Culturally Responsive Standards-Based Teaching: Classroom to Community and Back

"This book integrates a self-evaluative framework for making changes and includes tools for improving one′s own learning environment."
―Rachel Mederios, ELL Teacher and Building Program Supervisor
Jefferson Elementary School, Boise, ID

"This book is relevant to anyone who acknowledges the diversity within any group of people. The steps are clearly outlined so the practitioner can implement them and meet the needs of every individual."
―Thelma A. Davis, Principal
Robert Lunt Elementary School, Las Vegas, NV

Close the achievement gap by closing the culture gap

Teaching children from diverse backgrounds begins with simple questions: What is my culture? What are my students′ cultures? How does culture affect how I teach and how my students learn? Can I learn to value and honor the unique experiences and cultures of my students? These are essential questions for educators with a sincere desire to help all students succeed. This comprehensive guide provides detailed examples that show why and how to create culturally responsive, standards-based (CRSB) instruction in the classroom, schoolwide, and at the district level. Results of effective programs include:

• Increased academic success for all learners
• Engaged and motivated students
• Development of critical thinking skills necessary for higher learning
• Strengthened partnerships between students, families, and communities

This new edition is enhanced with nationwide examples, up-to-date resources, and tools that can be implemented immediately. Principals, administrators, K–12 teachers, curriculum and staff developers, and college instructors will find this handbook a valuable and powerful tool for promoting student engagement and improving struggling schools.

Steffen Saifer has served as director of the Child and Family Program at Education Northwest since 2000 and as an adjunct faculty member at Portland State University since 1996, where he has taught graduate courses in education. His areas of work and expertise include cultural-historical activity theory, the role of play in human development, and school-family partnerships. Saifer has worked extensively in Russia and Eastern Europe, assisting in education curricula reform. He helped implement a graduate program in early childhood development at BRAC University in Dhaka, Bangladesh (co-funded by the Open Society Foundation). He is the author or co-author of numerous publications including Practical Solutions to Practically Every Problem: The Early Childhood Teacher’s Manual (2003, Redleaf Press), and Education and the Culture of Democracy: Early Childhood Practice (1996, Open Society Institute).

Keisha Edwards is a trainer for the Oregon Parent Information & Resource Center (OR-PIRC) at Education Northwest. Her primary work is to design and deliver meaningful learning for educators and families on educational equity, cultural competence, and engaging diverse families as allies in the school change process. In this role over the past 5 years, Edwards has facilitated over 300 workshops, trainings, and coaching sessions with diverse audiences. As a result, she strongly believes that a new discourse, personal reflection, and deep dialogue across difference will soon be the most powerful and preferred strategies to transform school culture. Edwards is the author or co-author of several publications, including: Everyone’s Guide to Successful Project Planning: Tool for Youth (NWREL, 2000); Beyond the Oregon Trail: Oregon’s Untold Racial History (Oregon Uniting, 2003).

Debbie Ellis is the project director for the Oregon State Parental Information and Resource Center (Oregon PIRC) at Education Northwest. Her area of work and expertise focuses on school/family partnerships, educational equity, and early childhood parent education. Ellis coordinates a statewide conference for educators and parents focusing on school-family partnerships, educational equity, and academic achievement. She assisted in the development of a statewide parent leadership curriculum to help under-represented parents, and developed a multi-media training for families. She has worked as a teacher and family advocate/parent educator and is the author or co-author of numerous publications including See Poverty, Be the Difference: Discovering the Missing Pieces for Working with People in Poverty (Communication Across Barriers, 2007), and Partnerships by Design: Cultivating Effective and Meaningful School-Family Partnerships (Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2002).

Lena Ko is an advisor in early childhood education and school-family-community partnerships at Education Northwest. She has over 20 years experience training and coaching educators, coordinating professional development and technical assistance in model early childhood teaching centers, and consulting and technical writing for various education agencies. She has worked to help develop a state-wide family resource center project, as well as several federal grant initiatives to help communities improve outcomes for children and families. She has experience working with culturally diverse populations, in unique settings including children with special needs, at a therapeutic preschool. In addition to this book, she has co-authored an Education Northwest publication on a school process called The School PASS (Practices for All Students Success) that focuses on assessing and preparing for the needs of new and diverse students.

Amy Stuczynski is currently working with the Human Services Research Institute evaluating the use of family team meetings by public child welfare agencies. She began her career as a social worker for a community-based service organization for African American youth and families in Madison, Wisconsin. She later joined Education Northwest, where she wrote about language, literacy, and culture for six years. Amy holds a master′s in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.