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“Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences.”

– Mikhail Gorbachev

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"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world."  Robin Williams

https://www.bankstreet.edu/library/children-resources/literature-resources/

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"The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do."
--Sarah Ban Breathnach

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“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

https://eventsforchange.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/the-starfish-story-one-step-towards-changing-the-world/

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"If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity."
John F. Kennedy

http://character.org/lessons/lesson-plans/

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"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Nelson Mandela

https://www.tolerance.org/frameworks/social-justice-standards

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2014/toolkit-for-identity-diversity-justice-action

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2014/identity-diversity-justice-action

https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/social-justice-standards-the-teaching-tolerance-antibias-framework

https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/teaching-strategies

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Using Children's Books to Teach Diversity

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Using Children's Books to Teach Diversity

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How to Use Children's Books to Teach Diversity & Inclusion

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Experts agree: diverse, inclusive children's books are much needed in classrooms, libraries, and on every kid's bookshelf! We spoke with Dr. Krista Aronson, professor at Bates University in Maine; Hanna Ehrlich, Marketing Manager at Lee & Low Books; and Howard Ross of diversity consultants Cook Ross, Inc.

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Missing Adventures: Diversity in Children's Literature

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Missing Adventures: Diversity in Children's Literature

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Missing Adventures: Diversity and Children's Literature | Brynn Welch | TEDxEHC

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The Teaching Landscape:Diversity in Young Adult Literature

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The Teaching Landscape:Diversity in Young Adult Literature

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Sharon Flake

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Indiana University of Pennsylvania on YouTube

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The Teaching Landscape: Sharon G. Flake on Diversity and Young Adult Literature (IUP-TV)

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This interview with Sharon G. Flake, well published author of young adult literature, details her experiences and thoughts on diversity and the classroom as well as her knowledge of the publishing enterprise. The interview articulates Sharon's love for the inner city and for young people as well.

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Makes a New Friend

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Kid President's Guide to Making a New Friend

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How to Change the World

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How To Change The World (a work in progress) | Kid President

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Lesson Plans and Activities to Teach Acceptance of Others

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Policies and Lesson Plans to Promote Diversity in the Classroom

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We need to build a strong foundation for our future leaders and members of society.

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Why Diversity in Children’s Literature Really Matters

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Why Diversity in Children’s Literature Really Matters

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Why More Diversity in Children’s Literature Is Absolutely Necessary

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Why More Diversity in Children’s Literature Is Absolutely Necessary

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Open the doors and let these books in' - what would a truly diverse reading list look like?

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Open the doors and let these books in' - what would a truly diverse reading list look like?

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https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/11/black-and-minority-ethnic-books-authors-on-decolonising-the-canon-university-english-literature-syllabus

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Children's Literature List in the   New Yorker

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Children's Literature List in the   New Yorker

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https://www.newyorker.com/topics/childrens-literature

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Page-Turner The Creepiest Children's Book
Why the 1957 cult classic "The Lonely Doll" still haunts the imaginations of a generation of women artists, from Kim Gordon to Cindy Sherman.

September 26, 2017

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Childrens Literature News, Opinion, and Analysis-The New Yorker

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Page-Turner The Creepiest Children's Book Why the 1957 cult classic "The Lonely Doll" still haunts the imaginations of a generation of women artists, from Kim Gordon to Cindy Sherman. September 26, 2017

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Increasing diversity in children's books still a challenge

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Increasing diversity in children's books still a challenge

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Increasing diversity in children's books still a challenge

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COLUMBIA - Angie Zapata calls the palette of intense reds, blues and greens on Latino children's book covers "artesanía," a word used in Mexico to describe traditional folk arts and handicrafts. Zapata, an assistant professor who teaches and researches literacy education at MU's College of Education, has studied diversity in children's literature since she started teaching in 1997.

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Diverse children's books need more visibility

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Diverse children's books need more visibility

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Diverse children's books need more visibility

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Victoria Cepeda knows what she wants in children's books. She looks for titles that reflect her 4-year-old son's cultural roots as well as his potential aspirations. She seeks stories that promote education and achievement, with characters who mirror his Latino heritage. Pretty simple stipulations. Amazingly difficult to find.

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Diversity in Children’s Books - The Thrive Approach

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Diversity in Children’s Books - The Thrive Approach

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The inclusion of diverse characters, narratives and themes in children's books is fundamental to personal development.

Children can either find stories that mirror their own experiences or immerse themselves within totally different cultures. Lauren Child, the next Waterstones Children's Laureate, stresses her concern regarding the lack of diversity in the industry. This has been brought further into focus by her daughter, adopted from Mongolia, who struggles to see her reflection in most books.

In a piece for Yes! Magazine, Felisha Burleson makes further comment on the lack of diversity. She states the importance of children reading about inspiring characters who look like them. It has been tough for her to source appropriately diverse literature for her daughter, Niyah. She is Mexican and African American and Burleson has yet to find her family mirrored in books, which would play an important role in cementing the fact that her daughter can have a visible role in society.

"I think it's very important she see people who look similar to her and have similar culture in books so she understands that the world is diverse."

Click here to read more about Felisha's frustration with children's literature as it stands.

This frustration is echoed in plenty of schools and homes. With adults truly wanting to provide children in their care with diverse stories, it is vital that the industry encourages it. An article in The Conversation by BJ Epstein explains the benefits in relation to prejudice:

"Research on prejudice shows that coming in contact with people who are different - so-called "others" - helps to reduce stereotypes. This is because when we see people who initially seem different, we learn about them and get closer to them through their story. The "other" seems less far away and, well, less "otherly".

So not only can diverse books allow children to identify with people and narratives similar to their own, but they can help to promote a more inclusive society from a very young age.

Epstein notes the way in which stories are predominately packed with white, male, heterosexual, cis, able-bodied characters who frequently promote a Christian message. She also mentions that research suggests that over 80% of characters in children's books are white. This clearly does not reflect reality and enforces the enormity of the issue.

Books to both empower children and to aid learning are reaching publication and it is important to celebrate these. Initially published in the 1950s, two of Jacqueline Ayer's books, which draw on life in Thailand, are being republished this summer. Ground-breaking when first released, Ayer's illustrations capture Thai culture beautifully and are predicted to inspire a new generation of young people. Click here to find out more about the journey that led Ayer to publication.

With plenty more children's books promoting diversity in schools, libraries and homes, we'd love to take a look at your recommendations - contact us through Facebook or Twitter.

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Diversity in Children's Books - The Thrive Approach

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The inclusion of diverse characters, narratives and themes in children's books is fundamental to personal development. Children can either find stories that mirror their own experiences or immerse themselves within totally different cultures. Lauren Child, the next Waterstones Children's Laureate, stresses her concern regarding the lack of diversity in the industry.

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Book Challenges and Lack of Diversity in Children's Literature

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Why children’s books that teach diversity are more important than ever

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Why children’s books that teach diversity are more important than ever

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https://www.sbs.com.au/news/why-children-s-books-that-teach-diversity-are-more-important-than-ever

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Books and Media

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Books & Media, (FPO), 2018 Youth Media Awards, american library association, angie thomas, awards ceremonies, debbie reese, Erin Entrada Kelly, Extra Helping, hello universe, Jim Neal, Matthew Cordell, The Hate U Give, we are OK, Wolf in the Snow, youth media awards Diversity, Industry News

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Association of American Colleges and Universities

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Association of American Colleges and Universities

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A VOICE AND A FORCE FOR LIBERAL EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

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Association of American Colleges & Universities

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The narrator of Pat Mora's poem "Elena" insists, "My Spanish isn't good enough." Having moved from Mexico to the United States, Elena worries that her lack of English proficiency will make her "deaf / when [her] children need [her] help" (1994). Elena's dilemma--that she is literate in Spanish but not in English, the dominant language--suggests the complexity of literacy in a multicultural, multilingual society. While mainstream literacies are critical for democratic participation in the United States, some have struggled to achieve these literacies in contexts where institutional cultures can be at odds with primary home cultures.

A University of Minnesota student works with an English language learner at the Cedar Riverside Adult Education Collaborative. Photo by Laurel Hirt.

The intertwining topics of literacy and diversity provide an opportunity to connect college students' academic inquiry with experiential learning. I have taken advantage of this opportunity by teaching two service-learning and civic engagement courses in the English department at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities: Literacy and American Cultural Diversity, a one-semester course, and Community Learning Internships, a yearlong course. My students gain intellectual exposure and analytical skills through the study of multicultural literature, while also gaining cultural exposure and experience in diverse communities.
Classroom and Experiential Learning
We begin each course by exploring data on language literacy in the United States. Most students are shocked at the high rates of illiteracy and raise questions that pave the way for our inquiry throughout the course: How do different sources define literacy, and might some functional literacy skills go unmeasured by standardized tests? How is literacy distributed across categories of race, national origin, gender, and socioeconomic class? In the United States, in what language or languages should one be literate? Students consider these and other questions using tools typical of a liberal arts course: they complete readings, write papers, give presentations, and participate in group work and class discussions.

They also learn in more hands-on ways by engaging in multicultural literacy initiatives in the K-12, adult basic education, and English language learning sectors. At the beginning of each semester, the Career and Community Learning Center (CCLC) organizes a community panel in which representatives of participating organizations showcase their programs. These community partners include democratic education initiatives, community centers, adult education centers, a sober high school, an elementary school with a social justice curriculum, a Latino social service agency, a charter high school for East African students, and an after-school program for Native American youth. After attending the panel, students select organizations for whom they will serve as "literacy workers," teaching, coteaching, tutoring, or assisting in classrooms for the duration of the course. In the one-semester course, students work for two hours per week; in the yearlong course, students contribute up to six hours per week while completing an on-site project. CCLC staff and community supervisors also occasionally join our classroom discussions. The classroom and experiential learning modes reinforce each other, helping students analyze literary texts and "read" the social texts of their community experiences.
Language and Power

Literary Selections that Explore Diversity and Literacy

Alexie, S. 2003. Ten little Indians. New York: Grove Press.

Bishoff, T., and J. Rankin, eds. 1997.Seeds from a silent tree: An anthology by Korean adoptees. Glendale, CA: Pandal Press.

Brooks, G. 1994. The lovers of the poor. In Blacks, 349-352. Chicago: Third World Press.

Gaines, E. 1993. A lesson before dying. New York: Vintage Books.

Mora, P. 1994. Elena. In Unsettling America: An anthology of contemporary multicultural poetry, eds. M. M. Gillan and J. Gillan, 11. New York: Penguin Books.

Moua, M. N., ed. 2002. Bamboo among the oaks: Contemporary writing by Hmong Americans. St. Paul, MN: Borealis Books.

Wise, T. 2005. White like me: Reflections on race from a privileged son. Brooklyn: Soft Skull Press.

-Eric Daigre

In the classroom, literary examples help students frame questions about literacy, while students' community experiences lead them toward a more critical engagement with literature. I have already mentioned Pat Mora's "Elena," which resonates with students who are tutoring adult immigrants and refugees. A second literary example comes from Ernest Gaines's novel A Lesson Before Dying. Grant Wiggins, an African American school teacher, tries to teach his African American students "good" grammar even as he is expected to use "bad" grammar in front of white people. Wiggins picks his battles carefully, but often transgresses by speaking "properly" to white authorities (1993). The novel opens a discussion about the history of "standard" English and different varieties of English, including Black English Vernacular, Chicano English, regional dialects, and the vernacular idioms of popular culture.

Students have a lot to say about the social, cultural, and political expectations attached to speech, and how language provides opportunities for both submission and subversion. In our forays into educational theory, we read about individuals who conscientiously chose not to learn how to read, write, or speak English, either for fear of losing their cultures or out of a principled resistance to racist messages. Occasionally, students encounter similar stories at their community sites. More often, students working in K-12 environments employ these ideas to analyze the institutional practices embedded in educational culture. They are thus able to see beyond mainstream explanations for students' difficulties (a negligent parent, a rough neighborhood, an individual "bad teacher") or the armchair psychology that freely dispenses diagnoses of attention-deficit disorder.

Some students grapple with the ideological dimensions of teaching English to nonnative speakers, including whether and how to "correct" nonstandard forms of English among people whose ways of speaking are closely linked to personal, cultural, and communal identities. Students debate the politics of language, and we consult linguistic theory to understand code meshing, code switching, discourse stacking, trilingualism, hybrid discourses, and the triangle of basic, cultural, and multicultural literacy. As we explore connections between education and democracy, students find it hard to deny that citizens need access to the language of power to gain socioeconomic access. They ask: How can one teach standard English while respecting students' home languages? How can other languages become resources for teaching standard English? We read theorists like Paulo Freire and consider that democratic participation means not adapting to the status quo but exercising the creative capacity to change society. To challenge power is to challenge--and perhaps transform--the language of power.
Self and Community
College students are generally impressed with the hard work they see at community organizations, where people are striving to develop their literacy skills and improve their lives. They are also humbled by the realization that just as they have taught their students, their students have taught them. In class, I contrast this egalitarian insight with Gwendolyn Brooks's "The Lovers of the Poor" (1994), which helps students distinguish between charitable volunteerism's personal focus and the systemic target of social justice work. We critique the hierarchies embedded in traditional provider-recipient models of service and ask what it might mean to come from a cultural group that mainstream media represent as underprivileged. We contrast the view of human beings as "problems" to be "fixed" with the understanding of people as equals whose resources, assets, and experiences should form the basis for reciprocal partnerships.

Over the years, in conversations, informal surveys, and in-class activities, I have heard a common refrain that may help explain why English majors at the University of Minnesota are both attracted to and skilled at community involvement. English majors say that connecting with others and being part of diverse communities helps them expand their sense of self. I like this idea of a commodious self that is inextricably linked to the well-being of others, a self that (to quote Walt Whitman) "contains multitudes." I am impressed with my students' desire to connect their studies to the public sphere. Perhaps service-learning and civic engagement initiatives pose a challenge to disembodied literary theory--or perhaps they represent theory's manifold capacities for practice.

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Literature, Literacy, and Multiculturalism in the Expanded Classroom

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The narrator of Pat Mora's poem "Elena" insists, "My Spanish isn't good enough." Having moved from Mexico to the United States, Elena worries that her lack of English proficiency will make her "deaf / when [her] children need [her] help" (1994).

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Current Issues

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Association of American Colleges & Universities

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Our deep cross-cultural professional collaboration and personal relationship have developed over seven years. Together, we have written one book, edited another, and led dozens of faculty development workshops and national presentations. Culturally, Susan originates from Northern and Western Europe (Danish, Swedish, German, French, English, and Irish American) while Alicia is Mestiza from Apache and Spanish American origins. Because our work and identities cross cultures in sustained ways, and because successful cross-cultural collaboration requires a deep understanding of one's own intersecting identities, including cultural identity, we crafted over time a reflexive ethnographic process. Through this process, we continually reflect upon our respective cultural identities, explore together, and learn from each other about how our cultures and identities affect our collaborations. This enhances our relationship, sustains our professional collaborations, and enriches our study of college teaching and learning. As we built our relationship, we found our way to intercultural, collaborative well-being.

We regularly cofacilitate faculty sessions on teaching across cultural strengths, and this leads us to culturally reflexive dialogues. For example, during a recent session, Alicia diverged from her customary process of telling and then explaining a concept through a single teaching story. After sharing one story, she went on to tell another and another. Later, when Susan asked why, Alicia explained she felt an urgent need to offer more stories when she observed nonverbal indications that many faculty did not initially understand her point. Susan shared that she, in contrast, felt an obligation to move on from this topic to avoid neglecting other activities. Through reflexive conversations, we realized Alicia was following her cultural norm by spending enough time while Susan was following hers by remaining on time.

Reflexive meaning making is critical to our collaboration across cultures. Over time, we developed practices to support our intercultural collaboration and relationship:

Abandon defenses about one's own cultural mores (ways and practices). Susan discovered that abandoning defenses was crucial to opening her awareness of dominant cultural norms. After abandoning defenses, seek balance across cultural ways of knowing, being, and acting.

Cultivate a willingness to be uncomfortable. Interactions across cultures often create discomfort as people experience divergent cultural practices, priorities, and values. Feelings of annoyance offer important clues to cultural differences, underlying assumptions, and judgments. It is necessary to engage this discomfort, often for sustained periods of time, to reach an understanding and blend cultural strengths toward shared purpose.

Draw on cultural strengths from each individual. For instance, in speaking and writing, Susan relies on Alicia's use of narrative to convey context, and Alicia relies on Susan's use of abstract concepts.

Remain intensely present. For example, as we feel conflict, we take breaks and later reengage. Being present serves as a catalyst to understanding and facilitates attention, inquiry, and meaning making needed to reveal deeper insights about what underlies cultural norms.

Develop deep trust in each other over time. Our willingness to introspect continually and engage with one another about culture builds trust.Mutual trust makes it possible to explore together, push boundaries, ask questions, and navigate through conflict.

Ask one another directly and respectfully about differences. Regularly request assistance to understand cultural behaviors, assumptions, values, expectations, beliefs, and priorities.

Encourage risk taking and mistake making. Risk and mistakes are inherent and essential to intercultural collaboration. Practice asking, listening, encouraging, forgiving, and offering a generous and immediate benefit of the doubt. Developing emotional and intellectual resiliency is critical to achieving cross-cultural collaborative well-being.

Engage one another's combined strengths to get through trauma triggers. Because professionals from some cultural origins regularly experience trauma associated with negotiating educational systems, cross-cultural discussions may trigger emotional flashbacks and distress. Engage strengths such as generosity, openness, courage, and persistence to offer comfort and support to get through the intensity of reflexive cultural learning.

Include metaphor, story, symbol, and visual sharing. Meaning can be illusive across divergent cultural epistemologies and ways of being. A story or metaphor often facilitates understanding when direct explanation is insufficient.

We share our learned practices in hopes of contributing to healthy cross-cultural collaborations. We write this article during troubling times that call for reflexive paths into cross-cultural well-being.

Alicia Fedelina Chávez is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of New Mexico, and Susan Diana Longerbeam is Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at the University of Louisville.

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Our deep cross-cultural professional collaboration and personal relationship have developed over seven years. Together, we have written one book, edited another, and led dozens of faculty development workshops and national presentations. Culturally, Susan originates from Northern and Western Europe (Danish, Swedish, German, French, English, and Irish American) while Alicia is Mestiza from Apache and Spanish American origins.

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Alternate Conversations for Creating Whole-System Change around Diversity and InclusionBy: Frank D. Golom

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Alternate Conversations for Creating Whole-System Change around Diversity and InclusionBy: Frank D. Golom

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Alternate Conversations for Creating Whole-System Change around Diversity and Inclusion

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The New York Times recently published a report on diversity recruitment efforts in higher education. The report concluded that despite decades of proactive efforts aimed at recruiting individuals from marginalized backgrounds, "black and Hispanic students are more underrepresented at the nation's top colleges and universities than they were 35 years ago" (Ashkenas, Park, and Pearce 2017).

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PA Ethics Toolkit

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PSPC > Ethical Practices > > Ethics Toolkit > Ethics, Teaching and Diversity Unit 5

The Code outlines clear expectations for the ethical responsibilities of teachers with respect to diversity:
Professional educators shall exhibit consistent and equitable treatment of students, fellow educators and parents. They shall respect the civil rights of all and not discriminate on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, culture, religion, sex or sexual orientation, marital status, age, political beliefs, socioeconomic status, disabling condition or vocational interest. 22 Pa. Code §235.4(b)(4).
The Code clearly mandates that teachers "respect" students' civil rights and "not discriminate" against them. But how does this expectation manifest itself in a classroom setting? As our society becomes increasingly diverse, our schools and classrooms will reflect this changing composition. Across the Commonwealth, teachers should expect ethnic, gender and cultural diversity within their classrooms. Teachers must be prepared to work with a diverse population of students and be respectful of their individual learning needs by employing a variety of teaching methods to insure that all students have access to the curricular content. In some cases, teachers may need to expand their knowledge base to better understand and effectively meet a student's needs and to insure that their classrooms are free from inadvertent or overt discrimination.

Barbara Gross Davis, University of California, Berkeley, in Tools for Teaching suggests the following general strategies and tactics for overcoming stereotypes and biases:
General Strategies and Tactics

recognize any biases or stereotypes that you may have absorbed;

treat each student as an individual and respect each student for who he or she is;

rectify any language patterns or case examples that exclude or demean any groups;

get a sense of how students feel about the cultural climate in your classroom;

become more informed about the history and culture of groups other than your own;

convey the same level of respect and confidence in the abilities of all your students;

don't try to "protect" any group of students;

be evenhanded in how you acknowledge students' good work; and

introduce discussions of diversity within the school faculty.

Course Content and Material

select texts and readings whose language is free of stereotypes;

do not assume that all students will recognize cultural, literary or historical references that are familiar to you;

consider students' needs when assigning evening or weekend work; and

bring in guest lecturers to enrich the course.

emphasize the importance of considering different approaches and viewpoints;

make it clear that you value all comments;

encourage all students to participate in class discussions;

monitor your own reactions in responding to students;

speak up promptly if any student makes an inappropriate remark even if made in jest; and

avoid singling out students as "spokespersons" for their race, culture or nationality.

be sensitive to students whose first language is not English;

suggest that students form study teams that meet outside of class;

assign collaborative learning activities; and

give assignments and exams that recognize diversity.

Allan, J. (2011). Responsibly Competent: Teaching, Ethics and Diversity. Policy Futures in Education, 9(1), 130-137.

Assaf, L., Garza, R., & Battle, J. (2010). Multicultural Teacher Education: Examining the Perceptions, Practices, and Coherence in One Teacher Preparation Program. Teacher Education Quarterly, 37(2), 115-135.

Ehrensal, P., Crawford, R., Castellucci, J., & Allen, G. (2001). The American Melting Pot Versus the Chinese Hot Spot. in J. Shapiro & J. Stefkovich (Eds.), Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Krause, J., Traini, D., & Mickey, B. (2001). Equality versus Equity. in J. Shapiro & J. Stefkovich (Eds.), Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Milner, H. (2010). What Does Teacher Education Have to Do with Teaching? Implications for Diversity Studies. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1-2), 118-131.

O'Neill, J., & Bourke, R. (2010). Educating Teachers About a Code of Ethical Conduct. Ethics & Education, 5(2), 159-172.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is it important to create a classroom environment where students can learn without the fear of discrimination?

2. Have you ever felt discriminated against in a classroom setting by a teacher or by a classmate? Did that impact your ability to be successful in that class? Have you ever observed either overt or inadvertent bias in a teacher's methodology or choice of instructional materials? If so, identify how such bias could have been avoided.

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PSPC > Ethical Practices > > Ethics Toolkit > Ethics, Teaching and Diversity Unit 5 The Code outlines clear expectations for the ethical responsibilities of teachers with respect to diversity: Professional educators shall exhibit consistent and equitable treatment of students, fellow educators and parents.

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The State of Racial Diversity in the Educator Workforce

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The State of Racial Diversity in the Educator Workforce

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U.S. Department of Education

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Equitable Access to Excellent Educators for All Students

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Online Resources for Professional Development

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ELDPortalPA | Center for Schools and Communities – Preparing Diverse Learners in the Era of Globalization

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The ELD Portal PA is an online resource of professional learning opportunities and instructional materials that supports Pennsylvania educators and community organizations as they strive to provide equitable, high quality educational programs for English learners and their families. The portal also…

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A Tool for Selecting Diverse Texts

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A Framework

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Special Education and IEP Instruction

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The State Board of Education, established by the General Assembly, is the principal administrative regulatory body for elementary/secondary and higher education in the Commonwealth. In addition to promulgating regulations, the Board has the statutory authority to "adopt broad policies and principles and establish standards governing the educational program of the Commonwealth."

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Blacks and Hispanics Are More Underrepresented at Top Colleges Than 35 Years Ago

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Even after decades of affirmative action, black and Hispanic students are more underrepresented at the nation's top colleges and universities than they were 35 years ago, according to a New York Times analysis.

The share of black freshmen at elite schools is virtually unchanged since 1980. Black students are just 6 percent of freshmen but 15 percent of college-age Americans, as the chart below shows.

More Hispanics are attending elite schools, but the increase has not kept up with the huge growth of young Hispanics in the United States, so the gap between students and the college-age population has widened.

The Times analysis includes 100 schools ranging from public flagship universities to the Ivy League. For both blacks and Hispanics, the trend extends back to at least 1980, the earliest year that fall enrollment data was available from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Blacks and Hispanics have gained ground at less selective colleges and universities but not at the highly selective institutions, said Terry Hartle, a senior vice president at the American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,700 colleges and universities.

The courts have ruled that colleges and universities can consider race or ethnicity "as one element in a holistic admissions policy, so it's something that can be considered, but it's not a magic bullet," he said.

Affirmative action increases the numbers of black and Hispanic students at many colleges and universities, but experts say that persistent underrepresentation often stems from equity issues that begin earlier.

Elementary and secondary schools with large numbers of black and Hispanic students are less likely to have experienced teachers, advanced courses, high-quality instructional materials and adequate facilities, according to the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

"There's such a distinct disadvantage to begin with," said David Hawkins, an executive director at the National Association for College Admission Counseling. "A cascading set of obstacles all seem to contribute to a diminished representation of minority students in highly selective colleges."

The Ivy League

Black students make up 9 percent of the freshmen at Ivy League schools but 15 percent of college-age Americans, roughly the same gap as in 1980. (A category for multiracial students, introduced in 2008, has slightly reduced the share of black students.)

At all eight schools, white enrollment declined as Asian enrollment increased. In recent years, the growth of Asian enrollment has slowed at some schools, and some Asian-American students say they are being held to a higher standard.

University of California Campuses

The number of Hispanic and black freshmen on the University of California campuses declined immediately after California's affirmative action ban took effect, especially at the most sought-after campuses, said Stephen Handel, associate vice president for undergraduate admissions. The system put the ban in place in 1998.

Even now, both Hispanics and blacks are least represented at Berkeley, the most selective campus. On seven campuses, Hispanics now make up a quarter or more of the freshmen, but that's still far below their share of the college-age population in the state, which is close to 50 percent.

"Despite the progress the U.C. has made in assembling a more diverse student body, a lot of work remains to be done so that all U.C. campuses reflect the true diversity of the state," Mr. Handel said in an email.

Top Liberal Arts Colleges

Over all, the share of black and Hispanic students at liberal arts colleges is similar to that at other top schools. Both blacks and Hispanics have gained ground in a handful of colleges, such as Amherst and Pomona.

Other Top Universities

Blacks and Hispanics remain underrepresented at other top universities, even as the share of white students at many of these schools has dropped, in some cases below 50 percent. The largest growth has often been among Asian students.

For example, the share of white freshmen at Rice University in Houston, which was exclusively white until the mid-1960s, declined to 42 percent in 2015 from 87 percent in 1980. Meanwhile, the share of Asian students rose to 30 percent in 2015 from 3 percent in 1980.

Public Flagship Universities

Black students remain underrepresented in a number of flagships in states with a large share of college-age residents who are black.

For example, in Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina, blacks represent about a third or more of each state's college-age population but less than 15 percent of the freshman enrollment at the flagship university.

At the University of South Carolina's Columbia campus, black freshman enrollment has declined significantly over the last 15 years. Students on campus have protested racial inequalities.

Many public flagship universities draw students from the state or region, rather than the entire country. While black enrollment at schools like West Virginia University and the University of Nebraska is low, it is on par with the state's demographics.

Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; socialexplorer.com; U.S. News & World Report 2017 Best Colleges Rankings; The College Board; The Century Foundation; David Hawkins, National Association for College Admission Counseling; Ozan Jaquette, University of California, Los Angeles; Daniel Hirschman, Brown University

Notes: Data in charts are for undergraduates enrolled in the fall for the first time at four-year universities that grant degrees. From 1980 to 1993, data for students whose race or ethnicity was unknown has been redistributed across other groups. Students whose race is unknown and international students are excluded from totals. The multiracial category, which was introduced in 2008, and the Native American category are shown when either group is ever above 5 percent of total enrollment. Enrollment for each racial and ethnic group is reported by the schools, and may be incorrect or not add up to 100 percent. Years in which the total of the groups enrolled was less than 90 percent or more than 110 percent are excluded from the charts. Years in which any single group exceeded 100 percent are also excluded. Population data for 1990 to 2015 are for 18-year-olds. Population data for 1980 is for 17- to 21-year-olds with high school degrees. The population and enrollment data do not consistently count multiracial or Native American students. To account for this, the percentages on the gap charts use only Asian, black, Hispanic and white counts in the denominator.

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Even With Affirmative Action, Blacks and Hispanics Are More Underrepresented at Top Colleges Than 35 Years Ago (Published 2017)

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Even after decades of affirmative action, black and Hispanic students are more underrepresented at the nation's top colleges and universities than they were 35 years ago, according to a New York Times analysis. The share of black freshmen at elite schools is virtually unchanged since 1980.

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Resources based on data-proven instructional methods for all-age learners-- in and beyond the classroom

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One World, One Heart Beating

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Bullying occurs for many reasons and in many different ways-- which sometimes leads to horrific outcomes... YOU can help!

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Stop Bullying on the Spot

When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying behavior they send the message that it is not acceptable. Research shows this can stop bullying behavior over time.

Parents, school staff, and other adults in the community can help kids prevent bullying by talking about it, building a safe school environment, and creating a community-wide bullying prevention strategy.

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StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on bullying, cyberbullying, prevention and response.

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Find out what laws, policies and regulations cover bullying in your state.

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A comprehensive overview of current bullying prevention research conducted by government and higher education agencies.

Rates of Incidence

One out of every five (20.2%) students report being bullied. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019 )

A higher percentage of male than of female students report being physically bullied (6% vs. 4%), whereas a higher percentage of female than of male students reported being the subjects of rumors (18% vs. 9%) and being excluded from activities on purpose (7% vs. 4%). (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

41% of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that they think the bullying would happen again. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019 )

Of those students who reported being bullied, 13% were made fun of, called names, or insulted; 13% were the subject of rumors; 5% were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; and 5% were excluded from activities on purpose. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

A slightly higher portion of female than of male students report being bullied at school (24% vs. 17%). (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

Bullied students reported that bullying occurred in the following places: the hallway or stairwell at school (43%), inside the classroom (42%), in the cafeteria (27%), outside on school grounds (22%), online or by text (15%), in the bathroom or locker room (12%), and on the school bus (8%). (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

46% of bullied students report notifying an adult at school about the incident. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

School-based bullying prevention programs decrease bullying by up to 25%. (McCallion & Feder, 2013)

The reasons for being bullied reported most often by students include physical appearance, race/ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

The federal government began collecting data on school bullying in 2005, when the prevalence of bullying was around 28 percent. (U.S. Department of Education, 2015 )

Rates of bullying vary across studies (from 9% to 98%). A meta-analysis of 80 studies analyzing bullying involvement rates (for both bullying others and being bullied) for 12-18 year old students reported a mean prevalence rate of 35% for traditional bullying involvement and 15% for cyberbullying involvement. (Modecki, Minchin, Harbaugh, Guerra, & Runions, 2014 )

One in five (20.9%) tweens (9 to 12 years old) has been cyberbullied, cyberbullied others, or seen cyberbullying. (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020)

49.8% of tweens (9 to 12 years old) said they experienced bullying at school and 14.5% of tweens shared they experienced bullying online. (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020)

13% of tweens (9 to 12 years old) reported experiencing bullying at school and online, while only 1% reported being bullied solely online. (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020)

Effects of Bullying

Students who experience bullying are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school. (Centers for Disease Control, 2019)

Students who are both targets of bullying and engage in bullying behavior are at greater risk for both mental health and behavior problems than students who only bully or are only bullied. (Centers for Disease Control, 2019)

Bullied students indicate that bullying has a negative effect on how they feel about themselves (27%), their relationships with friends and family (19%), their school work (19%), and physical health (14%). (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

Students who experience bullying are twice as likely as non-bullied peers to experience negative health effects such as headaches and stomachaches. (Gini & Pozzoli, 2013 )

Youth who self-blame and conclude they deserved to be bullied are more likely to face negative outcomes, such as depression, prolonged victimization, and maladjustment. (Perren, Ettakal, & Ladd, 2013 )

Tweens who were cyberbullied shared that it negatively impacted their feelings about themselves (69.1%), their friendships (31.9%), their physical health (13.1%), and their schoolwork (6.5%). (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020).

Cyberbullying

Among students ages 12 - 18 who reported being bullied at school, 15% were bullied online or by text (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

Reports of cyberbullying are highest among middle school students, followed by high school students, and then primary school students (Centers for Disease Control, 2019)

The percentages of individuals who have experienced cyberbullying at some point in their lifetimes have more than doubled (18% to 37%) from 2007-2019 (Patchin & Hinduia, 2019 )

When students were asked about the specific types of cyberbullying they had experienced, mean and hurtful comments (25%) and rumors spread online (22%) were the most commonly-cited (Patchin et al., 2019 )

The type of cyberbullying tends to differ by gender. Girls were more likely to say someone spread rumors about them online while boys were more likely to say that someone threatened to hurt them online (Patchin et al., 2019 )

Those who are cyberbullied are also likely to be bullied offline (Hamm, Newton, & Chisholm, 2015 )

Cyberbullying Among Tweens (9-12 Years Old)

One in five tweens (20.9%) has been cyberbullied, cyberbullied others, or seen cyberbullying

49.8% of tweens said they experienced bullying at school and 14.5% of tweens shared they experienced bullying online

13% of tweens reported experiencing bullying at school and online, while only 1% reported being bullied solely online

Nine out of ten tweens use social media or gaming apps (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020)

Tweens shared they were engaging on the following sites, apps, or games: YouTube, Minecraft, Roblox, Google Classroom, Fortnite, TikTok, YouTube Kids, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger Kids, Instagram, Discord, Facebook, and Twitch

Tweens who were cyberbullied shared that it negatively impacted their feelings about themselves (69.1%), their friendships (31.9%), their physical health (13.1%), and their schoolwork (6.5%)

Tweens reported using a variety of strategies to stop the bullying including blocking the person bullying them (60.2%), telling a parent (50.8%), ignoring the person (42.8%), reporting it to the website or app (29.8%), and taking a break from the device (29.6%)

Two-thirds of tweens are willing to step in to defend, support, or assist those being bullied at school and online when they see it

Barriers to helping when tweens witness bullying at school or online included being afraid of making things worse, not knowing what to do or say, not knowing how to report it online, being afraid others kids will make fun of them, being afraid to get hurt, and not knowing who to tell

SOURCE: Patchin, J.W., & Hinduja, S. (2020). Tween Cyberbullying in 2020. Cyberbullying Research Center and Cartoon Network. Retrieved from: https://i.cartoonnetwork.com/stop-bullying/pdfs/CN_Stop_Bullying_Cyber_Bullying_Report_9.30.20.pdf.

Bullying of Students with Disabilities

Students with specific learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, emotional and behavior disorders, other health impairments, and speech or language impairments report greater rates of victimization than their peers without disabilities longitudinally and their victimization remains consistent over time (Rose & Gage, 2016 )

When assessing specific types of disabilities, prevalence rates differ: 35.3% of students with behavioral and emotional disorders, 33.9% of students with autism, 24.3% of students with intellectual disabilities, 20.8% of students with health impairments, and 19% of students with specific learning disabilities face high levels of bullying victimization (Rose & Espelage, 2012 )

Researchers discovered that students with disabilities were more worried about school safety and being injured or harassed by other peers compared to students without a disability (Saylor & Leach, 2009 )

When reporting bullying youth in special education were told not to tattle almost twice as often as youth not in special education (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

Successful strategies to prevent bullying among students with disabilities include (Rose & Monda-Amaya, 2012):

Teachers and peers engaging in meaningful and appropriate social interactions

Creating opportunities to increase social competence and positive interactions

Schools adopting appropriate intervention strategies that encourage social awareness and provide individualized interventions for targets with disabilities

Bullying of Students of Color

23% of African-American students, 23% of Caucasian students, 16% of Hispanic students, and 7% of Asian students report being bullied at school (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

More than one third of adolescents reporting bullying report bias-based school bullying (Russell, Sinclair, Poteat, & Koenig, 2012 )

Bias-based bullying is more strongly associated with compromised health than general bullying (Russell et al., 2012 )

Race-related bullying is significantly associated with negative emotional and physical health effects (Rosenthal et al, 2013 )

Bullying of Students Who Identify or Are Perceived as LGBTQ

70.1% of LGBTQ students were verbally bullied (e.g., called names, threatened) in the past year because of their sexual orientation and 59.1% because of their gender expression, and 53.2% based on gender (Kosciw, Greytak, Zongrone, Clark, & Truong, 2018)

28.9% of LGBTQ students were physically bullied (e.g., pushed, shoved) in the past year because of their sexual orientation and 24.4% because of their gender expression, and 22.8% based on gender (Kosciw et al., 2018)

48.7% of LGBTQ students experienced cyberbullying in the past year (Kosciw et al., 2018)

59.5% of LGBTQ students feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, 44.6% because of their gender expression, and 35% because of their gender (Kosciw et al., 2018)

34.8% of LGBTQ students missed at least one entire day at school in the past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable, and 10.5% missed four or more days in the past month (Kosciw et al., 2018)

Of the LGBTQ students who reported they were considering dropping out of school, 42.2% indicated they were doing so because of the harassment they faced at school (Kosciw et al., 2018)

Compared to LGBTQ students with no supportive school staff, students with many (11 or more) supportive staff at school were less likely to miss school because they felt unsafe (20.1% to 48.8%) and felt greater belonging to their school community (Kosciw et al., 2018)

LGBTQ students experienced a safe, more positive school environment when their school had a bullying prevention / anti-harassment policy that specifically included protections on sexual orientation and gender identity / expression (Kosciw et al., 2018)

Peer victimization of all youth was less likely to occur in schools with bullying policies that are inclusive of LGBTQ students (Hatzenbuehler & Keyes, 2013 )

Bullying and Suicide

There is a strong association between bullying and suicide-related behaviors, but this relationship is often mediated by other factors, including depression, violent behavior, and substance abuse (Reed, Nugent, & Cooper, 2015)

Students who report frequently bullying others and students who report being frequently bullied are at increased risk for suicide-related behavior (Centers for Disease Control, 2014)

A meta-analysis found that students facing peer victimization are 2.2 times more likely to have suicide ideation and 2.6 times more likely to attempt suicide than students not facing victimization (Gini & Espelage, 2014 )

Students who are both bullied and engage in bullying behavior are the highest risk group for adverse outcomes (Espelage & Holt, 2013)

The false notion that suicide is a natural response to being bullied has the dangerous potential to normalize the response and thus create copycat behavior among youth (Centers for Disease Control, 2014).

Interventions

Bullied youth were most likely to report that actions that accessed support from others made a positive difference (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

Actions aimed at changing the behavior of the bullying youth (fighting, getting back at them, telling them to stop, etc.) were rated as more likely to make things worse (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

Students reported that the most helpful things teachers can do are: listen to the student, check in with them afterwards to see if the bullying stopped, and give the student advice (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

Students reported that the most harmful things teachers can do are: tell the student to solve the problem themselves, tell the student that the bullying wouldn't happen if they acted differently, ignored what was going on, or tell the student to stop tattling (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

As reported by students who have been bullied, the self-actions that had some of the most negative impacts (telling the person to stop/how I feel, walking away, pretending it doesn't bother me) are often used by youth and often recommended to youth (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

Tweens reported using a variety of strategies to stop the bullying including blocking the person bullying them (60.2%), telling a parent (50.8%), ignoring the person (42.8%), reporting it to the website or app (29.8%), and taking a break from the device (29.6%) (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020).

Bystanders

Students need not be the targets of bullying to experience negative outcomes. Observing bullying is associated with adverse mental health outcomes (Rivers, Poteat, Noret, & Ashurst, 2009 )

Bystanders' beliefs in their social self-efficacy were positively associated with defending behavior and negatively associated with passive behavior from bystanders - i.e. if students believe they can make a difference, they're more likely to act (Thornberg et al., 2012 )

Students who experience bullying report that allying and supportive actions from their peers (such as spending time with the student, talking to him/her, helping him/her get away, or giving advice) were the most helpful actions from bystanders (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

Students who experience bullying are more likely to find peer actions helpful than educator or self-actions (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

The Youth Voice Research Project (2010) found that victimized students reported the following bystander strategies that made things better: spent time with me (54%), talked to me (51%), helped me get away (49%), called me (47%), gave me advice (46%), helped me tell (44%), distracted me (43%), listened to me (41%), told an adult (35%), confronted them (29%), asked them to stop

Even students who have observed but not participated in bullying behavior report significantly more feelings of helplessness and less sense of connectedness and support from responsible adults than students who have not witnessed bullying behavior (Centers for Disease Control, 2014)

Two-thirds of tweens are willing to step in to defend, support, or assist those being bullied at school and online when they see it (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020).

Barriers to helping when tweens witness bullying at school or online included being afraid of making things worse, not knowing what to do or say, not knowing how to report it online, being afraid others kids will make fun of them, being afraid to get hurt, and not knowing who to tell (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020).

References:

Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2019). Preventing bullying. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/yv/bullying-factsheet508.pdf.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2014). The Relationship Between Bullying and Suicide: What we Know and What it Means for Schools. Retrieved from https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/34163.

Davis, S., & Nixon, C. (2010). The youth voice research project: Victimization and strategies. Retrieved from: http://njbullying.org/documents/YVPMarch2010.pdf.

Espelage, D. L., & Holt, M. K. (2013). Suicidal ideation and school bullying experiences after controlling for depression and delinquency. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53. Retrieved from http://www.ncdsv.org/images/JAH_Suicidal-ideation-and-school-bullying_7-2013.pdf.

Hatzenbuehler, M. L., & Keyes, K. M. (2013). Inclusive anti-bullying policies and reduced risk of suicide attempts in lesbian and gay youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53, 21-26. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3696185/?tool=pmcentrez .

Kosciw, J. G., Greytak, E. A., Zongrone, A. D., Clark, C. M., & Truong, N. L. (2018). The 2017 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth in our nation's schools. New York: GLSEN. Retrieved from https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/GLSEN-2017-National-School-Climate-Survey-NSCS-Full-Report.pdf.

McCallion, G., & Feder, J. (2013). Student bullying: Overview of research, federal initiatives, and legal issues. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43254.pdf.

Patchin, J.W., & Hinduja, S. (2020). Tween Cyberbullying in 2020. Cyberbullying Research Center and Cartoon Network. Retrieved from: https://i.cartoonnetwork.com/stop-bullying/pdfs/CN_Stop_Bullying_Cyber_Bullying_Report_9.30.20.pdf.

Rose, C. A., & Espelage, D. L. (2012). Risk and protective factors associated with the bullying involvement of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders, 37, 133-148. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ989490

Russell, S. T., Sinclair, K., Poteat, P., & Koenig, B. (2012). Adolescent health and harassment based on discriminatory bias. American Journal of Public Health, 102(3), 493-495. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22390513 .

Thornberg, T., Tenenbaum, L., Varjas, K., Meyers, J., Jungert, T., & Vanegas, G. (2012). Bystander motivation in bullying incidents: To intervene or not to intervene? Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 8(3), 247-252. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3415829/ .

U.S. Department of Education, (2015). New data show a decline in school-based bullying. Retrieved from https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/new-data-show-decline-school-based-bullying .

Updated: November, 2020

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Almost one out of every four students (22%) report being bullied during the school year (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015). Rates of bullying vary across studies (from 9% to 98%).

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We believe that there are three key aspects to behavior management at schools

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From the big things to the little things, discipline is a part of every school. Hero gives you tools to redirect student behavior more effectively and consistently.

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The Building Blocks of Positive Behavior

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The Three B's are found posted on almost every wall at Blossomwood Elementary School in Huntsville, Alabama.
Be Respectful Be Responsible Be Resourceful
The Three B's are part of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), a systems-based method for improving student behavior, aspects of which are being implemented at Blossomwood.

"For us, it is about consistency," said Carol Costello, Blossomwood's assistant principal. "We needed to set schoolwide expectations for student behavior. PBIS gives our students, teachers, and staff a common language for discussing students' actions."

Less than three miles away, the same words adorn the 80-year-old walls of Lincoln Elementary, another school implementing PBIS. In some ways, Lincoln is similar to Blossomwood. Both schools score well on state testing, consistently meet the Adequate Yearly Progress requirements of No Child Left Behind, and have top-end attendance rates. Demographically, however, the schools are different. About 80 percent of Lincoln Elementary students receive a free or reduced-price lunch, while about 15 percent of Blossomwood students do. Lincoln's student body is 70 percent African American and 30 percent white, while Blossomwood's student body is 81 percent white and 18 percent African American.

Melinda Clark, Lincoln's curriculum specialist, likes PBIS because it is proactive. "We are addressing issues with student behavior before they happen," she said.

Lincoln and Blossomwood are among more than 7,000 schools nationwide implementing PBIS. The program was developed at the University of Oregon and has been shown to work at all grade levels and be effective in districts with greater concentrations of poverty and higher percentages of "at-risk" students. For those schools that effectively implement PBIS, the list of demonstrated rewards is long:

reduced office referral rates of up to 50 percent per year;

improved attendance and school engagement;

improved academic achievement;

reduced dropout rates;

reduced delinquency in later years;

improved school atmosphere; and

reduced referrals to special education.

The need for PBIS is self-evident. Out-of-school suspension numbers outpace enrollment; juvenile judges find their courtrooms clogged by students, particularly students of color, who have been referred for non-violent misbehavior; and research has shown that school exclusion is ineffective at improving student behavior and may, in fact, be counterproductive. Research has also tied school exclusion to grade retention and dropout problems. The result? Too many students leave school, one way or another, because of school discipline.

Discipline issues also affect teacher attrition. Researchers estimate that almost half of new teachers are no longer in the profession by their fifth year. In a 2005 national survey of teachers leaving the profession, 44 percent of teachers, and 39 percent of highly qualified teachers, cited student behavior as a reason for leaving.

At a time when both students and teachers are leaving our schools because of discipline, a number of districts have been looking to try something different. PBIS - which requires a major shift in a school's approach to discipline - may be the answer.

Teaching Positive Behavior

Positive behavior is not taught in a 15-minute session on the first day of school. Nor is a week, or even a month, of reinforcement adequate. PBIS is a systemwide, sustained approach to behavior management, introduced at the outset and reinforced throughout the year.

Abbott Middle School in Elgin, Illinois, uses "Cool Tools" - lesson plans that model expected behavior, explain the reasons for the expected behavior, and allow for student and teacher role play. "Each department is responsible for teaching different procedures at the beginning of the school year," said Matt Freesemann, an 8th-grade U.S. history teacher at Abbott. For example, the math department taught the students how to comport themselves in the stairwells and the bathrooms. "When we saw a dip in the desired behavior, we re-taught the expectations and worked to reinforce them."

Part of the PBIS model of reinforcement comes from acknowledging and rewarding appropriate behavior. One school awards "gotchas" for good behavior, which can be traded for novelties and school supplies at the school's PBIS Store. Another awards "wildcards" for students who are "caught being good." Students take their wildcards to the front office, where they're entered in a raffle - receiving positive feedback all along the way from teachers and staff. Other schools offer a variety of rewards for positive behavior, including lunch with a friend, homework passes, free time in the gym, or a chance to read outside. Schools also hold pizza parties and ice cream socials as incentives for meeting PBIS goals.

There also are consequences - consequences as clear and consistent as the rewards.

At one school, for example, there is a progression of consequences tied to non-violent disciplinary incidents: a verbal warning, followed by contacting the student's parents, then a school conference with the parents and finally a disciplinary referral to the principal's office.

PBIS schools rely on data, tracked most easily in the form of office referrals, to develop and modify their PBIS implementation plan. Using data helps schools stay abreast of trends or patterns in disciplinary incidents: When and where do most office referrals occur? What types of incidents are most common? Which teachers are referring the most students? Which students are most often referred? Are there gender or racial disparities in the referrals?

"It's hard to argue with the numbers," said Kathy Davis, assistant principal at Abbott. "Reviewing the data makes you aware and more conscious of your interactions with students."

At Abbott Middle School, the PBIS Team, consisting of a representative from each grade level and each department, meets monthly to review its disciplinary data and determine its next steps. "It enables us to see where our efforts are paying off and where we need to refocus," Freesemann said. The team's members bring the data to grade level and departmental meetings for further review and planning. "If we see an upward trend in discipline referrals, we can use different incentives to bring things back into line," Freesemann said. "If we notice certain students continue to receive referrals, we can direct more targeted interventions for specific types of misbehavior."

The result?

"We cut our in-school suspensions and after-school detentions in half compared to the first semester last year," Freesemann said. And out-of-school suspensions went from 20 or 25 a year to just three or four.

Levels of Support

PBIS schools use a multi-tiered approach to intervention. While the universal supports described above are sufficient to maintain acceptable behavior for about 80 percent of students, 15 percent require more targeted supports to reduce specific misconduct such as truancy. The remaining 5 percent require individualized supports to address more challenging behaviors.

In the second semester, teachers rewarded students on random days and at random times if they were "caught being on time." Students who were late to class had to meet with the principal to discuss tardiness. After several weeks, the number of reported tardies decreased, but there were still 14 students who were consistently tardy. These students required individualized supports.

Abbott set up a four-week program that monitored and rewarded the students' punctuality. The four-week period began with a goal of making it to class on time 80 percent of the time, increasing weekly to 100 percent. As students met goals, they were entered in weekly raffles, with prizes such as T-shirts and movie tickets. Students who met the 100 percent goal earned food cards to local restaurants and graduated from the program.

Ten of the 14 students successfully completed the program. Marisol, a 7th-grader, is one of them. "I love it. It helped me a lot. I don't get any more detentions, and detentions are really boring," she said.

Some of Marisol's friends still get in trouble for tardiness. "I am trying to be as quick as I can. If my friends aren't ready, I tell them I need to go and I leave them now. I wanted to pass the program."

Marisol is no longer tardy and is more engaged at Abbott now. "I want to be a teacher," she said.

Growing Pains

Implementing PBIS and changing a school's disciplinary culture are not easy. Most state PBIS programs will not train a school or district unless there is significant buy-in from teachers and administrators. Research suggests that a school cannot implement PBIS successfully without the commitment of key administrators and 80 percent of the school's teachers. "It's a teacher-focused program," Abbott's Davis said. "Could our teachers implement it without the support of the administration? It would be a lot harder, but yes. Could our administrators implement it without the support of our teachers? Absolutely not."

Securing buy-in from both teachers and administrators is hampered by some common misconceptions about PBIS. First, there is the misperception that PBIS only allows for positive reinforcement and not for other forms of consequences. Second, there is the misperception that positive reinforcement is only allowed to be given in tangible goods such as toys, not in less tangible forms of praise.

There are deeper misgivings as well. Those who have watched half-hearted, failed attempts to implement other disciplinary programs may doubt PBIS's structure or the school's ability to implement it. Teachers are asked to handle more minor disciplinary incidents in the classroom rather than sending students to the principal's office - a fundamental restructuring of discipline in some schools.

School redistricting led to an increase in students exhibiting at-risk behavior at Abbott Middle School. In turn, that led Abbott's teachers and administrators to look for ways to improve discipline.

At Abbott, Davis said, "We introduced PBIS to our teachers as an idea, as a possibility. We tried to show our teachers and staff how flexible the program could really be." Abbott's teachers participated in developing common procedures and expectations for behavior.

"We asked for a lot of input. We gave our teachers a lot of opportunities along the way to shape it," explained Davis. Nonetheless, for those teachers who were totally against changing Abbott's approach to discipline, "we let them know from the beginning that we have to change, no matter what," Davis said. "So, whether you buy into this program or you don't, the mentality has to change or you need to think about looking somewhere else."

Sustained effort, throughout the year, is a key to PBIS's success.

"When we saw lulls in expected student behavior in March or April, we had to keep ourselves as teachers from backsliding to other ways of disciplining students," Freesemann said. "It helped that our principal believed in PBIS 100 percent. When talking to students or parents about disciplinary issues, she always referenced our schoolwide expectations. It really began to change the way we thought about behavior as a school."

PBIS and Racial Disparity in Discipline

Researchers are looking at ways in which PBIS can reduce the racial discipline gap. Too often in many schools, students of color, particularly African American and Latino students, are disciplined disproportionately to their presence in the student body. At Abbott Middle School, PBIS lowered discipline rates while maintaining discipline numbers proportional by race to the school's enrollment.

"As we reviewed the data, we realized we had a few teachers who were sending a disproportionate number of African American students to the office," said Kathy Davis, assistant principal at Abbott. "When we looked at these teachers' disciplinary numbers, we found that they were sending children to the office for incidents which are not grounds for office referrals in our school. In short, once these teachers began to actually implement PBIS, these numbers decreased to where they should be."

Unfortunately, Abbott's proportionality is the exception, not the rule, even in schools implementing PBIS.

Russell Skiba, director of the Initiative on Equity and Opportunity at Indiana University has found that, overall, PBIS has enabled schools to reduce school exclusion by appropriately matching the severity of the disciplinary incident to the consequence. While PBIS reduces school exclusion for all students, Skiba found that students of color in PBIS schools were still more likely to receive harsher punishments for similar misbehavior than their white peers. Nonetheless, Skiba sees promise in the PBIS framework as a means to bring these data and these conversations to the forefront.

Skiba advocates for diverse representation on school PBIS teams to ensure that multiple perspectives aid the development of the school's behavior expectations, interventions, and reinforcement. "I believe educators are excellent problem solvers. If they see a problem, they will try to solve it," Skiba said. "If we bring that kind of awareness into the framework of PBIS, we will see that same kind of problem solving."

Alternatives to Suspension

There are a number of ways that schools can cut down on suspensions so that students do not miss class time. Here are some options:

Conference with the student to provide him/her with corrective feedback.

Re-teach behavioral expectations.

Mediate conflict between students or students and staff.

Create behavior contracts that include expected behaviors, consequences for infractions, and incentives for demonstrating positive behaviors.

Student completion of community service tasks.

Development of an open communication system between parents/guardians and school officials in order to address issues the student may be facing in a collaborative manner.

Reflective activity, such as writing an essay, about the offense and how it affected the student, others, and the school.

Loss of a privilege.

Adjust the student's class schedule or placement to maximize academic and behavioral improvement.

Create a check-in/check-out intervention plan for the at-risk student with a caring adult in the school who tracks the student's behavioral progress and addresses his/her individual needs on a daily basis.

Require daily or weekly check-ins with an administrator for a set period of time.

Refer student to counselor, social worker, behavior interventionist, or Building Based Student Support Team.

Work with the student to choose an appropriate way for him/her to apologize and make amends to those harmed or offended.

Arrange for the student to receive services from a counseling, mental health, or mentoring agency.

Detention or in-school suspension, during which the student completes his/her work.

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The Building Blocks of Positive Behavior

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The Three B's are found posted on almost every wall at Blossomwood Elementary School in Huntsville, Alabama. Be Respectful Be Responsible Be Resourceful The Three B's are part of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), a systems-based method for improving student behavior, aspects of which are being implemented at Blossomwood.

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Examines Past Publications

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Newsela | Opinion: Past racist coverage appalls National Geographic editor

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A magazine's uneasy look back at depicting racial issues

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Learning about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

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Why is it so hard for people to talk and learn about equity, diversity, and inclusion? In this post I argue that part of the answer is that many people have a fixed mindset when it comes to learning about these things.

Carol Dweck's work on fixed and growth mindset helps to explain why people react differently to challenging situations. In broad strokes, people with a growth mindset believe that ability (as it relates to that situation) can be developed, even when one fails to overcome that challenging situation; people with a fixed mindset approach the same challenging situation with doubt about their ability to overcome the situation despite hard work and they withdraw from the situation to avoid failing.

Mindset changes over time. And, mindset can vary by domain of knowledge-in other words, my self-concept as a learner of mathematics is high and I have a growth mindset about learning mathematics but my self-concept as an athlete is low and I have a fixed mindset about learning sports. (Sidenote: it is important to remember that growth mindset is not a silver bullet-most school-based interventions involving growth mindset have been shown to yield modest effects -and that growth mindset doesn't make up for inequities in educational opportunities in our society.)

All of us need to learn more about equity, diversity, and inclusion, especially those of us who are teachers. We need to learn about the difference between race and ethnicity, sex and gender identity. We need to learn about our own implicit biases. We need to learn about racism, sexism, ableism, and all other forms of discrimination and bias, at the personal, institutional, and societal levels.

Learning about equity, diversity, and inclusion can be scary, especially for progressive, liberal-minded folks who want to believe that we are fair and good. The thought of being labeled as a racist, sexist, *-ist person can be frightening. However, the truth is that we all carry unconscious biases that cause us to exhibit prejudice despite our best intentions. Instead of thinking of being racist as a binary state, I posit that it is more meaningful and accurate to think of ourselves as being on a journey toward ever more equitable, inclusive, and caring words and actions. We'll never fully get there, but we still work toward that goal.

There are interesting parallels between ways that people think about learning mathematics and ways that people think about equity, diversity, and inclusion. These parallels have to do with the beliefs that people have about their abilities and the ways that they approach challenging situations. Being racist is not an innate character trait in the same way that having the ability to learn math is not a product of one's genes.

Learning math
"I'm not good at math. My sister has the math brain in the family." ( implying that there is some sort of "math gene" that they lack and that math skill is a binary trait)

"I can learn math with effort and persistence."

Learning about equity, diversity, and inclusion
"I'm a good person. I'm not racist." ( denying the existence of implicit bias, and implying that being racist is a binary trait)

"I can learn more about these things with effort and persistence."

Learning math
"I don't want to attempt this mathematical task because I'm likely to fail and I don't want to be seen as dumb."

"I will try to learn what is needed for me to attempt this and if I mess up I will learn from that experience."

Learning about equity, diversity, and inclusion
"I can't raise any controversial topics in my class because I might say the wrong thing and I don't want to be seen as racist."

"I will try to learn what is needed for me to attempt this and if I mess up I will learn from that experience and take responsibility for any harm caused."

I draw these parallels because I suspect that appealing to growth mindset might help some educators be more willing to talk about equity, diversity, and inclusion. Many educators are already familiar with the idea of a growth mindset and actively think about how to use it in their own teaching, so they might be able to see how it also applies to learning about equity, diversity, and inclusion. Most educators I know are trying to do the right thing and aren't overtly racist and sexist. And yet, we still need to work harder to help more folks see equity, diversity, and inclusion as central to their work.

But a growth mindset approach is not enough. For folks who train others on topics relating to equity, diversity, and inclusion, it is important to set a tone of compassion and humility. Shame and guilt often cause people to withdraw from the conversation and put up defenses.

It doesn't help that we seem to live in an age when people's mistakes can be captured on video and shared around the world instantly. Call-out culture makes people nervous about saying or doing the wrong thing. And, our human nature is to want to discredit a person or organization entirely once we've found some flaw in them/it. The pressure to be perfect is so great-I understand why some faculty want to just sit on the sidelines and avoid saying anything that could be used against them.

We desperately need to transform classrooms and schools into spaces in which instructors and students can be brave with each other and at the same time offer grace to each other when mistakes occur. Part of the solution is to establish classroom norms that foster these things. (See previous post about some possible norms to use.) Part of the solution might also be to use the growth/fixed mindset framework to help debunk myths about ourselves. I invite you to share other things that could also help in the comment section below.

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Growth Mindset and Learning about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

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Why is it so hard for people to talk and learn about equity, diversity, and inclusion? In this post I argue that part of the answer is that many people have a fixed mindset when it comes to learning about these things. Carol Dweck's work on fixed and growth mindset helps to explain why people react...

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Why Growth Mindset is Key to Building Diverse Teams

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Why Growth Mindset is Key to Building Diverse Teams

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Greater Productivity Lies in Diverse Teaming

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In our quest to build SameWorks, we have met with many companies to uncover the secret sauce of building thriving, diverse teams, and many others who are seeking to attain it.

Studies show that diverse teams outperform, many of which are highlighted in this article. For instance, McKinsey ran a study showing that gender diverse teams are 15% more productive, and ethnically diverse teams are 35% more productive.

These studies show that it's not the race or gender of the diverse teams that's the magic ingredient for performance; it's the diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences of those individuals that are the catalyst.

How can companies harness the power of diverse teams? Where should they start?

The key is adopting a growth mindset across your organization.

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

Let's start by talking about what a growth mindset is:

Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). This is because they worry less about looking smart and they put more energy into learning.

HBR wrote a fantastic introductory article on the topic recently, and another about the positive effects of adopting a growth mindset on the entire organization.

People with a growth mindset believe that the natural talents, proclivities, or interests of an individual can be harnessed to augment a team's skills with their unique and diverse points of view.
There are many ways in which an individual can harness this mindset:

Military service members who take the leadership skills they learned in active duty and apply them to leadership in a tech company.

A product manager who studied liberal arts in college, but spent their spare time building websites to pay their tuition.

College dropouts who start companies and learn about entrepreneurship and business as they go.

An individual who is great at research, for example a scientist or a lawyer, moving into a field that needs researching skills to be successful, such as SEO or forensics.

Examples of a fixed mindset
Here are symptoms of teams that have a fixed mindset:

Never recruiting or hiring from within, because they hold the belief that there is no way an individual on another team could learn or be trained into the role.

Only accepting candidates with a specific GPA, from a small set of other companies, or a specific set of schools.

Passing on candidates because of very broad reasons, such as, "I don't think their school has a good CS program," or "They're not technical enough."

This mentality leads to homogenous teams that may ultimately lack the ability to pressure-test one another based on diverse perspectives.

The danger is with this mentality, you also risk passing on highly qualified and motivated candidates who are not at all representative of your biases against their education or experience.

Building growth and diversity from within

Successful companies deploy learning and development programs within their organizations to harness the growth potential of existing employees.

Companies that grow their employees' talents retain high-potential individuals over a much longer period of time than the industry average. When people can grow their careers within an organization, they retain their valuable and unique industry, customer and proprietary knowledge inside of the company.

A common impediment to the success of these programs occurs when management with a fixed mindset believes that only a specific type of person can qualify or fit into their department.

Leaders with a fixed mindset will be biased against the capabilities of say, a customer support engineer moving into a software development role, or an account manager becoming a sales engineer. Often times these biases are caused by fear of hiring someone who won't perform as well as the rest of the team, or because people tend to use pattern-matching for what they've deemed successful in the past.

Successful teams with a growth mindset keep a warm bench of entry-level opportunities for individuals within the organization to earn their way into higher-level roles. This includes roles that are more strategic, more technical, or involve people or team leadership.

As employees grow and thrive in their careers, they will naturally seek these opportunities. It is much better to provide them within the organization than to inspire them to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Making hiring decisions with a growth mindset
When making hiring decisions, consider:

Whether the individual has unique and complimentary qualities that are currently missing from your team, to help augment the diversity of perspectives.

Whether their skills translate to the job in unique ways that could be an asset to their role.

If they have demonstrated a growth mindset in their previous career history. You should probe for stories and data points.

Discussing with your superiors about the risks and rewards of hiring outside of your typical candidate profile, and the importance of a growth mindset. Get the support of senior leadership to empower growth-focused hiring decisions.

We're excited to work with companies that are all-in about growing their people. Life is all about the journey of continuous learning and discovery. We should embrace and nurture the growth potential that exists within all of us.

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Why a Growth Mindset is key to building diverse teams - SameWorks

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In our quest to build SameWorks, we have met with many companies to uncover the secret sauce of building thriving, diverse teams, and many others who are seeking to attain it. Studies show that diverse teams outperform, many of which are highlighted in this article.

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Strategies for Creating Growth Mindset in Students

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Strategies for Creating Growth Mindset in Students

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Educator's Attitude is Key

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Fostering a Growth Mindset

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Openness to learning can have a profound impact on your life, relationships, and career. People with "fixed mindsets" believe particular behaviors and level of intelligence are set in stone and cannot be developed, while those with a "growth mindset" believe these qualities can be improved through your own efforts and experiences. Encouraging a growth mindset-a concept developed by Carol S. Dweck-has allowed American Express to evolve work habits, professional development, and ultimately foster a culture of learning and innovation.

In October 2012, we hosted our biannual Women's Conference to provide our top 200 senior woman with the skills and resources to develop and advance to the top levels of American Express. That's where I met Marissa Campise, vice president at Venrock, a Silicon Valley- and New York-based venture capital firm. Campise shared great stories about how embracing a growth mindset in a male-dominated industry was critical to her career progression. Fostering a culture of learning in the workplace is challenging whether one works at a small startup or a big corporation, so we addressed how companies can help employees adopt an openness to change. Here's a portion of that conversation:

Giglio: We see apprehension to take risks and be open to failure as one of the biggest challenges to achieving a growth mindset in the workplace. We've really focused on motivating and empowering our employees to be innovative and creative, because that's when the magic happens. For me, a turning point in my career was taking a role that required me to move to Hong Kong. At that time, Asia was not the growth market it is now and many questioned my decision. I learned so much in my time in Asia and gained a better understanding of what it meant to operate as a global company. The experience made me a better leader and fueled my desire to learn more about our business internationally, and as a result, I spent the next six years in London.

I know for you it was also important to take advantage of those new, sometimes daunting opportunities. Was there a time in your career where you had to take a risk to move your career forward?

[sws_pullquote_right] Moving on from failure can be tough, but it can be easier when you know you're succeeding or failing on your own merits [/sws_pullquote_right]

Campise: Absolutely. Joining Venrock last year was a huge risk, for example. I held a coveted position at another prominent venture firm and gave that up because I wanted to build big, sustainable companies, something Venrock is known for. It was also daunting to enter a new culture, where I would be the only woman on the investment team, but my colleagues were quick to bring me into the fold as part of the team. Venture capital as a business is all about taking risks-you are guaranteed to encounter failure-and sometimes those risks pay off in a big way. At Venrock, individuals are empowered to lead deals and learn from one another to make big decisions. It's ok to try new things and explore the unpopular because sometimes the best opportunities are the ones that involve working in new, unchartered territories.

Giglio: But when those failures do happen, it can shake an employee's confidence. We found it important to help employees shift their thinking, have them start to think about failures as opportunities to learn. Rather than sweeping mistakes under the rug, help them realize success can only happen because of missteps. It's about learning and identifying what needs to change, how to change it, and to apply that knowledge moving forward.

Campise: Moving on from failure can be tough, but it can be easier when you know you're succeeding or failing on your own merits. Especially for women, I think we're in a better position to accept failure in a culture built on meritocracy. And while it is important to learn from your failures, I also try to prioritize what's most important in life to put failures and problems into perspective. For me, family, close friends, and health all comes first. The rest has a solution.

Giglio: That's a very good point. It's important to know your priorities and to let them guide your decisions, which takes courage. We try to help our employees develop these softer skills, and their business skills, as they advance in their careers. We offer concrete learning paths and programs that help them develop the specific professional and business skills needed to lead others. Mid-level managers benefit from these experiences the most because their leadership style and openness to change has the potential to influence the next-generation workforce.

Campise: I think most people don't really feel like they know who they are or what they're capable of early in their careers. Either they will embrace opportunities to grow and learn, which will help build self-awareness and confidence, or it will prove too difficult to have a winning attitude, creating more challenges and road blocks for one's career path. You have to challenge yourself, pick yourself up, and move forward. Make sure you also celebrate your successes and find those ways to inspire yourself, so you are always driving towards something.

[sws_pullquote_right] It's important to know your priorities and to let them guide your decisions, which takes courage. [/sws_pullquote_right]

Giglio: At American Express, we talk a lot about the fact that "growth mindset" is built on courage. You need to have the courage to be open to learn, to see the possibilities, and take risks, knowing that they might not always work out as planned. Anything else you'd like to add, Marissa?

Campise: Most organizations don't encourage risk-taking and instead punish failure. Innovation won't emerge from organizations like this. In the startup world, we do everything we can to encourage risk-taking. Don't be afraid to think differently. In history, some of the greatest entrepreneurs are the ones who took the greatest risks and dared to explore uncharted territory. At Venrock, we have found that many of our successful companies achieved greatness doing something different from their original idea. Navigating their way to success required bold thinking, risk-taking, and an openness to change. Those qualities have to be in their DNA. In the VC industry, you can't find those types of entrepreneurs if you don't embrace the way they see the world. We search for that force.

Giglio: Marissa and I both believe a growth mindset can absolutely be developed, and it starts with the realization that every day is a learning opportunity. I'd encourage employees to seek new experiences, and learn from the challenges and failures that occur. If our employees are constantly changing and adapting, it's not failure. It's ensuring a winning strategy for them and the company.

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By Gabriella Giglio, EVP of Global HR at American Express Openness to learning can have a profound impact on your life, relationships, and career. People with "fixed mindsets" believe particular behaviors and level of intelligence are set in stone and cannot be developed, while those with a "growth mindset" believe...

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Can you REALLY teach diversity and inclusion?

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Can you REALLY teach diversity and inclusion?

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YES!

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The short answer is yes. But a better question might be, is the organization ready to do the pre- and post-training work needed to ensure diversity and inclusion content sticks?

Training alone is rarely enough. Not when the subject matter is complex, controversial or comes packaged with a load of historically negative baggage, which diversity and inclusion does.

For diversity and inclusion training to stick, it needs support, reinforcement and a firm foundation in a broader talent management strategy that includes culture, leadership and learning and development. Without the right kind of culture in place - where employees embrace difference, senior leaders model inclusive behaviors and value the innovation and market accessibility that diversity can provide, and promote diverse thinking and risk-taking so people don't have to hide their mistakes - diversity and inclusion training will not work.

Now, let's back up a step. What exactly is diversity and inclusion training? It's often focused on unconscious and conscious bias, advancing communication skills, building cross-cultural intelligence, relationships, emotional intelligence or self-awareness and establishing commonalities and the value of individuals holding multiple identities. That's not multiple identities in the bad movie, personality disorder way, but in the "I am male, Latino, Catholic, born in a rural setting, but can still contribute at a high level outside that environment" type of way.

However, before learning leaders embark on this type of training initiative there's some strategic pre-work that needs to be done. Ask these questions: Does our culture embrace diversity and inclusion? Do our leaders understand their value to the business and the workforce? Do the organization's talent management strategies and systems support and enable diversity and inclusion? If not, training would be precipitous because the right support for this type of development is not there.

René Kizilcec, co-founder of the Lytics Lab at Stanford University, offered an analogy around how to teach students to be more effective learners to illustrate the point. Offering readings on how to take notes or make a study schedule, essentially telling someone how to do something, is not enough in this context. "There needs to be active support throughout to actually have any behavioral change. Diversity is a similar animal," he said.

"There is telling and then there is practicing, and the practicing is about providing the structures, whether its rituals or it's embedded in software ... that support more inclusiveness." For diversity-themed learning to stick, it must be delivered in an environment that is welcoming to a diverse group of people. Kizilcec said learning leaders should "target the individual, and target the environment."

Or, as Giovanna Ramazzina, head of LPD - leadership and professional development - for international education-company Kaplan said, teaching diversity and inclusion requires a growth mindset rather than a quick mindset approach. "It is a complex issue, and it requires proper focus. In a way, it becomes a business culture transformation project rather than a simple, here's a few days courses. Then you can hope that people understand diversity and inclusion and apply it in their workplace."

Once the culture and leadership support are in place, there are many ways to go about the actual training. But successful strategies usually involve some level of assessment to establish the current state of affairs; a focus on small group, in-person sessions or workshops and teaming exercises; and goal setting to determine what are the desired behavioral changes and how to create, sustain and measure them. These learning interventions don't have to have a diversity label, as their content is as much about collaboration and inclusion as anything.

Ramazzina said decision-making might be a worthwhile development focus. Leaders could examine decision making processes at every level, and set a goal to change the primary decision-making stratagem from directive to collaborative. "It's looking at how does this business work, operate and make decisions, and can we change that to a more inclusive and collaborative approach?"

Kaplan teaches inclusive and collaborative decision-making techniques using a variety of strategies. Its "red teaming" exercise comes from the military and helps participants to continuously challenge assumptions and not shy away from provoking conversations around business issues. Workshops on the Delphi method examine how people vote to stop things from happening in business and ways to collaborate across functions and departments.

"You get people in a room, divide them into groups, and they spend time thinking about the past and the future; they project future scenarios. As the conversation goes through with very structured tools and approaches, you come to conclusions that you call into action straight away," she said.

Note, any development intervention should include a diverse group of people. That group may not always reflect ethnic or religious diversity; it might reflect diverse viewpoints, departments and levels of experience. Ramazzina said it's a mistake to create a bubble around a diverse group of people in the hopes of making them inclusive without engaging the rest of the business. Learning leaders should help the senior team identify the practices, processes and business policies that currently help or hinder talent development - whatever they look like.

Senior teams may need their own workshop to learn how to identify issues quickly and accurately. "Give them a framework that can help them look into the culture, authority and processes of the business," Ramazzina said. "See the pros and cons that can help or hinder that particular population you're looking to support and encourage. Then talk them through a few interactive exercises, small group discussions to explore biases, how we naturally create barriers, how language influences behavior that in turn shapes corporate culture."

Live case studies can offer first-hand narratives to help senior leaders understand current organizational issues. For example, women in the business might share experiences from onboarding to their C-suite promotions to create rich discussion items around culture issues, mentorship and where the glass ceiling happened for them.

"What you're doing in training is building a foundation for people to work together, to see each other as full human beings, and to find commonalities," said Simma Lieberman, president and CEO of Simma Lieberman Associates, a diversity and inclusion consultancy.

That training may address cohorts not just by different dimensions of diversity like gender or ethnicity, but at different points in their career. Diversity education programs at PwC, for example, target everyone from interns to senior-leaders. This holistic approach allows the professional services network to create a work environment where everyone feels like they can confront stereotypes and acknowledge the impact the world has on our daily lives, said Mike Dillon, the company's chief diversity and inclusion officer.

PwC's minority internship program, named Start, recruits college students early and introduces them to the firm's services and culture. Senior Select, for leaders with three to six years' experience, assembles talent from across the country for networking and professional development at a crucial time in their careers - right before they take on deeper leadership roles in the firm. "Programs like that are important for recruitment, development and advancement," said Dillon. "We know diversity brings us growth, innovation, and gives us opportunity for our people." The company's blind-spot training, or 4REAL, is a four-episode video series available to everyone, but it's required for potential partners. Each video focuses on one common blind spot and is illustrated through fictitious characters and scenarios to show how blind spots can potentially impact thinking and lead to undesirable outcomes.

"Everyone has unconscious bias. Everyone can learn from it, so we highly encourage everyone to take this course," Dillon said. "But research tells us that any kind of forced diversity training can have unintended consequences. But [starting] this year, your skill set to be promoted to the next level would require taking unconscious bias training."

Whether diversity training is required or optional, for partners or interns, Ramazzina said creating development efforts that help build an inclusive and diverse culture is a substantial project. "It's transformational," she explained. "It involves change management, looking at HR processes, making time for each other. People need to be aware that these things fail because they're not taken seriously enough."

So, yes. Learning leaders can teach diversity and inclusion, but it's not easy. It requires an integrated talent management mindset with firm leadership commitment to ensure behavioral change and to reap organizational value. That value comes not when a diversity or inclusion-themed course is completed, but when its participants connect what they've learned to talent management strategy and process on an enterprise level.
Kellye Whitney is associate editorial director for Chief Learning Officer. Comment below or email editor@CLOmedia.com.
Tags: diversity, diversity training, inclusion

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Can You Teach Diversity and Inclusion? - Chief Learning Officer - CLO Media

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The short answer is yes. But a better question might be, is the organization ready to do the pre- and post-training work needed to ensure diversity and inclusion content sticks? Training alone is rarely enough. Not when the subject matter is complex, controversial or comes packaged with a load of historically negative baggage, which diversity and inclusion does.

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Growth Mindset Affects the Future of Students-- no matter what field they choose to go into!

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I talk to a lot of companies these days that are seeking new ways to build diversity within their organization.

I always ask them if they are employing a growth mindset when developing talent. For example, how many people have they promoted to strategic roles from within the company in the previous year?

Per HBR, a growth mindset can be defined as:

"Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). This is because they worry less about looking smart and they put more energy into learning."

This mindset isn't only limited to the individuals themselves, but are also an important part of career development programs within companies. Great hiring managers know that they should be open-minded when considering candidates' backgrounds, and invest heavily in high-potential individuals.

I have personally grown and developed because of this mindset.

I transitioned into Product Management because the company I was working for at the time, Bazaarvoice, saw my work in Customer Success, and recognized how well I channeled customer needs into product requirements. I worked hard and formed relationships within the Product team, and thankfully, that hard work was recognized, and I was given the opportunity to launch a career in product.

If my company had only hired product managers with CS backgrounds plus an MBA, which is typical for the tech industry, I wouldn't have had the chance to flourish in a career that's taken me from Product Manager, to Director of Product, all the way to starting my own company, SameWorks. Not to mention that my background meant that I had unique experiences that enriched the overall perspective of the product teams I worked on.

This is a perfect example of how companies who believe in a growth mindset operate. They believe that the talented people within their organization are capable of growing skills and capabilities over time, and they fuel that growth by providing them opportunities within the company to leverage those new skills.

When I became a hiring manager within product at WP Engine, I worked hard to ensure that we were considering the holistic capabilities of the people we were interviewing. That meant that we hired MBAs, but also hired a highly technical Theater and Dance major, who put himself through college by building websites. We promoted our top-performing sales engineer into product as well.

In other words, the intern working in Customer Support today might be your top performing Software Engineer a few years down the road.

By grooming top talent within an organization, companies also are better able to retain that talent over a longer period within the company. If you don't have junior roles available for high potential internal employees, you risk losing those people to other opportunities outside of the company. It may be tempting to try to keep these individuals productive in their current role, but ultimately, everyone needs the opportunity to advance within their career.

Diversity isn't just about hiring people with varied demographics in your company. It also extends to their work backgrounds, their education, and their life experiences. There have been numerous studies that prove that diverse teams outperform others. For instance, McKinsey ran a study showing that gender diverse teams are 15% more productive, and ethnically diverse teams are 35% more productive.

Diversity is good for business because...

The core reason why diversity is so good for business is that people with different degrees, fields of study, and life experiences provide diverse viewpoints, and pressure-test assumptions. When you open your mind to promoting from within, and broadening your definition of what backgrounds a successful candidate might have, you create a perfect foundation for building diverse teams.

About the Author

Crystal Hansen is founder and CEO of SameWorks, based in Austin, TX. SameWorks helps companies get certified for pay equity, using simple and affordable software tools and analytics, which improve recruiting, retention and performance.

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The Foundation of Diverse Teams? A Growth Mindset - Women 2.0

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I always ask them if they are employing a growth mindset when developing talent. For example, how many people have they promoted to strategic roles from within the company in the previous year? Per HBR, a growth mindset can be defined as: This mindset isn't only limited to the individuals themselves, but are also an important part of career development programs within companies.

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Growth Mindset is an investment in our future, not a cost...

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1 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Diversity and inclusion efforts are becoming more and more common in business today, but there is still a terrible gap in the mindset of many business leaders. In this video, Glenn Llopis, author of The Innovation Mentality, exposes the core flaw of most companies' strategies when it comes to diversity of thought and inclusivity.

Rather than focusing on the cost of these initiatives with a poor attitude, business leaders need to see them as investments that create opportunities to grow. It's time to embrace a new mindset and learn how to earn the respect of people whose respect truly matters.

Click play to learn more about how a more innovative mindset can close the gap between inclusion and growth and can make your business more effective.

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See Inclusion and Diversity as a Growth Strategy, Not a Cost

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1 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Diversity and inclusion efforts are becoming more and more common in business today, but there is still a terrible gap in the mindset of many business leaders.

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“There is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Martin Luther King

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“There is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Martin Luther King

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Drive growth by moving diversity and inclusion where it belongs: in the center of the organization

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One of my favorite Martin Luther King Jr. quotes is: "There is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." And I am just going to come out and say it: Most diversity and inclusion initiatives fall into the former category: sincere ignorance. They look and sound great. They are usually well-meaning too. But a vast number of these initiatives prove ineffective or fail within a year or two. Why? Sincere ignorance: Start talking to the people who put them together, and more often than not you realize that the details and depth of strategic thinking behind them is as thin as the paper they are printed on.

This is not surprising when you consider that most diversity and inclusion initiatives are developed to comply with corporate governance and self-regulation (often under the heading "Corporate Social Responsibility" or CSR). For example, in most workplaces, these initiatives are usually poorly funded tactical inclusion initiatives disconnected from broader, more substantial, and well-funded general training programs. They may be well meaning, but they are misguided in their approaches.

They are also often outdated in their ideas. They cater to the status quo. They assume existing and potential employees targeted by these programs must change to fit into the current workplace culture. They ask and answer one question: How can we acquire, train, and change diverse employees for them to succeed and thrive in our culture? If we keep asking that question - or any question - over and over again, why should we expect a different result?

As Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg stated in the Harvard Business Review, this is exactly why companies are bad at figuring out what their problems are and end up solving for the wrong things: "What they struggle with, it turns out, is not solving problems but figuring out what the problems are. In surveys of 106 C-suite executives who represented 91 private and public-sector companies in 17 countries, I found that a full 85% strongly agreed or agreed that their organizations were bad at problem diagnosis, and 87% strongly agreed or agreed that this flaw carried significant costs. Fewer than one in 10 said they were unaffected by the issue. The pattern is clear: Spurred by a penchant for action, managers tend to switch quickly into solution mode without checking whether they really understand the problem."

What we need to do, argues Wedell-Wedellsborg, is reframe the problem. Actually, when it comes to diversity and inclusion, the problem starts with using the word "problem." Diversity and inclusion should be about "opportunity" - specifically growth opportunity.

Here are five ways to rethink and reinvent the way you lead diversity and inclusion as a growth strategy:
1. Move diversity and inclusion out of human resources.
By and large, diversity and inclusion initiatives focus only on recruitment, reputation management, and "checking off the boxes." That does not make them bad. It just makes them limited. But what really limits them is where they live: in HR and CSR - on the fringe and disconnected from enterprise wide growth opportunities. As a result, initiatives such as employee resource groups (ERGs) - are viewed as cost centers (expenses), rather than as profit centers (investments) to drive influence in the workplace and growth in the marketplace. What we need is a mindset for renewal, reinvention, and growth by moving diversity and inclusion where it belongs: in the center of the organization.

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One of my favorite Martin Luther King Jr. quotes is: "There is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." And I am just going to come out and say it: Most diversity and inclusion initiatives fall into the former category: sincere ignorance. They look and sound great.

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Key to Unlocking Doors/Barriers to Diversity

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It's no secret that the tech industry struggles with diversity. While there are a number of factors limiting progress (things like explicit and unconscious bias, flawed processes and systems and homogeneous cultures), one that's often overlooked is the industry's fixed mindset - its belief that intelligence, talents and abilities are fixed traits.

This mindset manifests as a culture that views brilliance as critical to success, and where some people are seen as inherently more brilliant than others - a " culture of genius."

It shows up in companies' job descriptions seeking "rockstars." It comes into play in hiring conversations, where interviewers debate whether candidates have sufficient "cognitive ability" or "a brain for engineering. " It emerges in feedback conversations, when employees are praised for brilliance and intellectual horsepower. And it's reflected in how the industry treats its leaders, elevating them to star status.

Many leaders in tech purport to embrace a "growth mindset" - a belief in people's ability to grow and develop. And in some respects, the industry does encourage such a mindset. For example, "failure" in tech is often seen as productive. But the industry's culture of genius suggests a fixed mindset is driving views about intelligence, talents and abilities.

There are important consequences to such a mindset. When people have a fixed mindset, they focus more on proving themselves than improving, they view struggle as a sign of inadequacy and they give up in the face of setbacks. Like individuals, organizations and even entire fields have mindsets, and those with a growth mindset set loftier goals, take smarter risks and remain resilient in the face of setbacks.

But in organizations and fields, a fixed mindset has another important consequence - it limits efforts to become more diverse and inclusive. Here's how a fixed mindset impedes diversity and inclusion efforts:

A fixed mindset leads to more stereotyping. Research shows that individuals with a fixed mindset are more likely to rely on stereotypes. This makes sense, because "stereotypes" are essentially beliefs about groups' fixed traits. In a recent neuroscience study, participants with a fixed mindset were more surprised than those with a growth mindset when they observed a person behaving in a stereotype-inconsistent way (e.g. when they saw a math geek reading the arts section of a newspaper), compared to when they saw that person behaving stereotypically (e.g. that same person reading the science section). Because a growth mindset rejects the idea of fixed abilities, it makes stereotypes less relevant.

Fixed mindset companies attract a less diverse applicant pool. It turns out that job candidates implicitly recognize this connection between a fixed mindset and stereotyping. When a company communicates a fixed mindset, it sends a powerful message to members of stereotyped groups that the organization may view them through the lens of stereotypes. This message can deter candidates from stereotyped groups from applying to jobs altogether, and make them more likely to leave.

In one study, researchers showed men and women career websites for a hypothetical management consulting company. When the site portrayed a fixed mindset (saying they wanted to hire employees "who have the intelligence and abilities that we're looking for"), women trusted the company less than when it portrayed a growth mindset (focusing on how they want to help employees "learn, discover, and grow").

Fixed-mindset managers are less likely to notice employee growth. When managers have a fixed mindset, they're less likely to notice when employee performance improves or declines. In one study, participants observed an employee performing poorly, and they were asked to rate that performance. Participants with a fixed mindset and a growth mindset both rated the employee's performance equally low. But when they later observed that same employee performing well, fixed mindset participants rated the employee lower relative to their true performance, while growth mindset participants accurately observed the employee's improvement.

A reliance on stereotypes, combined with a decreased likelihood of updating one's opinion in the face of new evidence, can create an environment where employees, and particularly those from stereotyped groups, are unfairly and inaccurately evaluated.

What's the alternative?

Companies that want to create an environment where everyone does their best work should focus on employee growth and development: recognize that people can improve, that mistakes are chances to learn and that setbacks are key to success.

By shifting away from a focus on genius, and instead emphasizing employee growth and development, companies will not only become more effective when it comes to goal-setting, risk-taking and resilience, but they'll create more inclusive cultures where people from all backgrounds can thrive.

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One barrier to diversity in tech is a culture of genius

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It's no secret that the tech industry struggles with diversity. While there are a number of factors limiting progress (things like explicit and unconscious bias, flawed processes and systems and homogeneous cultures), one that's often overlooked is the industry's fixed mindset - its belief that intelligence, talents and abilities are fixed traits.

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How to Signal That Your Organization Cares About Diversity

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How to Signal That Your Organization Cares About Diversity

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Schools ARE organizations!

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Research shows that people who believe that abilities and talents can be developed - a "growth mindset," in Carol Dweck's terms - are on average more successful than people who believe that abilities and talents are fixed - a "fixed mindset." A growth mindset allows people to respond more adaptively to challenges and setbacks.

It turns out that companies can have mindsets too - and that these mindsets influence their ability to attract people from underrepresented backgrounds. In a recent study by Katherine Emerson and Mary Murphy, researchers asked men and women to view company websites; one portrayed a growth-mindset culture and one a fixed-mindset culture. The fixed-mindset company talked, for example, about hiring employees "who have the intelligence and abilities that we are looking for." The growth-mindset company focused on how the company helps employees to grow. After reading these descriptions on company websites, women trusted the growth mindset company more.

Why? They believed that when a company emphasizes fixed traits, that company is more likely to form stereotypes - that is, to apply fixed traits to groups and that its managers are less likely to view women as smart, qualified, or assertive. A growth-mindset company, on the other hand, is less likely to rely on stereotypes.

Here are three ways to create a more attractive and inclusive environment for employees from different backgrounds.

Reward smart risk-taking, not just outcomes. Most companies recognize employees when they get a promotion or achieve some form of objective success. Focusing only on outcomes can create a sense that failure or mistakes should be avoided. Employees who worry that they'll be stereotyped as having low ability may be especially likely to avoid risks if only outcomes are valued. Companies should acknowledge employees when they take smart risks, even if those risks don't lead to the desired outcome. For example, an advertising agency in New York created the " Heroic Failure Award " to reward employees for taking big, edgy (but reasonable) risks.

Discuss mistakes openly. Companies that want to benefit from diverse perspectives should discuss mistakes openly. At Etsy, for example, engineers send company-wide emails confessing their mistakes. This practice encourages people to think about mistakes as learning opportunities rather than signs of incompetence. Not only does it mitigate fear of failure, but it helps the whole company learn more quickly by publicly sharing lessons from mistakes.

Here's a fascinating and relevant example of companies admitting and discussing mistakes: an increasing number of firms now publicize how few women and under-represented minorities they have in leadership positions, and solicit ways of improving their numbers.

Recruit learners, not "natural geniuses." A recent study found that fields whose practitioners believe "brilliance" is the main requirement for success have fewer women, because women are stereotyped as less likely to possess this trait. The researchers suggest that the results have implications for African Americans as well, who face similar stereotypes about innate abilities. When a field signals that inborn traits are more important than hard work, it seems to discourage women from choosing that field, since they worry they won't be given a fair evaluation. This study echoes the finding by Emerson and Murphy, described above, that prioritizing innate ability in companies limits diversity.

Companies who want to attract diverse talent should emphasize that they are looking for people who are excited to learn. In addition to attracting candidates from a range of backgrounds, this attracts people who are more likely to take risks, bounce back from setbacks, and learn from their mistakes-all key ingredients for innovation.

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How to Signal That Your Company Cares About Diversity

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Research shows that people who believe that abilities and talents can be developed - a "growth mindset," in Carol Dweck's terms - are on average more successful than people who believe that abilities and talents are fixed - a "fixed mindset." A growth mindset allows people to respond more adaptively to challenges and setbacks.

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Research shows "growth mindset makes a difference!"

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Research has shown that when students have a growth mindset, they are more likely to challenge themselves, believe that they can achieve more, and become stronger, more resilient and creative problem solvers. Educators can have an enormous impact on the mindset of their students.

Quick Tips to Infuse a Growth Mindset in Your Classroom

Encourage students to take risks.

Share your own struggles with challenging material. Show students that 'expertise' comes through practice (e.g., "When I first came across this topic in college I really had a tough time with it. And I had to read and reread it many times but I kept at it and eventually got it.").

Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know" or "I don't understand". Model effort.

If a student asks a question and you don't know the answer, make it a point to go learn the answer, then at the beginning of the next class, explain that you looked it up by doing X, and learned Y or loop students into this process and find the answer together.

If you're teaching a particular concept and misapprehended it yourself for a long time, tell your students!

Ask questions that are authentic and open-ended so students can focus on the process of thinking through an answer.

Assign work that allows for growth/improvement (e.g., multiple drafts of papers, opportunities to respond to feedback).

Encourage a growth mindset after potentially challenging assignments/exams.

Use practice and feedback, avoid having a gap between what is done in class and what is expected on assignments/exams.

Reinforce the notion that there is no such thing as a Math/X/Y person -- everyone can do Math/X/Y with proper training.

Ensure that discussions of growth mindset don't devolve into a "bootstraps" discussion (e.g., If you only had the right mindset, you'd be able to work harder and get a better grade").

Additional Resources:

Boosting Achievement with Messages that Motivate by Carol S. Dweck
Stanford Professor who Pioneered Praising Effort sees False Praise Everywhere Growth Mindset Interventions

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Research has shown that when students have a growth mindset, they are more likely to challenge themselves, believe that they can achieve more, and become stronger, more resilient and creative problem solvers. Educators can have an enormous impact on the mindset of their students. Encourage students to take risks.

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For Children of All Ages

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Books About Diversity for Children of All Ages

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How do we teach kids to celebrate our differences? These books about diversity for children are broken down by suggested age & touch on every major topic

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"Important achievements require a clear focus, all-out effort, and a bottomless trunk full of strategies. Plus allies in learning."
—Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

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According to recent research by Carol Dweck, there are two types of students.

Both types may show a lot of promise at first, but only one of the types typically goes on to achieve impressive results in their lives.

The other type tends to achieve less and less over time.

What are these two types of students? Those with a fixed mindset, and those with a growth mindset.

Students with a fixed mindset struggle more as time goes on, held back by anxiety and stress. They believe that their abilities are fixed, so if they fail at a task then that must mean they are incapable of it and should never try it again.

Meanwhile, students with a growth mindset flourish even when challenge increases. They believe that their abilities grow through trying new things, even if they fail. They tend to see failure as uncomfortable but useful and important.

"You're in charge of your mind. You can help it grow by using it in the right way." -Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

As a result, according to Dweck's findings, students with growth mindsets are able to achieve results up to 3 times better than students with fixed mindsets. And that gap widens further over time.

Discovering what type of mindset you have could be the most important thing you do today.

Take the interactive test below to get started.
1. You're born with a certain amount of intelligence and it isn't something that can be changed. 2. Intelligence can increase or decrease depending on whether or not you spend time exercising your mind. 3. You can learn new things but you can't change your underlying level of intelligence. 4. Learning new things can increase your underlying intelligence. 5. Talent is something you're born with, not something you can develop. 6. If you practice something for long enough, you can develop a talent for it. 7. People who are good at a particular skill were born with a higher level of natural ability. 8. People who are good at a particular skill have spent a lot of time practising that skill, regardless of natural ability.
Your Results
The quiz above is inspired by the work of Carol Dweck.
Did you know that belief in improvement actually helps you improve and overcome obstacles?

"Just because some people can do something with little or no training, it doesn't mean that others can't do it (and sometimes do it even better) with training." -Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

The video below shows Carol Dweck herself giving a talk at a TED conference. She outlines her theories, research and findings in an engaging way. You can put her ideas into practice straight away (which means you'll be sure to get the top score in the quiz next time!).

Did you know that it's possible to grow new brain cells?

This process is called 'neurogenesis' and scientists used to think it wasn't possible. However, the most recent research has found that it does actually happen.

The video below explains (in a way that's easy for non-scientists to understand) "the gift of neural plasticity -- the ways in which your brain actually changes at the cellular level as you learn".

Daily reminders

Remind yourself daily, or whenever you're thinking about a challenging task, that success relies on persistence and coping with failure in a healthy way. Bookmark articles and videos that make you feel more positive about learning. Then you can return to them if you find yourself feeling discouraged.

Some people might be gifted with a natural talent but most people aren't-yet they can still become excellent if they keep practicing.

Find your allies

It's important to find your allies, too. These are people who support and motivate you, to help you if you feel discouraged in the face of a steep new challenge. They might also remind you not to worry too much about failures when they happen. After all, failures are usually the best opportunities to learn something that will make your next attempt a successful one.

"Important achievements require a clear focus, all-out effort, and a bottomless trunk full of strategies. Plus allies in learning." -Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Which mindset do you have?

Share in the comments, and don't forget to let us know your top tactics for keeping your mindset positive.

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Interactive Quiz: Fixed vs Growth Mindsets

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Is your mindset holding you back? Finding out could improve your ability to learn & achieve, so take this quiz now.

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“I won’t just have a job; I’ll have a calling. I’ll challenge myself every day. When I get knocked down, I’ll get back up. I may not be the smartest person in the room, but I’ll strive to be the grittiest.”
― Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

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For Learning, Grit Matters More Than Intelligence

What is grit?

Grit is a personality trait, a way of describing a person's character. It refers to a person's ability to persevere, even though tough times.

While it's not uncommon to believe that a person's personality traits are fixed, they are actually very fluid. They change naturally over time, and can also be affected by a person's life experiences.

Certain philosophies even suggest that someone's personality, their 'self', is not even a real thing at all. However, that discussion is outside the scope of this article! (Try this Ted talk if the idea interests you.)

Modern research strongly suggests that not only are personality traits fluid and changeable, but that belief in their changeability makes them more changeable.

So if reading this article makes you feel more confident that you can increase your perseverance skills, then you will find it easier to do so!

Anyone can have grit, and anyone can increase the amount of grit in their character. Even if you might think of yourself as struggling to persevere through difficult challenges, that doesn't mean you need to always struggle.

Increasing your grit will help you get through all kinds of challenges, from learning a new skill to starting your own business or getting a new job.

Grit is, therefore, one of the most valuable characteristics we can nurture in ourselves. Alongside, somewhat ironically, the skill of letting go of things that we don't need, which might seem like the opposite of perseverance.

Life is certainly a balancing act. So let's focus on grit first.

Why does grit matter?

As mentioned, people often assume that intelligence or natural aptitude dictates how much someone can achieve in their lives.

If true, this would suggest that being born without the right characteristics would mean that you couldn't expect to accomplish as much in your life as someone born with 'more intelligence'.

However, modern research ( download this study for an example) shows that our ability to learn & achieve is actually affected most by factors other than the characteristics we were born with.

These factors include mindset, grit and our social support network, which includes the people who influence us (positively or negatively) as well as the people who help us and encourage us (or not) directly.

All of these factors are extremely fluid and depend mostly on the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Not the qualities we may or may not have been born with.

And it looks like these factors may be far more important than any so-called 'inherent intelligence'. If we benefit from a growth mindset, lots of grit and a good support network, our cognitive abilities and achievements increase.

Conversely, if we don't have these things, we are less likely to reach our full potential. Although it is still not impossible and-most importantly-we can find ways to acquire these positive factors.

And as life now requires continuous learning, due to the rapid changes in technology and the economy, we should try to make learning as easy as possible for ourselves.

While learning is incredibly rewarding, it also involves many challenging and tough stages. The following graph illustrates the many uphill struggles that a learner goes through, no matter their chosen subject:

The precise points on the graph will differ for every learner, of course, as we are all unique individuals learning in our own unique circumstances.

But it's clear that learning involves many struggles, and that's why grit is now pointed to as one of the most important character traits that we can have.

During the stages of learning where progress seems slow and the demands of time and energy seem high, it is our grit that helps us persevere until we break through. And this perseverance is the only way to succeed in learning. There are no clever shortcuts or quick tricks.

Getting more grit

Since grit is so useful, we'll benefit in most areas of our lives if we invest some effort into increasing it. And there are various ways of doing that.

Firstly, it's important to look at our mindset. If we believe deep-down that we are 'unintelligent' or that we aren't capable enough, then we will be much more likely to give up during tough times.

So make sure you've caught up on all the newest and most interesting research and discussion about how 'innate intelligence' does not actually affect achievement as much as other factors (like grit) do.

First, watch this Ted talk by Angela Lee Duckworth, in which she discusses why grit matters most:

Next, this list of easy-to-read articles explores these ideas in more depth:

Remember to try not to overreact when you hit a steeper part of the learning curve in your chosen subject. It doesn't mean you are failing or that you should quit. Instead, it means that you are doing the right thing and need only persevere.

To help you carry on, seek support from teachers and fellow students whenever you need it.

Finally, whenever you find yourself making progress due to your perseverance, record your achievement. Make sure to write down why you've achieved it. We can sometimes overestimate the importance of luck, when it's actually our decision to persist despite random events that is the real cause of our achievements.

Successes mostly come from grit, so be sure to note that clearly to reinforce the idea in your mind.

Every time you create a new memory of an achievement reached through grit and perseverance, you'll increase your ability to persevere next time. Your motivation and faith in your own abilities will increase, too.

This confidence will, in turn, increase your future odds of success even more. It's a positive cycle.

In short: the only way to have more grit is to practice. Fortunately, that's something we can all do (if we decide to).

The downside to grit? You need to prioritise more carefully

There may be a downside to grit and perseverance, mentioned briefly in the first section of this article.

Because having lots of grit and emotional strength means that you will find yourself tackling ever more challenges and overcoming them, it's important to decide very carefully which challenges are most useful and important.

We only have a certain amount of time and energy, even if we are very efficient in our work. So if you are going to learn something new, and really dedicate yourself to it, then that means you won't also have time to learn three other things at the same time.

You might not even be able to learn one other thing at the same time. As Greg McKeown notes in his book, Essentialism, we now consider it normal to have multiple priorities-but originally the word was singular. There should be only one real 'priority' at a time.

If we are going to truly persevere at something, we will have to say 'no' to many other possibilities. And so we'll have to let these possibilities go without regret (as much as we can).

That's why grit's seemingly-opposite characteristic, the ability to let go of things, is equal in importance. And the challenge we face is much more about making good decisions about where to focus our energies, rather than anything to do with innate intelligence.

This article was posted in the learning category by Louise Swift.

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For Learning, Grit Matters More Than Intelligence

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Grit is a personality trait, a way of describing a person's character. It refers to a person's ability to persevere, even though tough times. While it's not uncommon to believe that a person's personality traits are fixed, they are actually very fluid. They change naturally over time, and can also be affected by a person's life experiences.

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Help Increase Organizational Performance

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Adopting a Growth Mindset in Performance Management - Human Capital Institute

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We grow more when we believe in change, and our performance suffers when we don't. A fixed mindset is the basic belief that your strengths and weaknesses are innate and immutable.

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Sue Siegel on GE Ventures' recent activity, the 'growth mindset' in CVC, and diversity

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Sue Siegel on GE Ventures' recent activity, the 'growth mindset' in CVC, and diversity

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Sue Siegel on GE Ventures' recent activity, the 'growth mindset' in CVC, and diversity

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Kid-Friendly Resources and Videos on Growth Mindset

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Kid-Friendly Resources and Videos on Growth Mindset

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Set-up a FREE Account on
Class Dojo! Includes Discussion Guides and Activities for Classroom Use

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ClassDojo and Stanford's PERTS Research Center teamed up to create the the first season of The Mojo Show. The five-episode video series (along with a few incredible activities) highlight the power of having a growth mindset, and how any student can learn this skill!

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ClassDojo and Stanford's PERTS Research Center teamed up to create the the first season of The Mojo Show. The five-episode video series (along with a few incredible activities) highlight the power of having a growth mindset, and how any student can learn this skill!

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Kid-Friendly Resources on GRIT and Perseverance

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Kid-Friendly Resources on GRIT and Perseverance

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Help Make Students More Mindful Through Modeling! 

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Help Make Students More Mindful Through Modeling! 

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Social and Emotional Learning Tools and Techniques

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Start classroom discussions about brain-expanding topics like growth mindset, empathy, and more.

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Watch a Bird Overcome Fear in Pixar’s Heart-Melting New Short Film Piper

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https://www.facebook.com/TheDreamIsReel/ Piper, an adorable Pixar short showing in theaters along with Finding Dory, tells the story of a young sandpiper who fears the sea so much that it makes finding food especially challenging...

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HURRAY!!! That means You TRIED!

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Lewis tries out a new invention, but it fails. There is nothing to do except to KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

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Sesame Street: Janelle Monae - Power of Yet

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Children's Books Featuring Characters with  Autism and Asperger's 

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Children's Books Featuring Characters with  Autism and Asperger's 

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Elementary and Middle School Levels

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Understanding autism can begin with stories about a child, sibling, friend, and classmate (and even a kid detective!) with autism or Asperger syndrome. This collection includes picture books for elementary age children and their families as well as chapter books for middle school readers. We've also included several biographies of Temple Grandin that describe her inspiring life story. If you know about a great book not listed here, please contact us at: readingrockets@weta.org

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Children's Books Featuring Characters with Autism or Asperger's

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Understanding autism can begin with stories about a child, sibling, friend, and classmate (and even a kid detective!) with autism or Asperger syndrome. This collection includes picture books for elementary age children and their families as well as chapter books for middle school readers.

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Using Children's Picture Books about Autism as a Resource

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Using Children's Picture Books about Autism as a Resource

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Introduction

This article focuses on developing teacher understanding of how to carefully select and use children's picture books about autism as a tool for teaching awareness, empathy, and acceptance in an elementary classroom setting. We describe how the increased rate of autism and growing practice of inclusive educational settings affect classroom practice and provide implementation tips for using specific picture books and activities. Knowing that picture books are often used as a teaching tool for elementary educators, the use of books addressing autism could teach empathy while enhancing students' awareness and acceptance of students on the autism spectrum.

With an increase in the prevalence of children diagnosed with autism and the continuing movement toward inclusion in elementary classrooms, general education teachers must meet the challenge of planning instruction for students with autism and their neurotypical peers. To be effective in the inclusive classroom, teachers need to create inviting and safe environments so that students learn to work together and support one another while respecting neurodiversity. Picture books about autism can be used to teach children understanding, empathy, and acceptance.

The increase of autism and need for inclusion

Currently, one in 59 children is diagnosed with autism, a number that has risen substantially within the last decade (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Autism is a complex neurological disorder. Typically, autism is characterized by limited communication skills, social anxieties, and atypical behaviors (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Autism is described as a spectrum disorder to represent the varying degrees of severity.

For example, some individuals with autism are nonverbal, whereas others can be quite communicative, although their speech is often limited by an extreme focus on a particular topic. Some students with autism may have particular self-stimulating (or "stimming") behaviors, such as rocking back and forth or spinning objects, whereas others may have a heightened sensitivity to the loud ringing of the bell.

Not all individuals have the same types of anxieties or sensory challenges; however, these characteristics can make learning in a traditional classroom environment a challenge for the child with autism, for other students, and for the teacher. While recognizing these challenges, more schools are moving toward inclusion as an instructional model for best meeting the educational needs of students with autism and other disabilities. This inclusive setting allows the growing population of children with autism to work and learn alongside their neurotypical peers.

Students with autism are "increasingly visible in public schools" (Chandler-Olcott & Kluth, 2009, p. 549), but many general education teachers are unaware of evidence-based strategies to meet the needs of their learners with autism (Friedlander, 2009; Rogers, 2000). The increasing number of students with autism affects literacy instruction in the general education classroom (Chandler-Olcott & Kluth, 2009). As such, teachers must be given easily accessible literacy tools to adapt instruction to meet students' learning needs.

This article provides instructional tips for educators and offers suggestions for using children's picture books about autism to encourage positive, inclusive instruction. We believe that all students benefit from increased awareness and identification of the characteristics, strengths, and challenges experienced by students with autism and that children's books about autism provide an accessible tool for modeling and encouraging positive, accepting relationships among students.

These picture books and the characters in them can also serve to enhance the classroom environment by highlighting diversity, social justice, acceptance, and empathy for students with disabilities.

Using Picture Books as a Teaching Tool

Picture books are an essential resource often used as a teaching tool for elementary students (Leininger, Dyches, Prater, & Heath, 2010; Prater, Dyches, & Johnstun, 2006), especially for teaching complex or challenging content. Teachers use picture books to teach such topics as diversity, bullying, and acceptance. Similarly, picture books portraying children with autism provide a viable tool for addressing autism. Using picture books in the classroom provides a nonthreatening way to introduce children to the characteristics of students with disabilities, which can lead to positive impacts on student acceptance (Prater et al., 2006).

Implementation Tips

As part of a larger research study, we identified 35 picture books about autism that met our selection criteria (e.g., narrative picture books for children versus nonfiction informational texts). Thematic messages varied depending on the author's perspective and the book's publication date. Some books, for example, were written from the vantage point of a friend with an overall message of "We're alike but different," whereas other books focused on the experiences of the parents or siblings trying to manage or understand the idiosyncratic behaviors of the child with autism. A sample of book notes from the readings is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Notes on Selected Children's Books From the Larger Study

Children's Book

Relationship of Main Characters

Character Behaviors Related to Autism

A Friend Like Simon
(Gaynor, 2009)

Child with autism = new student (male)

Other main character = male classmate

Stares off into space

Does not like loud noises

Likes organization

Does not like change

Screams

Makes verbal repetitions

Is easily upset

My Friend Has Autism
(Tourville, 2010)

Child with autism = young male

Other main character = young male friend

Stares off into space

Makes verbal repetitions

Does not like loud noises

Does not like change

Does not like to be touched

Has strong expertise in specific area

Likes control of environment

My Brother Charlie
(Peete & Peete, 2010)

Child with autism = younger brother

Other main character = older sister

Avoids physical interaction

Is adventurous/unaware of danger

Feels trapped

Shows empathy to others

After meeting several times to read, reflect on, and discuss the books, we categorized them based on thematic understandings and how teachers might find them useful. We provide three implementation tips using exemplars from our sample of books. A complete list of all the books is provided in Table 2.

Table 2. Children's Picture Books About Autism

Tip 1: Teach Common Characteristics of Autism While Focusing on Unique Qualities of the Individual

Autism is a spectrum disorder and thus does not have a finite set of characteristics. Two students diagnosed with autism may behave differently: One may be completely nonverbal and may resist physical touch, whereas the other may be talkative and crave hugs and interaction. Teachers should select a variety of books that highlight these differences. These books should center on characters who exhibit many different characteristics across the autism spectrum, and reading several different books will help point out that not all children with autism have the same characteristics and abilities.

For example, stories such as Looking After Louis (Ely, 2004) and Andy and His Yellow Frisbee (Thompson, 1996) provide examples of characters who are nonverbal or who speak very little. By comparison, Say Hello to Me: A Story About a Little Girl on the Autism Spectrum (Charisse, 2012) portrays a character with autism who is outgoing and able to perform daily tasks more consistent with her peers.

Some of the characteristic behaviors of autism (i.e., stimming and increased sensitivity to loud noise) were present in multiple books, including A Friend Like Simon (Gaynor, 2009) and Squirmy Wormy: How I Learned to Help Myself (Wilson, 2009). The main characters in these stories displayed atypical behaviors such as lining up items and watching a ceiling fan spin and exhibited social anxieties about, for example, being on the school playground.

Many of the picture books about autism include general characteristics of children with autism throughout the story as the author develops the characters. By reading multiple books about autism, students may see that, although there are general characteristics, an individual with autism has unique abilities, too. In doing so, we caution teachers not to single out any student with autism as the spokesperson for the disability.

Inclusive classrooms should celebrate diversity but not make students feel self-conscious or alone in their experiences. A major goal of inclusion is acceptance, so it is important that students not generalize from the experiences of one or two classmates. In fact, by using books portraying characters with autism that illustrate the range of the spectrum disorder, students can better understand that, although autism has common characteristics, individuals with autism are still individuals.

Many stories told in the first person, whether told by the individual with autism, a sibling, or a close friend, focused on the characteristics that made the student unique and gravitated toward either the "normal" behaviors the students could exhibit or their special talents and strengths, such as in A Friend Like Simon (Gaynor, 2009). These varied perspectives can give students the background knowledge to identify and understand characteristics of children with autism while teaching that characteristics these differ from student to student.

Finally, teachers may need to address and discuss the context in which labels are used in the picture books. One specific example is the word special, which is sometimes used to describe a child with autism. In Waiting for Benjamin (Altman, 2008), an older brother says, "I don't want a special brother" (n.p.), referring to his younger brother with autism. Although we generally use special as a positive term, the context of this sentence presents "being special" as a negative characteristic. This could serve as an instructional opportunity for discussing with students that some labels can be hurtful. In doing so, the teacher is highlighting why empathy and using influential language is important in creating a community of care.

A strategy for discussing characteristics of autism is to use poster paper to list all of the characteristics of autism introduced in the books (e.g., communication skills, anxieties, lining up pencils, disliking loud noises, various stimming behaviors) and then discuss them with students.

These books also present opportunities for neurotypical students to recognize that they too might have a similar characteristic, like disliking loud noises. Inviting students to safely discuss these similarities and differences builds trust and community in the inclusive classroom.

To focus on the unique qualities of the individual characters with autism, read a different book each week and discuss how the characters are alike and different. This strategy provides opportunities to discuss similarities and differences between students with autism and their neurotypical peers and to celebrate the neurodiversity of inclusive classrooms.

Tip 2: Discuss How Children With Autism Need to Be Accepted, Not Changed

In many of the books, there was a turning point in which the character with autism would overcome a particular challenge, an obstacle, or social anxiety. For example, the child with autism would speak at the end after being nonverbal. This turning point often resulted from one or more characters in the story accepting the child with autism for who he or she is and the child with autism reciprocating by exhibiting a previously unmet social convention. Although inclusive practices and positive social interactions can affect the behaviors of a student with autism, we caution against using books that serve only as examples of celebrating change rather than teaching acceptance.

This reciprocating action occurs in Lewis's (2007) In Jesse's Shoes, when the brother with autism addresses his sister by her real name at the end of the story instead of calling her "Sisser" (np.p.). Another example of this reciprocating act occurs in Lucy's Amazing Friend (Workman, 2014). In this story, the character with autism goes down the big slide at the pool with the other kids at the end of the story, which is a huge accomplishment for the character with autism and is celebrated by the other children. Finally, Waiting for Benjamin (Altman, 2008) includes a sibling relationship that changes throughout the book as the older brother begins to accept, love, and learn to play with his younger brother with autism. This change occurs, however, along with the younger brother making consistent progress with language use and play skills that may not mirror the general timeline of progress for children with autism.

Many other books had similar reciprocating acts toward the end, in which the character with autism overcame a characteristic of autism after being accepted by peers or siblings. Although a student with autism may respond positively to other students' acceptance and interaction, it is important for students to realize that overcoming the social anxieties associated with autism is not likely to happen after one or even a few friendly, accepting encounters in class or on the playground. The big idea is that students should be taught to be accepting without the notion that they will get any validation in return for their efforts, which is sometimes misleading in the books.

Teachers may want to focus on the accepting behaviors of characters in the story regardless of whether or not the child with autism is able to reciprocate appreciation in some way. Following a read-aloud, students could model ways of showing empathy based on characters from the books and then apply them to examples in their school environment.

Tip 3: If Your Student Has Autism, Communicate With Parents About Using These Books in the Classroom

Teacher communication with parents is a vital part of any student's educational experience, but special attention should be given to cultivate the relationship between the teacher, child, and parent of a student with autism. Just as no two students with autism are the same, families view and respond differently to student disabilities (Kluth, 2003). As such, it is important to choose children's picture books whose message aligns with that of the parents.

Within the available books about children with autism, some highlight school settings (e.g., Looking After Louis; Ely, 2004) and some focus more on family connections and everyday situations (e.g., My Brother Charlie; Peete & Peete, 2010). It is important to use a variety of books and to openly communicate with parents about your intentions for their use in the classroom.

Nathan Blows Out the Hanukkah Candles (Lehman-Wilzig & Katzman, 2011) is another story focusing on family and sibling relationships in which the brother's feelings evolve from embarrassment to acceptance of his brother with autism. Similarly, Playing by the Rules (Luchsinger, 2007) also highlights sibling relationships by depicting an older sister who "knows the rules" (n.p.) for taking care of her brother with autism. Both of these stories present siblings who understand the characteristics of a child with autism and have a somewhat supportive and protective relationship because of that understanding. These titles may be helpful for families and can also be discussed in the classroom as models for how students can learn to accept one another.

Be sure to make it clear to parents that your goal in introducing students to these books about autism is to increase students' awareness and acceptance of autism, not to single out their child. Working with parents to create a partnership and to identify your goals to promote an inclusive philosophy is important in the relationship and experiences of students with autism in the general classroom and their families (Kluth, 2003).

One idea for approaching the use of these books with parents is to send the books home ahead of class read-alouds so that the student with autism can read and discuss the story with their parents before hearing it in front of peers. Additionally, teachers can invite parents of students with autism to be guest readers and to answer questions students might have.

Conclusion

Using children's books as a resource is common in elementary classrooms and could address and increase awareness and acceptance of autism among students. We hope this article helps elementary educators feel more comfortable using children's picture books that portray children with autism in their classroom as a teaching tool for learning about and understanding autism.

By acknowledging and openly discussing autism, we hope autism becomes part of a celebration of neurodiversity - and not characterized as tragic (Chandler-Olcott & Kluth, 2009). By incorporating these children's picture books into the classroom through read-alouds and discussions, students are introduced to characters who exhibit empathy and acceptance toward students with autism while also learning to appreciate differences and unique talents in all individuals.

We are hopeful that the use of these children's picture books will help students better understand, empathize with, and accept students with autism in order to advance toward a more positive outlook about differing abilities in a truly inclusive classroom.

Biographies

Miranda L. Sigmon is a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA; e-mail [email protected] .

Mary E. Tackett is a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA; e-mail [email protected] .

Amy Price Azano is an assistant professor of adolescent literacy in the School of Education at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA; e-mail [email protected] .

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Using Children's Picture Books About Autism as Resources in Inclusive Classrooms

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This article focuses on developing teacher understanding of how to carefully select and use children's picture books about autism as a tool for teaching awareness, empathy, and acceptance in an elementary classroom setting. We describe how the increased rate of autism and growing practice of inclusive educational settings affect classroom practice and provide implementation tips for using specific picture books and activities.

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Many teachers pull students with disabilities out of the literacy hour or block because they believe that these learners, as a rule, need special instruction and content. In reality, many students including those with learning disabilities, cognitive disabilities, autism, and other labels can participate quite successfully in the general education classroom with appropriate supports such as adapted materials, individualized goals or objectives, and co-teaching.

In other cases, of course, students need direct and explicit literacy instruction to meet their needs but these learners may not need to leave the general education classroom in order to receive such assistance. With careful and creative planning, literacy instruction can be adapted to meet the needs of every student in the classroom. Five ways teachers can provide a literacy education for all learners are offered here.

See all students as literacy learners

In my experiences in classrooms, I have observed that students with disabilities are too often dismissed from the "literate community" (Kliewer, 1998). Some, in fact, are not seen as literate and receive no literacy education at all. Other learners with disabilities receive a literacy education that focuses only on isolated skills and competencies (e.g., identifying letters and sounds) and rarely have opportunities to learn alongside peers without disabilities and participate in such meaningful activities as reading literature, discussing ideas, writing or sharing stories, and creating literacy-related art (e.g., drama).

Kliewer (1998) suggests that in order to provide literacy opportunities for all students, teachers may need to "reconceptualize the literate community"; they may need to reject certain assumptions about disability and adopt an orientation of viewing all students as learners. Further, teachers wanting to include a wider range of students might need to broaden or change their definition of literacy. Instead of understanding literacy as only the ability to read, the demonstration of a set of isolated skills, or the mastery of a set of rules, it could be seen as dynamic and relative and as something that is demonstrated in student communication, social interactions, and problem solving. Students, therefore, may be seen as demonstrating literacy skills and abilities when they learn a new communication system; use literacy materials to explore, socialize, or share information; or follow the literacy "routines" of the classroom (e.g., attend when teacher reads, take turns in discussions).

Create an environment that welcomes and challenges diverse learners

Researchers have found that the classroom itself can have a powerful effect on learning. Koppenhaver & Erickson (2003) found that young students with autism and significant communication struggles who were educated in a literacy-rich environment increased their understanding of print materials and tools. By simply increasing natural opportunities for engagement with items in the classroom environment (e.g., writing tools, print materials), teachers were able to improve the emergent literacy behaviors of their students.

Every teacher can make changes in the environment that will help the literacy learning of students with disabilities. Ideas for making the classroom environment more literacy-friendly include providing more visual supports (e.g., charts, tables, photographs, illustrations) during lessons; creating mini-libraries on certain classroom topics and interest areas; featuring a "book of the month" that is used for reference or teaching and available to anyone during free time; setting up an interactive bulletin board (e.g., "our favorite words", "mix and match poetry") or word wall; arranging shelves or boxes with various levels and types of reading materials including books, magazines, newspapers, comic books, and student-created products; and creating a writing or communication center with different types of writing materials (e.g., paper, pens, pencils, markers, rubber stamps, interesting writing paper, dictionary).

Offer a wide range of literacy materials

Increasing or varying the types of materials available to students is another way to make the classroom more inclusive. For instance, many students need classroom reading material to be adapted for their individual needs. A student who has low vision may need a book with large print and a student who reads below grade level may need some of the text rewritten using language that is less complex. Other adaptations to books or stories include highlighting key portions of the text, adding illustrations, inserting a glossary of unfamiliar terms, creating space for the child to take notes, add pictures, or write questions, and creating an audiotape or PowerPoint version.

Students may also need access to computers and other types of technology as they learn to read, write, speak, and listen. Teachers looking to increase literacy learning might consider giving students with disabilities (or other struggling learners) more access to literacy-based software programs, computerized word and language games, and other devices such as pen scanners that "read" as the user passes the device over text.

Some students may also enjoy experimenting with gadgets in the back of the classroom closet such as typewriters, word processors, film-strip machines, language masters, and simple hand-held electronic language games. Often this type of equipment is given away to make room for new materials but some of these old favorites may actually be preferred by certain learners. For instance, one young man with autism I know likes to use a computer program that is over twenty years old because the text and background is very simple and lacks all of the color and special features of newer programs. Since he is very sensitive to light and color, he prefers the more basic program. Another student who is very tactile loves to create short poems using the tape from an old raised-letter label maker.

Use active learning

When students with a wide range of literacy skills, abilities, and needs are working together in the same classroom, the teacher will need to use active learning to reach everyone and to assess how they all learn and what they all know. Whether it is in the form of games, small group work, drama, partner work, simulations, or cooperative learning structures, teachers using active learning have greater opportunities to differentiate instruction and meet individual needs.

When a teacher is at the front of a classroom providing all of the instruction, it is hard for him or her to personalize his or her approach or to assess the learning of individual students. Contrast this with an active learning lesson where students are engaged in work on their own or with others. In this model, the teacher is usually free to observe students, engage in informal assessment, deliver different types of instruction to different students, provide mini-lessons to certain learners, and ask and answer individual questions.

While active learning can be beneficial to many students, it may be particularly important for students with certain disabilities. Students with some speech and language problems, for example, may have difficulty expressing the answers to comprehension questions. These same learners, however, may be able to show their understanding of a particular story during a drama exercise.

Collaborate

In order to meet the needs of all students in the diverse classroom, teachers in inclusive schools must consider how they can work together to improve the reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills of all. Collaboration might involve developing co-teaching models, working closely with reading teachers to bring state-of-the-art practice to all learners in the inclusive classroom, talking with students and parents to create goals and to make other instructional decisions, and planning and creating curricula with all team members including occupational therapists, physical therapists, social workers, psychologists, and administrators.

Bringing educators together to brainstorm and plan is one of the best techniques that can be used to support all learners. In one school, a large multi-disciplinary team met often to consider how students with very different abilities and challenges might be educated together successfully. When asked to examine a second grade classroom and share ideas, each member of the team was able to provide suggestions to help some or all of the students. The occupational therapist suggested that all students should have more comfortable seating during the literacy block (which was often ninety minutes); she then helped the teacher create a reading corner complete with pillows, upholstered footstools, and a few inflatable cushions. The social worker suggested that the teachers bring more Mexican and Mexican-American themed literature into the classroom to interest four students who were new immigrants. And the speech therapist gave the teacher a few laptop keyboards to try with students who were reluctant to write their own stories because of difficulties in handwriting and organization. In working together, the team was able to construct a variety of supports that helped all students make impressive gains in their literacy learning.
This article is from the website of Dr. Paula Kluth. It, along with many others on inclusive schooling, differentiated instruction, and literacy can be found at www.PaulaKluth.com. Visit now to read her Tip of the Day, read dozens of free articles, and learn more about supporting diverse learners in K-12 classrooms.

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Many teachers pull students with disabilities out of the literacy hour or block because they believe that these learners, as a rule, need special instruction and content. In reality, many students including those with learning disabilities, cognitive disabilities, autism, and other labels can participate quite successfully in the general education classroom with appropriate supports such as adapted materials, individualized goals or objectives, and co-teaching.

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All Special Education Articles

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Learn to develop the evidence you need to support your belief that your child is not receiving the right help in school. Peter and Pamela Wright, from Wrightslaw, tell you how to interpret and chart your child's test scores, graph your child's progress, and successfully communicate with the educators who make decisions about your child.

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Learn to develop the evidence you need to support your belief that your child is not receiving the right help in school. Peter and Pamela Wright, from Wrightslaw, tell you how to interpret and chart your child's test scores, graph your child's progress, and successfully communicate with the educators who make decisions about your child.

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Prepare every student for their future!

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In their mission to prepare every student for college or a career, today's K-12 schools have to support not just high achievers, but students with emotional disturbances, language issues and hearing challenges. Here are three educators whose creative solutions are making "readiness for all" a reality.

How a Makerspace Fosters a Culture of Inclusivity

Jennifer D. Goldman, Principal

Our school caters to a lot of students from nontraditional backgrounds, and we have programs geared toward students with autism, emotional disturbances and hearing loss. Finding ways to engage every student and create a culture of inclusivity is very high on our list of priorities. When we were retooling our vision, we worked under the theme of "A bright future starts with an IDEA," where "IDEA" stands for Interactive technology, Digital discovery, Exploration and Awareness (or inclusivity, if you like). We asked teachers to consider these themes, but we were also on the hunt for a way to show them off schoolwide.

Since I'm an administrator, I felt like my job was to hand over the reins to the librarians and teachers who had all the ideas about what this would look like in practice. When they suggested devoting half of our library to a makerspace I didn't bat an eye. When wanted to clear out a storage room and turned it into a green screen animation center, I told them to go for it.

At first, we didn't have a lot of stuff to fill our makerspace, so we added comfortable seating and made it a place where kids would want to spend time. In a school where students have so many different learning preferences, strengths and weaknesses, a makerspace lends itself beautifully to shared learning, exploration, novel engineering and working with multiple modalities.

Slowly, though, we began adding things: tinker tables, sewing machines, coding toys, tablets, computers with animation software and more. We sent home a "wish list" to parents asking for donations, and they came through in ways I had never even hoped for, crowding our tables with fabrics, craft supplies and Legos.

I also approached vendors and offered to pilot new products whenever I could. To make sure all of our students were getting the most out of the experience, I had the idea to add a central speaker system to the room. Many of the deaf and hard-of-hearing students carried around personal amplification systems, but we wanted something that every student and teacher could be a part of. We added a microphone and ceiling-mounted Topcat amplification system from Lightspeed Technologies, which students use to present their work. And we learned how much more confident students (and teachers) are when they don't have to shout.

Before we created our makerspace, students had regularly scheduled library time with their classes. Now, we've split that time in half, giving students some time in the library as well as the makerspace. We also open it up during lunchtime and recess for free exploration. When teachers assign open-ended projects, students often come into the makerspace and start creating. In that way, it's become a fluid space that's both a part of and separate from the classroom.

Using Music to Bridge the Language Gap

Karyn Lewis, Pre-K-5 Librarian

When working with toddlers during a weekly story time I held for the community at my school library, I often came across barriers such as language and cultural differences. Many of these children were shy English language learners (ELLs). It was during these story times that I discovered the magic of music to bridge the language gap. The songs I played would instantly perk these kids up and get their attention. Students are naturally motivated by music, so they couldn't help but sing, clap and dance along to the many books we read together.

When putting together a summer school lesson plan for my pre-K ELLs, I turned to the Cantata Learning books, which include songs and rhymes that make reading fun and easy for a wide variety of students. There are many great books about science and history concepts, including famous scientists, the water cycle and the planets. I used the books with my pre-K and kindergarten ELLs once a week to work to help build their vocabulary and a love of books reading.

Through the songs, pictures and movements, the students were quickly able to make connections to the content in each book, which helped them learn and remember the words at an accelerated rate. The more engaged students can be during the reading of the book and song the better, so we would often stand up, dance, and make up motions for the songs together. This process involves several of the learning modalities (audio, visual and kinesthetic) and therefore helps students have multiple ways to access the information later.

I remember the book "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" being especially engaging for the students, and it was a lesson the teachers also enjoyed. I started the lesson by asking students to point to their head, shoulders, knees and toes-at this point in the lesson, many students needed a teacher assisting them in Spanish to do.

As I played the song, the students stood up and followed the directions to touch the different parts of their body, mirroring my movements. When the song finished, we listened to it one more time. This time, the students were singing the new English words and confidently pointing to the body parts as the song played. At the end of the lesson I asked them to find the new parts of their body mentioned in the book, and they were able to find them and point to them easily.

The music and rhymes make learning fun for the ELL students. Students loved them so much that they asked me to play the songs again and again.

Preparing Preschoolers for Careers

Dr. Genevra Walters, Superintendent

Since I started in education, I've used the motto, "The transition to adulthood starts in preschool." It's the idea that conversations about college and careers need to start earlier rather than later. Today, that phrase is the mantra that fuels my teachers and principals to think past the traditional style of teaching, and to truly prepare our students for life outside the four walls of a school building by giving them hands-on experience and the chance to explore a plethora of careers through project-based learning.

In the College and Career Academy classrooms in our elementary school, each grade focuses on a different range of careers, so as students move through school they have a chance to explore a variety of fields and decide where their interests lie. For example, first-graders focus on careers in agriculture, food and natural resources; while third-grade students focus on engineering, outer space and plant life. The idea is for students' knowledge of and interest in different career fields to evolve as they progress through elementary school.

During the school year, students undertake four large-scale projects that align with their grade-level focus and appropriate state standards. We use supplementary curriculum from Defined STEM, which breaks down tasks by grade level and keeps all lesson materials such as articles, videos and rubrics in one spot. The projects give students room for individual creativity as they master career skills including problem-solving and collaboration.

The hands-on projects make the careers come alive, because students can apply their classroom knowledge to the real world. During the projects, students are asked to think like engineers, designers, doctors or whatever position is relevant to the task. This change of mindset engages students because they're using their creativity and critical thinking skills to solve a problem. They're not memorizing facts for a test; they're applying what they've learned and demonstrating their skills to create an end product such as a 3D model, presentation, etc. When these career projects are incorporated into relevant teacher lessons, students are pushed to think towards the future and determine what they want to be when they grow up.

For more, see:

Jennifer D. Goldman is principal at Mountain View Elementary in Simi Valley, CA. Follow her on Twitter: @jennydgoldman .

Karyn Lewis is a pre-K-5 librarian at Meadow Wood Elementary in Texas. Follow her on Twitter: @ktlewis14.

Dr. Genevra Walters is the superintendent of schools at Kankakee School District in Illinois. Follow her on Twitter: @walters_genevra.
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3 Visions of Truly Inclusive Education | Getting Smart

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In their mission to prepare every student for college or a career, today's K-12 schools have to support not just high achievers, but students with emotional disturbances, language issues and hearing challenges. Here are three educators whose creative solutions are making "readiness for all" a reality. Jennifer D.

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11 Books to Help Kids Build A Growth Mindset

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11 Books to Help Kids Build A Growth Mindset

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11 books to help kids build a growth mindset

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Having a growth mindset can help kids with learning and thinking differences learn to take on challenges. Explore these growth mindset books.

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Is your child willing to take on challenges and keep working on them despite setbacks? That's a sign of a growth mindset - believing that abilities can improve over time. But some struggling learners have a fixed mindset. They think that their abilities are set and won't ever improve, even with effort.

Developing a growth mindset is a process. You can help your child move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset with the help of these fun activities. Use these downloads to help your child start thinking "What's next?" and "I can" - instead of "I'm done" and "I can't."

About the author

Reviewed by

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Download: Growth mindset activities for kids

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Looking for activities to help your child develop a growth mindset, rather than a fixed mindset? Download and print these free growth mindset exercises.

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Activities

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Is your child willing to take on challenges and keep working on them despite setbacks? That's a sign of a growth mindset - believing that abilities can improve over time. But some struggling learners have a fixed mindset. They think that their abilities are set and won't ever improve, even with effort.

Developing a growth mindset is a process. You can help your child move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset with the help of these fun activities. Use these downloads to help your child start thinking "What's next?" and "I can" - instead of "I'm done" and "I can't."

About the author

Reviewed by

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Download: Growth mindset activities for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Looking for activities to help your child develop a growth mindset, rather than a fixed mindset? Download and print these free growth mindset exercises.

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The Importance of Building Resilience in Your Child 

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The Importance of Building Resilience in Your Child 

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Don't always jump in to "fix things"!

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It's not easy to see your child have a setback, especially after she's worked really hard. But it can be hard to avoid. Kids with learning and attention issues face challenges other kids don't. They struggle in school. And they may have trouble with everyday skills like self-control, following directions or picking up on social cues.

But facing challenges and learning from them can have an upside. It can help your child build resilience. This vital life skill is what allows kids to tackle their challenges despite having setbacks. Learn more about what resilience means and how to help your child develop it.

The Old Concept of Resilience

We know resilience is important. But what exactly does it mean? For decades, resilience was seen as the ability to recover from disaster and hardship. Researchers focused on how kids and adults bounced back from tragedies like hurricanes, fires and floods. They studied why some people get "back to normal" quickly while others continue to struggle.

Parents typically viewed resilience in a similar way. They'd think of it in terms of how quickly their child bounced back from a serious illness, accident or other major event. In other words, resilience was something their child "showed" when faced with a big challenge.

The New Way of Thinking About Resilience

Today, resilience has a much broader meaning. For researchers and professionals working with kids, it's not just about "bouncing back." It's about "bouncing forward." Resilience doesn't just mean getting back to normal after facing a difficult situation. It means learning from the process in order to become stronger and better at tackling the next challenge.

It's not limited to tragedies or major life events, either. Resilience applies to more common struggles too. In fact, when kids respond to any type of challenge-including trouble with learning-it creates an opportunity to bounce forward. It helps them learn coping skills and how to find solutions to problems.

For instance, if a child falls off her bicycle after hitting a rock in the road, she may become more careful about watching for obstacles. If she does poorly on a test, she may work to improve her study skills.

Using everyday setbacks to explore new and better ways to approach things helps all kids. But it can be even more valuable for kids with learning and attention issues. It creates opportunities for them to build key skills for working on weaknesses and gaining new strengths.

Learning from setbacks can empower kids with learning and attention issues. It can help them build self-awareness and self-advocacy skills. It can also help them develop new strategies and tools for solving problems. And it can boost their motivation and self-esteem.

Helping Your Child Develop Resilience

Resilience was once thought of as a character trait that was more or less set in stone. But professionals now view it as a skill that can be actively taught. The key to resilience is mindset: how we think about whatever challenge we're facing.

Teaching resilience to kids involves preparing them for challenges. That includes reflecting on how they handled them and discussing other solutions to the problem.

Here are some ways to help your child with learning and attention issues build resilience:

Expose her to challenges. Your child can't learn if she doesn't have the chance to do things that are difficult-and perhaps fail at them. Find everyday situations where she'll need to work things out on her own, try different strategies and persist even when things get tough.

The playground can be a great spot for this. Struggling to get across the monkey bars or working with other kids to build a bridge across a stream are both learning opportunities.

Don't jump in to fix things. When things aren't going well, your child may need your support. But that doesn't mean solving the problem for her. Give your child guidance. But also allow her space to find her own solutions and strategies before jumping in with yours. A certain amount of frustration can lead to positive results, which can help build persistence.

Let consequences do some of the teaching. When kids do something that results in a negative outcome, it can feel defeating. But it can also motivate them to change. Negative experiences can lead them to find strategies that lead to positive outcomes.

Let's say your fourth grader keeps leaving her homework at home. Missing assignments pulls down her grade for the marking period. But that negative outcome motivates her to use the organization strategies you came up with at home, and her grades improve. Now she's learned resilience and organization skills.

Talk about the lessons learned. After your child has experienced a setback or a disappointment, help her make sense of it. Talk about the strategies she used and discuss things she could have done differently.

Make sure to suggest people she could have gone to for help and ways she could have asked for help along the way. Reflecting on what happened can help her identify supports that might be useful next time.

Avoid a "sink or swim" situation. Resilience is about learning from challenges and moving forward. But what if she had no guidance at all? It's important to give your child enough support to face challenges but not so much help that she can't make mistakes and learn from them.

One way to do this is by using a "scaffolding" approach. Think about how people teach kids to ride a bike. First, you give a lot of support, holding on to the back of the seat and the handlebars. Gradually, you give less and less support, until you finally let go.

This same approach can be used to teach kids resilience through any challenge. If your middle-schooler is struggling with an assignment, you can review the directions with her. You can guide her to look back at the textbook or suggest she call a friend for help. You can also encourage her to reach out to her teacher.

If she doesn't do those things and gets a low grade on the assignment, it may motivate her to try using those supports the next time. Or she may come up with another strategy that works for her.

Encourage her to ask for additional supports at school. If your child is still struggling with the work after trying different strategies, you can suggest she talk with her case manager or teacher about additional supports. She may not follow through. But she's still had an opportunity to learn how to persist in the face of a challenge and how to advocate for herself along the way.

Find out what your child needs to be successful in school. It's important to make sure your child is getting the help she needs to have success. If she's struggling in school, and you're not sure why, consider having her evaluated. She may be eligible for supports, services and accommodations.

Building resilience doesn't always come easily. Even when your child learns from her challenges, they can still be frustrating. Help her learn constructive ways to deal with her frustration. Give her honest feedback and praise for the hard work she puts in. And inspire her by sharing stories about the many successful people with learning and attention issues.

To learn more, watch as an expert talks about building resilience in kids with learning issues.

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The Importance of Resilience for Kids With Learning and Attention Issues

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It's not easy to see your child have a setback, especially after she's worked really hard. But it can be hard to avoid. Kids with learning and attention issues face challenges other kids don't. They struggle in school. And they may have trouble with everyday skills like self-control, following directions or picking up on social cues.

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Diverse Schools and Classrooms Benefit ALL Students

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Diverse Schools and Classrooms Benefit ALL Students

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Foreword

After decades in the political wilderness, school integration seems poised to make a serious comeback as an education reform strategy.

Sixty-two years ago, Brown v. Board of Education held that separate schools for black and white students are inherently unequal. Fifty years ago, the evidence in the congressionally authorized Coleman Report put a twist on Brown, suggesting that socioeconomic school integration could increase academic achievement more than any other school strategy. But when racial school desegregation began to be seriously pursued in the early 1970s, the implementation was often clumsy. Federal judges ordered school children to travel across town to attend schools to achieve racial balance, giving parents no say in the matter. Families rebelled.

And so for years, we have been stuck with a tragic paradox: building on Coleman's findings, a growing body of research produced a social science consensus that school integration-by race and by socioeconomic status-is good for children. Simultaneously, an equally durable political consensus developed holding that nothing can be done to achieve it.

Layered on top of political concerns was a new legal challenge. The Supreme Court, once a strong supporter of school desegregation, grew increasingly skeptical of government programs that use race in decision-making. In a 2007 ruling, the Roberts Court struck down voluntary school desegregation efforts in Louisville and Seattle. To some, the decision seemed to spell the end to school desegregation.

Today, however, school integration-using new, more legally and politically palatable approaches-is getting a second look as an educational reform strategy.

For one thing, policymakers and scholars across the political spectrum are beginning to realize that ignoring the social science research on the negative effects of concentrated school poverty is not working to close large achievement gaps between races and economic groups. Diane Ravitch and Michelle Rhee-who represent opposite ends of our polarized debates over education reform-have both recently advocated new measures to promote school integration to raise the achievement of disadvantaged students.

What can give integration real political momentum, however, are not the documented benefits to low-income students, but the emerging recognition that middle- and upper-class students benefit in diverse classrooms.

As Amy Stuart Wells, Lauren Fox, and Diana Cordova-Cobo of Teachers College Columbia vividly demonstrate in this important new report, "the benefits of school diversity run in all directions." There is increasing evidence that "diversity makes us smarter," a finding that selective colleges long ago embraced and increasing numbers of young parents are coming to appreciate at the K-12 level. The authors write: "researchers have documented that students' exposure to other students who are different from themselves and the novel ideas and challenges that such exposure brings leads to improved cognitive skills, including critical thinking and problem solving."

Apart from the cognitive benefits, there are additional reasons increasing numbers of middle-class families now want to send their children to diverse schools. Middle-class and white Millennials realize that their children are growing up in a very different country, demographically, than previous generations. For the first time since the founding of the republic, a majority of public school K-12 pupils in the United States are students of color.

Students can learn better how to navigate adulthood in an increasingly diverse society-a skill that employers value-if they attend diverse schools. Ninety-six percent of major employers, Wells, Fox, and Cordova-Cobo note, say it is "important" that employees be "comfortable working with colleagues, customers, and/or clients from diverse cultural backgrounds."

Adding to the political momentum behind integration are changes in the choices middle-class families are making in where to live. In previous generations, when poor urban areas were often surrounded by wealthy white suburbs, achieving school integration was logistically challenging and involved long bus rides that were unpopular with families.

Today, however, many middle-class Millennials say they find suburban life sterile and prefer walkable communities. One poll, the authors note, found that 77 percent of Millennials expressed a preference for urban life. This development raises new possibilities for integrated schooling.

Adding further to the political and legal sustainability of integration is the emergence of new policies that rely on choice and incentives rather than compulsory busing, and that use socioeconomic rather than racial indicators as the primary basis for integration.

New policies rarely rely on compulsory busing of the type used in 1970s, the authors point out. They note, for example, that more than forty interdistrict magnet schools have been created in the Hartford, Connecticut region to serve 16,000 students in schools with distinctive pedagogical or thematic approaches that are filled through voluntary choice.

New policies that emphasize socioeconomic status avoid the legal impediments to using race, and connect to Coleman's research findings, replicated in subsequent studies, that the socioeconomic status of classmates is a critical driver of student achievement.

When The Century Foundation (TCF) commissioned me to write a book about socioeconomic school integration in 1996, just two districts in the nation, educating about 30,000 students, were pursuing such policies. Today, as TCF's Halley Potter and Kimberly Quick demonstrate in a new paper, "A New Wave of School Integration," the number of districts and charter school chains using socioeconomic status as a factor in student assignment has risen to ninety-one. Located in thirty-two states, both red and blue, these districts educate some 4 million students.

One particularly innovative example can be found in New York State, where the commissioner of education (now acting U.S. secretary of education) John King created a socioeconomic integration pilot program to turn around struggling schools. Rather than firing teachers or bringing in charter school operators, as is common in many school turnaround efforts, King's innovative program seeks to invigorate schools with a broad cross section of students.

New policies-emphasizing choice and socioeconomic status-are proving popular among a new generation of parents. Wells, Fox and Cordova-Cobo point, for example, to a remarkable change in attitudes in Louisville, Kentucky. In the early 1970s, compulsory busing for racial desegregation was opposed by 98 percent of parent. By 2011, a choice-based system emphasizing socioeconomic alongside racial integration was supported by 89 percent of parents.

With leadership, such success stories can be replicated to help us move, at long last, beyond separate and unequal to something far better for all American students.

Introduction

A growing number of parents, university officials, and employers want our elementary and secondary schools to better prepare students for our increasingly racially and ethnically diverse society and the global economy. But for reasons we cannot explain, the demands of this large segment of Americans have yet to resonate with most of our federal, state, or local policymakers. Instead, over the past forty years, these policy makers have completely ignored issues of racial segregation while focusing almost exclusively on high-stakes accountability, even as our schools have become increasingly segregated and unequal.

This report argues that, as our K-12 student population becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, the time is right for our political leaders to pay more attention to the evidence, intuition, and common sense that supports the importance of racially and ethnically diverse educational settings to prepare the next generation. It highlights in particular the large body of research that demonstrates the important educational benefits-cognitive, social, and emotional-for all students who interact with classmates from different backgrounds, cultures, and orientations to the world. This research legitimizes the intuition of millions of Americans who recognize that, as the nation becomes more racially and ethnically complex, our schools should reflect that diversity and tap into the benefitsof these more diverse schools to better educate all our students for the twenty-first century.

The advocates of racially integrated schools understand that much of the recent racial tension and unrest in this nation-from Ferguson to Baltimore to Staten Island-may well have been avoided if more children had attended schools that taught them to address implicit biases related to racial, ethnic, and cultural differences. This report supports this argument beyond any reasonable doubt.

Why the Emphasis on the Educational Benefits of Diversity Now?

The call for more attention to intense racial segregation in our nation's schools and communities is coming from parents, educators, and employers who are realigning their priorities and understandings in light of our increasingly global economy and the rapid changes in our nation's demographics and migration patterns. ¹ For the first time, the K-12 student population in the United States is less than 50 percent white, non-Hispanic. Meanwhile, in many of our major metropolitan areas, we see large-scale migration patterns, as more black, Hispanic, and Asian families move to the suburbs and more whites return to "gentrifying" urban neighborhoods. In both contexts, de facto diverse communities are forming, if only temporarily, before patterns of racial segregation re-emerge. ² These recent developments suggest we are at a critical moment in history-at a juncture between a future of more racial unrest and a future of racial healing when our society can become less divided and more equal. It is also clear from our history that absent strong leadership at the federal, state, and local level to sustain diverse neighborhoods and schools, it is likely we will recreate high levels of racial segregation in both urban and suburban contexts. ³

In this report, we review the research and reasons why, in the field of education in particular, policy makers should listen to the growing demand for more diverse public schools. Drawing on the research from both higher education and K-12 education, we demonstrate that there are important educational benefits to learning in environments with peers who grew up on the other side of the racial divide in this country. Indeed, in recent years, most of this research on the "educational benefits of diversity" has been conducted in colleges and universities and then put forth as powerful evidence to support affirmative action in higher education.

This year, as the U.S. Supreme Court considers affirmative action once again in the Fisher v. University of Texas ⁴ case ( Fisher II), it is an important moment to consider how those arguments translate into the K-12 educational context. In fact, researchers, policy makers, and educators in K-12 were, once upon a time, much more focused on the problem of racial segregation than they have been in recent decades. This shift in focus is due in large part, we argue, to the changing policy context in elementary and secondary education over the last several decades-away from school desegregation policy and toward a focus on outcomes and accountability in racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically segregated settings. In fact, the emphasis in K-12 education on narrow student achievement measures has moved the entire field away from examining cultural issues related to race, ethnicity, and the social and emotional development of children. ⁵ Given the demographic and attitudinal changes discussed above, now is the time to refocus the K-12 agenda on issues of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic integration and the educational benefits that accrue from students learning from each other in diverse schools and classrooms. We use the term racial "integration" and not "desegregation" to convey that we mean something more than merely moving students to balance racial enrollments. When we discuss the research evidence on the educational benefits of diversity, we are talking about a more meaningful form of racial and ethnic integration, leading to greater mutual respect, understanding, and empathy across racial lines. ⁶

This report provides an overview of the forces within the K-12 educational system-demographic, educational, and political-that could help move our public school system into the twenty-first century on issues of racial/ethnic diversity and the educational benefits of teaching and learning in diverse schools and classrooms. While we do not deny the many factors working against the creation and sustainability of more diverse schools and classrooms, we believe that K-12 researchers, policy makers, and parents should pay more attention to the arguments put forth in higher education court cases regarding the educational benefits to all students. Furthermore, we argue that there already exists a body of research in K-12 education that similarly supports an argument in favor of the educational benefits of diversity, but that unlike the higher education research, it has been largely ignored in recent years.

In light of recent events of racial profiling, police shootings, campus unrest, and the rise of a movement that sadly seeks to remind us of the self-evident fact that "Black Lives Matter," such interracial respect, understanding, and empathy is what we should all strive for in our increasingly diverse society. There is no institution better suited to touch the lives of millions of members of the next generation than our public schools. This report will give voice to the millions who can envision this future for K-12 education and help us get there.

Evidence on the Educational Benefits of Diversity

Tracing the history of public policies to create racially diverse schools and universities in America-most notably school desegregation in K-12 and affirmative action in higher education-from the mid-twentieth through the early twenty-first century, we see important distinctions between these two educational sectors. These distinctions help us explain why, at a time of increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the school age and young adult population in the United States, the policies of K-12 and higher education seem so completely disconnected regarding how to address these demographics changes.

We argue that particularly in the last twenty-five years, the higher education and K-12 paths have drifted apart on the issues of campus, school, and classroom level diversity (see Figure 1). This difference is grounded in at least two key factors:

1. The Research-Jurisprudence Alliance in Higher Education. An alliance of the higher education jurisprudence on affirmative action, and the higher education research on the educational benefits of diversity has strengthened colleges and universities' commitment to racially diverse student bodies and educational settings in which students learn from each other across cultural boundaries.

In the K-12 arena, on the other hand, the jurisprudence and the research alliances around school desegregation policy have focused less on the educational benefits of diverse classrooms in which students can learn from classmates with different backgrounds and perspectives and more on the potentially beneficial "outcomes" of racially balanced or "desegregated" public schools as measured by test scores, graduation rates, and the like. These benefits are real and substantial, but this focus on student outcomes almost exclusively as the central measure of equal educational opportunity, has, in the long run, led to less emphasis on the educational experiences of students in racially diverse schools and classroom, and thus, fewer efforts to support integration efforts.

2. The Recent Policy Context of K-12 Education. There are several political reasons for the distinctions between higher education and K-12 education, not the least of which is the heavy-handed, test-based accountability system that has been implemented in the K-12 system over the last twenty-five years. In this era of what some have referred to as " neo-Plessyism"-an emphasis on "separate but equal"-in K-12 education, the policy focus has been on educating all students to high standards and closing achievement gaps as measured by standardized tests wherever they are, in racially isolated schools or not. In fact, many policy makers on both sides of the aisle believe the standards and accountability movement should assure that all students have access to a challenging curriculum, no matter what the racial make-up of their classmates may be. ⁷

This policy context, coupled with the place-based nature of K-12 education amid severe residential segregation, highly fragmented school districts, and the limitations on interdistrict desegregation remedies after the 1974 Supreme Court decision in Milliken v. Bradley, ⁸ add up to a public educational system that is simultaneously becoming increasingly diverse in terms of its student population and increasingly segregated and unequal. ⁹

In other words, in the past few decades, prominent higher educational leaders, lawyers, and researchers have worked together to support race-conscious admissions policies, allowing college campuses to remain more racially and culturally diverse than most of the public schools their students attended prior to attending college. Meanwhile, college admissions offices and campus tour guides consistently cite the diversity of the student body as a major asset that enhances the learning of all students in higher education. While our colleges and universities still have much work to do to make their campuses more diverse and more welcoming to students of all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, at least there has been institutional support for race-conscious admissions policies, which is a sharp contrast to the policy focus in K-12 education for the past twenty-five years. The question then becomes: How might K-12 educational policy makers and researchers play a role in bridging the higher education-K-12 divide on these issues?

Takeaways from the Higher Education Research on the Educational Benefits of Diversity for K-12 Educational Policy and

Since the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ¹⁰ Supreme Court ruling in 1978, federal judges' understanding of the societal value of racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse university campuses has been strongly influenced by social science research on the positive relationship between student learning and exposure to peers of different backgrounds. ¹¹ This research continues to inform jurisprudence and public policy on affirmative action in higher education. ¹²

Thus, in recent years, when federal judges have been less likely to support remedial arguments for affirmative action in higher education, ¹³ the research on the "educational benefits of diversity" has become even more central to legal arguments put forth by universities whose race-conscious affirmative action policies are being challenged by white plaintiffs. These arguments are couched in a First Amendment argument about the rights of universities to define their educational settings, an argument put forth by university leaders and grounded in social science research. ¹⁴ For instance, in an amicus brief filed in the Fisher II (2015) case this fall, a group of highly selective institutions, including Brown, Columbia, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale Universities, strongly supported race-conscious admissions policies intended to make their student bodies more racially and ethnically diverse.

Buttressing these arguments on the part of the universities is a growing body of evidence demonstrating several key academic and social outcomes related to student diversity on college campuses. The central takeaway from this scholarship is that students who attend colleges and universities with more racially and ethnically diverse student bodies are said to be exposed to a wider array of experiences, outlooks, and ideas that can potentially enhance the education of all students. ¹⁵ In fact, the majority of amicus briefs filed in the Fisher II case prior to oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court support, bolster, and enhance prior research findings demonstrating the educational benefits of racially and ethnically diverse college campuses. ¹⁶ Below we present key quotes and highlights from these briefs, organized into the most positive outcomes for all students on diverse campuses:

Enhanced Learning Outcomes for Students in Diverse Educational Contexts

Several amicus briefs in the Fisher II case underscore that research more strongly than ever supports the benefits of college diversity and demonstrates that exposure to diversity enhances critical thinking and problem-solving ability, while also improving several other attributes related to academic success, including student satisfaction and motivation, general knowledge, and intellectual self-confidence. ¹⁷ One brief states "a diverse student population creates a richer learning environment because students learn most from those who have very different life experiences from theirs." ¹⁸

Another brief argues that researchers have documented that students' exposure to other students who are different from themselves and the novel ideas and challenges that such exposure brings leads to improved cognitive skills, including critical thinking and problem-solving. ¹⁹ In addition, there is evidence that college students who experience positive interactions with students from different racial backgrounds results in more open minds and engaging classroom conversations. And improved learning actually occurs in these classrooms because abstract concepts are tied directly to concrete examples drawn from a range of experiences. ²⁰

Beyond the ways that diversity helps all higher education students, there are benefits for "nonminority" white students specifically, as well as students of color. For instance, the American Psychological Association's brief reviewed evidence that the "negative effects associated with insufficient racial diversity extend to members of nonminority groups," most notably the persistence of implicit bias toward members of minority racial groups that interferes with the educational process. Recent events across the country concerning policing and campus unrest have raised more awareness of implicit, subconscious biases and how they can produce discriminatory behavior. Indeed, the APA's brief notes that implicit biases can also disrupt cognitive functioning for members of both the majority and minority, as well-intentioned students exert significant mental effort "in order to combat the expression of stereotypes and negative attitudes that are often activated automatically and unintentionally." ²¹ Efforts to manage negative thoughts inhibit mental capacity by occupying the brain's executive function and depleting cognitive resources related to attention and control. ²² Proactive efforts to increase campus diversity can significantly reduce this implicit bias and its detrimental effects. ²³ White students in particular benefit from racially and ethnically diverse learning contexts in that the presence of students of color stimulates an increase in the complexity with which students-especially white students-approach a given issue. When white students are in racially homogeneous groups, no such cognitive stimulation occurs. Research shows that " the mere inclusion of different perspectives, and especially divergent ones, in any course of discussion leads to the kind of learning outcomes (for example, critical thinking, perspective-taking) that educators, regardless of field, are interested in." ²⁴

Diversity benefits that are more specific to the academic benefits of students of color include the decreased risk of experiencing stereotyping and discrimination, which can otherwise undermine black, Latino, and Asian students' academic achievement on less diverse college campuses. "Isolation, subordination, and negative stereotyping are commonplace in settings where minority numbers are especially low and the norms and behaviors of majority groups dominate." ²⁵ These experiences become less prevalent and less detrimental to black, Latino, and Asian students when campuses are more diverse and minority students are not tokens, thereby enhancing their learning experience and outcomes.

Increased Intercultural and Cross-Racial Knowledge, Understanding, and Empathy

In addition to the robust social science evidence on the positive relationship between student body diversity and academic outcomes, there is a similarly impressive body of research supporting the correlation between campus and classroom diversity and an enhanced ability of students to exhibit interracial understanding, empathy, and an ability to live with and learn from people of diverse backgrounds. The amicus brief filed by Brown and other elite universities in the Fisher II case highlights that "diversity encourages students to question their assumptions, to understand that wisdom may be found in unexpected voices, and to gain an appreciation of the complexity of today's world." ²⁶ Other research includes analyses of how racially diverse educational settings are effective in reducing prejudice, by promoting greater contact between students of different races-both informally and in classroom settings-and by encouraging relationships and friendships across group lines. ²⁷

The takeaway for policy makers in the K-12 education context is that there is extensive and solid evidence that intergroup contact and cross-racial interaction improves interracial attitudes toward an entire group and reduces prejudice and the implicit biases discussed above. ²⁸ Indeed, as we discuss below, research on these issues in K-12 education with similar findings was, at one time, far more central to policy debates in elementary and secondary education.

Better Preparation for Employment in the Global Economy

Throughout the recent briefs in the Fisher II case, and building on an already rich body of social science evidence amassed for this and prior affirmative action cases, university officials and business leaders argue that diverse college campuses and classrooms prepare students for life, work, and leadership in a more global economy by fostering leaders who are creative, collaborative, and able to navigate deftly in dynamic, multicultural environments. ²⁹

A brief filed by nearly half of the Fortune 100 companies, including Apple, Johnson & Johnson, and Starbucks, argued that to succeed in a global economy, they must hire highly trained employees of all races, religions, cultures, and economic backgrounds. They noted that it is also critical that " all of their university-trained employees" enter the workforce with experience in sharing ideas, experiences, viewpoints, and approaches with diverse groups of people. In fact, such cross-cultural skills are a "business and economic imperative," given that they must operate in national and global economies that are increasingly diverse. A workforce trained in a diverse environment is critical to their business success. Such college graduates, companies argue, provide more creative approaches to problem-solving by integrating different perspectives and moving beyond linear, conventional thinking. Employees are:
better equipped to understand a wider variety of consumer needs, including needs specific to particular groups, and thus to develop products and services that appeal to a variety of consumers and to market those offerings in appealing ways; they are better able to work productively with business partners, employees, and clients in the United States and around the world; and they are likely to generate a more positive work environment by decreasing incidents of discrimination and stereotyping.³⁰
Diverse educational environments also enhance students' leadership skills, among other skills that are helpful when working in racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse workplaces. A longitudinal study found that the more often first-year college students are exposed to diverse educational settings, the greater their "gains in leadership skills, psychological well-being, intellectual engagement, and intercultural effectiveness." ³¹ Indeed, the APA brief argues, in addition to obvious academic pursuits, colleges and universities also prepare students to be effective economic and political leaders on local, national, and global levels. "Effective leadership begins with prejudice reduction." ³²

Increased "Democratic Outcomes," including Engagement in Political Issues and Participation in Democratic Processes

And finally, students' experiences in diverse classrooms can provide the kind of cross-cultural dialogue that prepares them for citizenship in a multifaceted society. ³³ Students develop improved civic attitudes toward democratic participation, civic behaviors such as participating in community activities, and intentions to participate in civic activities resulting from diverse learning experiences. One meta-analysis synthesized twenty-seven studies on the effects of diversity on civic engagement and concluded that college diversity experiences are, in fact, positively related to increased civic engagement.

The four findings listed above are the most robust, but there is additional evidence of other positive results that flow from creating racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse learning environments for students. Research clearly and strongly supports a legal or policy argument in favor of greater student diversity on college campuses as a mechanism to potentially enhance the educational experiences of all students. ³⁴ And this is not solely the conclusion of those who study higher education. Drawing on decades of research from organizational scientists, psychologists, sociologists, economists, and demographers, an article in Scientific American argues that diversity even enhances creativity and actually encourages the search for novel information and perspectives, leading to better decision making and problem solving. Therefore, diversity can improve the bottom line of companies and lead to unfettered discoveries and breakthrough innovations. " Even simply being exposed to diversity can change the way you think." ³⁵

Moving from Whether to How

As the list of benefits of diversity in higher education and in the workplace continue to accrue, diversity on college campuses is seen not just as an end in and of itself, but rather an educational process. In fact, some research in higher education has shifted away from questions about whether students benefit from diverse learning environments in their post-secondary institutions to questions about how universities can foster the best conditions to maximize that impact. ³⁶

Hopefully, the question of how universities and their faculty can support the development of these educational benefits in classrooms and assignments will foster an examination of the level and nature of student engagement in the learning process. For instance, diverse student bodies in higher education classrooms are more likely to produce the above-noted outcomes when group discussions in classrooms are focused on an issue with generally different racial viewpoints-for example, the death penalty. ³⁷ Indeed, students benefit the most from racially and ethnically diverse campuses-inside and outside the classroom-when a set of mutually supportive and reinforcing experiences occur. ³⁸ These research findings should help inform higher education officials when they consider and address the type of student frustration and campus unrest we have witnessed at the University of Missouri, Yale, and Princeton in recent months. This shifts discourse from an emphasis on what students know to an additional focus on whether they know how to think and, more importantly, whether they are acquiring the skills needed to live and work in the twenty-first century. A twenty-first century education, it's argued, is best accomplished through intentional educational practices that are integrated in nature, provide experiences that challenge students' own embedded world views, and encourage application of knowledge to contemporary problems. ³⁹

These new developments in higher educational research on how to foster the educational benefits of diversity are still evolving and in many ways actually pick up where the K-12 research left off in the 1990s, during which the policy focus for elementary and secondary education shifted away from issues of racial and ethnic diversity. In the following section we consider the evidence-old and new-within the K-12 research literature that we argue can be more tightly connected to and inspired by the important higher education work on diversity and learning.

The K-12 Educational Research on School Desegregation Outcomes

A robust body of research related to K-12 school desegregation and its positive outcomes was developed following the success of federal courts and officials in implementing more than three hundred school desegregation plans in the 1970s and 1980s. This included an examination of both the short- and long-term outcomes of attending racially and socioeconomically integrated schools. The main focus of most of this research, however, has been on the short-term academic performance (measured primarily by test scores) of students attending racially diverse versus racially segregated schools. Many studies have examined the impact of school desegregation on the achievement of African American students; some have also measured outcomes on other racial/ethnic groups. An examination of issues related to the "educational benefits of diversity" has included looking at the relationship between attending a desegregated public school and students' social and civic engagement, inter-group relations, emotional well-being, and life course trajectories. ⁴⁰

Closing the Achievement Gap

The bulk of the K-12 educational research on the impact of school racial and socioeconomic composition on measurable academic outcomes documents that attending racially segregated, high-poverty schools has a strong negative association with students' academic achievement (often measured through grade-level reading and math test scores). ⁴¹ Attending racially diverse schools is beneficial to all students and is associated with smaller test score gaps between students of different racial backgrounds, not because white student achievement declined, but rather that black and/or Hispanic student achievement increased. ⁴² In fact, the racial achievement gap in K-12 education closed more rapidly during the peak years of school desegregation than they have overall during the more recent era in which desegregation policies were dismantled and replaced by accountability policies. ⁴³

We see this in a local context in Hartford, Connecticut, where racially diverse interdistrict magnet schools were created by the Capital Region Education Council (CREC) in the greater Hartford area. As Figures 2 and 3 illustrate, these "CREC interdistrict magnet schools," which draw black and Latino students from the city of Hartford and white students from the suburbs, are closing the achievement gap between students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Indeed, 2013 state reading test scores in CREC regional magnet schools showed that the gap between black and white and between Latino and white students was eliminated in the third grade. The same was true between Latino and white students' scores in fifth grade reading. Additionally, by tenth grade the gap in scores between students from low-income families and other students shrunk to just under 5 percentage points in reading in interdistrict magnet schools, compared to 28 percentage points at the state level. Taken together, the achievement gaps between students of different races in these regional, interdistrict magnet schools are significantly smaller than the state overall. ⁴⁴
Figure 2. Figure 3.
While there are a handful of studies that challenge the link between school desegregation policy and positive academic outcomes, they represent only a small slice of the literature. ⁴⁵ As we argue below, it is highly likely that any less-than-positive short-term academic outcomes of desegregation reported are related to complex issues of implementation and a lack of attention, particularly in the early years of school desegregation, to students' overall experiences within schools.

Furthermore, these positive academic outcomes, particularly the closing of the achievement gap, make sense given that integrating schools leads to more equitable access to important resources such as structural facilities, highly qualified teachers, challenging courses, private and public funding, and social and cultural capital. ⁴⁶

Other research has examined academic outcomes of racially segregated and diverse schooling that are closely tied to students' post-secondary careers and college trajectories. The gap in SAT scores between black and white students is larger in segregated districts, and one study showed that change from complete segregation to complete integration in a district would reduce as much as one quarter of the SAT score disparity. ⁴⁷

For one thing, the educational expectations from school staff and performance of students who attend racially integrated schools are significantly higher than those of staff and students from racially segregated schools. ⁴⁸ This also means that students themselves hold higher educational aspirations than their peers who attend racially segregated schools. ⁴⁹ Further, dropout rates are significantly higher for students in segregated, high-poverty schools. ⁵⁰ During the height of desegregation in the 1970s and 1980s, dropout rates decreased for minority students, and the greatest decline in dropout rates occurred in districts with the greatest reductions in school segregation. ⁵¹ More recently, the interdistrict magnet programs in Hartford, on average, recorded far higher graduation rates than even some of the more affluent suburban districts in the region. This can be largely connected to an overall improved school climate in racially integrated schools. ⁵² These schools not only have lower levels of violence and social disorder than segregated schools, ⁵³ but they are also more likely to have stable staffs composed of highly qualified teachers-the single most important resource for academic achievement. ⁵⁴

Additional Benefits, Including Learning Outcomes and Interracial Understanding for All Students

The findings on the racial achievement gap are particularly notable given that school desegregation policy was too often implemented without much attention to students' day-to-day experiences within racially mixed schools. There has been no distinction drawn as to how different student outcomes were related to the various ways in which students experienced desegregation in their schools and communities. ⁵⁵ Most early research said nothing about the local context of desegregation or how students' experiences within racially diverse schools were shaped by the actions and attitudes of educators. Thus, the degree to which all students were treated equally or had teachers with high expectations for them was not a factor, despite the impact of such factors on student achievement data. Further, this early literature failed to calculate the prevalence of segregation within individual schools via tracking, or the extent to which black and white students were exposed to the same curriculum. ⁵⁶ Despite this lack of focus on what happens within diverse schools, the outcome data in K-12-as with higher education-still demonstrates that diverse educational experiences lead to positive learning outcomes and better intergroup relationships. A growing body of research suggests that the benefits of K-12 school diversity indeed flow in all directions-to white and middle-class students as well as to minority and low-income pupils. For instance, we know that diverse classrooms, in which students learn cooperatively alongside those whose perspectives and backgrounds are different from their own, are beneficial to all students, including middle-class white students, because they promote creativity, motivation, deeper learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. ⁵⁷ These skills that students gain from diverse learning environments are in line with what policy-makers say should be among the primary focuses of K-12 education. ⁵⁸ They are also skills that are highly desired by employers. ⁵⁹

In addition, there is a pedagogical value inherent in having multiple vantage points represented in classrooms to help all students think critically about their own views and to develop greater tolerance for different ways of understanding issues. It allows for positive academic outcomes for all students exposed to these diverse viewpoints. ⁶⁰ Much of the research on higher education cited before applies to the elementary and secondary educational context. For instance, evidence on how the persistence of implicit bias toward members of minority racial groups can interfere with the educational process by disrupting cognitive functioning for members of both the majority and minority could certainly apply to elementary and secondary students as well. ⁶¹ Also, the finding that efforts to increase university campus diversity can significantly reduce implicit bias and its detrimental effects would no doubt apply to K-12 schools and would carry over to apply to students experiences in higher education. ⁶²

In fact, in a prior era of American history, when hundreds of school districts were implementing school desegregation policies, there had been a focus, albeit small, on "intergroup contact" in K-12 public schools. It showed that while racial segregation and isolation can perpetuate racial fear, prejudice, and stereotypes, intergroup contact and critical cross-racial dialogue can help to ameliorate these problems. ⁶⁵ More recently, attention has pointed to the role that diverse schools play in preparing students to live in a multicultural society-particularly in terms of promoting interracial understanding and comfort, friendship building, and fostering civic and democratic engagement. ⁶⁶ Further, a longitudinal study on the link between K-12 and post-secondary exposure to diverse learning environments showed that the positive relationship between diversity in higher education and outcomes related to satisfaction, well-being, and racial attitudes are stronger among students who had already had more experiences with diverse learning environments before college. ⁶⁷

This suggests a strong and powerful link between K-12 and higher education experiences when it comes to students' educational benefits of attending diverse schools. Still, as with the higher education research, we need to more fully explore not only the what of K-12 school diversity, but also the how -how do elementary and secondary school educators create classrooms that facilitate the development of these educational benefits of diversity for all students? To answer this critical question, we need to look at yet another body of K-12 research from the desegregation era and beyond.

How Public Schools Can Help Foster the Educational Benefit of Diversity

Perhaps the ultimate irony of the current lack of focus on the educational benefits of diversity within racially and ethnically diverse public schools is that prior to the rise of the accountability movement in K-12 education, there had been an intentional focus on multicultural education that explored curricular improvements and teaching issues within racially diverse schools. Much like higher education's shift in focus from questions of "why" to "how" university faculty can foster the educational benefits of diversity within racially and ethnically diverse classrooms, the K-12 research on school desegregation had also started to shift focus from student outcomes to exploring within-school segregation and the curriculum and teaching issues related to racially and ethnically diverse schools. ⁶⁸ It was trying to understand the "how" as well.

Intergroup Relations

Indeed, by the late 1970s and early 1980s, a small cadre of researchers was going inside of schools and trying to understand the "how and why" aspects of student experiences in desegregated schools. Much of this work focused on how students interacted across racial and ethnic groups-what is commonly called "intergroup" relations-and was conducted primarily by sociologists, social psychologists, and anthropologists. They raised important issues about how school desegregation policies should be implemented to create successful desegregated schools. ⁶⁹ They also helped to illustrate the so-called second-generation issues of school desegregation; that is, the process of placing African American students in low-level classes separated from their white peers. This research was also methodologically distinct-consisting mainly of qualitative, in-depth case studies that focused on the process of school desegregation and the context in which it unfolded. ⁷⁰

Through looking at students' intergroup relations and how educators could create conditions that would foster intergroup understanding, the research stressed the importance of the equalization of academic status between students across racial groups in a manner that enabled students to learn from each other and thus experience the educational benefits of diversity. ⁷¹

Perhaps the most prolific of the researchers on intergroup relations was Elizabeth Cohen, ⁷² who examined the experiences of students within desegregated schools and how educators could create learning conditions that would foster intergroup understanding and an equalization of academic status (often otherwise correlated with racial background). Like the most recent work in higher education and efforts to understand "how" to achieve the educational benefits of diversity, Cohen focused on pedagogical practices that enabled students to learn from each other. ⁷³ In keeping with the need for a more contextual approach to studying school desegregation, Cohen wrote:
The more I have studied the desegregated situation, the more I have come to understand that what happens to children inside a particular desegregated school is a product of changing socio-historical forces which brought that particular school to the "desegregated" state, a product of the status and power relations of minority to majority in the society and community, as well as a product of social and structural forces within the school.⁷⁴
Understanding these status and power relations outside of schools and how they permeated the classroom walls was central to Cohen's efforts to construct learning experiences for students in which these external forces of differential status were minimized as much as possible. Psychologist Gordon Allport long ago described a "contact hypothesis" in his 1954 book The Nature of Prejudice, in which he argued that racial and other forms of prejudice can be reduced through equal-status contact of members of one or more racial/ethnic groups in the pursuit of common goals. ⁷⁵ The "equal-status" and "common goals" aspect of this hypothesis are central to the sort of intergroup contact that can facilitate fundamental changes in the way students make sense of each other and question stereotypes they may have heard from adults and peers. Public schools, therefore, are the natural setting in which such contact can occur. Few other institutions have the potential to bring students together across racial, ethnic, and social class lines to facilitate active learning to reduce prejudice. Much of this later school desegregation research helped to illustrate many of the problems associated with implementing school desegregation, including within-school "resegregation" via tracking and grouping. It highlighted very complex issues related to teachers' attitudes and beliefs about the ability of black students to succeed, as well as their willingness to talk about race as a salient issue within their schools and classrooms. There was a need to illustrate this complexity of desegregation and teaching in racially diverse classes, the day-to-day experiences of students in racially mixed schools, and a greater focus on the "sociocultural" dimensions of schooling as students are coming together across racial/ethnic lines, often for the first time. Teachers were found to have inconsistent views about African American students' potential to learn and conform to the dominant school culture. ⁷⁶ In another study of a desegregated middle school, it was actually taboo for faculty or students to talk about race, as if it did not shape the daily experiences of students. ⁷⁷

Other intergroup relations studies focused more on the psychological impact of school desegregation on students, particularly African American students. They tend to be inconclusive, because they imply a relationship between the particular conditions established within racially mixed schools and the ways in which children come to see themselves vis-a-vis students of other racial groups. ⁷⁸ Like the research on student achievement, studies examining students' self-esteem and/or racial attitudes suffered from the same central problem; They generally lacked contextual data to help explain how different students were experiencing school desegregation in different schools and how that influenced the way in which they understood themselves and others. Tracking and ability grouping in desegregated schools often perpetuated within-school segregation across race and class lines. Again, identified as second-generation desegregation issues, this was starting to be addressed in schools across the country and drawing more attention from researchers by the 1990s and early 2000s. In examining the impact of tracking within racially diverse schools, qualitative researchers emphasized the importance of social and cultural factors such as how teachers perceived students' academic ability, who was considered popular or good looking, and whose perspective, background, and experiences were most valued in classroom discussions. Despite educators' pronouncements to be "colorblind" and to treat all students equally, differential treatment according to race was the norm, even when different-race students had the same prior achievement and social-class backgrounds. ⁷⁹ Today we call such differential treatment by educators or police officers "implicit bias." ⁸⁰

Woven throughout this within-school segregation/desegregation literature was a deepening emphasis on the critical need for racially diverse schools and classrooms to address sociocultural issues related to whose knowledge, understanding, and meaning is valued in academic settings. Overall, there had been a lack of attention paid in older " outcomes-focused" desegregation research to what happened inside of schools and classrooms, especially as it related to the dignity of students of color. ⁸¹ Interestingly, insights and deeper understandings of how to create meaningful and more equal intergroup relations within racially diverse public schools were being written at the same time as the jurisprudence related to school desegregation was being reversed, and levels of racial segregation within schools and whole school districts were increasing. ⁸² While this particular literature did include many appropriate and well-placed criticisms of what was and was not happening pedagogically within these racially and ethnically diverse classrooms, it did not offer many suggestions regarding the appropriate pedagogy for these classes. That came from yet another body of related work in the area of multicultural education.

Multicultural Education and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: The Curriculum and Teaching Strand of Successful Diverse Schools

As sociologists and others were examining the structural issues of resegregation within racially diverse schools and trying to understand their impact on intergroup relations and students' sense of marginalization in the 1980s and 1990s in particular, other researchers and educators were coming up with instructional strategies and curricula to address the sociocultural issues discussed above. Much of it falls under the broad umbrella of "multicultural education" and echoes the calls within the higher education literature for more focus on the "how" of the educational benefits of diversity in higher education. ⁸³

Perhaps the broadest definition of multicultural education comes from one of the best-known authors in this area, James Banks, who argued that its central goal is to "help all students to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively in a pluralistic democratic society and to interact, negotiate, and communicate with peoples from diverse groups in order to create a civic and moral community that works for the common good." ⁸⁴

Framed around the changing demographics of this country and the backdrop of policies such as school desegregation that created more racially and culturally diverse schools and classrooms with a complex cultural make up, multicultural education was attuned to a wide range of issues, including the cultural orientations of students' families and issues of linguistics. Broadly defined as a research agenda "to unpack the cultural variable" so that differentiating characteristics within cultures could be understood by educators teaching diverse groups of students, ⁸⁵ multicultural education and the exploration of cultural issues in schools analyzed students' culture in terms of its variable influence on individuals, in contrast to approaches which assign an equal value to culture for all members of a group." ⁸⁶ This kind of finer-grained analysis of cultural and community life allows educators to more clearly recognize the daily cultural life of the individual child and how it relates to their understanding of history, literature, science, and even math." ⁸⁷

At the same time that multicultural education was emphasizing this "finer-grained analysis" of the cultural lives of individual students, it was also linked conceptually to an emphasis within curriculum and teaching on the societal implications of culturally diverse nations, with racially and ethnically diverse schools often seen as microcosms of that nation. These cultural issues connected more tightly to a look at the process of preparing teachers-particularly white teachers-to work in racially diverse schools as part of a larger effort to encourage white Americans to reconsider their "whiteness." ⁸⁸ Pedagogical issues around cultural diversity in schools and classrooms also connect to issues of democracy and democratic learning. ⁸⁹ This multicultural education literature, itself an important body of work in K-12 education-echoed in the higher education literature cited above-on the democratic goals of education and how they relate to racial and ethnic diversity. Critical work on the democratic goals of education echoes not only the concept of multicultural education, but also issues of democracy and pedagogy on racially diverse college campuses. ⁹⁰ Indeed, there is a crucial connection between the discussion of controversial political issues among people with disparate views and the health of our democracy. ⁹¹ Supporting the growing body of evidence on the educational benefits of diverse classrooms, researchers have found pedagogical value inherent in having multiple vantage points represented in classrooms, helping all students think critically about their own views and develop greater tolerance for different ways of understanding issues. Research documents positive academic outcomes for students exposed to these diverse viewpoints. ⁹²

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Building on the groundwork of multicultural education research, CRP has also remained focused on the intersection between school and home-community cultures and how that intersection relates to the delivery of instruction in schools. ⁹⁵ But CRP has been more directly applied to the teaching and learning of African American students in contexts that are racially and ethnically homogeneous as opposed to diverse schools and classrooms. While CRP does focus on the importance of culture in schooling, it always focuses directly on race, in part, perhaps, because it is so often adapted in all-black, one-race schools and classrooms.

Another critique of CRP is that its more recent application is far from what was theorized early at its inception. ⁹⁶ Specifically, the superficial, decontextualized, and fragmented application of CRP-and multicultural education-has sometimes resulted in the marginalization of Asian American students due to their limited inclusion in curricular content. ⁹⁷ This is made worse by teachers who have had little training in culturally relevant pedagogy or content and therefore "reinforce a tokenized perspective of 'minorities' in this country through an emphasis on celebrations, contributions, food, and heroes." ⁹⁸

There are thus new linkages developing between CRP and a broader understanding of how culture and race interact in the educational system. ⁹⁹ Multicultural education, and pedagogies that have evolved from it, have the potential to advance desegregation and racial/ethnic equality because, when they can address many of the social and cultural aspects of racially/ethnically diverse classrooms that previous noncurricular reforms have failed to tackle. ¹⁰⁰ There is much potential for a culturally relevant approach to help all students in racially and ethnically diverse public schools learn from each other in a manner that challenges their own assumptions and indeed makes them "smarter," more creative, and more thoughtful.

Most recently, a reflection on the misuse of CRP has called for the rethinking of original theory and welcomes a shift to the theory of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, which aims to foster cultural pluralism as part of the goals of a democratic society. ¹⁰³ According to pedagogical theorist Gloria Ladson-Billings, culturally relevant pedagogy should include the multiplicities of identities and cultures that help formulate today's youth culture. "Rather than focus singularly on one racial or ethnic group," she writes, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy "pushes us to consider the global identities that are emerging in the arts, literature, music, athletics, and film." ¹⁰⁴

Clearly, there is much rich information, conceptualization, and understanding in the K-12 literature on teaching and learning as it relates to issues of race and ethnicity more broadly. The next step in utilizing these more culturally based understandings of schools and curricula is to apply this thinking to diverse schools and classrooms more specifically. Educators in schools across the country-some isolated in single classrooms and some working on a school-wide set of pedagogical reforms-are starting to grapple with these issues in racially and ethnically diverse classrooms. Some of these efforts are documented in studies of the de-tracking movement and the work on civics education noted above, but far more research on the "how" dimensions of these pedagogical efforts is needed. ¹⁰⁵

Demographic, Educational, and Political Forces Fostering the Benefits of Diversity within the K-12 Educational System

The fact that the educational benefits of racially and ethnically diverse campuses and classrooms has been a more central argument and defining theme of higher education jurisprudence, leadership, and research than it has in the area of K-12 research and policy is problematic, given the added attention generally to issues of teaching and learning in the K-12 literature. But as we highlight in Figure 1, there are several reasons why issues related to the educational benefits of diversity appear to have fallen off the K-12 research radar screen in the last twenty-five years. This includes, most notably, a highly fragmented and segregated K-12 educational system of entrenched between-district segregation that cannot be easily addressed after Milliken v. Bradley. Meanwhile, this fragmented and segregated educational system is governed by accountability and legal mandates that give no credence to the educational benefits of learning in diverse contexts. As noted above, several areas of research on the sociocultural issues related to teaching students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds that could help inform our understanding of the pedagogical approaches that foster educational benefits of diversity in the K-12 system are disconnected, often designed to address the needs of students in the racially segregated school system they attend.

Still, despite the many factors working against efforts to embrace and develop a parallel "educational benefits of diversity" argument in K-12 education, there are several counter forces influencing the public educational system that could eventually foster a movement to embrace this argument. In this section, we highlight the demographic, educational, and political forces that we think may have the potential to shift the system in that direction.

Demographic Forces: The Changing Population and Metro Migrations

Much attention has been paid to the fact that the U.S. population overall is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse (see Figure 4). The media have pointed out repeatedly that by the middle of the twenty-first century, this country's population overall will no longer be majority white, non-Hispanic. Even more notably, this transition is happening much more quickly amid our younger population. As of September 2014, for the first time in our nation's history, white, non-Hispanic students no longer constitute a majority of the overall public school enrollment, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Rapid growth in the Hispanic and Asian populations, coupled with a black population that has remained constant and a decline in the percentage of whites, has led to a total K-12 enrollment of 49 percent white, 26 percent Hispanic, 15 percent black; and 5 percent Asian for the 2014-15 school year. ¹⁰⁶
Figure 4.
Coinciding with the changing racial makeup of the country and our public schools is a profound shift in who lives where. In many contexts, our post-World War II paradigm of all-white suburbs and cities as the places where blacks and Hispanics live has been turned on its head. For instance, we know that after World War II the government subsidized a movement of millions of white, middle-class families to the suburbs, and many cities became predominantly black and/or Latino. ¹⁰⁷ By 1980, 67 percent of blacks and 50 percent of Latinos, but only 24 percent of whites, lived in these city centers. ¹⁰⁸ At that time, only 23 percent of blacks lived in the suburbs. Black suburbanization rates were even lower-about 12-15 percent-in the Northeast. ¹⁰⁹
Figure 5.
In the 1990s, journalists and researchers were increasingly reporting on the growing number of distressed suburbs that were coming to resemble poor inner-city communities. For instance, from 1990 to 2000, while some newly developing suburbs experienced rapid growth in people and jobs, " many older suburbs experienced central-city-like challenges, including an aging infrastructure, inadequate housing stock, deteriorating schools and commercial corridors-and population decline." ¹¹² In 2000, while suburbs were still more affluent than cities on average, certain cities were becoming less poor and their residents were more educated than their suburban counterparts. ¹¹³ By 2008, an Atlantic Monthly article highlighted the impact of the sub-prime mortgage crisis on suburban communities experiencing high rates of foreclosures. But the author was quick to note that declining suburban neighborhoods did not begin with the mortgage crisis, and they would not end with it as more people with high incomes move into the cities. ¹¹⁴

This leads to what is conceptualized in the current, post-2000 era, as the still- evolving period of metro migrations, which we refer to as "trading places," with affluent whites moving back into cities and lower-income people of color moving to the suburbs-either by choice or via displacement in gentrifying city neighborhoods. ¹¹⁵ This pattern has continued in the last decade, as black and recent-immigrant suburbanization has continued, and a growing number of upper-middle-class and relatively more affluent whites are moving back into urban centers. ¹¹⁶

Lured by the convenience, excitement, and culture of city living, increasing numbers of highly skilled whites in so-called " global cities" such as New York and San Francisco have opted out of long daily commutes by living in nearby urban, and often gentrified, neighborhoods. ¹¹⁷ City life, once considered by many whites as dangerous, dirty, and crowded, is now increasingly associated with excitement, fun, and convenience. ¹¹⁸ Indeed, a recent poll found that 77 percent of Millennials expressed a preference for urban life. ¹¹⁹ In her recent book, The End of the Suburbs, Leigh Gallagher of Fortune magazine notes that 2011 was the first year in decades that population growth in the cities outpaced that of the suburbs, and home builders now say their best markets are the urban, gentrifying neighborhoods. ¹²⁰ Cities and suburbs have experienced a "demographic inversion" as a result of their changing racial composition. ¹²¹

The New York City metropolitan area represents a prime example of the most recent trading spaces phenomenon. The percentage of whites in Manhattan increased 28 percent between 2000 and 2006, while it declined in nearby suburban Nassau County. During the same six-year period, the Hispanic population declined by 2 percent in Manhattan, but increased by 20 percent in Nassau. This twenty-first century urban aristocracy-or "gentry"-is driving up home prices in select city neighborhoods, sometimes pushing lower-income residents-mostly black and Latino-into outlying urban and inner-ring suburban communities. ¹²²

Meanwhile, a growing number of American suburbs where more than half of the U.S. population-about 53 percent-still lives are increasingly diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and culture, giving the suburbs a far more cosmopolitan feel than in the post-World War II era. In fact, today, in the fifty-largest metropolitan areas, 44 percent of residents live in racially and ethnically diverse suburbs, defined as between 20 and 60 percent non-white. ¹²³

Overall, these fluctuating metropolitan characteristics suggest that traditional paradigms of "cities" versus "suburbs" are rapidly evolving in ways that we cannot yet completely comprehend. Indeed, it is increasingly clear that contemporary urban and suburban communities each contain pockets of both poverty and affluence, often functioning as racially and ethnically distinct spaces. In fact, by 2005, one million more poor people lived in suburban compared to urban areas. ¹²⁴ While the rate of demographic change differs by context as well, there are moments of "de facto" racial/ethnic diversity in our cities and suburbs that are affecting more than just neighborhoods.

Urban and Suburban Public Schools amid Demographic Changes

This demographic "trading places" phenomenon, or the "great inversion," ¹²⁵ has many implications not just for housing patterns and property values, but also the public schools in these transitioning communities. In Brooklyn, New York, for instance, a growing number of communities that were, only ten years ago, almost entirely minority and low-income are now becoming (or have already become) predominantly white and affluent. The families who had sent their children to the public schools in these communities for years are now being "displaced" from their neighborhoods and their public schools. Ironically, in in-depth interviews we are conducting, white gentrifiers state that one reason they moved into the city was to live in neighborhoods more diverse than the homogeneous suburbs where many grew up. Similarly, they note that they want their children to attend public schools with other children of different backgrounds.

Thus, while much of the focus of anti-displacement has been on housing policy, too little attention has been paid to school policies that affect who is being "displaced"-physically and academically-from schools as well. There is much hard work to be done at the school level to assure that all students enrolled have the opportunity to achieve to high levels. In public schools with a growing population of more affluent students, educators often seek assistance in meeting the needs of a wide range of students.

In the last decade, a small but growing body of literature has documented the impact of urban gentrification on the enrollment and culture in public schools. ¹²⁶ Still, most of it examines the gentrification process and its impact on public schools through the eyes of white, middle-, or upper-middle-class parents, and rarely does it examine deep pedagogical issues in schools related to a changing student body in which issues of race, class, power, and privilege are being lived, if not explored, in the classrooms.

There is also an emerging focus on the impact of changing demographics on suburban public schools. ¹²⁷ In our research on Long Island, for example, we studied inner-ring suburban schools that shifted demographically from having a more than 90 percent white, non-Hispanic student body in the 1990s to only 15 percent white, non-Hispanic by 2014. In other suburbs, further from the New York City boundary, the white, non-Hispanic population has stabilized at about 50 percent. In both contexts, educators and students are grappling with racial, ethnic, and cultural differences that many of them had not encountered before.

When we think of education policies and practices to support and sustain the increasingly diverse public schools in both urban and suburban contexts, it is clear that K-12 educators and educational researchers have much to learn from the higher education research on the educational benefits of diversity in efforts to both close racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps while helping all students succeed. And just as fair-housing advocacy has increasingly prioritized the stabilization and sustainability of diverse communities, education policy needs to follow suit. Unfortunately, too few policy makers see the need for such programs, even as a growing number of educators in diverse schools are clamoring for help to close those gaps and teach diverse groups of students.

The current mismatch between the policies and the needs of an increasingly racially and ethnically diverse society inspire us to fill the void with compelling success stories of public schools working toward a greater public good by tapping into the possibility of changing neighborhoods to teach children how to thrive in a society of racial and cultural differences. One of the schools we are studying in a gentrifying area is helping build more cross-racial understanding across the Hispanic and white parent groups by trying to assure more equal voice in the decision-making processes-everything from the kind of food and music available at the fund raisers to the mix of various field trips to cultural institutions. Another school, in a suburban school district, is trying to develop a new set of elementary school attendance zones, and/or moving toward a mini-controlled choice model to avoid the segregation of the growing Hispanic student population into one elementary school.

Schools and communities on the front lines of demographic change face significant obstacles to realizing the sort of educational benefits of diversity that can help us all understand and appreciate differences. Urban history suggests that when a racial group begins migrating to a new community, the existing population is likely either to be pushed out or to flee, setting into play a perpetual cycle of segregation and resegregation. At the heart of these cycles are public schools with educators who are rarely prepared to facilitate the "educational benefits" of a diverse student body-a concept supported by the higher education research and the federal courts.

Even in the most unstable and rapidly changing contexts, there are moments of "de facto school diversity" within demographically changing neighborhoods. ¹²⁸ In these spaces, higher education research on the educational benefits of diversity could be extremely helpful to assist educators in garnering the academic benefits of diverse schools and classrooms to help prepare all students for the twenty-first century. The most disadvantaged students are the most negatively impacted by such a failure.

Political Forces in Favor of More Racially and Ethnically Diverse Schools and Their Educational Benefits

Thus, as leaders in higher education have relied heavily on social science evidence to put forth a powerful legal and policy argument in support of the educational benefits of diverse campuses and classrooms, the policy priorities in K-12 public education have gone in the other direction, with a strong focus on narrow accountability measures within increasingly segregated schools. This K-12 policy emphasis is not only out of line with higher education's priorities, but it is also extremely shortsighted and problematic given the demographic changes among younger generations, and the growing demand from both universities and employers for high school graduates with experiences in diverse contexts and the ability to cross cultural boundaries.

In this last section, we provide an overview of two key political forces-changing racial attitudes and the backlash against standardized tests as the central measure of "good" schools-that support a return in K-12 education policy focus to the issue of racial and ethnic diversity.

The Growing Demographic Diversity Reflected in Attitudes

Policymakers who ignore the rapid demographic changes within the K-12 population miss a critical opportunity to lead this increasingly diverse nation toward a more equal and cohesive future. In fact, many voters would welcome more leadership in this area. Opinion poll and interview data suggest a growing number of parents are paying attention to our "demographic destiny" and seeking racially and culturally diverse public schools to prepare their children for a global society. ¹³¹ For instance, recent elections suggest a growing number of voters are looking for elected officials who can lead an increasingly diverse nation instead of denying our demographic destiny, or worse, playing into the sort of racial politics that divides us. ¹³² Despite the policy trends and individual choices that have led to ongoing patterns of segregation in both urban and suburban communities, a substantial proportion of our post-civil rights society strongly values and desires exposure to diverse environments and sees this as an asset- both within our schools and our communities. ¹³³ Indeed, in the midst of increasing immigration and changing demographics, Americans of all racial and ethnic groups are increasingly likely to be accepting of cultural differences and to view diversity in social situations as a positive characteristic. ¹³⁴ And again, this is particularly true for Millennial parents, who are a more racially diverse cohort themselves. Further, attitudes among whites have changed more, simply because they had further to go due to the fact that nonwhite respondents have favored diversity for longer and in larger numbers. ¹³⁵

Although diverse, integrated spaces are becoming more socially desirable, our society is still quite divided along racial lines in terms of perceptions of how far we still have to go to achieve racial equality. While nearly all whites dismiss (at least publicly) ideas that blacks in particular are less intelligent or hardworking, and fewer oppose interracial marriage, they are increasingly less likely to believe that blacks continue to experience racial discrimination as a result of structural inequality and a history of slavery and oppression. ¹³⁶ Black respondents, on the other hand, tend to report that these issues are still very much a problem in spite of shifts in racial politics since the mid-twenty-first century. ¹³⁷ Asian and Latino respondents also cite discrimination due to their race but to a somewhat lesser extent than blacks. ¹³⁸ It seems that among whites in particular, conversations around valuing and pursuing diversity in schools, neighborhoods, and other institutions has focused less and less on this goal as it relates to addressing past injustices. ¹³⁹

These divergent perceptions point to the true educational benefits of diversity, particularly the democratic, deliberative goals of intercultural dialogue and understanding, and they are sorely needed-for students, parents, and community members. These racial divides on issues of past injustices and ongoing structural inequality are best addressed through cross-racial dialogue and understanding. The need to sustain racially and ethnically diverse communities is vital to our future as a diverse democracy.

Attitudes about Diverse Schools: Policies Are Out of Step with a Growing Demand

A hopeful sign related to the last point above is that parallel to these shifts in racial attitudes is the growing desire for diverse schools and classrooms. Despite the many challenges and shortcomings of school desegregation that played out across the United States in the early phases of this policy, in the decades following the implementation of these policies, interracial contact slowly increased and racism among whites declined. ¹⁴⁰ Furthermore, as we noted above, students who attended racially diverse schools are more likely to exhibit progressive attitudes toward members of other racial groups. ¹⁴¹

According to a 2004 Newsweek survey, 71 percent of all respondents felt that increasing diversity and integration in public schools is important to their improvement. This number was higher among African American and Hispanic respondents than among whites, but is much higher among whites than in previous years. ¹⁴⁴ In fact, parents who are choosing schools for their young children are more likely than not to reference their desire for a "diverse" school as a factor in the decision-making process. ¹⁴⁵ While questions on integration have been worded differently over time, making it difficult to compare responses across different decades, the public has been consistently asked whether it believed black and white students should attend the same schools beginning in 1942. The wording of this question, which is the only one that has remained nearly identical, allows for a comparison in responses that would not have been possible otherwise. Overall, the trend is steady, with a significant increase in the percentage of the general public reporting that students of different races should attend the ''same schools" (see Figure 6). ¹⁴⁶
Figure 6.
Again looking at a local context, Louisville, Kentucky provides a good microcosm of changing racial attitudes about diverse schools. In the 1970s, when the school desegregation plan was first proposed, 98 percent of those polled in the Louisville area were opposed to the plan. ¹⁴⁷ But after the U.S Supreme Court ruling in 2007 that sharply curtailed the use of race in the Louisville student assignment plan, the school district actually tried different ways of promoting diversity. ¹⁴⁸ Indeed, by 2011, a survey found that 89 percent of parents in the Jefferson County School District in Louisville said they were in favor of the schools having student assignment guidelines that "ensure that students learn with students from different races and economic backgrounds." More than 90 percent of the parents said that they believed there were powerful educational benefits to diverse schools and classrooms. ¹⁴⁹

Similarly, arecent grassroots movement in Wake County, North Carolina is an example of the strong support that parents, students, and school leaders have for maintaining racially diverse public schools. After a newly-elected school board voted to end the district's class-based school integration policy in favor of returning to neighborhood schools, a large, multiracial group of community members banded together to protest the decision and advocate for maintaining the racially diverse schools that they felt were so important in preparing students for an increasingly diverse society. ¹⁵⁰ Despite the lack of policy attention to matters of racial/ethnic diversity in public schools, many district administrators have still pushed to maintain racial diversity and diversity-based student assignment policies in their schools. For example, after the courts ruled to release the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District in North Carolina from their court-ordered desegregation plan, the district fought against the decision, arguing that they had a compelling interest in maintaining racially integrated schools. They presented evidence for their case on the academic, social, occupational, and civic benefits to racially diverse schools for all students that are "important for living and working in a pluralistic diverse democracy." Teachers from the district also testified that diverse learning environments lead children to become better educated and more tolerant of other racial/ethnic groups. ¹⁵¹

On the other hand, apart from this grassroots support for policies that foster more racially and socioeconomically diverse public schools, even when parents consider diversity to be a benefit, they still tend to choose schools that are homogenous, oftentimes citing measures of "school quality" as the most important factor in making their decisions. ¹⁵² Furthermore, the public school choice process is complicated by increasing inequality, stark segregation, and narrow definitions of "school quality" that align with demographic characteristics of schools. The unfortunate reality is that even for parents who prefer diverse schools, these structural challenges make finding and choosing these schools very difficult. ¹⁵³ One upper-middle- class parent we interviewed in our study of segregation across school district boundaries on Long Island noted that even when you want to place your children in racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse public schools, when your choices of schools are all segregated, you choose segregated schools whether you want it or not. ¹⁵⁴

This parent, and millions like him, know intuitively that educating children in racially segregated schools does not prepare them for living and working in the increasingly diverse society in which they will become adults. As was well-documented in the amicus briefs in the Fisher II case, there is mounting evidence that universities and employers are seeking students and employees who can work with diverse groups of people and who have cross-cultural, group-work skills. Similar to the arguments made in the Fortune 100 brief in the Fisher II case, 318 major employers cited in a survey that one of the most important priorities for employers when they are looking for job candidates is that the potential employee is "comfortable working with colleagues, customers, and/or clients from diverse cultural backgrounds" (96 percent important, including 63 percent very important). ¹⁵⁵

This is in keeping with the statements of several major corporations in the amicus briefs to support affirmative action in higher education and school desegregation in K-12: "businesses competing in the global marketplace are acutely aware that a diverse talent pool, one that includes people with experience working in racially diverse groups, is essential to their continued success. Without qualified people from different racial and cultural backgrounds, and, even more importantly, "cross-cultural competence" among employees and management, U.S. corporations will be ill-equipped to compete in an increasingly diverse world." ¹⁵⁶

One has to wonder why, when so many parents, universities, and employers want to see our children attending less racially isolated public schools, our policy makers are not listening. The lack of attention to this matter on the part of our political leaders is all the more puzzling given the recent backlash against the policies they have recently supported, most notably, standardized tests.

The Backlash against Too Much Emphasis on Standardized Tests

The second major political force that should shift policy makers' attention to addressing ongoing racial/ethnic segregation and the lack of emphasis on the educational benefits of diversity begins with an examination of the standardized-test-driven accountability system, specifically, the extent to which it is driving both racial segregation and a backlash on the part of parents and educators who are saying "too much." We argue that current educational policies and their reliance on narrow measures to judge schools, teachers, and students hold our nation back in terms of efforts to envision racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity as an asset in preparing all children for the twenty-first century. ¹⁵⁷ Further, in an era in which many middle-class and affluent parents and students are stressed out about getting into competitive colleges and universities, ¹⁵⁸ the test-based curriculum so dominant in the K-12 system is not adequately preparing students to succeed in the colleges they most want to attend.

Test scores, more than any other form of information about public education, are now made widely available to the general public and are used to assess the "quality" of each school. The problem is not that schools must administer some standardized form of assessment to ascertain whether students are learning to read or grasping mathematical concepts; rather, it is the enormous amount of weight we place on these narrow measures, making the outcomes-and only them-synonymous with what it mean to be "educated." ¹⁶¹

If all we value about education can be illustrated in a few numbers, then these recent policy developments are acceptable-good even. But if we want more than that, then this trajectory is problematic. Not only does it narrow children's experiences and even the value of their schooling down to a handful of fill-in-the-bubble exams, it also perpetuates and even legitimizes a far-from-colorblind process of racial segregation.

The strong negative correlation between the percentage of black, Latino, and low-income children in a school and its average test scores has been persistent. ¹⁶² There are many cultural and social explanations for this correlation, and they are not an indictment of black and Hispanic students' intelligence. But these understandings are too rarely discussed. ¹⁶³ Meanwhile, if test scores are the only measure of school quality that receive any attention, then only those schools that are predominantly white, or Asian, or both, can be considered "good." ¹⁶⁴

When such values are placed on schools in a manner that strongly correlates to the race and class of the students, then efforts to create more racially/ethnically diverse schools are framed as though white and Asian families are "giving up something" because their schools will not be seen as "excellent." This dampens any enthusiasm white and Asian parents may have for school-level racial "diversity" as a means to prepare children for a global society. ¹⁶⁵

This system also forces educators in "low-achieving" schools serving mostly low-income black and Latino students to fixate on raising test scores via a curriculum focused almost exclusively on the material tested, leaving little room to build upon the knowledge and understandings that students bring to school. Meanwhile, research on learning and pedagogy suggest that the best way to engage students is to build on their existing knowledge and then connect those understandings to more abstract and unfamiliar topics. ¹⁶⁶ Multicultural education and culturally relevant pedagogy have much to offer our efforts to engage students in racially diverse schools and universities-if only these forms of engagement and cross-cultural understanding were a priority. An approach to accountability that relies almost exclusively on standardized tests often has a negative impact on the educational experiences of all children, but particularly those of low-income black and Latino students. It also works directly against political incentives to create more racially and ethnically diverse schools. When the entire educational system is not only separate and unequal along racial/ethnic lines, but also measured, evaluated, and then "valued" almost exclusively according to test scores, the correlation between race and schools deemed to be "bad" based only on these narrow measures is high, exacerbating the race-based inequalities that already exist. Such a system is anything but colorblind, and can only be addressed via a race-conscious and progressive agenda. ¹⁶⁷

Part of that agenda could potentially include several elements found in the newly implemented Common Core Standards reform. In fact, many progressive educators celebrate the fact that the Common Core, if taught in a manner that does not put standardized tests at the center, provides students with the opportunity to engage in close critical readings of complex texts and to question and interrogate what they read. In theory, the Common Core provides teachers with more freedom for planning meaningful literacy experiences for students. The Common Core guidelines even recommend some texts that reflect a departure from the traditional canon that has marginalized students from non-white and low-income backgrounds for many years. ¹⁶⁸

While the mandated tests and teacher evaluation systems designed to measure students' Common Core learning have pushed this reform in the wrong direction, the Common Core actually has far more potential-" progressive potential" even-than is currently being realized. ¹⁶⁹ A small but growing band of educators at the grassroots level are attempting to use the Common Core framework, with its emphasis on "complexity, range, and quality," to engage students in anti-bias texts and in deeper, richer dialogues in which their assumptions are challenged. Such pedagogy is best used in culturally and racially diverse schools and classrooms. Historic civil rights organizations, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, are embracing this progressive potential of the Common Core. Such efforts can and should be shared and expanded. According to teachers working with the Center on these issues, " We see the Common Core as a powerful opportunity to build diversity into instruction and encourage powerful dialogue." ¹⁷⁰

In racially and ethnically diverse schools, such experiences could easily tap into, strengthen, and augment the educational benefits of diversity in a manner similar to what the universities and some schools districts (for example, Lynn, Massachusetts) are arguing for in the courts. Such "educational benefits" include, but are not limited to, fostering livelier and better-informed class discussions that challenge all students to examine their own assumptions, and preparing students to succeed in an increasingly diverse society by garnering greater cross-racial understanding and breaking down stereotypes.

Unfortunately, the mandated tests and teacher evaluation systems that have come to dominate how we measure students' Common Core learning have pushed this reform in the wrong direction, toward a narrow curriculum that undermines its far more progressive potential. When good ideas that could help support racially and ethnically diverse schools and prepare all students for a more dynamic and diverse global economy are being thwarted by a testing regime, it is time to reevaluate the importance we have placed on narrow measures of student achievement. Building on a groundswell of resistance to such approaches across the country, ¹⁷¹ a more race-conscious and progressive policy agenda can unfold. The success of this approach will depend on using the knowledge researchers have gained over the past several decades in both the higher education literature and K-12 literature as discussed in previous sections. The 2015 reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, now known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), gives us hope. This legislation not only grants more decision-making power to the states, but it also requires assessments to involve multiple measures of student achievement, including measures that assess higher-order thinking skills and understanding. In other words, student growth may be assessed in the form of portfolios, projects or extended performance tasks. ¹⁷²

Still, the the recent history of "neo-Plessyism" in K-12 education suggests that elementary and secondary policy makers have much to learn from the higher education leaders about how to frame "good" educational practices in relation to racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity in public schools. At the same time, higher education scholars and educators have much to learn from K-12 researchers and teachers about how to connect the sociocultural issues of diverse schools to teaching and learning. All this can lead to a more thoughtful educational policy and practice from kindergarten through graduate school.

As we have noted, despite the policy setbacks against racially diverse public schools, leaders, parents, and advocates at the local level have fought back in support of racial and ethnic diversity in public education. There are still school districts that continue to pursue racial integration in schools and exemplify the benefits integration has for all students regardless of the limits that federal courts have placed on such local decision making. One such example is the interdistrict magnet schools described in greater Hartford which were created by a Connecticut State Supreme Court ruling in 1996 holding that the racial and class segregation in the region's twenty-two school districts denied students the equal educational opportunity put forth in the state's constitution. This led to a concerted effort to reduce racial segregation in and around the Hartford area. The result was a lottery-based magnet school system designed with the goal of achieving racial, ethnic, and economic integration.

By the 2013-14 school year, there were over forty interdistrict magnet schools with different curricular themes and teaching methods in the greater Hartford area serving over sixteen thousand students from multiple suburban communities in and around Hartford. For these schools to maintain their magnet status, they must meet integration standards, which dictate that 25 percent of students must be white and half of the students must be from the suburbs. However, it is important to note that no student is admitted on the basis of their race or ethnicity to meet these requirements. Instead, the schools market to a wide variety of families to enter the lottery. Over the years, the demand among both suburban and urban parents has grown so much that the schools no longer have enough seats for all the families who want to enroll their children. Additionally, there are no admissions requirements like standardized test scores or interviews, so students enter the schools with a wide variety of academic abilities.

The lack of admissions requirements is particularly important when the academic achievement of students outlined in previous sections is reviewed. Over the past several years, students in the interdistrict magnet schools have consistently outperformed their peers in both nonmagnet urban schools and nonmagnet suburban schools. A 2009 study compared academic results between students who had applied to interdistrict magnets in the state and were not selected through the blind lottery and students who were selected for and attended a magnet school. The magnet school students who lived in urban areas, who were mostly black and Latino, made greater gains and did significantly better in math and reading in high school and on reading tests in middle school than students who were not selected. Similarly, the suburban students who attended magnets also outperformed their peers at traditional suburban schools, which were generally more affluent and had a larger percentage of white students. Also, students of color in magnet schools were significantly more likely to say they felt close to white students and had white friends than did students of color who did not attend magnets. Mirroring these results, white students in magnets were significantly more likely than students in nonmagnet schools to say they were close to students of color and had students of color as friends. This suggests that the interdistrict magnet schools in the Hartford region are designed to promote the educational benefits of diversity.

Results like these from Hartford, coupled with other similar efforts in metro areas and small towns across the country, despite support from federal or many state leaders, suggest that where there is a will, there is a way to achieve the educational benefits of diverse schools and classrooms in a manner that will benefit all students.

Conclusion and Policy Recommendations

Educational Policies for the Twenty-First Century

We are at a critical crossroads in American history-a breaking point at which efforts to ignore racial and ethnic inequality will clash with the cultural complexity of our day-to-day lives. At the same time, increased awareness of racialized police tactics and growing income inequality in the United States and its relationship to race has fostered additional frustration with a so-called "colorblind meritocracy." ¹⁷³ Although the old, race-conscious educational policies of yesteryear, especially court-ordered mandatory "bussing" of students for school desegregation, are clearly a thing of the past, there are ample ways that twenty-first century policies can support the creation and sustainability of racially/ethnically diverse public schools to meet growing parental demand and move our increasingly culturally complicated nation forward. This support, however, must go beyond creating schools with diverse enrollments to curricular and accountability approaches that allow educators to tap into the multiple educational benefits of diversity.

In the last decade, federal courts have ruled that the "educational benefits" of diverse universities, schools, and classrooms constitute an important, compelling governmental interest. Such diverse learning environments better prepare students for a global society by reducing racial stereotypes and fostering cross-racial understanding. These rulings were predicated in part on a growing body of research across several fields, including mathematics and science, that show people working in racially and ethnically diverse groups come up with better solutions to problems. Thousands of American universities and corporations have been inspired by this research to provide their students and employees with curriculum and/or trainings on problem solving and diversity-strategies most of our K-12 schools are not teaching. Furthermore, we lack the leadership in public education to make studying, documenting, and promoting those educational practices a priority.

If our demographic destiny, solid research evidence, employers' demands, and the U.S. Supreme Court do not provide policy makers with enough incentive to promote racial and ethnic diversity in our K-12 educational system, then changing racial attitudes should. Opinion polls and interviews show that a growing number of white Americans, especially young adults, harbor less racial prejudice than whites of a prior generation. And again, the percentage of Americans who support students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds attending the same schools has increased dramatically-at least in terms of what people say since the 1950s. Young adults, who are more likely to have attended diverse schools and have children in public schools today, express the most support for racially integrated schools and classrooms.

The current heavy emphasis on standardized tests is detrimental to good teaching that engages students in creative ways. For students who live and will work in a racially diverse and culturally complex society, this strong emphasis on discrete bits of standardized knowledge and information is even more problematic. The current policy focus on standardized testing as the almost exclusive measure of high-achieving students and good schools and teachers does an educational disservice to students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Such understandings work against racially diverse schools in ways that are unfair and erroneous and often lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy via a downward spiral of diverse schools as students with more resources and higher test scores leave. Nearly twenty years ago, scholars predicted this downward spiral of more diverse schools measured by narrow, non-diverse measures. As state testing regimes were first being implemented, they noted that because prior student academic achievement and students' social class are still the strongest predictors of how well a given school will do on academic achievement measures, " focusing state policy on student performance might simply concentrate high-achieving students in a few schools, thereby aggravating current disparities in the racial and socioeconomic composition of schools." ¹⁷⁴

Research on racially diverse high schools from the 1970s revealed that many of these schools had "good" reputations before the more recent accountability measures were implemented. Historical case studies of these schools, however, have also shown that school reputations are incredibly fragile and need to be bolstered-and not undercut-by federal and state policies intended to hold schools accountable. Given everything that racially diverse schools have working against them in a racially segregated and unequal society, such policies should support these schools and not contribute to their demise. ¹⁷⁵

Ironically, yearbooks of these high schools circa late 1970s present smiling, hopeful photos of a mix of students that resembles what we see on many college campuses today. Meanwhile, only two of the six high schools profiled in that study are still diverse today following decades of "colorblind" educational policies that have placed far more emphasis on test scores than diversity. Who and what are preparing our adolescents for the racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse colleges and workplaces they will soon enter? How might educational researchers-those who study higher education and those who study K-12-help provide a good answer to that question; how might their voices be heard?

Policy Recommendations for Fostering the Educational Benefits of Diversity in K-12 Public Schools

Student Assignment and Enrollment Policies.Federal and state policies should provide incentives to districts and schools that attract and stabilize racial and socioeconomically diverse public schools through redrawing attendance boundaries to encompass sections of two racially or ethnically distinct neighborhoods.¹⁷⁶ Similarly, school choice and voluntary transfer plans could be created or amended to keep diverse racial or ethnic school enrollments as a goal. After the 2007 Supreme Court ruling in the Louisville and Seattle cases, there are still race-conscious measures that school districts can use to accomplish this goal, including selective recruitment of students and strategic siting of schools.

Redefining "Good" Schools for the Twenty-first Century. As part of the new ESSA framework, federal and state policies should include indicators of diversity and measures of intergroup relations and intercultural understanding in measuring and judging "good" schools. We have to wonder, given the vast body of research evidence cited above strongly indicating that students educated in racially segregated schools are ill-prepared for higher education or work in our increasingly diverse society or the global economy, why school evaluations do not include measures of racial isolation that count against schools and their school districts as signs of a lack of accountability. On every district and school report card, there should be a measure of the success of all districts and public schools in preparing students for higher education and the workforce through diverse schools and classrooms that incorporate the educational benefits of diversity. No racially segregated school-be it all-black, all-Hispanic, all-Asian or all-white-should be considered "excellent" in our current context.

Teacher Education Programs. There should be a focus on preparing future teachers to foster the educational benefits of diversity by allowing students of different backgrounds to learn from each other in the context of equal status, common goals, and mutual respect. There are a few schools of education in which this is becoming a more central theme in their teacher education programs, but this work needs to be more widely spread moving forward.

Policy Changes from the Bottom Up.Parents and local leaders should engage in efforts to support and stabilize racially and ethnically diverse public schools in both gentrifying urban communities and diversifying suburban communities. Leaders should work with educators in these schools to promote the implementation of student assignment policies and curriculum and teaching strategies that help all students come to more intercultural understanding. These movements are taking place in several local contexts, including Louisville and Wake County, but such efforts are exhausting absent more support from higher levels of government.

If reams of social science evidence is correct in arguing that diversity makes us smarter, and if higher education researchers are correct about their findings related to college students, our elementary and secondary education students have much to learn and gain from public schools that are diverse and in which professional educators know how to build on that diversity to help all students learn deeper, better, and more creatively about themselves and others. In sync with this research, this report argues that the twenty-first century increasingly vocal majority of parents, higher education officials, and employers are right about the educational benefits of diversity, and it is time for our federal and state policy makers to listen.

Amy Stuart Wells is professor of sociology and education and director of the Center for Understanding Race and Education (CURE) at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is also co-director of the Public Good, a nonprofit public school support organization for racially and ethnically diverse schools. Her ongoing research project, "Metro Migrations, Racial Segregation, and School Boundaries," examines urban and suburban demographic change and the role that public schools and their boundaries play in who moves where.

Lauren Fox is an advanced doctoral student in sociology and education at Teachers College and a research associate at CURE. She has previously worked as a consultant to the Department of Justice and the Ford Foundation. Her research focuses on school choice, racial attitudes, and school desegregation.

Diana Cordova-Cobo is a doctoral student in sociology and education at Teachers College and a research assistant for CURE and for the Public Good. Her recent projects have explored race/ethnicity curriculum in higher education, sustaining racially diverse schools, and the impact of gentrification on New York City public schools. She is also a qualitative research assistant for the High School Choice in NYC study based out of The Research Alliance for New York City Schools.

Notes
Creating a New Racial Order: How Immigration, Multiracialism, Genomics, and the Young Can Remake Race in America http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9688.html
2. A. Ehrenhalt, The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 2012), http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/45461/the-great-inversion-and-the-future-of-the-american-city-by-alan-ehrenhalt/9780307474377/; A. S. Wells, D. Ready, A. L. Fox, M. Warner, A. Roda, T. Spence, E. Williams, and A. Wright, "Divided We Fall: The Story of Separate and Unequal Schools 60 Years After Brown v. Board of Education,"The Center for Understanding Race and Education (CURE), Teachers College, Columbia University, May 2, 2014, https://www.academia.edu/6937670/Divided_We_Fall_The_Story_of_Separate_and_Unequal_Suburban_Schools_60_Years_after_Brown_v._Board_of_Education.

3. A. S. Wells et al., "Divided We Fall"; A. S. Wells, L. Fox, D. Ready, M. Warner, A. Wright, and A. Roda, (under review) "The Process of Racial Re-Segregation in Public Education: Implicit Bias and the Housing-School Nexus."

4. Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 133 S.Ct. 2411 (2013).

7. P. Carter et al., Closing the Opportunity Gap; A. S. Wells, "Seeing Past the 'Colorblind' Myth of Education Policy: Why Policymakers Should Address Racial/Ethnic Inequality and Support Culturally Diverse Schools," policy brief, National Education Policy Center, Boulder, CO, 2014, http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/pb-colorblind_0.pdf.

8. Milliken v. Bradley, 418 S.Ct. 717 (1974).

9. J. E. Fiel, "Decomposing School Resegregation: Social Closure, Racial Imbalance, and Racial Isolation," American Sociological Review 78, no. 5 (October 2013): 828-848, http://asr.sagepub.com/content/78/5/828.full.pdf+html; G. Orfield, E. Frankenberg, J. Ee, and J. Kuscera, "Brown at 60: Great Progress, a Long Retreat and an Uncertain Future," The Civil Rights Project, UCLA, May 15, 2014, http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/brown-at-60-great-progress-a-long-retreat-and-an-uncertain-future/Brown-at-60-051814.pdf.

10. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 S.Ct. 265 (1978).

11. P. Gurin, E. L. Dey, S. Hurtado, and G. Gurin, "Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes," Harvard Educational Review 72, no. 3 (September 2002): 330-66, http://www.hepgjournals.org/doi/abs/10.17763/haer.72.3.01151786u134n051.

12. M. Chang, "Post-Fisher: The Unfinished Research Agenda on Student Diversity in Higher Education," Educational Researcher, no. 42 (April 2013): 172-73, http://edr.sagepub.com/content/42/3/172.extract.

13. J. D. Anderson, "Race-conscious Educational Policies versus a 'Color-blind Constitution': A Historical Perspective," Educational Researcher 36, no. 5 (June 2007): 249-57, http://edr.sagepub.com/content/36/5/249.short; J. Boger et al., School Resegregation: Must the South Turn Back?

14. A. B. Gordon, "When the Classroom Speaks: A Public University's First Amendment Right to a Race-Conscious Admissions Policy," Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice 6, no. 1 (April 2000): 57, http://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1087&context=crsj.

15. See ex. such as: L. C. Bollinger, "On the Importance of Diversity in University Admissions," Association of American Universities (April 14, 1997), http://www.aau.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=1652; L.C. Bollinger, "A Long, Slow Drift from Racial Justice," New York Times, June 24, 2013, A27, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/opinion/a-long-slow-drift-from-racial-justice.html; L. C. Bollinger, "The Need for Diversity in Higher Education," Academic Medicine 78, no. 5 (May 2003): 431-436, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12742776; W. G. Bowen and D. Bok, The Shape of the River: Long-term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998), http://press.princeton.edu/titles/6374.html; M. J. Chang, "Preservation or Transformation: Where's the Real Educational Discourse on Diversity?" The Review of Higher Education 25, no. 2 (Winter 2002): 125-40, http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/review_of_higher_education/v025/25.2chang.html; P. Gurin,, E.L. Dey, S. Hurtado, and G. Gurin, "Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes," Harvard Educational Review 72, no. 3 (September 2002): 330-66, http://hepgjournals.org/doi/abs/10.17763/haer.72.3.01151786u134n051; S. Hurtado and L. DeAngelo, "Linking Diversity and Civic-Minded Practices With Student Outcomes: New Evidence from National Surveys," Liberal Education 98, no. 2 (Spring 2012), http://aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/linking-diversity-and-civic-minded-practices-student-outcomes-new; S. Hurtado, A. R. Alvarado, and C. Guillermo-Wann, "Thinking about Race: The Salience of Racial Identity at Two-and Four-year Colleges and the Climate for Diversity," The Journal of Higher Education 86, no. 1 (January/February 2015): 127-55, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3zr0972z; J.F. Milem, "The Educational Benefits of Diversity: Evidence From Multiple Sectors," in Compelling Interest: Examining the Evidence on Racial Dynamics in Higher Education, ed.M. Chang, D. Witt, J. Jones, and K. Hakuta (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003), http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=1274.

16. See examples such as: L. C. Bollinger, "On the Importance of Diversity in University Admissions"; Bollinger, "A Long, Slow Drift from Racial Justice"; L. C. Bollinger, "The Need for Diversity in Higher Education": 431-436; W. G. Bowen et al., The Shape of the River; M. J. Chang, "Preservation or Transformation": 125-40; P. Gurin et al., "Diversity and Higher Education: 330-66; S. Hurtado et al., "Linking Diversity and Civic-Minded Practices With Student Outcomes"; S. Hurtado et al., "Thinking About Race": 127-55; J. F. Milem, "The Educational Benefits of Diversity."

17. N. F. P. Gilfoyle, "Brief of amici curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin," November 2, 2015, http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/14-981bsacAmericanPsychologicalAssociation.pdf; "Brief of The American Educational Research Association, et.al. as amici curiae in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin," October, 30, 2015, http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/14-981bsacAmericanEducationalResearchAssociationEtAl.pdf.

18. M. J. Chang, "Does Racial Diversity Matter?: The Educational Impact of a Racially Diverse Undergraduate Population," Journal of College Student Development 40,no. 4(July 1999): 377-95, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232547545_Does_Racial_Diversity_Matter_The_Educational_Impact_of_a_Racially_Diverse_Undergraduate_Population; "Brief of Amicus Curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin."

19. "Brief of the American Educational Research Association et.al. as amici curiae in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; A. L. Antonio, M. J. Chang, K. Hakuta, D. A. Kenny, S. Levin, and J. F. Milem, "Effects of Racial Diversity on Complex Thinking in College Students," Psychological Science 15, no. 8 (August 2004): 507-510, http://pss.sagepub.com/content/15/8/507.short.

20. "Brief of the American Educational Research Association et.al. as amici curiae in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; M. E. Deo, "The Promise of Grutter: Diverse Interactions at the University of Michigan Law School," Michigan Journal of Race & Law 17, no. 1 (2011): 63, http://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=mjrl.

21. "Brief of amici curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; J. A. Richeson, S. Trawalter, and J. N. Shelton, "African Americans' Implicit Racial Attitudes and the Depletion of Executive Function After Interracial Interactions," Social Cognition 23, no. 4 (2005): 336-52, http://groups.psych.northwestern.edu/spcl/documents/blk_stroop.pdf.

22. "Brief of amici curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; J. A. Richeson, A. A. Baird, H. L. Gordon, T. F. Heatherton, C. L. Wyland, S. Trawalter, and J. N. Shelton, "An fMRI Investigation of the Impact of Interracial Contact on Executive Function," Nature Neuroscience 6, no. 12 (November 2003): 1323-328, http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v6/n12/abs/nn1156.html.

23. "Brief of amici curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin."

24. "Brief of amici curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; A. L. Antonio et al., "Effects of Racial Diversity on Complex Thinking in College Students"; S. R. Sommers, L. S. Warp, and C. C. Mahoney, "Cognitive Effects of Racial Diversity: White Individuals' Information Processing in Heterogeneous Groups," Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44, no. 4 (July 2008): 1129-136, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103108000036; R. N. Pitt and J. Packard, "Activating Diversity: The Impact of Student Race on Contributions to Course Discussions," The Sociological Quarterly 53, no. 2 (Spring 2012): 295-320, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2012.01235.x/abstract.

25. "Brief of the American Educational Research Association et.al. as amici curiae in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin."

26. "Brief of Brown University, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University and Yale University in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin," November 2, 2015, https://www.utexas.edu/vp/irla/Documents/ACR%20Brown%20University%20et%20al.pdf.

27. "Brief of the American Educational Research Association et.al. as amici curiae in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; T.F. Pettigrew and L. R. Tropp, "A Meta-analytic Test of Intergroup Contact Theory," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90, no. 5 (2006): 751, http://www.iaccp.org/sites/default/files/pettigrew_tropp_2006_contact_theory_0.pdf; T. F. Pettigrew and L. R. Tropp, "How Does Intergroup Contact Reduce Prejudice? Meta‐analytic Tests of Three Mediators," European Journal of Social Psychology 38, no.6 (2008): 922-934, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229779236_How_Does_Intergroup_Contact_Reduce_Prejudice_Meta-Analytic_Tests_of_Three_Mediators; K. Davies, L. R. Tropp, A. Aron, T. F. Pettigrew, and S. C. Wright, "Cross-Group Friendships and Intergroup Attitudes: A Meta-Analytic Review," Personality and Social Psychology Review 15, no. 4(2011): 332-51, http://psr.sagepub.com/content/15/4/332.abstract.

28. "Brief of the American Educational Research Association et.al. as amici curiae in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; "Brief of amici curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin."

29. "Brief of Brown University et al. in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. "

31. "Brief of amici curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; N. A. Bowman, "How Much Diversity is Enough? The Curvilinear Relationship Between College Diversity Interactions and First-year Student Outcomes," Research in Higher Education 54, no.8 (December 2013): 874-894, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257658414_How_Much_Diversity_is_Enough_The_Curvilinear_Relationship_Between_College_Diversity_Interactions_and_First-Year_Student_Outcomes.

32. "Brief of amici curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; M. J. Chang, M. K. Eagan, M. H. Lin, and S. Hurtado, "Considering the Impact of Racial Stigmas and Science Identity: Persistence Among Biomedical and Behavioral Science Aspirants," The Journal of Higher Education 82, no. 5 (September/October 2011): 564, http://www.trincoll.edu/Academics/centers/teaching/Documents/Week%203%20-%20Considering%20the%20Impact%20of%20Racial%20Stigmas%20and%20Science%20Identity.pdf; "Dual Pathways to a Better America: Preventing Discrimination and Promoting Diversity, " final report, American Psychological Association (2012): 70-72, http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/dual-pathways-report.pdf.

33. "Brief of Brown University et al. in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin"; "Brief of the American Educational Research Association et.al. as amici curiae in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin."

34. M. J. Chang, "Reconsidering the Diversity Rationale," Liberal Education 91, no. 1 (Winter 2005), https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/reconsidering-diversity-rationale.

35. K. Phillips, "How Diversity Makes Us Smarter," Scientific American 311, no. 4 (October 2014), http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter/; M. Lagace, "Racial Diversity Pays Off," Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (June 2004), http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/racial-diversity-pays-off; see also, S. E. Page, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008), http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8757.html.

36. M. J. Chang, "Post-Fisher: The Unfinished Research Agenda on Student Diversity in Higher Education," Educational Researcher 42, no. 3 (April 2013): 172-73, http://edr.sagepub.com/content/42/3/172.extract.

37. M. J. Chang, "Reconsidering the Diversity Rationale."

38. M. J. Chang, "Post-Fisher."

39. S. Hurtado and L. Deangelo, "Linking Diversity and Civic-Minded Practices With Student Outcomes," Liberal Education 98, no. 2 (Spring 2012), https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/linking-diversity-and-civic-minded-practices-student-outcomes-new.

41. R. A. Mickelson, "Twenty-first Century Social Science Research on School Diversity and Educational Outcomes"; G. D. Borman and N. M. Dowling, "Schools and Inequality: A Multilevel Analysis of Coleman's Equality of Educational Opportunity Data," Teachers College Record 112, (2010): 1201-246, http://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?Contentid=15664; A. S. Wells, J. J. Holme, A. J. Revilla, and A. K. Atanda, Both Sides Now: The Story of School Desegregation's Graduates (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009), http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520256781; G. Orfield and E. Frankenberg, "Brown at 60: Great Progress, a Long Retreat, and an Uncertain Future," The Civil Rights Project, May 2014, http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/brown-at-60-great-progress-a-long-retreat-and-an-uncertain-future/Brown-at-60-051814.pdf.

43. G. Orfield, "Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation," The Civil Rights Project,Harvard University, July 2001, http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/schools-more-separate-consequences-of-a-decade-of-resegregation/orfield-schools-more-separate-2001.pdf.

44. Sarah S. Ellsworth, "CREC Student Achievement Overview 2013," Capitol Region Education Council, Office of Data Analysis, Research and Technology, Hartford, CT, 2013, http://sheffmovement.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CREC-Student-Achievement-Overview-2013.pdf.

45. Christine Rossell and David J. Armor, "The Effectiveness of School Desegregation Remedies, 1968-1991," American Politics Quarterly 24, (1996): 267-302, https://www.bu.edu/polisci/files/people/faculty/rossell/papers/EffectivenessSchoolDeseg.pdf; David J. Armor, "Desegregation and Achievement," in School Desegregation in the 21st Century, ed. C.H. Rossell, D.J. Armor, and H. Walberg (New York: Praeger, 2002).

46. M. M. Chiu and L. Khoo, "Effects of Resources, Inequality, and Privilege Bias on Achievement: Country, School, and Student Level Analyses," American Educational Research Journal 42, no. 4 (2005): 575-603, http://aer.sagepub.com/content/42/4/575.abstract; S. W. Raudenbush, R. P. Fotiu, and Y. F. Cheong, "Inequality of Access to Educational Resources: A National Report Card for Eighth- Grade Math," Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 20 (1998): 253-67, http://www.ssicentral.com/hlm/techdocs/EEPA98.pdf; G. Orfield and C. Lee, "Why Segregation Matters: Poverty and Educational Inequality," The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University, January 2005, http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/why-segregation-matters-poverty-and-educational-inequality/orfield-why-segregation-matters-2005.pdf; Mark Schneider, "Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes?" National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, November 2002, http://www.ncef.org/pubs/outcomes.pdf; A. S. Wells, B. Baldridge, J. Duran, R. Lofton, A. Roda, M. Warner, T. White, and C. Grzesikowski, "Why Boundaries Matter: A Study of Five Separate and Unequal Long Island School Districts," The Center for Understanding Race and Education (CURE), Teachers College, Columbia University, July 2009, http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/95995; M. Kalmijn and G. Kraaykamp, "Race, Cultural Capital, and Schooling: An Analysis of Trends in the United States," Sociology of Education 69 (1996): 22-34, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2112721?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents; J. Prager, D. Longshore, and M. Seeman, School Desegregation Research: New Directions in Situational Analysis (New York, NY: Plenum Press, 1986), https://www.springer.com/us/book/9780306421518?token=gbgen&wt_mc=GoogleBooks.GoogleBooks.3.EN; P. DiMaggio, "Cultural Capital and School Success: The Impact of Status Culture Participation on the Grades of U.S. High School Students," American Sociological Review 47, no. 2 (April 1982): 189-201, https://campus.fsu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/academic/social_sciences/sociology/Reading%20Lists/Stratification%20%28Gender%2C%20Race%2C%20and%20Class%29%20Copies%20of%20Articles%20from%202009/DiMaggio-ASR-1982.pdf.

47. D. Card and J. Rothstein, "Racial Segregation and the Black-White Test Score Gap," working paper, The National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, 2006, https://www.nber.org/papers/w12078.pdf.

48. D. Massey and M. Fischer, "The Effect of Childhood Segregation on Minority Academic Performance at Selective Colleges," Ethnic and Racial Studies 29, no. 1 (2006): 1-26, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870500351159.

49. M. B. Frost, "Texas Students' College Expectations: Does High School Racial Composition Matter?" Sociology of Education 80, (January 2007): 43-66, http://soe.sagepub.com/content/80/1/43.abstract.

50. R. Balfanz and N. Legters, "LOCATING THE DROPOUT CRISIS: Which High Schools Produce the Nation's Dropouts? Where Are They Located? Who Attends Them?" Center for Research on The Education of Students Placed at Risk, Johns Hopkins University, September 2004, http://www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techreports/report70.pdf.

51. R. A. Mickelson, "Twenty-first Century Social Science Research on School Diversity and Educational Outcomes"; G. D. Borman and N. M. Dowling, "Schools and Inequality."

53. S. Brown-Jeffey, "High School Racial Composition: Balancing Excellence and Equity," paper presented at the American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL, 1999, http://spivack.org/references/696; R. A. Mickelson, "Subverting Swann: First- and Second-Generation Segregation in Charlotte, North Carolina," American Educational Research Journal 38, no. 2 (June 2001): 215-52, http://aer.sagepub.com/content/38/2/215.abstract; R. A. Mickelson, "How Middle School Segregation Contributes to the Race Gap in Academic Achievement," paper presented at the American Sociological Association, Anaheim, Calif., 2001. Tenisha Tevis, "African-American Students' College Transition Trajectory: An Examination of the Effects of High School Composition and Expectations on Degree Attainment," dissertation in Educational Theory & Policy, presented to Pennsylvania State University, December 2007, https://books.google.com/books?id=28jcneEzTacC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false.

54. D. Massey et al., "The Effect of Childhood Segregation on Minority Academic Performance at Selective Colleges."

57. S. E. Page, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008), http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8757.html; M. Chang, "The Educational Benefits of Sustaining Cross-Racial Interaction Among Undergraduates," The Journal of Higher Education 77, no. 3 (May/June 2006): 430, http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jhe/summary/v077/77.3chang.html; M. J. Chang, "The Positive Educational Effects of Racial Diversity on Campus," in Diversity Challenged: Evidence on the Impact of Affirmative Action, ed. G. Orfield and M. Kurlaender (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Publishing Group, 2001): 175-86, http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED456190; M. Chang et al., ed., Compelling Interest; P. Y. Gurin, "Expert Witness Report in Gratz et al. v. Bollinger et al," 1998, http://diversity.umich.edu/admissions/legal/expert/gurintoc.html; K. Phillips, "How Diversity Makes Us Smarter."

58. Common Core State Standards Initiative, "About the Standards," http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/.

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60.&nbsp; D. Hess, Controversy in the Classroom: The Democratic Power of Discussion (New York: Routledge, 2009).

61. "Brief of amici curiae: The American Psychological Association in Support of Respondents in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, " 55-56.

62. Ibid.

63. Ibid., 107-10.

64. K. Phillips, "How diversity makes us smarter"; M. Lagace, "Racial Diversity Pays Off," Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, (June 2004), http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/racial-diversity-pays-off.

65. R. A. Mickelson, "Twenty-first Century Social Science Research on School Diversity and Educational Outcomes"; T. F. Pettigrew and L. R. Tropp, "A Meta-analytic Test of Intergroup Contact Theory," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90, no. 5 (2006): 751, http://www.iaccp.org/sites/default/files/pettigrew_tropp_2006_contact_theory_0.pdf; M. T. Hallinan, "Diversity Effects on Student Outcomes: Social Science Evidence," Ohio State Law Journal 59, no. 3 (1998): 733, https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/64961/OSLJ_V59N3_0733.pdf; M. R. Jackman and M. Crane, "Some of My Best Friends are Black... :Interracial Friendship and Whites' Racial Attitudes," Public Opinion Quarterly 50, no. 4, (December 1986): 459-86, http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/4/459.short.

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69. M. Metz, Classrooms and Corridors; Ray Rist, "Student Social Class and Teacher Expectations": 411-451; J. W. Schofield, Black and White in School; A. S. Wells and R. L. Crain, Stepping Over the Color Line; A. S. Wells et al., Both Sides Now.

70. J. W. Schofield, "School Desegregation and Intergroup Relations."

71. E. G. Cohen and R. Lotan, "Producing Equal Status Interaction in the Heterogenous Classroom," American Educational Research Journal 32, (1995): 99-120, http://aer.sagepub.com/content/32/1/99.short.

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74. E. G. Cohen, "Design and Redesign of the Desegregated School."

75. A. G. Allport, The Nature of Prejudice (New York, NY: Perseus Books, 1954).

76. M. Metz, Classrooms and Corridors.

77. J. W. Schofield, Black and White in School.

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81.P. Carter, Stubborn Roots; A. S. Wells et al., Both Sides Now; V. S. Walker, "Tolerated Tokenism, or the Injustice in Justice: Black Teacher Associations and Their Forgotten Struggle for Educational Justice 1921-1954," Equity & Excellence in Education 46, no. 1 (2013): 64-80, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10665684.2012.751756.

82. C. Clotfelter, After Brown: The Rise and Retreat of School Desegregation (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004), http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7768.html; G. Orfield and C. Lee, "Racial Transformation and the Changing Nature of Segregation," The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University, January 2006; http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/racial-transformation-and-the-changing-nature-of-segregation/orfield-racial-transformation-2006.pdf.

83. M. Chang, "Post-Fisher"; S. Hurtado, "Linking Diversity with the Educational and Civic Missions of Higher Education," The Review of Higher Education 30, no. 2 (Winter 2007): 185-96, https://www.usc.edu/dept/education/ASHE/docs/ASHE_Presidential_Hurtado.pdf.

84. J. B. Banks and C. A. M. Banks, ed., Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education (New York: Macmillan, 1995): 9, https://web.stanford.edu/~apadilla/PadillaQuantMultiCultural04.pdf.

86. T. S. Weisner, R. Gallimore, and C. Jordan, "Unpacking Cultural Effects on Classroom Learning: Native Hawaiian Peer Assistance and Child-Generated Activity," Anthropology and Education Quarterly 19, (1988): 327-51, http://tweisner.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Weisner_Gallimore_Jordan_19937_Unpacking_classroom_learning_F18.231165856.pdf.

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88. C. A. Grant and C. E. Sleeter, Doing Multicultural Education for Achievement and Equity (New York, NY: Taylor and Francis, 2007), http://christinesleeter.org/doing-multicultural-education/.

89. C. E. Sleeter, "Preparing Teachers for Multiracial and Historically Underserved Schools," in Lessons in Integration: Realizing the Promise of Racial Diversity in America's Schools, ed. G. Orfield and E. Frankenburg (The Civil Rights Project, University of Virginia Press, 2007): 171-98, http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/lessons-in-integration-realizing-the-promise-of-racial-diversity-in-american-schools.

91. D. Hess, Controversy in the Classroom.

92. Ibid.

93. P. Carter et al., Closing the Opportunity Gap.

94. S. Brown-Jeffy and J. E. Cooper, "Toward a Conceptual Framework of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: An Overview of the Conceptual and Theoretical Literature," Teacher Education Quarterly 38, no. 1 (March 2012): 65-84, https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/J_Cooper_Toward_2012.pdf.

95. G. Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research and Practice (New York, NY: Teachers College Press, 2000), https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rYspC7C-zowC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Culturally+Responsive+Teaching:+Theory,+Research+and+Practice&ots=ElagiB96BI&sig=M2p52Y9MuVDd8J-S14WjELjvU0M#v=onepage&q=Culturally%20Responsive%20Teaching%3A%20Theory%2C%20Research%20and%20Practice&f=false; G. Ladson Billings, "Culturally Relevant Teaching: The Key to Making Multicultural Education Work," in Research and Multicultural Education, ed. C.A. Grant (London, UK: Falmer Press, 1992); G. Ladson Billings and W. F. Tate, "Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education," Teachers College Record 97, no. 1 (1995): 47-68, http://www.unco.edu/cebs/diversity/pdfs/towardacrteduca.pdf; S. Nieto, Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education, 4th ed. (New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2002).

96. G. Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching; A. L. Goodwin, ed., Assessment for Equity and Inclusion: Embracing All Our Children (New York, NY: Routledge, 1997), https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415914734; V. O. Pang, Multicultural Education: A Caring-centered, Reflective Approach, 2nd ed. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2005), http://www.mhhe.com/catalogs/0072985526.mhtml.

97. A. L. Goodwin, "Curriculum as Colonizer: (Asian) American Education in the Current Context," Teachers College Record 112, no. 12 (2010): 3102-138, http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ913414.

98. A. L. Goodwin, "Curriculum as Colonizer," 3120.

99. S. Brown-Jeffy and J. E. Cooper, "Toward a Conceptual Framework of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy"; T. K. Chapman, "Desegregation and Multicultural Education: Teachers Embracing and Manipulating Reforms," The Urban Review 40, no. 1 (March 2008): 42-63, http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ786818; T. C. Howard, Why Race and Culture Matters in Schools (New York, NY: Teachers College Press, 2010), https://books.google.com/books/about/Why_Race_and_Culture_Matter_in_Schools.html?id=y9olQwAACAAJ; G. Ladson Billings and W. F. Tate, "Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education"; M. Lynn, "Inserting the 'Race': into Critical Pedagogy: An Analysis of 'Race-Based Epistemologies'," Educational Philosophy and Theory 36, no. 2 (March 2004): 153-65, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2004.00058.x/abstract; H. R. Milner, "Critical Race Theory and Interest Convergence as Analytic Tools in Teacher Education Policies and Practices," Journal of Teacher Education 59, no. 4 (September/October 2008): 332-46, http://jte.sagepub.com/content/59/4/332.

100. G. Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching.

101. A. Darder, Culture and Power: A Critical Foundation for Bicultural Education (Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 1991), https://books.google.com/books?id=DHV5aXJayN4C; J. Duncan-Andrade and E. Morrell, The Art of Critical Pedagogy: Possibilities for Moving From Theory to Practice in Urban Schools (New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2008), http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=46068; M. Fisher, Writing in Rhythm: Spoken Word Poetry in Urban Classrooms (New York: Teachers College Press, 2007), https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/7108658; D. Stovall, "We Can Relate: Hip-hop Culture, Critical Pedagogy, and the Secondary Classroom," Urban Education 41, no. 6 (November 2006): 585-602, http://uex.sagepub.com/content/41/6/585.abstract.

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105. C. C. Burris, On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the Twenty-first-century Struggle Against Resegregation (Boston: Beacon Press, 2014); J. Oakes, Keeping Track (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985); J. Oakes, "Can tracking research inform practice? Technical, normative, and political considerations," Educational Researcher 21, no. 4 (May, 1992): 12-21; J. Oakes, Multiplying Inequalities: The Effects of Race, Social Class, and Tracking on Opportunities to Learn Mathematics and Science (Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, 1990), http://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R3928.html; D. Hess, Controversy in the Classroom.

106. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, https://nces.ed.gov/.

107. D. S. Massey and N. A. Denton, American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993), http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674018211.

108. J. Harrigan and R. Vogel, Political Change in the Metropolis (New York, NY: Longman, 1993), http://www.abebooks.com/9780321202284/Political-Change-Metropolis-Vogel-Ronald-0321202287/plp.

109. J. Harrigan and R. Vogel, Political Change in the Metropolis.

111. W. H. Frey, "Melting Pot Cities and Suburbs: Racial and Ethnic Change in Metro America in the 2000s," Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program, (May 2011), http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2011/5/04%20census%20ethnicity%20frey/0504_census_ethnicity_frey.pdf.

112. W. H. Lucy and D. L. Phillips, "Suburbs: Patterns of Growth and Decline," in Redefining Urban & Suburban America: Evidence from Census 2000 (Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2003): 117, http://www.brookings.edu/research/books/2006/redefiningurbanandsuburbanamerica3.

113. "Metropolitan Racial and Ethnic Change-Census 2000," Lewis Mumford Center, University of Albany, SUNY, 2000, http://mumford.albany.edu/census/.

114. C. Leinberger, "The Next Slum?" The Atlantic, March, 2008, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/03/the-next-slum/306653/.

115. W. H. Frey, "Melting Pot Cities and Suburbs."

116. W. H. Frey, "Melting Pot Cities and Suburbs"; L. Lees, T. Slatter, and E. Wyly, Gentrification (New York, NY: Routledge. 2008); C. Leinberger, "The Next Slum?"; A. Ehrenhalt, The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City.

117. S. Sassen, Cities in a World Economy (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2000), https://books.google.com/books/about/Cities_in_a_world_economy.html?id=JNUPAQAAMAAJ.

118. C. Leinberger, "The Next Slum?"

119. A. Ehrenhalt, The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City.

120. L. Gallagher, The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream Is Moving (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2013), https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15811507-the-end-of-the-suburbs.

121. A. Ehrenhalt, The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City.

122. L. Freeman, There Goes the Hood: Views of Gentrification from the Ground Up (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006), https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/342317.There_Goes_the_Hood.

123. M. Orfield and T. Luce, "America's Racially Diverse Suburbs: Opportunities and Challenges," Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity, University of Minnesota Law School, (July 2012), https://www1.law.umn.edu/uploads/e0/65/e065d82a1c1da0bfef7d86172ec5391e/Diverse_Suburbs_FINAL.pdf.

124.&nbsp; E. Kneebone and A. Berube, Confronting Suburban Poverty In America (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 2012). http://confrontingsuburbanpoverty.org/resources/the-book/.

125. A. Ehrenhalt, The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City.

126. M. B. Cucchiara, M.B. E. M. Horvat, "Perils and Promises: Middle-Class Parental Involvement in Urban Schools," American Education Research Journal 46, no. 4 (2009): 974-1004, http://aer.sagepub.com/content/46/4/974.short; M. Cucchiara, Marketing Schools, Marketing Cities: Who Wins and Who Loses When Schools Become Urban Amenities (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2013), http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo15112913.html; L. E. Posey-Maddox, When Middle-Class Parents Choose Urban Schools: Class, Race, and the Challenge of Equity in Public Education (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2014), http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo17508026.html; A. Roda and A. S. Wells, "School Choice Policies and Racial Segregation: Where White Parents' Good Intentions, Anxiety, and Privilege Collide," American Journal of Education 119 , no. 2 (February 2013): 261-93, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/668753?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.

127. E. Frankenberg and G. Orfield, ed., The Resegregation of Suburban Schools: A Hidden Crisis in American Education (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2012), http://hepg.org/hep-home/books/the-resegregation-of-suburban-schools_168; A. S. Wells et al., "Divided We Fall."

128. A. S. Wells et al., "Divided We Fall."

129. P. Carter and Kevin Welner, ed., Closing the Opportunity Gap; A. S. Wells and J. J. Holme, "No Accountability for Diversity."

130. J. J. Holme and A. S. Wells, "School Choice Beyond District Borders: Lessons for the Reauthorization of NCLB from Interdistrict Desegregation and Open Enrollment Plans," in Improving on No Child Left Behind, ed. Richard Kahlenberg (New York, NY: The Century Foundation, 2008): 139-216, http://www.tcf.org/bookstore/detail/improving-on-no-child-left-behind; A. S. Wells and J. J. Holme, "No Accountability for Diversity."

131. J. H. Enten, "Bill de Blasio's Diverse Coalition Could Clinch Contest for New York Mayor," The Guardian, September 10, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/10/bill-deblasio-new-york-mayor; A. S. Wells et al., Both Sides Now.

132. J. H. Enten, "Bill de Blasio's Diverse Coalition Could Clinch Contest for New York Mayor."

133. S. Adair, "Challenging Public School Resegregation: The Use of Small-Scale Social Movements to Preserve the Promise of Brown," dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 2005, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/35454070_Challenging_public_school_resegregation_electronic_resource_the_use_of_small-scale_social_movements_to_preserve_the_promise_of_Brown; N. Lacireno-Paquet and C. Brantley, "Who Chooses Schools, and Why?" in Exploring the School Choice Universe: Evidence and Recommendations, ed. G. Miron, K. Welner, P. Hinchey, and W. Mathis (Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2013), http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Exploring-the-School-Choice-Universe; G. Orfield, "Schools More Separate"; J. Powell, "An "Integrated" Theory of Integrated Education," paper presented at the conference on Resegregation of Southern Schools, Chapel Hill, N.C., 2002; J. Stillman, "Tipping In: School Integration in Gentrifying Neighborhoods," doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, 2011, http://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac%3A132299; A. S. Wells et al., Both Sides Now.

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135. R. Alba and V. Nee, Remaking the American Mainstream; M. Krysan and N. Faison, "Racial Attitudes in America"; J. Louie, "We Don't Feel Welcome Here: African Americans and Hispanics in Metro Boston," The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University, April 2005, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/78x669h0#page-1.

136. M. Krysan and N. Faison, "Racial Attitudes in America."

137. M. Krysan and N. Faison, "Racial Attitudes in America"; J. Louie, "We Don't Feel Welcome Here."

138. R. Alba and V. Nee, Remaking the American Mainstream.

139. P. Kasinitz, J. Mollenkopf, and M. Waters, Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age (New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation Publications, 2010), https://www.russellsage.org/publications/inheriting-city.

140. C. Clotfelter, "Are Whites Still Fleeing? Racial Patterns and Enrollment Shifts in Urban Public Schools 1987-1996," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 20, no. 2 (2001): 199-221, https://duke.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/are-whites-still-fleeing-racial-patterns-and-enrollment-shifts-in.

141. M. T. Hallinan, "Diversity Effects on Student Outcomes"; T.F. Pettigrew and L. R. Tropp, "A Meta-analytic Test of Intergroup Contact Theory"; M. Kurlaender, "The Benefits of Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Elementary and Secondary Education," in The Benefits of Racial and Ethnic Diversity and Elementary and Secondary Schools (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2006), 79-84, http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/112806diversity.pdf; W. Hawley, "Diversity and Educational Quality," unpublished manuscript, University of Maryland, College Park, 2002; M. R. Jackman and M. Crane, "Some of My Best Friends are Black...: Interracial Friendship and Whites' Racial Attitudes," Public Opinion Quarterly 50, no. 4 (1986): 459-86, http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/4/459.short; A. S. Wells et al., Both Sides Now.

142. G. Orfield, "Public Opinion and School Desegregation,"
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143. Metropolitan Center for Urban Education. With All Deliberate
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144. E. Cose, "Beyond Brown v. Board: The Final Battle for Excellence in American Education," Rockefeller Foundation, 2004, survey published in Newsweek Magazine.

145. J. Stillman, "Tipping In"; N. Lacireno-Paquet and C. Brantley, "Who Chooses Schools, and Why?"

146. E. Frankenberg and R. Jacobsen, "The Polls-Trends School Integration Polls," Public Opinion Quarterly 75, no. 4 (Winter 2011): 788-811, http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/75/4/788.

147. G. Orfield and E. Frankenberg, "Experiencing Integration in Louisville: How Parents and Students See the Gains and Challenges," The Civil Rights Project, UCLA, January 2011, http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/experiencing-integration-in-louisville-how-parents-and-students-see-the-gains-and-challenges/LOUISVILLE_finalV3_12711.pdf.

148. A. Semuels, "The City That Believed in Desegregation," The Atlantic, March 27, 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/03/the-city-that-believed-in-desegregation/388532/.

149. G. Orfield and E. Frankenberg, "Experiencing Integration in Louisville."

150. M. Baker, "North Carolina School Board Debate Over Potential Resegregation Sparks Fiery Protests," Huffington Post, July 21, 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/21/north-carolina-school-boa_n_653935.html.

151. U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, "Table of Authorities," http://www.justice.gov/crt/table-authorities-5.

152. N. Lacireno-Paquet and C. Brantley, "Who Chooses Schools, and Why?"; A. Roda and A. S. Wells, "School Choice Policies and Racial Segregation."

153. N. Lacireno-Paquet and C. Brantley, "Who Chooses Schools, and Why?"; A. S. Wells et al., Both Sides Now.

154. A. S. Wells et al.,"Divided We Fall."

155. "It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success," An Online Survey Among Employers Conducted on Behalf of The Association of American Colleges and Universities, Hart Research Associates, April, 10, 2013, https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/LEAP/2013_EmployerSurvey.pdf.

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157. P. Carter and K. Welner, Closing the Opportunity Gap; S. Wells and J. J. Holme, "No Accountability for Diversity"; A. S. Wells, "Seeing Past the "Colorblind" Myth of Education Policy: Addressing Racial and Ethnic Inequality and Supporting Culturally Diverse Schools," (Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center, 2014), http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/pb-colorblind_0.pdf.

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162. R. Rothstein, "Why Children from Lower Socioeconomics Classes, on Average, Have Lower Academic Achievement Than Middle-class Children," in Closing the Opportunity Gap: 61-76.

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165. A. S. Wells et al., Both Sides Now.

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172. National Conference of State Legislatures, Summary of Every Student Succeeds Act, Legislation Reauthorizing The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, National Conference of State Legislatures, 2010, http://www.ncsl.org/documents/capitolforum/2015/onlineresources/summary_12_10.pdf.

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175. A. S. Wells and J. J. Holme, "No Accountability for Diversity."

176. See Halley Potter and Kimberly Quick, with Elizabeth Davies, "A New Wave of School Integration Districts and Charters Pursuing Socioeconomic Diversity," The Century Foundation, February 9, 2016, https://tcfdotorg.atavist.com/a-new-wave-of-school-integration.

Tags: education, race, socioeconomic integration, diversity, k-12 education

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How Racially Diverse Schools and Classrooms Can Benefit All Students

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After decades in the political wilderness, school integration seems poised to make a serious comeback as an education reform strategy. Sixty-two years ago, Brown v. Board of Education held that separate schools for black and white students are inherently unequal.

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Educating Everybody's Children: Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners, Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition

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What Works for ALL Children; What Doesn't

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What Works for ALL Children; What Doesn't

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Edited by Robert W. Cole

by Robert W. Cole

Children know how to learn in more ways than we know how to teach them.

-Ronald Edmonds (1991)

Good instruction is good instruction, regardless of students' racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds. To a large extent, good teaching-teaching that is engaging, relevant, multicultural, and appealing to a variety of modalities and learning styles-works well with all children.

The instructional strategies outlined in this chapter reflect a sampling of the most exciting and determined efforts to change the way the United States educates its citizens. These "ideas at work" range in complexity and magnitude. They represent concepts that cut across content areas. They overlap so comfortably that they sometimes look like separate facets of a single gem. They are as much about attitude and general approach as about specific pedagogical techniques and classroom application. They have a few characteristics in common:

They tend to be inclusive, not exclusive.

They work best in context with other ideas and concepts, not in isolation.

They often focus on students working within social situations rather than alone.

Their activities, techniques, and goals are interactive and interdisciplinary, realistic rather than esoteric.

Possibly most important, they empower students to be actively involved in the processes of their own learning, rather than passively receptive.

None of the ideas in this chapter is new. Although some of them tend to be identified with specific programs, individuals, or locations, they are presented here as generic-that is, as applicable in virtually any classroom, in any subject area. All are adaptable.

Why ideas at work rather than ideas that work? Because "ideas that work" implies a kind of guarantee of effectiveness. In the real world of the schools, however, nothing works every time, everywhere, for everyone. No single strategy, approach, or technique works with all students. But the concepts in this chapter have proven themselves over time, with a multitude of students of diverse backgrounds and widely ranging abilities.

Unfortunately, numerous barriers can prevent poor and minority students from receiving good instruction. Some of these barriers are caused by educators' attitudes and beliefs; others are the result of institutional practices. The intent of the listing that follows is not to provide a thorough cataloguing of every barrier to sound instruction, but rather to place educators on alert.

Attitudes and Beliefs

Racism and Prejudice

Despite much progress during the past few decades, racism and prejudice are still ugly realities in all sectors of life in the United States, including education. Today, racism may be less overt and virulent than in the past, but its effects can still greatly harm minority students. In fact, subtle, insidious forms of racism may be even more harmful to young people than more blatant forms.

Prejudice against the poor, of whatever race or ethnicity, is another force that works against the academic achievement of disadvantaged students. For example, some teachers of poor students don't let them take materials home, out of fear that the materials will never be returned. Yet these same students tend to be proud to have the responsibility for taking materials home and are generally exceedingly careful to return them.

Obviously teachers must avoid discriminating, consciously or unconsciously, against students because of their racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds. Such discrimination can be as blatant as imposing harsher discipline on minority students or as subtle as lowering expectations for poor children because they have "difficult" home lives. Teachers must be aware that they see students' behavior through the lens of their own culture. They must carefully examine their own attitudes and behaviors to be sure that they are not imposing a double standard. Most important, they must believe sincerely and completely that all children can learn.

Expectations

Educators must hold equally high expectations for affluent white students and poor and minority students-despite the disparity in students' backgrounds. Under the right conditions, low-income and minority students can learn just as well as any other children. One necessary condition, of course, is that the teacher hold expectations of high performance for all students.

Both high and low expectations can create self-fulfilling prophecies. Students must believe that they can achieve before they will risk trying, and young people are astute at sensing whether their teachers believe they can succeed. By the same token, teachers must truly believe their students can achieve before they will put forth their best effort to teach them. The teacher's beliefs must be translated into instructional practices if students are to benefit: actions speak louder than attitudes.

Teachers must also be sensitive to the subtle ways in which low expectations can be conveyed. According to researcher Sandra Graham of the University of California-Los Angeles, when a teacher expresses sympathy over failure, students typically infer that the teacher thinks they are incapable of succeeding, not that they simply may not have tried hard enough. Similarly, when a teacher gives students lavish praise for completing a simple task or offers help before being asked for it, students infer that the teacher thinks they are stupid. In other words, holding high expectations is not simply a matter of cheerleading; it requires insight into how students may interpret a teacher's words and behaviors.

Teachers must also resist the temptation to attribute student failure to lack of ability ("I've taught this concept and they didn't understand it; they must not be smart enough"). Failure to learn can stem from many other causes, such as inadequate prior knowledge, insufficient effort or motivation, lack of the right learning strategy, or inappropriate teaching. The bottom line is this: if students are not learning, the teacher needs to change the approach to teaching them.

Teachers are not the only ones who need to examine their expectations for students, however. Administrators who decide what courses their schools offer should ask themselves whether they are providing too few challenging courses. And counselors must consider whether they are steering students into undemanding courses because the students are poor, minority, or female. The expectation that all students can achieve at high levels, under the right circumstances, should be the guiding principle of every school.

Lack of Understanding of Cultural Differences

Teachers sometimes misinterpret the behaviors of poor and minority students because they do not understand the cultures they come from. White teachers can easily misread the behaviors of black students, for example. In Black Students and School Failure, Jacqueline Jordan Irvine (1990) writes:

Because the culture of black children is different and often misunderstood, ignored, or discounted, black students are likely to experience cultural discontinuity in schools. ... This lack of cultural sync becomes evident in instructional situations in which teachers misinterpret, denigrate, and dismiss black students' language, nonverbal cues, physical movements, learning styles, cognitive approaches, and worldview. When teachers and students are out of sync, they clash and confront each other, both consciously and unconsciously. ... (p. xix)

Only when teachers understand their students' cultural backgrounds can they avoid this kind of culture clash. In the meantime, the ways in which teachers comprehend and react to students' culture, language, and behaviors may create problems (Erickson, 1987). In too many schools, students are, in effect, required to leave their family and cultural backgrounds at the schoolhouse door and live in a kind of "hybrid culture" composed of the community of fellow learners (Au & Kawakami, 1991).

Especially in the early grades, teachers and students may differ in their expectations for the classroom setting; each may act in ways that the other misinterprets. In addition, those teachers (and they are legion) who insist on a single pedagogical style and who see other styles as being out of step, may be refusing to allow students to work to their strengths.

As Knapp and Shields (1990a) suggest, the so-called "deficit" or "disadvantage" model has two serious problems: (1) teachers are likely to set low standards for certain children "because their patterns of behavior, language use, and values do not match those required in the school setting"; and (2) over time a cycle of failure and despair is created that culminates "in students' turning their backs on school and dropping out ... because teachers and administrators fail to adapt to and take advantage of the strengths that these students do possess" (p. 755).

Institutional Practices

Tracking

The most notorious of the harmful institutional practices is tracking, which dooms children in the low tracks to a second-rate education by failing to provide them with the support they need to move to a higher track. As a result, they fall further and further behind their peers. Students in low tracks are stigmatized and lose self-esteem and motivation, while expectations for their performance plummet.

In Keeping Track, researcher Jeannie Oakes (1985) says, "We can be quite certain that the deficiencies of slower students are not more easily remediated when they are grouped together" (p. 12). Yet even now the practice of tracking persists, despite the negative effects on students documented by Oakes and many other researchers. Tracking is especially harmful to poor and minority students because these students are more likely to end up in the low tracks.

Effective alternatives to tracking have included the Accelerated Schools Project, developed by Henry Levin of Stanford University, which includes accelerated programs to bring at-risk students into the mainstream by the end of elementary school and results in faster learning because students receive engaging, active, interdisciplinary instruction; and the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) program, developed by Stanley Pogrow of the University of Arizona- Tucson, which works to enhance the general thinking skills of remedial students by showing them how to work with ideas. These programs and others are aimed at helping students get up to speed, rather than permanently segregating them and feeding them a dumbed-down curriculum.

Inappropriate Instruction

Inappropriate instruction harms poor and minority students. Instead of being presented in a variety of modes, instruction in too many U.S. schools tends to be abstract, devoid of application, overly sequential, and redundant. Bits of knowledge are emphasized, not the big picture, thus handicapping global thinkers. Moreover, the largely Eurocentric curriculum downplays the experiences and contributions of minorities.

For teachers of diverse students, it is especially important to use a broad repertoire of strategies. Some children may be global thinkers; others, more analytical. Some children may learn best from lecture and reading; others, through manipulatives and other hands-on experiences. Some children may thrive on competition; others may achieve far more in cooperative groups.

Differential Access

Poor and minority students are often denied access to challenging coursework. Counselors place them in remedial or undemanding courses, and because more challenging courses often require students to have taken specific introductory courses, students can never switch to a more demanding track. Irvine (1990) cites data showing that "black students, particularly black male students, are three times as likely to be in a class for the educable mentally retarded as are white students, but only one-half as likely to be in a class for the gifted and talented" (p. xiv). In addition, the pull-out programs intended to help many of these students end up fragmenting their school day. And after pull-out programs end, students are given little support for reentering the regular classroom, so they tend to backslide when they rejoin their peers.

Lack of Consequences

Unfortunately, there are few consequences for students and teachers if poor and minority students do not learn. So long as students put in the required seat time, they will receive a diploma; so long as teachers go through the motions, they will have a job. In many cases, nobody-not the education establishment, not the parents or guardians, not the politicians-protests a status quo that is woefully deficient.

Schools that have had success in teaching poor and minority students do not keep ineffective teachers on the faculty; in these schools, teachers are held responsible if their students do not learn. These schools also collaborate with parents or guardians to ensure that students who come to school and strive to achieve are rewarded.

Disciplinary Practices

Teachers sometimes punish poor and minority children more harshly than they do other children for the same offenses. Moreover, suspension is often the punishment of choice, causing students to miss valuable class time. According to Irvine (1990), "one factor related to the nonachievement of black students is the disproportionate use of severe disciplinary practices, which leads to black students' exclusion from classes, their perceptions of mistreatment, and feelings of alienation and rejection, which result ultimately in their misbehaving more and/or leaving school" (p. 16).

On the other hand, some teachers are more lenient with poor or minority students, because they believe these children have been socialized differently than mainstream children. For example, teachers might overlook boisterous or aggressive behavior among poor or minority students while chastising mainstream students for similar behavior. Teachers need to establish a clear, reasonable discipline policy and require all students to abide by it.

Involvement of Parents or Guardians

Poor and minority parents or guardians often have no opportunities to create an ongoing relationship with their children's schools; in fact, they often have no communication with the schools at all. In turn, schools tend to make few efforts to develop a relationship with poor and minority parents or guardians, who may be too intimidated or hard-pressed to initiate contact themselves. For parents who don't speak English, the language barrier can pose another formidable obstacle.

James Comer of the Yale Child Study Center has developed a process to foster good relationships among children, teachers, and parents or guardians. Parents or guardians are encouraged to be an active presence in the school. Social activities bring families and school staff together, helping parents or guardians gain trust in the school. The program has reportedly helped to lower dropout rates, among other benefits.

Unequal Access to Resources

Unequal access to resources further reduces poor and minority students' chances of receiving equal opportunities to learn. Poor and minority students typically attend schools that receive less funding than those attended by mainstream students. As a result, they are taught with inferior materials and equipment and have fewer manipulatives, laboratories, and facilities. Teachers in such schools receive less staff-development, must cope with larger classes, and have less free time.

The Negative Impact of Testing

Standardized tests can be seen as one way in which a meritocratic society reorders a widely disparate populace into hierarchies of abilities, achievement, and opportunity. In fact, the power of tests to translate difference into disadvantage is felt at many points in the world of education, most notably in the decision to place low-income and language-minority students into compensatory or bilingual education classes, where a watered-down, fragmented, and rote curriculum reinforces the disadvantages presumably diagnosed by the tests.

More than ever before, it would seem, multiple-choice tests are being used inappropriately as the ultimate measure of students' learning and capabilities-despite a wealth of evidence that undermines the wisdom of using them in this manner. Decisions that significantly affect students' academic destinies are often made on the basis of a single test score. Moreover, norm-referenced tests reinforce the attitude that some students should be expected to do poorly. To be fair to all students, assessment should be primarily criterion-referenced and, as far as possible, based on actual performances. Perhaps most important, a variety of measures should be used to assess student learning.

Lack of Bilingual Instruction

Not surprisingly, many students who do not speak English fall behind in their studies early, because they are not taught content in their native language. When they eventually learn English, they have lost so much ground in their schoolwork that they find it difficult (and sometimes impossible) to catch up with their peers. In far too many cases, these students become discouraged and drop out of school.

Overall, there is the too-common problem of organizational inertia and resistance to change: reluctance to accept bilingual programs, to hire bilingual personnel, to upgrade the status of teachers of English as a second language (ESL), to support the acquisition and development of primary-language materials, to monitor and assess the progress of language-minority students, and to deal with the unique problems facing newcomers, including their need for counseling.

The number of bilingual teachers in U.S. schools is woefully insufficient, and the use of existing bilingual teachers is far from satisfactory. Schools do not use bilingual teachers to the best advantage-that is, to take maximum advantage of their dual-language abilities. The training and staffing of ESL and "sheltered English" classes remain inadequate. Beyond staffing, there is a dearth of primary-language materials, especially for languages other than Spanish, and bilingual educators regard even those materials as inadequate.

Students who speak a language other than English need to be taught content, for a time, in their native language, while they are also given intensive training in English. When they rejoin their English-speaking peers, they will be up to speed in their studies.

Universal Teaching Strategies

Naming the barriers to the kind of schooling we want for all of our children is at least a beginning. Naming the problem allows the challenging process of treating it to begin. The next section of this chapter will outline 16 generic instructional strategies that are intended to provide assistance in treatment.

Susie, Ron, Tasha, Jamal, and Juan have a lot in common. They are roughly the same age, sit in the same classroom, have the same teacher, and enjoy many of the same foods, games, and interests. As learners, however, they differ in critical ways. Susie is one of the 13 percent of youngsters in grades K-12 who learn best working alone; Ron, one of the 28 percent strongly oriented to working with a peer; and Tasha and Jamal, two of the 28 percent who learn best with adults (Tasha, by the way, with a collegial adult; Jamal, with an authoritative adult).

Of the five children, only Juan seems to learn reasonably well in any or all of those social configurations. In that respect, he represents fewer than one-third of the youngsters in a typical K-12 classroom. Of the five, only Susie and Juan are reasonably well served in the traditional teacher-oriented, teacher-directed classroom. Most of the time, the other three would be much better off in a different kind of learning situation-one far more diverse in its activities, curricular organization, and social configurations.

Few individuals in today's work world think of trying to solve a problem or launch a product or service without massive and persistent teamwork, including open discussion, fact gathering, consideration and argument, trial-and-error experimentation, research, and development. Typically, they not only depend on working with other individuals in their place of business, but also frequently call on outside consultants. Only in U.S. classrooms are individuals expected to find every answer, solve every problem, complete every task, and pass every test by relying solely on their own efforts and abilities.

The concept of cooperative/collaborative learning seeks to tap the potential that group interaction offers for learning and development. In its most formal manifestation, it places students-usually of varying levels of performance-into small groups in which they work together toward common goals. At the other end of the continuum is the more informal arrangement of peer tutoring, which has gained legitimacy as an effective form of cooperative/collaborative learning.

Those who advocate attending to students' varying learning styles note that some young people work best alone; others work most successfully with authority figures such as parents or teachers. In planning the use of various teaching strategies, teachers must be prepared to make adjustments according to the needs and learning styles of their students (Carbo, Dunn, & Dunn, 1986).

"So often teachers tell students to 'get along' or 'cooperate' but spend little time on skill practice and discussion of this basic human need," writes Robert Slavin (1986, p. 24). "Cooperative learning provides the teacher with a model to improve academic performance and socialization skills, and to instill democratic values. A wealth of research supports the idea that the consistent use of this technique improves students' academic performance and helps them become more caring." Slavin cites positive effects in such diverse areas as student achievement at various grade levels and subjects, intergroup relations, relationships between mainstreamed and normal-progress students, and student self-esteem.

David Johnson and Roger Johnson (1990), two veteran advocates of cooperation and collaboration in the classroom, note that people in general do not know instinctively how to interact effectively with others. If cooperative efforts in the classroom are to succeed, students must get to know and trust one another, communicate accurately and unambiguously, accept and support one another, and resolve conflicts constructively.

Some advocates of cooperative/collaborative learning suggest that students be periodically regrouped within heterogeneous classes. They also recognize the value of flexible grouping-that is, regrouping at various times by varying criteria for varying purposes, based on immediate needs. Their reasoning is as follows:

Small-group participation in various contexts for various purposes helps students recognize and learn to function effectively in a variety of social configurations.

Forming teams of students who perform at different levels of achievement not only encourages self-esteem and group pride, but also engenders general appreciation and understanding of how individuals differ from each other in attitudes, abilities, points of view, and approaches to problem solving.

Cooperative/collaborative learning has been incorporated in a variety of classrooms for a variety of purposes. Those applications have involved student-selected activities, apportioning specific elements of classroom projects or lessons, brainstorming, role playing, problem solving, developing awareness of thinking strategies used by oneself or by one's peers, common interests, group analyses, and team learning.

To implement a technique known as a circle of knowledge, for instance, a teacher organizes a class into small groups (circles) of four or five students each, appoints a recorder/reporter in each, poses to all a single question to which there are many possible answers, sets a time limit, expects each group member to contribute at least one answer, and then, after facilitating whole-class sharing and challenges, announces a winning group.

Another technique, the jigsaw, allows a teacher to assign specific components of a major learning project to small task-oriented groups; each group has only a piece of the larger picture under consideration. When all the groups have reported their findings to the entire class, every student has the opportunity to grasp the entire picture.

Peer conferencing and peer collaboration are two techniques that are particularly useful for teaching writing. They offer student writers the critical response of firsthand, face-to-face comments, help them discover what it is to write for an audience, and provide them with opportunities to improve their writing ability as they work on assignments and interact with their peers (Herrmann, 1989).

Cross-age and peer tutoring are other forms of student-to-student interaction. The age-old idea of tutoring has helped countless students. Many students identify with peers more easily than with adults, especially adult authority figures, and find it easier to model the behaviors of their peers than of their adult teachers. Finally, the one-to-one nature of peer tutoring offers immediate feedback, clarification, extension, and modification-usually in a nonthreatening social relationship (Webb, 1988).

Resources

Adams, 1990; Carbo, Dunn, & Dunn, 1986; Dunn & Dunn, 1993; Edmonds, 1991; Herrmann, 1989; Johnson & Johnson, 1986, 1990; Kilman & Richards, 1990; Knapp & Shields, 1990a, 1990b; Lehr & Harris, 1988; Slavin, 1986, 1987; Stevens, Madden, Slavin, & Farnish, 1987; Stover, 1993; Webb, 1988.

Jim had trouble writing effectively. To be sure, his sentences were complete and grammatical, the words in them spelled correctly, the syntax straightforward if prosaic. There was one overriding problem with Jim's writing: what he wrote didn't say much of anything. His content and purpose were not specific, precise, or clear. That fact led to a more personal problem for Jim: he had ceased to trust his teacher's judgments of his work. When the teacher observed that his writing wasn't clear, Jim balked. "You're just saying that," he blurted out. "What have you got against me?"

"I'll tell you what, Jim," said the teacher. "Write to me about something you know that I don't know anything about."

After considering two or three possibilities, Jim named a card game his teacher had never heard of.

"OK," the teacher agreed. "Write step-by-step instructions on how to play the game and bring them to me. I'll follow the instructions, and you can tell me whenever I make a mistake."

"Fair enough!" Jim said.

Jim wrote in his typical style, and his teacher followed the instructions as earnestly as possible. Step by frustrated step, Jim saw the game fall to pieces. He stopped the exercise midway through.

"Give me time for a rewrite," he said, determined as ever. This time, however, he was convinced that he had a problem with his writing, and he was armed with a clearer perception of what to do about it.

Provide students with real purposes and real audiences for their speaking and writing, and you offer them valuable feedback as well as increased motivation. Writing an essay on a topic assigned by the teacher to every member of the entire class lacks the punch and the credibility of writing a personal letter to an editor, a local politician, or a community activist to express a heartfelt compliment, complain about an injustice, or inquire about an important issue. Students derive no satisfaction from succeeding with a mindless, silly activity such as circling the silent E in a list of words. Such an activity has no relation to real reading and no link to real life.

Communicating with real people about real issues, feelings, and beliefs is further enhanced when the content and style of that writing are grounded in the outside reality that the student brings to school. No matter how gilded or gutted its location-in city, suburb, or countryside-the student's community and personal experiences are valuable resources to be explored. They are grounds for inquiry and learning-things that count most in any classroom!

Schema theory firmly undergirds the strategy of reality-based learning. It outlines the belief that individual facts and phenomena are best perceived, learned, and understood within the larger contexts of structure or process. The value of reality-based learning has been firmly documented in the language arts-in reading and writing as well as in the understanding and appreciation of literature. It bridges school and home, classroom and clubhouse, hallway and street.

Extending the recognition and use of authentic purposes, materials, and content into any subject area helps ensure that learning experiences are meaningful and satisfying. Thus maps, directions, brochures, and directories find a comfortable home in English classes, and community surveys in math classes.

Ideas proliferate in every school-real problems to solve, real issues to resolve: how to manage recycling in the school cafeteria; how to make hallways safer and more hospitable; what to do about truancy or dropouts; whether to lock school doors and when. Problems awaiting study lie just outside the walls of virtually any school in the United States: traffic patterns; paths for bicyclists, joggers, or rollerbladers; recreational needs and resources for young people; the needs of and services for an aging population.

The combined processes of analyzing real problems and then suggesting solutions to them not only motivate learners, but also enable them to range in their thinking processes from recognizing information they need in the resources available to them, to gathering relevant information, to summarizing ideas, to generating potential solutions, and finally to analyzing the consequences and effectiveness of their solutions.

Reality-based learning counters the common notion that many students suffer from "cultural deprivation" and bring no educationally worthwhile experiences to school. "A more worthwhile approach ... might be to examine the relationship between what particular groups of children know or how they learn and pedagogical practices," suggests Etta Ruth Hollins (1993, p. 93). "An improvement in teachers' understanding of how to build on and extend the knowledge and skills these children bring to school, rather than attempting to force the children to fit existing school practices, might get better results."

Resources

Bloome, 1976, 1985; Danehower, 1993; Hall, 1989; Hollins, 1993; Knapp & Turnbull, 1990; Lozanov & Gateva, 1988; Marzano et al., 1988; Marzano et al., 1992; Palincsar & Klenk, 1991; Palincsar, Ransom, & Derber, 1989/1990; Resnick, 1987; Richardson, 1988; Rowan, Guthrie, Lee, & Guthrie, 1986; U.S. Department of Labor, 1992; Walmsley & Walp, 1990.

Lynn Cherkasky-Davis (1993) described a collaborative project at the Foundations School (part of the Chicago Public Schools): an original version of the opera Aida, written, produced, costumed, rehearsed, and staged by students. What did that culminating event represent? It represented what the students had learned about the history, geography, sociology, culture, and drama of ancient Egypt, topics that over preceding weeks both nourished and fed on every subject area in the curriculum.

How useful might it be for a student to know something about the economics and the technology of 19th century New England whaling before reading Moby-Dick -and what better opportunity to merge the talents and interests inherent in the respective teachers of social studies, science, and language arts?

How might a thoughtful reading of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World illuminate issues, arguments, and ideas as diverse as eugenics, Malthusian economics, and the perceived amorality of modern mores and technology-again using convergent elements of separate disciplines?

Rarely, if ever, do we live our lives outside of school according to academic pigeonholes. We don't switch to a different frame of reference or way of doing things every 20 or 40 or 60 minutes. Even a well-executed shopping trip to the supermarket is an interdisciplinary experience! Scheduling, timing, planning, measuring, counting, reading, identifying, describing, comparing, assessing, affording, budgeting-not to mention spatial orientation, nutrition, and considerations of quality of life-all come into play within a single trip. Consciously or unconsciously, by the time we have negotiated our way from home through traffic to parking lot, then aisle to aisle to the checkout lane and home again, we have routinely called on the skills and content of every basic academic discipline that schools have to offer.

Most interdisciplinary teaching is not nearly so eclectic nor so involved. Just the same, such teaching does cross traditional subject-area lines and typically involves professional teamwork. It can incorporate into a social studies unit samples of literature and art produced during a given period or by a particular society. Ask students to interpret the samples in light of a specific social context, or to infer specific characteristics of the society from their observations and interpretations. Then let them compare their interpretations with those of their peers, and finally with written records from that period or society.

As another example, how about having students study the social impact of a given scientific or technological development at the same time they are becoming acquainted with the science or technology itself? Mathematics is a natural for interdisciplinary learning. Solving its problems can depend heavily on reading skills. Not only is math an integral component in scientific processes; it also plays an appealing role in creating puzzles, music, and architecture.

Interdisciplinary projects promote thinking strategies that cross content areas and transfer solidly into real-life applications-analytical observation, for instance, or critical thinking, comparison and contrast, evaluation, perspective, and judgment. The teacher's role includes supporting those processes and helping students, through practice, to become aware of them and comfortable in using them.

Probably no other interdisciplinary approach has won greater acceptance, especially in the earlier grades, than that which has integrated five "basic skills"-reading, writing, listening, speaking, and mathematics-into one holistic classroom enterprise. Dorothy Strickland (1985) has itemized how simply and obviously such integration can be attained. Reading, for instance, can serve as model and motivation for writing that classmates can share by listening to such spoken activities as storytelling, reporting, oral composition, poetry, and dramatic readings. Reading skills also give a student access to information required in solving mathematical problems, and they play a major role in the interpretation of tables, charts, and graphs.

The "whole language" approach to instruction in reading and the language arts is a salutary example of how "disciplines" once viewed and taught as essentially discrete and separate from each other-that is, reading, writing, speaking, and listening-can easily be explored as interwoven threads in a single, unified tapestry of individual development.

Resources

Cherkasky-Davis, 1993; Jacobs, 1991; Marzano et al., 1988; Paris, Wasik, & Turner, 1991; Strickland, 1985; U.S. Department of Labor, 1992.

In collecting lunch money, the 1st grade teacher discovered that 8 of her 20 students had apparently brought their lunches to school with them. Rather than simply filing that observation mentally under "classroom administrivia," she posed a question to her class: "Twelve of you brought lunch money today. Knowing that, how many of you apparently brought your own lunches to school with you?"

"Some got out blocks," Mary Lindquist reported. "Some got out toy figures, some used number lines, some used their fingers, and some just thought through it. There were 10 or 12 different solutions, and each child wanted to explain his or her own way."

Students passively memorizing a single arithmetic procedure? Not at all. Instead, students actively involved in problem solving, whether or not they agreed on their methods and results.

"Most of us can remember sitting in a math class at one time or another thinking, 'When in the world am I ever going to use this?'" Lindquist commented. Mary Lindquist, then president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, recounted the anecdote during an interview for an article that appeared in Better Homes and Gardens (Atkins, 1993). "Rote memorization is not preparing our children for the future. Kids need to use and understand math."

"By far, the highest percentage of students are tactile/kinesthetic," writes Angela Bruno (1982), "and when these youngsters manipulate hands-on materials they tend to remember more of the required information than through the use of any other sense."

There are several other reasons why students should be allowed to construct their own understandings, generate their own analyses, and create their own solutions to problems:

It is neither engaging nor authentic to understand a fact or a situation exactly as someone else understands it. In real life, we build our own understandings to supplement, change, or confirm for ourselves what we already think we know or what others offer us in knowledge or ideas.

Teachers promote interest and engagement when they let students address problems for which answers do not exist or are not readily apparent. Students then have real purposes for discovering and applying information and for using all the strategies that might possibly apply and that are available to them.

Students who are intrinsically motivated and substantially engaged because of interest in meaningful learning activities are more likely to achieve high levels of performance than those for whom the completion of learning activities is simply a means of avoiding punishment.

Integrated throughout the school day and in every area of the curriculum, the range of active learning experiences includes games, simulations, role playing, creative dramatics, pantomime, storytelling, drawing, and contests that demonstrate integration of concepts and allow students to experience the ways in which concepts relate to each other in the world outside school. Other hands-on, tactile materials and activities include Cuisenaire rods, measuring cups, blocks and cubes, task cards, flip charts, field trips, and laboratory experiences. Many advocates suggest strongly that students be allowed to select for themselves those activities in which they will become involved.

Resources

Atkins, 1993; Brown, 1990; Bruno, 1982; Cohen, 1992; Hartshorn & Boren, 1990; Hodges, 1994; Joyner, 1990; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989; Roser, 1987; Strickland & Morrow, 1989.

Everyone knows that there are all kinds of people: thinkers and doers, audiences and actors, readers and viewers, athletes and couch potatoes. (At least one venerated 6th grade music teacher routinely divided her class into singers and listeners.) Probably no other approach attempts to accommodate differences among individual students in greater detail than does that body of thought given the general rubric of learning styles.

David Kolb (Boyatzis & Kolb, 1991) identifies four predominant learning styles. Imaginative learners, he says, excel in watching, sensing, and feeling; analytic learners, in watching and thinking; common-sense learners, in thinking and doing; and dynamic learners, in doing, sensing, and feeling.

Anthony Gregorc (1982, 1985a, 1985b) identifies four basic processes by which individuals differ in their learning patterns: (1) a concrete-sequential process characterized as structured, practical, predictable, and thorough; (2) an abstract-sequential process-logical, analytical, conceptual, and studious; (3) an abstract-random process-sensitive, sociable, imaginative, and expressive; and (4) a concrete-random process-intuitive, original, investigative, and able to solve problems.

In his highly regarded theory of multiple intelligences, Howard Gardner (1999) outlined eight different aspects by which individuals can come to know the world: linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily/ kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.

Addressing perennial debates about the best approach to teaching reading-phonics, whole language, sight vocabulary, and so forth-Marie Carbo (1987) writes that "any one of a dozen reading methods is 'best' if it enables a child to learn to read with facility and enjoyment" (p. 56).

No matter how much they echo or differ from each other, all descriptions of learning styles are simply attempts to define and accommodate the manner in which a given student learns most readily. The theory holds that learning styles develop through the unique interactions of biology, experience, personal interests, talents, and energy. A task force commissioned by the National Association of Secondary School Principals considered the many factors that can significantly shape an individual's learning style and selected 24 for further study; these range from "perceptual responses," "field dependence/independence," and "successive/simultaneous processing" to "persistence," "environmental elements," and "need for mobility."

Whatever the ultimate taxonomy of learning styles, it seems obvious that although all children can learn, each concentrates, processes, absorbs, and remembers new and difficult information differently. According to Rita and Kenneth Dunn (1993), the factors involved include the following:

Immediate environment-for example, noise level, temperature, amount of light, furniture type, and room design.

Emotional profile-for example, degree of motivation, persistence, responsibility, and need for structure and feedback.

Sociological needs-for example, learning alone or with peers, learning with adults present, learning in groups.

Physical characteristics-for example, perceptual strengths (auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic), best time of day for learning, potential need for periodic nourishment and mobility.

Psychological inclination-for example, global and analytic strengths.

In the most formal model of matching instruction to learning style, teachers first identify each individual student's style through observation, interview, or questionnaire. They share their observations individually with students and parents, and then plan and carry out an appropriate learning program for that child. The program includes compatible instructional practices and management strategies appropriate to what has been observed about the child's learning style. A less formal approach is to emphasize strategies that capitalize on the styles of most students, while accommodating those whose style differs markedly from the group.

Thus, instruction that attends to learning or reading styles capitalizes on an individual student's strengths and preferences while simultaneously removing barriers to learning. Instructional planning extends to such complementary methods, materials, and techniques as floor games, choices among reading materials and ways of receiving or presenting information, and participation in given activities (that is, with the entire class, in a small group, or alone). No one learning style is considered better or worse than any other (Carbo & Hodges, 1988; Hodges, 1994).

Research in learning styles and reading styles indicates that teaching academic underachievers in ways that complement their strengths in style has significantly increased their standardized test scores in reading and across subject areas.

Resources

Andrews, 1990, 1991; Bauer, 1991; Boyatzis & Kolb, 1991; Brunner & Majewski, 1990; Butler, 1984; Carbo, 1987; Carbo & Hodges, 1988; Dunn & Dunn, 1993; Gardner, 1999; Gardner & Hatch, 1989; Garrett, 1991; Gregorc, 1982, 1985a, 1985b; Hodges, 1994; Lewis & Steinberger, 1991; Orsak, 1990; Perrin, 1990.

Dorothy had tried for weeks to get her 6th graders to open up in class discussions. After years of traditional teaching, however (that is, the teacher asking the questions and one or two students offering "right" or "wrong" answers), her students were predictably passive. They consistently resisted all her attempts to open up her classroom. On the rare occasions when an intrepid student asked a question in return or dared to offer a comment, the eyes of every student in the room swung immediately and automatically to Dorothy for her verdict: right or wrong?

Then, quite by chance, Dorothy happened on a life-sized human figure made of cardboard. She realized at once that it was the very thing she needed to make her point. The following day, she launched a classroom discussion and popped a direct question to see if any of her students would volunteer a response.

Kathy did volunteer-tentatively, of course, and with just a word or two-but her response seemed to the class to merit a judgment from the teacher. All eyes fell in silence on Dorothy. Without saying a word, Dorothy walked to her closet, pulled out the cardboard figure, and set it in the chair behind her desk. With every eye following her in amazement, she sat down beside Kathy and stared silently at the cardboard figure, waiting like her students for its response.

Dorothy was modeling the behavior she saw in her students-behavior she was hoping they would overcome. They got the point! The humor in the situation engaged their trust, demonstrated Dorothy's sincerity as a teacher, and dramatized their responsibility as participants in their own learning. Class discussions began to pick up, and Dorothy found fewer and fewer occasions to pull her cardboard counterpart out of the closet.

Most modeling, of course, is intended to work the other way around-that is, teachers usually behave as they would have their students behave. Learners gain when teachers practice what they preach, try out ideas in front of the class, or even participate actively in projects or tasks with the class.

When modeling, teachers-regardless of their subject area-follow the same assignments or suggestions that they give their students: they write on the same topics, figure out the same problems, play the same games, and ask themselves the same questions. And they do so in full view and hearing of their students, often as coparticipants in small-group activities, or one-to-one with a student.

The practice is neither demeaning nor condescending. Instead, it dramatizes desired behavior, one of the surest means available to demonstrate process, motivate and guide students, and help develop perspective on a given task or concept. As a teacher, let your students hear you think aloud. Teachers who share thoughts on how they have completed a certain task or arrived at a particular conclusion help students become aware of their own thinking strategies.

Modeling enables teachers to furnish appropriate cues and reminders that help students apply particular problem-solving processes or complete specific tasks-in storytelling, for instance, or inquiry, or evaluation. Among such techniques, scaffolding is one of the most generic and useful approaches. Scaffolding is a device by which the teacher builds on the point of reference at which a student hesitates or leaves off-in telling a story, in explaining a process, in seeking an answer, in any moment of discourse, analysis, or explanation. In scaffolding, the teacher simply suggests the next step, both reinforcing what the student has already achieved and guiding the student to greater understanding or accomplishment.

More generally, Costa and Marzano (1987) identify seven starting points by which teachers can create a classroom "language of cognition":

Using precise vocabulary.

Posing critical and interpretive questions, rather than simple recall.

Providing data, not solutions.

Giving directions.

Probing for specificity.

Modeling metacognitive processes.

Analyzing the logic of language.

"Most teachers put too much emphasis on facts and right answers and too little attention on how to interpret those facts," writes school administrator Robert Burroughs (1993), commenting specifically on the teaching of literature. "The result has been growth in basic literacy at the expense of thoughtfulness. ..."

Burroughs outlines specific preferred techniques among those he has seen teachers use to guide learning processes and thus structure growth in understanding and appreciation. The techniques are adaptable to discourse, inquiry, or discussion in any subject area:

Focusing-refocusing students' efforts at refining their own responses if, for instance, they begin wandering from the specific content at hand.

Modifying or shaping-rephrasing a student's idea in slightly different language; for instance, if a student suggests that a character in a novel is resisting change, the teacher might add a word or two to encourage consideration of other explanations for the character's behavior.

Hinting-calling attention to a passage in the text that challenges a student's view.

Summarizing-restating ideas to bring them to everyone's attention and to spur discussion, or summarizing various positions students have taken along the way (1993, pp. 27-29).

Resources

Burroughs, 1993; Costa & Marzano, 1987; Langer, 1991; Marzano et al., 1988; Paris, Wasik, & Turner, 1991; Rosenshine & Meister, 1992; Vygotsky, 1962, 1978.

"What a beautiful horse!" said the city-bred dude. "How much is it worth?"

"Depends if you're buyin' or sellin'," answered the cowhand.

"Thinking cannot be divorced from content," writes Carr (1988). "In fact, thinking is a way of learning content. In every course, and especially in content subjects, students should be taught to think logically, analyze and compare, question and evaluate. Skills taught in isolation do little more than prepare students for tests of isolated skills."

If any of the ideas at work described in this chapter challenges the conventional wisdom of classroom practice, it is this notion: students, regardless of their performance levels, are capable of using higher-order thinking skills. This concept contrasts sharply with the attitude and practice of the high school English teacher who, on the first day of school, gave all 125 of her seniors a writing assignment. She collected and corrected their papers; pointed out the various lapses in spelling, grammar, and punctuation; and then used those errors to justify an unproductive, unchallenging year spent reviewing the same sterile exercises in spelling, grammar, and punctuation that her students had seen countless times before.

No one condones faulty grammar and inaccurate spelling, of course. At the same time, however (and far more important), teachers need not wait until students have mastered basic skills before they introduce the more complex skills of analysis, synthesis, criticism, and metacognition into their classroom routines. The process of gathering information, evaluating it critically, drawing inferences, and arriving at logical conclusions is based on evidence, and evidence can be expressed and recognized by many different means and in many different formats. Yes, every student should learn to spell accurately, but it is not necessary to know that I comes before E except after C in order to test fairness or bias in an editorial statement or to detect straightforwardness or ambiguity in a politician's promise.

Wiggins (1992) notes that tests typically overassess students' knowledge and underassess their know-how. Onosko (1992) reports measurable "climates of thoughtfulness" in the classrooms of social studies teachers who reflect on their own practices, who value thinking, and who emphasize depth over breadth in content coverage.

Carr (1988) and others suggest various ways by which to introduce and pursue higher-order thinking skills in the classroom. For example, using all major news media-newspapers, magazines, television, and radio-motivates students, and comparing different accounts of the same story helps them develop questioning attitudes. "In the process," writes Carr, "they become more discriminating consumers of news media, advertising, and entertainment."

"All classification tasks," she notes, "require identification of attributes and sorting into categories according to some rule. While sorting concrete objects is an appropriate activity for the young child, verbal analogies (for example, 'How are a diamond and an egg alike?') are appropriate for learners of any age. ... Applications to mathematics and science, especially the inquiry approach to science, are readily apparent."

"Schema theory," she continues, "holds that information, if it is to be retained, must be categorized with something already stored in memory. Brainstorming techniques that aid comprehension ... help students to access their prior knowledge about a topic to be introduced, and thus to classify and retain the new information."

Children's literature becomes its own powerful tool, Carr concludes, citing Somers and Worthington (1979): "Literature offers children more opportunities than any other area of the curriculum to consider ideas, values, and ethical questions."

Just how seriously should Chicken Little's neighbors have taken her complaint that the sky was falling? Why? Why not? Was it fair for the Little Red Hen to keep all the bread she had baked for herself? How true is it that sticks and stones can break your bones, but names will never hurt you? Why does a rolling stone gather no moss? If water is heavier than air, how do raindrops get up in the sky? How does science differ from art, music from noise, wisdom from fact?

What is truth?

Resources

Adams, 1986; Bransford, Sherwood, Vye, & Rieser, 1986; Carr, 1988; Chi, Bassok, Lewis, Reimann, & Glaser, 1989; Lambert, 1990; Onosko, 1992; Paul, 1984; Rosenshine & Meister, 1992; Somers & Worthington, 1979; Wiggins, 1992.

Multiculturalism doesn't mean what it used to mean in education in the United States. Adding a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. to the literature anthology and offering parental instructions in Spanish-both good ideas in their own right-simply do not go far enough anymore. Teaching multiculturally throughout the curriculum is more than simply an attempt to combat racism. The more important aim of studying human cultures in all their diversity is to understand what it is to be human.

Unfortunately, such study has too often been skewed to a single perspective while more inclusive perspectives have been labeled as somehow disloyal to the American tradition. The fact that racism is so prevalent in American society has until recently led many theorists to concentrate primarily on the study of specific ethnic groups, on their characteristics and unique contributions to the more general culture-usually described from a Euro-American or Anglo-American point of view.

By contrast, the history of the United States is actually the history of all the cultures that it comprises. Until recently, multicultural education has focused mostly on minority groups, even though Euro-Americans and Anglo-Americans also spring from a culture that was not originally and purely "American." Such skewing sets up the fallacy that Euro- and Anglo-American descendants are the "real" Americans while all others, particularly people of color, are culturally "different."

Classroom instruction in a multicultural context is enhanced when it involves students in learning about themselves first-through oral history projects, for example, in which children involve their parents, grandparents, and other older, living adults who can relate information about family backgrounds and histories. Shared in the classroom, such information becomes a powerful tool both for identifying similarities among students and for highlighting how they differ from one another in positive rather than negative ways.

In short, teaching multiculturally cultivates a school culture that celebrates diversity; supports mutual acceptance of, respect for, and understanding of all human differences; and provides a balanced viewpoint on key issues involved in such teaching. It provides students with a global, international perspective on the world in which they live. It seeks to eliminate racial, ethnic, cultural, and gender stereotypes and to resolve or ameliorate problems associated with racism and prejudice. And it underscores the importance of teaching ethics, values, and citizenship in promoting the democratic heritage of the United States.

Resources

Au & Kawakami, 1985; Banks, 1990; Bennett, 1986; Bloom, 1985; Collins, 1988; Dillon, 1989; Fullinwider, 1993; Hall, 1989; Hollins, 1993; Kendall, 1983; Quellmalz & Hoskyn, 1988; Taylor & Dorsey-Gaines, 1988; Tiedt & Tiedt, 1986.

The student report card is no longer the primary measure of success in schooling. The general vocabulary of education in the United States now includes a whole range of assessment terms: adequate yearly progress, SAT, standardized tests, norms, criterion references, outcomes, portfolios, and on and on. Little wonder that teachers and administrators feel pressured by the demands of "assessment" and harried by the clamor and misunderstanding that surround the term today.

Various modes of assessment yield critical and useful information to inform and shape tools and methods that promise to improve academic achievement. "Why do we evaluate students?" ask Rasbow and Hernandez (1988). Among the answers are to determine the following:

If objectives have been achieved.

The knowledge and skills that students have acquired.

Areas in which the curriculum needs improvement.

The effectiveness of a teaching process or methodology.

Student responses to specific aspects of the curriculum.

Students' ability to use knowledge and skills.

Evaluations are also used to do the following:

Design instruction for individuals, groups, or entire classes.

Diagnose a student's level of understanding before recommending further instruction on a given topic.

Gather information on the quality of the learning environment.

Guide the direction of future study.

Summarize an activity, topic, or unit of work.

Provide a basis for extra help where needed.

Identify the most useful information to communicate to students and parents.

Traditional assessment techniques and instruments for filling one or another of those roles are as familiar to most teachers as they are widespread in use: the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the SAT, norm- and criterion-referenced tests (some mandated by state legislatures, and even by the federal government), standardized tests in specific subject areas (the Stanford, the California, and the Metropolitan, among others), performance scales, and checklists. And, of course, among teacher-made instruments, examples include the essay exam and the ubiquitous multiple-choice test.

Researchers and curriculum specialists have emphasized the power of various alternative methods of assessment, such as the following:

Exhibitions or demonstrations that serve as culminating activities in a student's learning experience.

Observation and analysis of hands-on or open-ended experiences.

Portfolios (collections of records, letters of reference, samples of work, sometimes even including videotapes of student performance or task accomplishment-in fact, any evidence that appropriately documents a student's skills, capabilities, and past experiences).

If two of the primary purposes of assessment are to determine whether the goals of education are being met and to inform various stakeholders of the progress of education, then assessment techniques should be sufficiently varied to perform these functions as appropriately and accurately as possible. Those goals vary, after all, from broad national goals to the individual teacher's lesson plan. They encompass diagnoses of ability or style in teaching and learning, measurements of proficiency and achievement of individual students or entire classes, and the effectiveness of entire schools, districts, state systems, or national programs. The audiences for assessments may include students, teachers, parents, policymakers, colleges, and businesses. Some assessments serve gatekeeping roles-college admission tests, for instance.

Some assessment methods reflect some of what we have come to realize are preferred teaching practices; consequently, they contain activities that are congruent with and that support good instruction. They tend to invite diverse responses and to promote a range of thinking-hands-on science and mathematics problem-solving activities, for example. In some cases, assessment tasks may extend over several days, allowing students to reflect on their work, to polish and revise it. Some assessments give students the opportunity to respond in any of several ways, including writing, drawing, and making charts or graphic organizers.

In general, trends indicate that alternative assessment tends to do the following:

Use a variety of progress indicators, such as projects, writing samples, interviews, and observations.

Focus on an individual's progress over time rather than on one-time performance within a group.

Bring teachers into conference with students about their work and progress, helping students to evaluate themselves by perceiving the results of their own work.

Resources

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1992; Buechler, 1992; Grace, 1992; Hewitt, 1993; Johnson, 1993; Lockwood, 1991; Marzano et al., 1992; Marzano, Pickering, & McTighe, 1993; Perrone, 1991; Rasbow & Hernandez, 1988; Schnitzer, 1993; Sweet & Zimmerman, 1992; Worthen, 1993.

Years ago, the professionals at Harlem Park Middle School in Baltimore realized the vital importance of taking parental involvement seriously. They added three parent coordinators to their staff and located them full-time in the neighborhoods the school serves rather than in the school building itself. Living and working in those neighborhoods, the coordinators helped to fight a steady rise in the school's dropout rate by teaching parents how to keep their children in school, help with homework, keep track of progress, and work with school representatives before a crisis develops.

In Mesa, Arizona, school officials recognized that parenthood is 18 years of on-the-job training. So they organized a "Parent University," filling a Saturday schedule with 40 workshops ranging from creative art activities for preschoolers, to helping young people survive junior high, to financing a college education. More than 800 people attended (Education Leaders Consortium, 1989).

The list of ways in which school people have come to grips with the need to bring home and school together for the good of the children varies widely across the United States, limited only by the resourcefulness and imagination of the people in each school and district.

Epstein (1989) outlines several broad avenues by which parents and schools can share in a child's development. Parents have the basic obligation to provide food, clothing, and shelter; to ensure a child's general health and safety; and to provide child rearing and home training. But parents can also provide school supplies, a place for schoolwork at home, and positive home conditions for learning. The school, in turn, is obliged to communicate to the home such important information as school calendars; schedules; notices of special events, school goals, programs, and services; school rules, codes, and policies; report cards, grades, test scores, and informal evaluations; and the availability of parent/teacher conferences.

Parents can be directly involved in the work of the school: assisting teachers and students with lessons; chaperoning class trips; participating in classroom activities; aiding administrators, teachers, and school staff in the school cafeteria, library, laboratories, and workshops; organizing parent groups in fund-raising, community relations, political awareness, and program development; attending student assemblies, sports events, and special presentations; and participating in workshops, discussion groups, and training sessions. Parents can involve themselves in learning activities at home by developing a child's social and personal skills and by contributing to basic-skills education, development of advanced skills, and enrichment.

In governance and advocacy, parents can assume decision-making roles in parent-teacher organizations, on advisory councils, or through other committees and groups at the school, district, or state levels. They can become activists in monitoring schools and by working for school improvement.

Among private philanthropic organizations, the Rockefeller Foundation funded a $3 million effort to launch a project that incorporated the pioneering practices of James Comer, a child psychiatrist at Yale University. The Comer Model is based on the belief that parental involvement is the cornerstone of effective and responsible school change. Comer maintains that one cannot separate academic development from the child's social and cultural background. Thus one of several programs within the project has emphasized a school's obligation to work cooperatively with parents and mental health professionals in meeting the needs of children.

Williams and Chavkin (1989) report that successful home/school programs tend to share seven characteristics: (1) they are guided by written policies; (2) they enjoy administrative support; (3) they include training of staff, parents, or both; (4) they take a partnership approach; (5) they maintain two-way communications; (6) they encourage networking; and (7) they are constantly informed and reshaped by project evaluation.

Having abstracted and reviewed nearly 50 studies of home/school cooperation, Henderson (1987) reached the following conclusions:

The family provides the primary educational environment.

Involving parents in their children's formal education improves student achievement.

Parent involvement is most effective when it is comprehensive, long-lasting, and well planned.

The benefits of family involvement are not confined to early childhood or the elementary levels of schooling; strong effects result from involving parents continuously throughout high school. Henderson also concluded that involving parents in their own children's education at home is not enough. To ensure the quality of schools as institutions serving the community, parents must be involved at all levels of schooling. Moreover, children from low-income and minority families have the most to gain when schools involve parents. Parents can help, regardless of their level of formal education.

We cannot look at the school and the home in isolation from one another. We must see how they interconnect with each other and with the world at large.

Resources

Becher, 1984; Comer, 1980; Education Leaders Consortium, 1989; Epstein, 1987, 1989; Epstein & Dauber, 1991; Goodson & Hess, 1975; Henderson, 1987; Leler, 1983; Steinberg, 1988; U.S. Department of Education, 1990; Williams & Chavkin, 1989.

In Empowering the Spectrum of Your Mind, Colin Rose (1985) declares that most of us are probably using only 4 percent of the enormous potential of our brains. "The more you use your brain," he maintains, "and the more facts and experience you store, the more associations and connections you make. Therefore, the easier it is to remember and learn yet more new material."

Once considered appropriate for use almost exclusively with students identified as gifted and talented, accelerated learning has come to be regarded as effective with students of any level of performance or ability. How does one "accelerate learning"? What is the theory behind the phrase? Rose (1985) begins with a seemingly obvious fact: no learning can take place without memory. How does one best encode things into memory? By creating concrete images of sights, sounds, and feelings, and by the strong association of one image with another. The stronger the original encoding, the better the ultimate recall. "To achieve good memory," Rose writes, "you need to link a series of facts or ideas together, so that when one is remembered, it triggers recall for a whole series of others."

Thus, an ideal learning pattern involves the following steps:

Immediate rehearsal of new facts in the short term.

Repetition or testing of the facts a few minutes later.

Review of the facts an hour later.

A short recap of them after a night's rest. (Sleep appears to help memorization; new information is reviewed during REM-rapid eye movement-sleep.)

Short review a week later.

Short review a month later.

Rose claims that such a schedule of learning can enable the recall of up to 88 percent of the new information an individual receives-four times better than the usual rate of recall.

Among techniques recommended by advocates of accelerated learning are the following:

Chunking, that is, reducing new information to manageable bits-a chunk no longer than seven words or seven digits, for instance.

Use of music and rhyme as aids to memory.

Peripheral learning and the use of memory maps to encourage association, and thus recall.

Encoding as specifically as possible by principles rather than through isolated examples by rote.

Psychiatrist Georgi Lozanov (Lozanov & Gateva, 1988) urges maintaining an upbeat classroom presentation at all times, with constant attention to physical surroundings, self-esteem, goals and outcomes, competition, right and wrong answers, and individual learning styles, expectations, and outcomes.

Resources

Galyean, 1983; Levin, 1988a, 1988b, 1991a, 1991b; Lozanov & Gateva, 1988; Means & Knapp, 1991; Pritchard & Taylor, 1980; Richardson, 1988; Rose, 1985; Russell, 1975; Schuster, 1985.

The classroom "discussion" dragged on. Predictably, the teacher asked one factual-recall question after another about the short story at hand. Each question invariably elicited a right-or-wrong answer from one, and sometimes two, student volunteers. Then the teacher reached that point in the story where the main character faced what seemed like a life-or-death personal dilemma. "I wonder how many of you have ever faced such a situation," the teacher remarked offhandedly. Hands shot up all around the room, some flapping in urgency. "Oh, my! I'm afraid I've touched some raw nerves," the teacher exclaimed. "Let me withdraw the question." All the raised hands dropped. So did the students' attention to the topic.

That teacher couldn't have read Lehr and Harris's At-Risk, Low-Achieving Students in the Classroom (1988). The authors suggest (and their suggestions are well supported by research) how even the timeless classroom practice of questions from the teacher can be adapted to elicit individual involvement rather than passive response. They also show how to follow through for even greater student participation and response. Their advice, in part, includes the following suggestions (pp. 43-44):

Structure questions so that students can succeed.

Encourage students to respond. (Most teachers answer two-thirds of their own questions.)

Ask questions in all modes. (Most questions are asked at the level of basic recall or recognition. Questioning that is more complex increases student achievement.)

Pause. The number and quality of student answers increase when teachers provide wait time of three to five seconds after asking a question. Appropriate wait time is particularly important in teaching low achievers. Some higher-level questions might require as much as 15 to 20 seconds of wait time.

Call on students randomly, but be sure not to forget the low achiever.

If a student's response is vague, call for clarification or elaboration-for example, "Tell me more." Probe students to encourage higher levels of thinking.

Encourage students to develop and ask their own questions, thus increasing their opportunities for thinking.

Use techniques that require students to pose their own questions and to make discoveries on their own. For example, ask students in a science class to make predictions, based on their own experiences, before a demonstration or an experiment. The processes of observing, comparing, and describing are as important as the product.

Other studies of questioning techniques suggest that teachers break the total content of their questioning into bits small enough so that students are assured of being able to answer at least three-quarters of the questions correctly. They urge a high proportion of questions that are well beyond mere factual recall-questions that encourage interpretation or that challenge critical thinking.

Questioning need not simply follow a lesson or an assignment as a means of checking to see if students have completed or understood it. Reading specialists, for instance, have long advocated the use of prereading questioning techniques, using teacher- or student-generated questions to develop background knowledge, to preview key concepts, and to set purposes for the reading. Questioning after reading should provide students with opportunities to practice or rehearse what they have learned from the text, as well as increase associations between textual information and their own background knowledge ("Questioning Promotes," 1987).

To stimulate student discussions, Dillon (1984) suggests a three-step process:

Carefully formulate one or two questions to get the discussion going.

From then on, ask questions only when perplexed and genuinely in need of more information.

Then make more statements that present facts or opinions, reflect students' opinions to them, register confusion, or invite elaboration and student-to-student exchanges.

Student-generated questions and student-led discussions give students a higher stake and interest in their classroom activities and learning. Framing their own questions requires young people to interact with the meaning of content or text from a variety of perspectives. Generating their own questions, they support and challenge each other and recognize the social aspects of exploring the meaning of what they encounter in reading or in other learning activities.

Teachers need to model effective questioning and discussion strategies, including how to interact with others as well as how to think about and discuss text or content. Touch a raw nerve now and then-not to aggravate, but to stimulate!

Resources

Adams, 1986; Carlsen, 1991; Dillon, 1984; Goatley & Raphael, 1992; Lehr & Harris, 1988; "Questioning Promotes," 1987; Roberts & Zody, 1989; "Teachers' Questions," 1987.

Think of your most recent drink of water. Exactly what steps did you follow in taking it? What facts, what prior experiences, what understandings did you call on? It's been estimated that you performed 50 or so actions while taking that drink of water. Did you think of all 50-that is, did you bring any of them, in isolation, to the forefront of your consciousness while drinking?

Probably not. Your brain handled all the necessary steps for you! At the same time, your brain was probably helping you consider your plans for the weekend, reminding you of the slight soreness in your left thumb, telling you it was a warm afternoon, and juggling countless other "programs"-chains of thought needed to accomplish some foreseen goal, whether soaking your thumb or quenching your thirst (Della Neve et al., 1986).

Brain-compatible instruction builds on the notion that the human brain operates as an incredibly powerful parallel processor, always doing many different things simultaneously (Caine & Caine, 1991). The brain is capable of such a vast number and array of functions that its functioning can be visualized most easily only in terms of programs and patterns-one program, perhaps, for getting a glass of water at the kitchen sink, a different program for sipping from the water fountain outside your classroom door.

How does the brain differentiate among the vast array of programs it stores? By recognizing an apparently endless number and variety of patterns among them. Thus "brain-compatible instruction defines learning as the acquisition of useful programs," write Della Neve and her colleagues (1986). "The human brain is exceedingly intricate. For educational purposes, however, what counts is a broad, holistic understanding of what the brain is for (it did not evolve to pass tests or fill in worksheets), its principal architecture, its main drives, and its way of relating to the real world."

Carnine (1990) describes some of the misunderstandings that can result in teachers, students, or both after "brain-antagonistic" instruction:

Very young children know that the name of an object stays the same even after the orientation of the object has changed. For example, when a chair is turned to face the opposite direction, it remains a chair.

Consequently, in preschool, when a b is flipped to face the opposite direction, children often assume that it still goes by the name of b. Making this error doesn't necessarily imply that a student's visual brain function is weak or that the student would benefit from a kinesthetic approach to learning lowercase letters. Extensive research has shown that students are more likely to confuse objects and symbols that share visual or auditory sameness, such as b and d.

In solving simple computation problems, such as 24 + 13, 1st graders learn that they can start with the bottom number in the units column or with the top number: 4 + 3 equals 7, and so does 3 + 4. The sameness they note is that these problems can be worked in either direction, from top to bottom or the reverse.

Soon thereafter come subtraction problems, such as 24 - 13. Students can still apply the sameness learned in addition, thinking of the difference between 4 and 3 or between 3 and 4 and always subtracting the smaller number from the larger. However, when students encounter a problem such as 74 - 15, applying the sameness noted earlier leads them to subtract the smaller from the larger number and come up with the answer 61. Such a mistake is a sensible application of a mislearned sameness. ...

"The brain's search for samenesses," Carnine concludes, "has little regard for the intentions of educators." At the same time, he notes that although the brain's relentless search for patterns helps explain certain common student misconceptions, it can also help educators develop more effective classroom activities.

Della Neve and her colleagues at Drew Elementary School developed their own seven principles, which serve as focal points to guide teachers in designing and implementing brain-compatible instruction:

1. Create a nonthreatening climate.

2. Input lots of raw material from which students can extract patterns-a vast array of activities, aided by an ample supply of materials, equipment, and print and audiovisual resources.

3. Emphasize genuine communication in talking, listening, writing, and reading as ways to interact with other people.

4. Encourage lots of manipulation of materials. Students need to be in command and able to push things around, encouraging them to work toward goals and explore a range of means.

5. Emphasize reality. By using problems, examples, and contacts drawn from the "real world" rather than contrived exercises, texts, worksheets, and basal readers, students can see the real value of their own learning.

6. Address learning activities to actual, productive uses.

7. Respect natural thinking, including intuitive leaps, a grasp of patterns (as in number tables or good writing), and aesthetic and nonverbal interests and activities.

"Brain-based instruction," Caine and Caine (1991) warn us, "stems from recognizing that the brain does not take logical steps down one path like an analog computer, but can go down a hundred different paths simultaneously like an enormously powerful digital computer." They add, "Each brain is unique. Teaching should be multifaceted to allow all students to express visual, tactile, emotional, and auditory preferences. Providing choices that are variable enough to attract individual interests may require the reshaping of schools so that they exhibit the complexity found in life."

Resources

Bateson, 1980; Caine & Caine, 1991; Campbell, 1989; Carnine, 1990; Cousins, 1989; Della Neve, Hart, & Thomas, 1986; Hart, 1983, 1986; Vygotsky, 1962, 1978.

Activating students' prior knowledge-through the use of schema theory, for example-helps youngsters integrate new knowledge and skills with their own experiences. By doing so, teachers acknowledge that all students, regardless of their background, bring a wealth of knowledge to learning. The kind and amount "of knowledge one has before encountering a given topic in a discipline affects how one constructs meaning," writes Gaea Leinhardt (1992). "The impact of prior knowledge is not a matter of 'readiness,' component skills, or exhaustiveness; it is an issue of depth, interconnectedness, and access. Outcomes are determined jointly by what was known before and by the content of the instruction" (pp. 51-56).

Consequently, it just makes sense for teachers to begin by learning what students already know about a topic, thus preventing youngsters from having to repeat what they already know or trying to build on knowledge they do not yet possess. Connecting new knowledge to previous learning builds a strong foundation for future learning; it also gives teachers valuable opportunities to correct misperceptions. Modifying activities to suit learners' preferences helps them construct new understandings.

When tapping into students' prior knowledge, teachers recognize that the most effective means of learning is discovery, and the most effective means of teaching is modeling. Modeling by the teacher is one of many powerful tools for activating prior knowledge. Depending on the task, the teacher decides what prior knowledge needs to be activated and asks students to develop and answer questions that cause them to activate it. The teacher then proceeds to model appropriate questioning processes. Activating students' prior knowledge engages them more actively in learning, in generating their own questions, and in leading their own discussions.

Another strategy that effectively activates students' prior knowledge, allowing them to explore what they already know about a topic, is the K-W-L activity, first developed by Donna Ogle. This strategy asks students to identify what they already know about a topic, what they would like to learn, and, at the conclusion of the unit, what they actually did l earn.

Teachers can encourage students to develop a list of questions they would like to answer. (Teacher modeling helps students form these questions.) Teachers can then assist students in clustering similar questions and in deciding which questions to answer by further explaining the content to be learned. The teacher and students design a plan to find the answer for each question. Allowing students to work in cooperative and collaborative groups is effective because such groups encourage students to share their answers and the rationale behind the answers. During the sharing, the teacher has an opportunity to correct student misunderstandings.

In exploring new topics, students can experience a variety of active, experiential, or authentic assignments. Such assignments-for example, manipulating objects or concepts, engaging in product-oriented activities, and participating in real-life experiences that actively construct knowledge-allow youngsters to explore concepts in some depth and to make discoveries on their own. The opportunity to apply new learnings to real-life contexts that reflect the students' world helps them retain and effectively use new concepts and skills.

Many of the approaches to teaching and learning that appear in this book challenge the traditional model of schooling, which demands that students receive knowledge solely from the teacher. In explaining the nature of the "pedagogy of poverty," Martin Haberman (1991) notes that teachers and students are engaged in fundamentally different activities: teachers teach and students learn. But what if teachers join students as fellow learners searching for answers to real-life problems or for ways to describe and generalize scientific phenomena?

Another means of creating what might be called a pedagogy of plenty is to embrace a constructivist approach to teaching. Constructivism emphasizes an understanding of how and why students (and adults) learn; it provides a way to combine good teaching and learning practices. These practices include activating students' prior knowledge; providing a variety of active learning resources; using a variety of hands-on, minds-on activities; engaging youngsters in a variety of cooperative learning experiences; allowing students to formulate questions and discover concepts that can guide future learnings; asking students to think aloud while approaching a task; modeling powerful thinking strategies; and providing students with opportunities to apply new learnings within the context of real-life activities.

Such an instructional setting honors the importance of hands-on and "heads-on" experiences in learning. For students to learn to reason about their world, they must be constantly encouraged to ask questions and to solve problems that have meaning to them. Teachers can provide a wide variety of activities to help students construct-and reconstruct-their new learning in their own terms, as they begin to realize that knowledge is created out of life experiences.

Constructivist theory suggests that the goal of schooling is not simply acquiring specific knowledge and expertise, but rather building understanding. Learning how to learn becomes the goal. Considered from a constructivist viewpoint, the learning environment is a laboratory that provides the tools to support learners in their quest for understanding. In this approach, teachers facilitate learning by providing appropriate activities such as modeling and questioning techniques in well-designed, well-organized, well-managed classroom environments that allow students to construct their own understandings of concepts.

Constructivist teaching is best facilitated though the use of varied learning configurations. Providing students with opportunities to work in collaborative or small-group learning activities helps them to construct their own knowledge. Students have the opportunity to listen to other points of view, debate, discuss, and form insights into new ideas while working collaboratively with their peers. Such activities must also activate students' prior knowledge to help them develop questioning skills.

When the classroom environment encourages growth and development, students will respond. Instructionally effective environments offer youngsters a wide variety of powerful experiences, which include ways of interacting with and learning from one another in instructional areas that support experiential, problem-based, active learning. Creating such environments calls for the teacher to construct and allow cooperative, collaborative strategies.

Classroom design simply means arranging the room to make the best use of space and to create a comfortable learning climate-both physically and psychologically. Classroom management reflects the ways in which the teacher orchestrates high-quality instructional activities that help children take charge of their learning and eliminate unwanted behavioral and discipline problems.

Classroom Design

Our school system was invented to provide a sit-and-learn process of education. In 1915, for instance, John Dewey reportedly described the difficulties he encountered during an exhaustive search for furniture "suitable from all points of view-artistic ... and educational-to the needs of children." According to the account, Dewey finally met one school-supply dealer who admitted, "I'm afraid we do not have what you want. You want something at which children may work; these are for listening."

Amazingly, little has changed in U.S. classrooms since Dewey's time. Regardless of individual differences, many, many children are still expected to sit on a hard seat, not move, and not speak-just listen and answer questions.

Research strongly supports the important role of environmental preferences in students' motivation and their ability to learn. The quality of the environment in which we live and work is vitally important. Individuals tend to respond to their physical environment first in terms of personal comfort. Harmony makes it easier to concentrate and remember information.

The proper use of space within a classroom generates student activity and learning. Room arrangement, for example, allows students to work at computer stations, engage in small-group work, engage in project-based learning, and use multimedia equipment for individual or group activities. Appropriate classroom design empowers teachers to create instructional areas, such as learning and interest centers and media centers, that offer students varied learning opportunities and accommodate individual learning needs and interests.

Well-designed classrooms display high levels of student cooperation, academic success, and task involvement. Teachers work to develop intrinsic motivation in students, which is essential to creating lifelong learners. Thus effective classroom environments create multiple learning situations capable of addressing students' diverse characteristics to enhance their satisfaction and academic performance. Such classes are child centered; they meet young people's instructional needs by exposing them to a variety of highly motivating, stimulating, multilevel instructional activities.

Current research in the functioning of the brain confirms that we learn best in a rich, multi-sensory environment. We learn more about people by interacting with them in real-life contexts. We learn more meaningfully when we are fully immersed in the learning experience. Therefore, we should provide students with active learning experiences that incorporate a wide variety of materials, including high-quality, well-written literature.

Powerful learning activities are most likely to occur in a highly organized learning environment. When orchestrating such a setting, it is important to keep in mind how instruction will be reinforced, reviewed, and enriched to extend youngsters' learning potential; how procedures for completing assignments, working, locating instructional resources, and acquiring assistance will be facilitated; and how students will evaluate their own performance and that of others.

Classroom Management

Making a classroom an effective educational tool depends on creating not only a physically comfortable environment that supports instructional goals but also one that is emotionally, socially, psychologically, and physically safe. Classrooms should be places where a child can think, discover, grow, and ultimately learn to work independently and cooperatively in a group setting, developing self-discipline and self-esteem. At the heart of an emotionally safe learning environment is cooperation-among staff, students, and other stakeholders.

Cooperation leads to ownership, involvement, and great opportunities for student self-discipline, says Jerome Freiberg (1996)-but first must come trust. Students learn to trust through opportunities to take ownership of and responsibility for their own actions and those of others. Strategies to promote cooperation include establishing rules and regulations (with the assistance of students) for codes of behavior and conduct; talking about consequences of behavior; offering youngsters training in peer mediation and conflict resolution; creating rotating classroom management positions, with clearly outlined responsibilities; and helping youngsters develop norms of collaboration and social skills to enable them to work effectively in groups.

When children are truly engaged in learning and the approach to discipline is an active one, teachers do not have to waste valuable time dealing with disciplinary issues. When learning becomes less meaningful to students' lives, less interactive, or less stimulating, teachers increasingly need to control their students; in the process, they unwittingly create opportunities for undesirable student behaviors.

Teachers who try to impose too many rules, too much rigidity, and too many uniform activities quickly lose control. Teachers who can bring themselves to share power and confidence with their students gain more control. That is exactly why teachers should concentrate on creating conditions in which students can and will manage themselves.

Author's note: I would like to acknowledge the ASCD Advisory Panel on Improving Student Achievement and Lloyd W. Kline for their contributions to this chapter.

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Educating Everybody's Children: We Know What Works-And What Doesn't

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Edited by Robert W. Cole by Robert W. Cole Children know how to learn in more ways than we know how to teach them. -Ronald Edmonds (1991) Good instruction is good instruction, regardless of students' racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds.

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Good Teaching Practices for Some Students are Good Teaching Practices for ALL Students!

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Good Teaching Practices for Some Students are Good Teaching Practices for ALL Students!

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We create practical, timely, affordable professional learning to help educators and instructional leaders provide students with a modern, equitable, and quality education.

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Culturally Diverse Classrooms Support ALL Learners

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Culturally Diverse Classrooms Support ALL Learners

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Benefits of Racial Diversity for ALL Students

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Benefits of Racial Diversity for ALL Students

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Segregated public schools have been ruled unconstitutional, and now, we live in a world where integration and diversity should be a hallmark of the school system. As borders come crashing down, societies and the global economy are becoming characterized by differences. The diversity agenda is being pursued by university officials, employers and parents who want to prepare students to live in a globalized world.

Fosters Better Collaboration

Diverse classrooms prepare students for careers in job markets with less and less concern for national or community boundaries. Through integrated classroom environments, students learn to communicate and collaborate with people from other backgrounds and cultures.

Diversity prepares students for success and citizenship in the global economy with its dynamic multicultural makeup.

C reativity, critical thinking and problem-solving are all fostered in i ntegrated classroom s ettings. Being among people who are different also helps students confront and combat stereotypes, understanding the complexities that are found in the human race.

If children are educated and live in racially isolated environments, they can develop discriminatory prejudices and attitudes.

Academic Achievement

It's not just racial/ethnic diversity that is required in the classroom whether at school or home tuition. As Brown v. Board of Education held that separate schools for black and white students are inherently unequal, the Coleman Report suggests that socioeconomic school integration could increase academic achievement even more.

Many sources show that diversity in the classroom benefits all students. Research has shown that racial and socioeconomic diversity in the classroom yields social and cognitive benefits. Yes, evidence has shown that diversity makes us smarter and s tudents in integrated schools have higher average test scores.

Patrick Kelly, a teacher at Blythewood High School in South Carolina, has said that "both research and my experience show the link between quality and diversity in schools."

Creativity and Confidence

Studies show that students can go further and concentrate better with people of different backgrounds working in the same environment. People with differing viewpoints have unique things to bring to the table, enabling more creative solutions. Contrary to feelings of danger or discomfort, a study in the journal "Child Development" has illustrated that students feel safer in life and school when they are educated in a diverse environment.

Due to learning about different types of people from different backgrounds and cultures, they become more comfortable with these differences and with themselves.

Integrated classrooms can improve students' intellectual self-confidence. Research on diversity at the college level shows that when students have positive experiences interacting with students of other backgrounds and view the racial and cultural climate on-campus as affirming, they emerge with greater confidence in their academic abilities.

Organize a cultural fair. Sound out when you notice educators biased towards different student groups. Check in on whether there is a racial bias at the school staff and faculty level. When we help our students begin to understand how diversity is important and to celebrate our differences, we'll see them slowly excel and achieve so much more.

References:

The Benefits of Socioeconomically and Racially Integrated Schools and Classrooms (n.d.). Retrieved from https://tcf.org/content/facts/the-benefits-of-socioeconomically-and-racially-integrated-schools-and-classrooms/

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The Benefits of Racial Diversity in the Classroom | Think Inclusive

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Segregated public schools have been ruled unconstitutional, and now, we live in a world where integration and diversity should be a hallmark of the school system. As borders come crashing down, societies and the global economy are becoming characterized by differences.

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The resistance in the nation's largest school system, however, is not representative of white parents overall, said Amy Stuart Wells, a professor of sociology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, whose new report on integration expands on the importance of racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse schools and classrooms.

Related Story

School Integration's Comeback
Wells argues that the time is ripe for political leaders to listen to the growing demand for more diverse public schools. The issue deserves greater emphasis and attention with students of color now a majority of the public school population and whites gentrifying urban neighborhoods of color, she says. "We have tons of data ... that shows that white parents increasingly want their kids to go to diverse schools," Wells said. "If you ask, 'Do parents want diverse schools?' whites are saying yes."

In her report, Wells cites a 2003 survey administered by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation that found 60 percent of white Americans thought racially integrated schools were better for kids, and a 2004 survey conducted by Newsweek that showed whites increasingly linked public school improvement to diverse student bodies.

More recent polling, though, finds most Americans prefer local schools over school diversity. A January HuffPost/YouGov poll found that many Americans agree that racially diverse schools are better for students but "a solid majority said it is more important 'to have students go to local community schools even if it means most students are of the same race.'" Less than one in five (18 percent) opted to send their kids to racially diverse schools knowing it would mean "many of the students don't live nearby."

For those families that prioritize diverse educational experiences, the study shows racially integrated schools improve education for students of all races and accomplish one immeasurable advantage: helping youth challenge stereotypes and their implicit biases toward people of different races and ethnicities. But fully realizing this goal requires teachers who are trained in facilitating courageous conversations about race, said Wells, and skilled in racially and culturally relevant teaching practices.

"Research emphasizes how students learn from each other, but there are different things that teachers can do to foster that learning," Wells said. "We wrote the report to help people see the need for more research on teaching in more diverse classrooms. [We] need to do more work to help educators cultivate those benefits."

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The resistance in the nation's largest school system, however, is not representative of white parents overall, said Amy Stuart Wells, a professor of sociology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, whose new report on integration expands on the importance of racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse schools and classrooms. Related Story School Integration's Comeback Wells argues that the time is ripe for political leaders to listen to the growing demand for more diverse public schools.

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Books can open doors to life-altering conversations!

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Image: Magination press / american psychological association

Few subjects give parents pause like talking about racism.

For black families, the topic can be painful and often involves the upsetting task of explaining to children how they may be viewed differently by just about anyone - but specifically law enforcement.

White parents, on the other hand, may avoid the subject altogether, fearful that they'll say the wrong thing or worried that acknowledging racism could somehow encourage their children to become prejudiced.

A new kids' book authored by three child psychologists aims to give all parents, regardless of their racial or ethnic identity, tools for having these tough conversations. Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story about Racial Injustice takes place in the wake of a police shooting that leaves a black man dead, and the reader watches how conversations about the tragedy unfold in different households.

"We hope that the book will spark conversations between parents and children."

But Something Happened in Our Town, which was written for children between the ages of 4 and 8, doesn't stop there. Instead, it explores the roots of racism in America, the importance of actively fighting for social justice, and how kids can respond to the prejudice and exclusion that creeps into their classrooms. Several pages of guidelines at the book's end provide tips for how parents and caregivers can talk about racial bias and injustice.

"We hope that the book will spark conversations between parents and children," says co-author Marianne Celano, a professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University.

When parents take on these subjects, Celano adds, it sends a clear message: "I'm here for you to talk about these things. I'm not afraid to talk about these things."

Something Happened in Our Town, which is published by the American Psychological Association and available through booksellers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Walmart was originally scheduled for release in June.

The APA pushed its release date to May 1 following a string of police-involved shootings, including the March 18 death of Stephon Clark in Sacramento. Clark, an unarmed black man, was shot multiple times in his grandparents' backyard by officers looking for someone suspected of breaking into cars. Clark was not the culprit.

The idea for the book itself, however, took root in the months after Donald Trump's election.

Celano and her co-authors, Marietta Collins, director of behavioral medicine at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and Ann Hazzard, a retired associate professor of pediatrics at Emory University, spoke at length about how to craft the complex narrative at the heart of Something Happened in Our Town.

"We strongly believe the color-blind approach is not helpful, and parental silence conveys naiveté at best and at worst collusion with oppression."

They consulted research about how kids develop ideas about racial bias as well as how and when parents of different racial identities speak to their children about racism. In one survey of more than 100 white mothers, 70 percent of respondents said they intentionally avoided conversations about race.

"We strongly believe the color-blind approach is not helpful, and parental silence conveys naiveté at best and at worst collusion with oppression," says Celano.

Yet she also understands the delicate balance parents must manage in developing confidence to discuss difficult subjects, following a child's lead, and addressing controversial events when they happen.

Collins recommends parents read and ponder Something Happened in Our Town before sharing it with a child. Both Collins and Celano know the subsequent conversations might be uncomfortable, but they believe those uneasy moments can build to something greater: creating communities that are fair, inclusive, and just.

For example, when a white girl and her mother in the book discuss the shooting, it leads to insights about patterns of injustice, and how she can insist on fair treatment for all kids. Meanwhile, when a black father shares his anger about racist behavior, he tells his son: "I'm mad that we're still treated poorly sometimes, but I can use my anger to make things better. Black people have a lot of power if we work together to make changes."

Whatever this discussion looks like in your household, it's just a first step.

"Make sure you have a conversation with your child," says Collins. "It opens the door to them coming back and asking more questions."
UPDATE: May 1, 2018, 3:50 p.m. PDT This story originally stated that Stephon Clark was shot by police eight times. That statement was based on the results of a previously released private autopsy ordered by Clark's family. A new autopsy released Tuesday by the Sacramento police says he was shot seven times. The wording in this story now states that Clark was shot multiple times.

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New kids' book teaches parents how to talk about racism, police shootings

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Few subjects give parents pause like talking about racism. For black families, the topic can be painful and often involves the upsetting task of explaining to children how they may be viewed differently by just about anyone - but specifically law enforcement.