What Successful Teachers Do in Diverse Classrooms

Grounded in the best peer-reviewed research, each strategy presents guidelines and appropriate precautions to ensure successful transfer to actual classroom practice.

Foreword by Donna Heath
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Introduction
1. Making the Multicultural Connection
Strategy 1: Be sensitive to the diversity of today's classrooms.
Strategy 2: Move beyond "color blind" teaching and take the time to know students in specific localized cultural contexts.
Strategy 3: Reflect on how multicultural competence is defined today.
Strategy 4: Help immigrant students by understanding their personal beliefs.
Strategy 5: White Ethnic students need multicultural education too.
Strategy 6: Cultivate multicultural connections.
Strategy 7: Develop and promote a positive ethnic identity to students.
Strategy 8: Watch for factors of exclusion that influence multicultural curriculum choices.
Strategy 9: Focus on the classroom management factors that best reflect culturally responsive teaching.
Strategy 10: Include multicultural works when developing a quality English curriculum.
2. Including Students with Special Education Needs
Strategy 11: Recognize that different cultures view disabilities differently.
Strategy 12: Teach all students about disabilities to facilitate the social acceptance of students with special needs
Strategy 13: Avoid excessive drill and repetition when teaching math.
Strategy 14: Spend more time teaching a few key concepts rather than trying to cover it all.
Strategy 15: Tailor homework to ensure success for students with disabilities.
Strategy 16: Spend the time to develop and use a variety of assessment strategies.
Strategy 17: Offer positive and constructive feedback rather than criticism.
Strategy 18: Communicate student progress early in a course, but avoid using formal grades to do so.
Strategy 19: Ensure students receive appropriate instructional or assessment accommodations.
Strategy 20: Be aware of potential bias when considering the recommendations of the Student Study Team
Strategy 21: Focus on classroom process before course content to increase time on task.
Strategy 22: Consider using Universal Design for Learning Principles when designing lessons.
Strategy 23: Encourage students to set process goals when learning new technology.
Strategy 24: Create scaffolds to help students learn complex skills and procedures
Strategy 25: Focus on instructionally centered communication when working with students with learning disabilities.
Strategy 26: Encourage students with disabilities to develop positive interpretations of their academic performance.
Strategy 27: Use instructional strategies that support the specific needs of students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
3. Cultivating Gender Sensitivity
Strategy 28: Open the dialogue with students regarding gender equity issues.
Strategy 29: Support male and female students differently during school to school transitions as gender can influence their needs.
Strategy 30: Become aware of the traits of gifted females.
Strategy 31: Work to prevent inequities between male and female students'class partcipation.
Strategy 32: Consider how students sometimes treat female teachers differently than male teachers.
Strategy 33: Address gender issues in the classroom to increase student success and confidence.
Strategy 34: Be prepared for subtle gender bias in academic situations.
4. Including Students Who are Sexual Minorities
Strategy 35: Create a classroom environment of safety and respect.
Strategy 36: Access libraries to provide a more inclusive collection for sexual minorities.
Strategy 37: Explore curriculum that includes minority sexual identity and sexuality.
Strategy 38: Weigh the issues of choosing to remain "closeted" vs. "coming out" within educational settings.
Strategy 39: Consider the effect of teachers "coming out."
Strategy 40: Be aware of the diverse and complex path that gay males undertake in self-defining themselves as gay.
Strategy 41: Work to prevent "low-level violence" in schools.
5. Supporting Students Who are Economically Disadvantaged
Strategy 42: Teach group skills to help low-income students establish a positive and encouraging support network to increase their likelihood of attending and completing higher education.
Strategy 43: Use cooperative test review and study guides to improve student achievement.
Strategy 44: Encourage all students to enroll in rigorous courses and build in the needed supports to facilitate their success.
Strategy 45: Utilize a variety of print materials to inspire student reading and writing.
Strategy 46: Explore the effects of pacing on student learning when working with low-income students.
Strategy 47: Teach self-regulation and attention sustaining skills to help students improve their performance.
Strategy 48: Explore team teaching to address the needs of economically disadvantaged students.
Strategy 49: Mentor economically disadvantaged students to improve their aspirations.
Strategy 50: Make academic success the first priority for economically disadvantaged students.
Strategy 51: Use a variety of assessments to identify gifted students from underrepresented groups, particularly economically disadvantaged students.
Strategy 52: Support equal access of extracurricular activities to promote student connectedness.
Strategy 53: Use popular films featuring urban classrooms as starting points for reflection and critical analysis.
Strategy 54: Be aware of the factors that contribute to the failure of highly competent students.
6. Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners
Strategy 55: Be wary of low expectations for language minority students.
Strategy 56: Reflect on the complex issues surrounding school literature selection for bilingual and bicultural students.
Strategy 57: Carefully consider the use of cooperative groups with second language students.
Strategy 58: Explore the definition of literacy and the complexity of the term when applied to bilingual and bicultural students
Strategy 59: Actively address the diverse needs of English learners.
Strategy 60: Prepare for a cultural and linguistic mismatch between teachers and their students.
Strategy 61: Select spell checker programs that meet the needs of the specific student population.
Strategy 62: Consider portfolios to create an overview of student performance and growth.
7. Working with Parents
Strategy 63: Develop strategies to help parents help their children succeed academically.
Strategy 64: Include parents from marginalized groups by making them feel welcomed.
Strategy 65: Involve minority and culturally diverse parents as resources in the classroom.
Strategy 66: Consider the positive and negative effects that homework has on students and their families.
8. Establishing and Sustaining Your Professional Identity
Strategy 67: Actively seek opportunities to expand personal experiences in multicultural settings.
Strategy 68: Internalize that cultural experience and perspective is different for each individual.
Strategy 69: Recognize the signs and symptoms of "diversity-related burn-out."
Strategy 70: Successful teachers should become knowledgeable about adolescent culture.
Strategy 71: Do not underestimate the preparation necessary for placement in urban multicultural settings.
Index