculum, classroom environments, etc (Ladson-Billings, 1994; 2014, Gay 2018). Check out NYU Metro Center's overview: Culturally Responsive Education: A Primer for Policy and Practice for more information on CRE. Over the years, others expanded CRE beyond classrooms by applying the approach across spaces within education systems. Today, cultural responsiveness is not just contained to teachers, but refers to the combination of teaching, pedagogy, curriculum, theories, attitudes, practices and instructional materials that center students' culture, identities and contexts throughout educational systems. One challenge of cultural responsiveness is the availability of accessible tools that can be used to measure cultural responsiveness; the Scorecard was created to address this need.

The CRC Scorecard was created by NYU's Education Justice Research and Organizing Collaborative. Please visit our website to find more information on the CRC Scorecard or download a copy .
If you're interested in using the CRC Scorecard but would like additional assistance, please contact NYU EJ-ROC at Are you using or planning to use the Scorecard? Tweet us at @nyu-ejroc and use the hashtag #Data4EdJustice nyu-ejroc@nyu.edu
References:

Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). Dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American Children. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a the remix. Harvard Educational Review. 84 (1). 74-84.
Dr. Leah Q. Peoples is a Research Associate at the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools. She utilizes transformative and critical approaches to inform her work on Metro's evaluation and research projects. Her research interests encompass three broad areas: building equity in schools, developing equitable measures for research and evaluation, and program evaluation.
Gay, G. (2018). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, research, and practice . New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

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Introducing the Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard: A Tool to Evaluate Curriculum |

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With the release of the Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard , parents, community members, educators, and organizers can find out whether curriculum in their schools is culturally responsive or culturally destructive. This is a much-needed resource that adds to an emerging toolbox to measure culturally responsiveness in the classroom.

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While many educators recognize the value of creating a culturally responsive classroom, for many teachers it is difficult to imagine what a culturally responsive classroom looks like in practice. This tool, developed by members of the Re-Imagining Migration team and researchers at UCLA, is intended to help make the concept of a culturally responsive classroom concrete and to provide an opportunity for reflection and self-assessment.

This checklist is adapted from "Integrating the Curriculum with Ethnic Content: Approaches and Guidelines", pp 189-207 in J.A. Banks & C. A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Multicultural Education: Issues & Perspectives, Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Desdemona Cardoza, PhD and Margaret Fieweger, PhD developed a version of this checklist for the 4th Annual All
Campus Faculty Symposium, (1990). "Communicating, Advising and Teaching in a Multicultural University", California State University, Los Angeles, April 24.

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While many educators recognize the value of creating a culturally responsive classroom, for many teachers it is difficult to imagine what a culturally responsive classroom looks like in practice. This tool, developed by members of the Re-Imagining Migration team and researchers at UCLA, is intended to help make the concept of a culturally responsive classroom concrete and to provide an opportunity for reflection and self-assessment.

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Copy of Promo Linked In How to become a culturally responsive educator_ (2)

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Using the PYP's 7 Key Concepts to talk about Racism

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NOTE: PYP Coordinator Melissa Powers and I collaboratively authored this post. In addition to being a PYP Coordinator in Arizona, United States, Melissa is a part of the IB Educator Network (IBEN), leading PYP workshops and participating in site visits. She and I first went through our initial IBEN training together. I am grateful for her partnership, her thoughtful perspective and her voice.

The International Baccalaureate's (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) posits that "The Learning Community" is inclusive of everyone involved in the life of the school. Together, this community's goal is to, "live peacefully together, prioritize people and their relationships, and assume shared responsibility for learning, health and well-being," ( A Community of Learners from PYP: From Principles into Practice > The Learning Community).

With the recent murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the hands of police officers, there is a sense of urgency from principled and caring elementary-school teachers to speak with their learning communities - their students - about issues of safety, race, justice, change and action.

As we engage with our immediate learning community, it is important to have a clear objective and structure. Successful teachers use thinking routines and discussion protocols so that conversations that center around seemingly controversial topics do not stray off course. As PYP teachers, we are empowered to take risks and should not be afraid to facilitate these discussions in our classrooms.

Those who work in PYP schools can leverage the components of the PYP's international framework to help structure spaces and opportunities for meaningful processing and reflective conversation. The PYP's key concepts are seven powerful, broad and abstract organizing ideas that can frame conversations and drive learning. When PYP teachers identify topics and investigate them through the key concepts, students learn to be inquirers and think critically about big ideas. It is essential to explicitly teach critical thinking skills so that students learn how to think for themselves and not blindly emote.

When teachers view the key concepts as a set of open-ended questions, they can more easily direct purposeful and manageable conversations ( Concepts from PYP: From Principles into Practice > Learning and Teaching). Below, we have brainstormed key concept questions with the intention of provoking PYP teachers to think about how they will provide safe spaces and opportunities for their students to critically engage in meaningful conversations that lead to authentic and mindful action.

We sorted the questions by primary and intermediate, as the conversations that will take place in these two different settings will inevitably require different approaches, however we encourage teachers to use the questions that best fit the needs of their contexts; you know your students the best!

Think of the questions below as a start. We call to you, dear reader, to contribute questions that you'd want to ask your students. As you put forth ideas, we'll update the collection below.

How can something unfair change into something fair?

What can young people do to promote change?

How can you challenge any implicit biases you might have to make a change in your own beliefs and actions?

How are different people groups connected to each other?

What sets us apart and makes us unique?

How is the US's history of slavery and Jim Crow connected to current events?

How are the seemingly separate incidents of violence against black and brown people connected?

Are racism and prejudice the same thing? How are they different?

What are the ways we can appreciate and celebrate others who don't look like you / are different from you?

Why do we say "Black Lives Matter" and not "All Lives Matter"?

What biases do you have about racial groups different from yours?

How can you show other people you care?

How can you stand up for other people when wrong is being done to them?

What action can you take to fight racial injustice? Use the PYP's 5 types of action to help frame your thinking: social justice, advocacy, social entrepreneurship, participation, lifestyle choices.

How can you be a responsible inquirer and critical thinker? Why is it important?

How can you show other people you care?

How will you learn about racial groups that are different from yours?

How can people examine their own privilege and use it to help?

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Using the PYP's 7 Key Concepts to Talk about Race, Injustice and Change

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NOTE: PYP Coordinator Melissa Powers and I collaboratively authored this post. In addition to being a PYP Coordinator in Arizona, United States, Melissa is a part of the IB Educator Network (IBEN), leading PYP workshops and participating in site visits. She and I first went through our initial IBEN training together.

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At a glance

Culturally responsive teaching is a rich, intentional approach woven into every aspect of student learning.

It focuses on the assets students bring to the classroom rather than what students can't do.

It raises expectations and makes learning relevant for all students.

Culturally responsive teaching is a research-based approach to teaching. It connects students' cultures, languages, and life experiences with what they learn in school. These connections help students access rigorous curriculum and develop higher-level academic skills.

Our brains are wired to make connections. It's easier for our brains to learn and store information when we have a hook to hang it on. That hook is background knowledge. Students bring this knowledge to the classroom every day.

But for students of color, English language learners (ELLs), and other underserved student populations, those assets are often overlooked. When that happens, educators miss the chance to use them to support learning. (See recent work by Zaretta Hammond for the neuroscience behind this.)

Culturally responsive teaching values and reflects the assets of all students. By doing that, it raises academic expectations for all learners. It also sends the message that multiculturalism is an asset.

Dive deeper

The benefits of culturally responsive teaching

How culturally responsive teaching, UDL, and SEL work together

For educators: Culturally responsive teaching in the classroom

For educators: How to partner with families

About the author

About the author

Educators Team at Understood is made up of passionate writers, editors, educators, and subject matter experts who have worked in classrooms and with students who learn and think differently.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Karla Vigil, MAT is the chief executive officer and co-founder of the

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Culturally responsive teaching is a rich, intentional approach woven into every aspect of student learning. It focuses on the assets students bring to the classroom rather than what students can't do. It raises expectations and makes learning relevant for all students. Culturally responsive teaching is a research-based approach to teaching.

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Knowing Our History to Build a Brighter Future: Books to Help Kids Understand the Fight for Racial Equality
by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

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Knowing Our History to Build a Brighter Future: Books to Help Kids Understand the Fight for Racial Equality
by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 became law on August 6, 1965. By signing this legislation, President Lyndon B. Johnson brought the authority of the federal government behind the battle to remove state-sanctioned disenfranchisement of Black American citizens. The murders of civil rights activists in Philadelphia and Mississippi and the attack by state troopers on peaceful marchers in Alabama (recently depicted in the film "Selma") brought national attention that prompted the passage of the law, but many had been fighting for centuries to bring about this change.

Most of us know the "big" names and symbols of the Civil Rights Movement: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, bus boycotts, images of horrific violence, thousands of all races marching to the Washington Monument. Unfortunately, we seem to know little else. In its report, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) notes that "Only 2% of high school seniors in 2010 could answer a simple question about the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision."

Here are some resources to help us move beyond tokens and icons to a deeper understanding of our history and its legacy, toward our own marches for liberty and justice for all.

Picture Books

by Duncan Tonatiuh

One way to demonstrate the universality of the struggle for civil rights is to introduce readers to Sylvia Mendez, whose story is told here. Almost a decade before Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez, an American girl of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, helped to end school segregation in California. Mendez and her family brought a lawsuit against a "Whites Only" school that denied her enrollment in spite of her command of spoken and written English, and in 1947, schools across the state were desegregated.

(*Note: Sylvia Mendez's story is also featured in the middle grade novel Sylvia and Aki, Winifred Conkling's fictional account of the intersecting narratives of Sylvia and a real-life young Japanese counterpart, Aki Munemitsu, whose family is sent to a Japanese internment camp.)

by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Written to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Lillian's Right to Vote tells the story of "a very old woman" named Lillian, who at 100-years-old has seen a great many chapters in American history. As Lillian makes her way up a very steep hill on Voting Day, she is reminded of the enormous uphill battle faced by African Americans in the struggle for voting rights. Through Jonah Winter's poignant prose and Shane W. Evans's expressive illustrations, a new generation of young readers will learn about the long journey - from slavery to segregation, from poll taxes to protests and finally, legislation - to the ballot box.

Tween

by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Stephen Alcorn

This gorgeously illustrated collection of short biographies illuminates the lives of women like Ella Josephine Baker, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Dorothy Irene Height. Each sentence shines with personality, and by connecting the life and work of women like Harriet Tubman to Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first to seek nomination to the office of President of the United States, Davis Pinkney helps us appreciate their extraordinary accomplishments in arts, literature, politics, education, and athletics across many eras.

Teen

by Congressman John Lewis, with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell

My daughter saw Rep. Lewis speak not too long ago, and the power of his words left a lasting impression - she devoured this book that same night. This gripping, award-winning graphic novel poignantly captures the strength of his memories, from his childhood as a sharecropper's son to his participation in the movement and the historic march from Selma to Montgomery. Rep. Lewis tells a tale of courage and perseverance that never seems didactic or forced. He continues the story in March: Book Two, and a Teacher's Guide is available for free download from the publisher.

by Kekla Magoon

Magoon's novel takes place three years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, and offers an authentic portrait of life as a Black teen as the civil rights struggle continued. When 13-year-old Sam witnesses the brutal police beating of a friend, he begins to question the nonviolent philosophy of his activist father, and explores the revolutionary viewpoint of his older brother, who has joined the Black Panthers. Magoon's exploration of the political education and community-oriented work of the Panthers is notable. There are no easy answers in this complex and well-rounded tale of a strong family working in various ways to fight oppression.

by Anne Moody

This was one of the first memoirs of the movement that I read as a child, and I've saved that same copy for my own child. Moody, who died earlier this year at age 74, shares in vivid and painful detail the aggressions that Blacks in the Jim Crow era faced each day. Moody went on to college and activism, working with various civil rights organizations. She was part of the history-making group of students who sat-in and prayed at a Woolworth's lunch counter in 1963, while whites poured mustard and ketchup over their heads and used physical violence against them. Senator Edward M. Kennedy wrote in The New York Times, "Anne Moody's powerful and moving book is a timely reminder that we cannot now relax in the struggle for sound justice in America or in any part of America. We would do so at our peril."

"Someday somebody's going to come along and knock this old fence down," says Annie in The Other Side. This is American history. All of our children should know what happened, why, and what it means in our lives today. And by making these and other stories of the battle for justice a part of our lives, we will continue to knock down fences and build brighter futures.

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Books to Help Kids Understand the Fight for Racial Equality | Brightly

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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 became law on August 6, 1965. By signing this legislation, President Lyndon B. Johnson brought the authority of the federal government behind the battle to remove state-sanctioned disenfranchisement of Black American citizens.

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KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives: Anti-Racist Resources for Children, Families, and Educators

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KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives: Anti-Racist Resources for Children, Families, and Educators

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"We who believe in freedom cannot rest."
-Ella Baker

Thank you so much to all who joined us for the KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives, created and coordinated by Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jason Reynolds. Please share your reflections on social media with the hashtag #KidLit4BlackLives.
The Rally recording is currently available on our YouTube channel.
The Brown Bookshelf remains committed to the ongoing work of amplifying and celebrating Black voices, of rejecting white supremacy, and empowering young readers. It continues to be "our collective mission, therefore, to promote understanding and justice through our art; to bolster every child's visceral belief that his or her life shall always be infinitely valuable." Strive for equity and engage in the work of liberation. Use our site in your home, classroom, and library to find just a small fraction of the incredible number of stories by Black creators from all across the Diaspora. We feature picture book, middle grade, and young adult titles in all genres. Share the many different creator stories, titles, and multimedia resources in our 28 Days Later archives.

As Walter Dean Myers wrote, "There is work to be done." We are sharing the resources listed below, and invite you to do the work, every day, and move toward justice.

The time is now. It is a matter of life and death.
The Conscious Kid The Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners
The African American Children's Book Project (read our interview with the founder, Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati, here.)
We Need Diverse Books Here Wee Read Fare of the Free Child Podcast 1619 Podcast Race Forward/Colorlines Color of Change
Just Us Books (read our Q&A with founders Cheryl and Wade Hudson here, and watch Just Us' new YouTube series, "Just Us &".)
The National Visionary Leadership Project Black Youth Project 100 Zinn Education Project Teaching for Change Teaching Tolerance National Museum of African American History & Culture Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility Black Children's Books & Authors
Kweli Journal (read our conversation with founder Laura Pegram here.)
Helping Kids Rise Rethinking Schools Clear the Air Disrupt Texts Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations CrazyQuiltEdi Blog The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Black Visions Collective ACLU Of Minnesota Dignity and Power Now

We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be (Heinemann) by Cornelius Minor

Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension (Heinemann) by Sara K. Ahmed

Teaching for Black Lives (Rethinking Schools) ed. by Dyan Watson,
Jesse Hagopian and Wayne Au

Libraries, Literacy, and African American Youth (Libraries Unlimited) edited by Dr. Pauletta Brown Bracy, Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Casey H. Rawson

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KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives: Anti-Racist Resources for Children, Families, and Educators - The Brown Bookshelf

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"We who believe in freedom cannot rest." -Ella Baker Thank you so much to all who joined us for the KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives, created and coordinated by Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jason Reynolds. Please share your reflections on social media with the hashtag #KidLit4BlackLives.

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Books That Promote Diversity and Inclusion

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Common Sense Media editors help you choose Books That Promote Diversity and Inclusion. Relatable stories of misfits, outsiders, and finding acceptance.

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Monday: What does it mean to you to be a CRE?

Tuesday:What practices do you currently use to make your students feel like the BELONG?

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Edutopia's Guide to Equity and Antiracism for Educators

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Edutopia's Guide to Equity and Antiracism for Educators

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Teachers shaken by recent events and wondering how to work for change in our society and schools can start with these lesson plans, videos, and other resources.

John Minchillo / Associated Press

Protesting the killing of George Floyd, a crowd gathers for a rally at Cadman Plaza Park in New York City on June 4, 2020.

"I'm a White educator, where do I start?"

"How can I help?"

"What if I get it wrong?"

Recent events have shaken me to my core, and the nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd suggest that people across the country are similarly shaken. These are dark times, but if there's anything that seems like a glimmer of light to me at the moment, it's the fact that so many teachers are reflecting on how to fight racism:

For me, a Black educator and mother to a Black 16-year-old who has reached the appearance if not the legal age of manhood, these questions stir hope. Folks who don't look like me are embracing the idea that the fight for equity has to be everyone's fight. But fighting racism is a big job, and when the fires of outrage cool, we teachers will be confronted with the reality of planning deadlines, testing schedules, and another hundred things that are all in a day's work. The difficult work of equity may become just another item on a desk crowded with to-do lists.

What Can Teachers Do?

The answer, an old joke: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, of course-and achieving equity is no different. Take small bites that can have big impact and don't worry about getting it wrong sometimes, as you inevitably will. If you keep going, you can do something that brings about change.

Reading: Even if you only have 10 minutes, you can learn something to help you create a more equitable classroom. Websites like Teaching Tolerance, the NEA's EdJustice, and KQED's Mindshift feature resources for lesson planning as well as lessons for you as a teacher. Teaching Tolerance is the perfect place to start, whether you want to use bias-free language to teach tolerance through reading with young learners or plan a social action campaign with high school students.

In addition to a rich collection of K-12 classroom resources, the website features self-guided PD, on-demand webinars, and podcasts that may enable you to earn a certificate-check with your administration first. Those can easily be broken up into small chunks of time. And note that many of the site's feature articles list recommended actions at the bottom.

If your goal is to understand the Black community better, sites designed for Black audiences like The Root, The Undefeated, and Huffington Post's Black Voices are good places to start. These non-mainstream media outlets feature content by minority and minority-supporting journalists. You'll find content on topics not covered in mainstream media, like coverage of historically Black colleges and universities, news about Black brands and influencers, and stories like this one on MIT's first Black female student body president in its 159-year history. If you're teaching Black children who are generally inundated by media that does not reflect them, these are priceless ways you can enrich your current events and show-and-tell circles.

Watching: You can improve your cultural competence and learn about Black Lives Matter by watching " 4 Black Lives Matter Myths Debunked" on YouTube, which will answer quite a few questions on social justice issues, probably including some you didn't even know you had. And if you want help in having real discussions on complex issues with young children, the YouTube show LivingRoomProtest will lead you through conversations on being Black, politics, pride, and even death and the afterlife-try the episode " Education Is a Human Right " for starters.

If you want entertainment with a cultural component, Netflix has a host of shows that cater to a Black audience, as well as original content that regularly features diverse character lineups. Hulu has not only a small curated selection of Black Stories but also six seasons of the binge-worthy, socially conscious Black-ish and its spin-off prequel Mixed-ish. While Black-ish might be a little campy, it tackles real issues surrounding racism, bias, and social justice issues that arise within the Black community.

Taking action: For the civic-minded, the Kellogg Foundation has put together a website that lets you create your own personal plan to support, donate, or volunteer in the way you find most relevant. This site can help you focus your attention on one or two civic tasks with broader impact.

Social action is also a great way to involve students, which multiplies your impact. You can teach students how to write emails or letters by asking them to write to your local government in favor of policy changes banning the eight most deadly policing strategies listed at 8 Can't Wait, which has ideas on how to call or email your government yourself-there's a script you can use or adapt.

Looking within: Finally, and perhaps most importantly, take inventory of your feelings. It's normal to be most comfortable around people who are like you. It's just not good when that makes you and those like you an "us" and those who aren't like you a "them." Use a journal to sort through your personal feelings on racism or read books that provide perspective on systemic inequities and bias. These long-haul strategies will produce change in you while you take more immediate action in other ways.

The devastating events of the last days have left me shaken. I have felt anger, fear, grief-so many emotions. But I have also felt buoyed by the great outpouring of support from my less melanated colleagues who want to listen, learn, and find out how to do better. So many of them are already doing amazing things with diverse students. This piece is dedicated to them. They give me hope that this time, we will fight racism together and bring about lasting change.

Don't stop now. How do you eat an elephant? One small bite at a time.

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A Guide to Equity and Antiracism for Educators

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Teachers shaken by recent events and wondering how to work for change in our society and schools can start with these lesson plans, videos, and other resources. John Minchillo / Associated Press Protesting the killing of George Floyd, a crowd gathers for a rally at Cadman Plaza Park in New York City on June 4, 2020.

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A Must Have Guide to Culturally Responsive Teaching 

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A Must Have Guide to Culturally Responsive Teaching 

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
by Zaretta Hammond, 192 pages, Corwin, November 2014

This article contains Amazon Affiliate links. If you click these and make a purchase from Amazon, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

For eight years, I taught students who would likely be labeled "at risk." Not all of my kids fit that description, but at least half belonged to the groups we talk about when we talk about the opportunity* gap: Students whose race, culture, home language, or socioeconomic status are not necessarily a match with what many schools teach and value. I did my best to meet their needs, to challenge them and set them up for success in life, but when I look back with the knowledge I have gained over the last few years, I know I did a crappy job.

I think about Dion, one of my seventh graders, who sat listlessly through most of my classes, whose assignments were always half-finished, who always scored low on tests, who used his cute, slow smile as a cover any time I tried to push him to get his work done. I'd keep him in at lunch and after school, let him do piles of make-up work to try to bring his grade from an F to a D, and talk to him about how he needed to change his habits. But none of it worked. All of us, his other teachers and myself, met with Dion and his mom more than once to try and figure out how to get Dion to improve.

The discussion often went like this:

"What do you think is the problem here?" from one of my colleagues.

Dion shrugged. "I'm not doing my work."

From another teacher: "And what do you need to do differently?"

Another shrug. "Start doing my work, I guess."

Nothing changed. Dion managed to keep his grades up just enough to move on to eighth grade. His skills never improved, his habits stayed about the same, and he went on with his life, like hundreds of others moving through that same school system every year.

If we had read Zaretta Hammond's book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain , things could have been completely different for us, for Dion, and for so many other students in our school. This practical, insightful, and absolutely necessary book will help teachers do a better job of teaching a more diverse group of students.

A Brain-based Blueprint for Reaching Diverse Students

Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain is not just a "bag of tricks" teachers can pull from to help students from more diverse backgrounds do better. It is a thoughtful, holistic, brain-based approach to teaching the whole child.

By looking through the lens of neuroscience, Hammond shows us how the brain responds to various teaching approaches and learning environments, and helps us understand why, despite our best efforts, many students simply haven't responded to the kinds of interventions many schools put in place for them. "The problem of the achievement gap won't be solved by simply trying to motivate students of color to become more engaged learners," she writes. "We have to create school environments that welcome their natural ways of learning and shape content so that they see its connection to their lives and funds of knowledge."

The book is built around the Ready for Rigor Framework, four separate practice areas that, if used together, give us the tools for culturally responsive teaching. The practice areas are:

Awareness. Before teachers can truly meet the needs of diverse learners, we must develop the right mindset. This requires us to understand what "culture" really means, fully explore our own cultural beliefs and biases, and study how the brain learns.

Learning Partnerships. To succeed in school, diverse learners need to feel as if they are in partnership with their teachers. To create these relationships, we need to build trust with students, help them develop positive mindsets, and give them the language to talk about their learning.

Information Processing. Teachers need to understand how to expand students' intellective capacity so they can engage in deeper, more complex learning. This requires teachers to learn brain-based information processing strategies common to oral cultures like metaphors, rhythmic mnemonics, and "story-ifying" the content.

Community Building. Culturally responsive teachers work to create supportive, welcoming environments, places that feel socially and emotionally safe, so that students are comfortable enough taking the risks required to stretch their brains.

Apart from being incredibly useful and clear, what's great about this book is that it won't make teachers defensive. Rather than attacking teachers for taking the wrong approach, Hammond simply shows us why some methods are ineffective, then explains why a different approach works better. This lack of judgment is likely to give her message a bigger reach, and to help far more teachers develop the skills they need for this important work.

We Can Do Better

Maya Angelou said, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." I believe most teachers are doing the best they can to serve all of their students. They just don't have enough tools. This book is without question a way to know better. I urge anyone who works with culturally diverse students, second-language students, or students who have grown up in poverty to read Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain . There's no way for me to reach Dion now, but there are millions of others just like him. Now we have the tools to really change their academic paths.

Now we know better. We just have to do it. ♦

Zaretta Hammond is a former English teacher who has been doing instructional design, school coaching, and professional development around the issues of equity, literacy, and culturally responsive teaching for the past 18 years. To read more of her work, visit her blog, Ready for Rigor, or follow her on Twitter at @Ready4Rigor.
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*Author's note, June 2018: This post has been revised slightly since its original publication in 2015, when I used the term "achievement gap" throughout. At the time, I was not aware of the way this term perpetuates deficit thinking about some of our students. My revisions are an attempt to use language that better represents our need to reach all children in a way that works for them.

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A Must-Have Guide to Culturally Responsive Teaching

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This practical, insightful, and absolutely necessary book is a guide for teachers who want to help culturally and linguistically diverse students not just survive, but thrive.

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Resources supporting our learning community inquiry culturally responsive and responsive education.

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Connecting the Community: Race and Culture Collection

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Connecting the Community: Race and Culture Collection

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Connecting the Community: Race and Culture - Wakelet

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Join TedX Speaker and Equity Specialist Ken Shelton for a "town hall" type discussion about the challenges we face around inequality, social justice and systemic racism.

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"I believe in the power of Facing History."

-Durias D., Facing History Alum

"I went to a Facing History workshop and it opened my eyes."

-Tareeq R., Educator

Facing History & Ourselves
uses lessons of history
to challenge teachers
and their students
to stand up to bigotry and hate.

Facing History & Ourselves is more than our name. It is an active and continuous process that calls on each of us to connect the choices of the past to those we face today. To build a more just and equitable future, we must face our history in all its complexity, Are you ready to face history with us?

Learn how you can experience Facing History

Facing History has thousands of research-based resources and professional learning events to support Social Studies and English Language Arts education.

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And hopefully, they will always remember what happened to us and make sure that it won't happen again.

Sonia Weitz, Holocaust survivor and poet

Sign up to download the PDF version of our textbook, Holocaust and Human Behavior.

Facing History students are 94% more likely than their peers to report that their class motivated them to learn.

92% of Facing History teachers agree that Facing History helps their students stand up for what they believe even when others disagree.

91% of elective teachers agree or strongly agree that their Facing History course promoted their students' abilities to ground reading, writing, and speaking in evidence from text.

Demand for our work is greater than ever. Make a 100% tax-deductible donation today and you'll help us reach even more teachers and students around the world, giving them the tools to stand up to bigotry and hate.

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Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.

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An analysis of teaching standards in all 50 states to better understand whether states incorporate culturally responsive teaching.

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Reflect on how you can best approach this learning experience?

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Reflect on how you can best approach this learning experience?

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My Essential Agreements with myself and other learners here are:
1)Show up!
2)Be Courageous to Question, Reflect, Learn and Act
3)Be Kind - to yourself, others and our planet (no need to print these resources, this padlet will live forever, that is the beauty of life-long learning)

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Test your levels of self-compassion to see where you land. Then try exercises or guided meditations to help you increase your self-compassion!

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Interested in earning a certificate at no cost? Enroll to audit this course, and we'll send more information about this opportunity shortly before the course begins.
Every day, teachers make thousands of decisions: what content to teach, what activities to assign, who to call on, how to respond to a student question, how to react to student behavior. These day-to-day decisions can have an enormous effect on the lives of young people, for good and ill. They can open new doors or cause lasting harm; they can make students feel seen and valued, or dampen their interest in school. In this course, we will investigate these interactions, rehearse responding to difficult scenarios, and develop a set of equity teaching mindsets and practices to support all of our learners, especially underserved students.

With colleagues from your school or organization and online learners around the world, you will participate in four cycles of inquiry, practice, and action, and then complete a final action project. In each cycle of inquiry, you will examine and re-examine dimensions of inequality through educator mindsets, imagine community change through documentary case studies, rehearse taking action in thorny situations through digital practice spaces, and begin to lead change through action-oriented assignments. Our early investigations will focus on relationships and interactions with individual students, and pan out to examine the effects of bias on classrooms, schools, and communities. As you complete activities with peers online, you will develop a rich set of resources and exercises to use with your students and colleagues in your local context.

At the end of the course, you will have a better understanding of yourself and your students, new resources to draw on for helping all students thrive, and a plan to work with your school community to advance the lifelong work of equitable teaching.

We believe that the most rich and rewarding experience in this course is to take it with colleagues, and we encourage you to reach out to a small group who might be interested in taking this course with you. These fellow-learners will understand your context, the students that are in your school, and the culture of the place that you're working with. Even one or two peers can be the start of an equity change cohort in your school or organization.

More about this course

Educators--from teachers to school leaders to paraprofessionals--will learn about:

Educator Mindsets: For seeing bias and equity: Equity vs. Equality; Aware vs. Avoidant; Asset vs. Deficit; Context-Centered vs. Context-Neutral.

Equity Teaching Practices: Teaching dispositions, judgments, and activities that help all students, especially underserved students, to thrive and feel valued.

Levels of Change: Addressing inequality through work on the self, the classroom, the school, and society.

Practice Spaces: Simulations for low-stakes practice of challenging decisions in teaching.

Leading Change: Working with colleagues in the lifelong journey towards more equitable schools.

Expand what you'll learn

Unit 0: Mindsets and Practices for Equity Teaching
Introduction to educator mindsets for seeing sources of bias and inequality, discussing identity and practices for more equitable teaching.
Unit 1: Seeing and Valuing Individuals through an Equity Lens
Developing an imagination for how every individual student can learn and grow.
Unit 2: Seeing and Valuing Students through Asset Framing
Rethinking classroom instruction through asset framing.
Unit 3: Seeing and Valuing Differences through Challenging Conversations
Acknowledging and discussing our differences while connecting to our shared humanity.
Unit 4: Addressing Inequality in a Community Context
Understanding young people in a whole context that acknowledges structural inequality and histories of discrimination.
Unit 5: The Lifelong Work of Equity Teaching
Engaging students and colleagues in the work of equity teaching through mindsets and practice spaces.

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Pursue a Verified Certificate to highlight the knowledge and skills you gain

Frequently asked questions

This course has generous sponsorship from the XQ Institute.

Who can take this course?

Unfortunately, learners from one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. EdX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.

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Becoming a More Equitable Educator: Mindsets and Practices

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Interested in earning a certificate at no cost? Enroll to audit this course, and we'll send more information about this opportunity shortly before the course begins. Every day, teachers make thousands of decisions: what content to teach, what activities to assign, who to call on, how to respond to a student question, how to react to student behavior.