Literacy Achievement and Diversity


Book Description

Respected literacy researcher Kathy Au addresses the question of what educators can do to close the literacy achievement gap. She begins by outlining theory and research and then provides practical strategies to help teachers improve the literacy learning of students of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The text addresses phonics, non-mainstream varieties of English, and ownership of literacy, and each chapter includes a reflection activity for students.




Multicultural Issues and Literacy Achievement


Book Description

This book is a sequel to the author's earlier volume entitled, Literacy Instruction in Multicultural Settings. In addition to extensive updating of earlier material, this book extends the content coverage to include issues of power, attitudes, and systemic change through the application of discourse theory and critical theory. In doing so, however, the author has tried to maintain the brevity, stylistic clarity, and classroom focus of the earlier volume. Key features of this important new book include: *Teaching Flexibility. Although written with the classroom needs of pre-service teachers in mind, theory and research are treated in sufficient depth to make the book suitable for graduate courses and for teacher study groups. *Issues Organization. Each chapter is organized around familiar issues that characterize schools and classrooms with diverse student populations and explores these issues through new lenses that most teachers have not previously encountered. *Social Constructivist Perspective. Critical theory, discourse theory, and historical perspective are introduced in order to sensitize readers to the need to recognize negative, socially sustained patterns that hamper literacy achievement and replace them with positive patterns. To this end each chapter asks students to maintain a running list of negative patterns along with alternative positive patterns.




Handbook of Research on Literacy and Diversity


Book Description

This is the first research handbook to address all dimensions of diversity that have an impact on literacy achievement. Leading experts examine how teaching and learning intersect with cultural and language differences and socioeconomic disparities in today's increasingly diverse schools and communities. The volume weaves compelling research findings together with theory, policy considerations, and discussions of exemplary instructional practices. It offers fresh perspectives on such topics as family literacy, multiliteracies, drawing on cultural resources in the classroom, factors that promote success in high-poverty schools, equity issues, and ways to teach specific literacy skills. The concluding section provides crucial recommendations for teacher preparation and professional development.




Literacy, Technology, and Diversity


Book Description

An invaluable resource for both practicing and pre-service teachers, this long-awaited book offers a fresh and much-needed point of view of how to "rethink" literacy and technology in today's diverse classrooms. Authored by some of the most respected researchers in the field today, Literacy, Technology, and Diversity reflects on the idea that great expectations are achievable through educational projects that foster academic growth, with classroom diversity and technology as catalysts for deeper learning, and that a narrow focus ongrade expectations yields superficial results. Arguing today's learning principles need to incorporate the core values of community learning, critical pedagogy, multilingualism, anti-racist education, high academic standards, and technological fluency, Cummins, Sayers and Brown provide a thought-provoking introduction into these learning principles that will inspire the life-long learning of students. Take a peek inside... Provides examples of projects, backed by research-based theories for their effective adaptation to help both pre-service and practicing teachers become more independent and creative in the ways they use technology. Gives useful suggestions on how to effectively integrate literacy and technology into the classroom. Presents Portraits (Case studies) of collaborative projects promoting literacy learning and often involving technology on such topics as: Cognition, Assessment, Community of Learning, and Tools and Resources in Section II (Chapters 5-9). Contains an appendix of short vignettes of exemplary projects that promote learning of standards-based expectations for academic achievement. Includes a complimentary CD-ROM of additional resources for teachers as well as updated portraits on exemplary projects.




Managing Diversity in Education


Book Description

Diversity - social, cultural, linguistic and ethnic - poses a challenge to all educational systems. Some authorities, schools and teachers look upon it as a problem, an obstacle to the achievement of national educational goals, while for others it offers new opportunities. Successive PISA reports have laid bare the relative lack of success in addressing the needs of diverse school populations and helping children develop the competences they need to succeed in society. The book is divided into three parts that deal in turn with policy and its implications, pedagogical practice, and responses to the challenge of diversity that go beyond the language of schooling. This volume features the latest research from eight different countries, and will appeal to anyone involved in the educational integration of immigrant children and adolescents.




Teacher Diversity and Student Success


Book Description

Teacher Diversity and Student Success makes a powerful case for diversifying the teaching force as an important policy lever for closing achievement gaps and moving schools closer to equity goals. Written by three leading scholars, the book provides nuanced solutions on how to diversify the teaching force, increase student exposures to same-race teachers, and improve teacher training for a culturally diverse student body. They argue that teacher diversity should be seen as one element of teacher quality, and policies focused on improving teacher quality should take race explicitly into consideration. The authors also address the historic and contemporary factors that have kept people of color out of teaching and highlight emerging research showing the significant, long-lasting impact of same-race teacher exposures, particularly for Black and Latino students. This timely book is a call to action for building teacher diversity to ensure student success.




Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain


Book Description

A bold, brain-based teaching approach to culturally responsive instruction To close the achievement gap, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement. Culturally responsive instruction has shown promise, but many teachers have struggled with its implementation—until now. In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction. The book includes: Information on how one’s culture programs the brain to process data and affects learning relationships Ten “key moves” to build students’ learner operating systems and prepare them to become independent learners Prompts for action and valuable self-reflection




Teacher Education and Black Communities


Book Description

The field of education has been and will continue to be essential to the survival and sustainability of the Black community. Unfortunately, over the past five decades, two major trends have become clearly evident in the Black community: (a) the decline of the academic achievement levels of Black students and (b) the disappearance of Black teachers, particularly Black males. Today, of the 3.5 million teachers in America’s classrooms (AACTE, 2010) only 8% are Black teachers, and approximately 2% of these teachers are Black males (NCES, 2010). Over the past few decades, the Black teaching force in the U.S. has dropped significantly (Lewis, 2006; Lewis, Bonner, Byrd, & James, 2008; Milner & Howard, 2004), and this educational crisis shows no signs of ending in the near future. As the population of Black students in K-12 schools in the U. S. continue to rise—currently over 16% of students in America’s schools are Black (NCES, 2010)—there is an urgent need to increase the presence of Black educators. The overall purpose of this edited volume is to stimulate thought and discussion among diverse audiences (e.g., policymakers, practitioners, and educational researchers) who are concerned about the performance of Black students in our nation’s schools, and to provide evidence-based strategies to expand our nation’s pool of Black teachers. To this end, it is our hope that this book will contribute to the teacher education literature and will inform the teacher education policy and practice debate.




Literacy Essentials


Book Description

In her practical and inspirational book,Literacy Essentials: Engagement, Excellence, and Equity for All Learners , author Regie Routman guides K-12 teachers to create a trusting, intellectual, and equitable classroom culture that allows all learners to thrive as self-directed readers, writers, thinkers, and responsible citizens. Over the course of three sections, Routman provides numerous Take Action ideas for implementing authentic and responsive teaching, assessing, and learning. This book poses akey question: How do we rise to the challenge of providing an engaging, excellent, equitable education for all learners, including those from high poverty and underserved schools?Teaching for Engagement: Many high performing schools are characterized by a a thriving school culture built on a network of authentic communication. Teachers can strengthen classroom engagement by building a trusting and welcoming environment where all students can have a safe and collaborative space to grow and develop.Pursuing Excellence: Routman identifies 10 key factors that describe an excellent teacher, ranging from intellectual curiosity to creativity, and explains how carrying yourself as a role model contributes to an inclusive, caring, empathic, and fair classroom. She also stresses the importance for school leaders to make job-embedded professional development a top priority.Dismantling Unequal Education: The huge gap in the quality of education in high vs low income communities is the civil rights issue of the 21st century, according to Routman. She spells out specific actions educators can take to create more equitable schools and classrooms, such as diversifying texts used in curriculums and ensuring all students have access to opportunities to discuss, reflect, and engage with important ideas.From the author, I wroteLiteracy Essentials , because I saw a need to simplify teaching, raise expectations, and make expert teaching possible for all of us. I saw a need to emphasize how a school culture of kindness, trust, respect, and curiosity is essential to any lasting achievement. I saw a need to demonstrate and discuss how and why the beliefs, actions, knowledge we hold determine the potential for many of our students. Equal opportunity to learn depends on a culture of engagement and equity, which under lies a relentless pursuit of excellence.




Language Diversity, School Learning, and Closing Achievement Gaps


Book Description

The Workshop on the Role of Language in School Learning: Implications for Closing the Achievement Gap was held to explore three questions: What is known about the conditions that affect language development? What are the effects of early language development on school achievement? What instructional approaches help students meet school demands for language and reading comprehension? Of particular interest was the degree to which group differences in school achievement might be attributed to language differences, and whether language-related instruction might help to close gaps in achievement by helping students cope with language-intensive subject matter especially after the 3rd grade. The workshop provided a forum for researchers and practitioners to review and discuss relevant research findings from varied perspectives. The disciplines and professions represented included: language development, child development, cognitive psychology, linguistics, reading, educationally disadvantaged student populations, literacy in content areas (math, science, social studies), and teacher education. The aim of the meeting was not to reach consensus or provide recommendations, but rather to offer expert insight into the issues that surround the study of language, academic learning, and achievement gaps, and to gather varied viewpoints on what available research findings might imply for future research and practice. This book summarizes and synthesizes two days of workshop presentations and discussion.