Creating Successful Learning Environments for African American Learners with Exceptionalities

Central to the teaching and learning of African American students is an understanding of their cultures, background experiences, and perspectives, while applying this understanding to the design, implementation, and assessment of educational programs. This comprehensive, culturally responsive approach is supported by straightforward and in-depth contributions from more than 25 leading scholars and practitioners featured in this book.

The guide focuses on specific, innovative methods for maximizing the learning opportunities and outcomes of African American students―from dealing with foundational issues such as accountability, categorization, and legal implications, to managing learning environments and enhancing school practices through teacher preparation and early childhood programs. 

By providing concrete rationales and solutions for maximizing the intellectual, academic, and social achievement of African American learners, this groundbreaking text presents the tools necessary for meeting the needs of these students, including:

• Assessment and instructional techniques for general and special education programs, including discussions on specific learning disabilities
• Intervention tactics for behavioral issues
• Tips for utilizing family and community resources to complement the classroom
• Strategies for enhancing students′ communication skills and maximizing the potential of gifted and talented learners

Festus E. Obiakor, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Manager, Sunny Educational Consulting, Shorewood, Wisconsin. He has served as Department Head and Professor, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia and The City College of New York, New York. A teacher, scholar, leader, and consultant, he has served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at a variety of universities. He is the author of more than 150 publications, including books, articles, and commentaries; and he has presented papers at many national and international conferences. He serves on the editorial boards of reputable nationally and internationally refereed journals, including Multicultural Learning and Teaching (MLT) in which he serves as Executive Editor. Dr. Obiakor is a leader who has been involved in many landmark scholarly works in the fields of general and special education, with particular focus on African American and other culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners and he continues to prescribe multidimensional methods of assessment, teaching, and intervention for these individuals. Based on this premise, Dr. Obiakor created the Comprehensive Support Model (CSM), an intervention model that values the collaborative, consultative, and cooperative energies of students, families, teachers/service providers, communities, and government agencies.