Chapter 3 Helping Diverse Learners Succeed in Today’s Classrooms

Dimensions of Diversity Culture Language Gender Ability differences Exceptionalities

Urban Schools and Diversity Cultural minorities Are majorities in 48 of 100 largest U.S. cities Are majorities in 6 states Comprise 90% of students in Chicago Detroit Houston Los Angeles District of Columbia

Urban Schools and Diversity (continued) Percentage of minority students predicted to increase in the future

Cultural Attitudes, Values, & Interaction Patterns Learned at home and in neighborhood Influence school success, both positively and negatively Require both teacher sensitivity and adaptability

Educational Responses to Cultural Diversity Multicultural education: salad bowl or mosaic versus melting pot Culturally responsive teaching Accepting and valuing cultural differences Accommodating different cultural interaction patterns Building on students’ cultural backgrounds

Language Diversity Maintenance language programs: use and sustain the first language Immersion programs: emphasize rapid transition to English English as a Second Language (ESL) programs: focus on English in academic subjects Transition programs: maintain first language while students learn English

Bilingual Education Controversial because critics fear the loss of English as U.S. language 26 states have official English language legislation De-emphasized by No Child Left Behind Proponents claim it is effective, humane, and practical. Critics claim it is divisive, ineffective, and inefficient.

Gender Gender influences career choices. Gender-role identity creates differences in expectations and beliefs about appropriate roles and behaviors. Stereotypes create rigid and simplistic caricatures of groups of people. Single-gender classrooms and schools separate male and female students.

Multiple Intelligences Gardner’s theory: Suggests that intelligence is not unitary but multidimensional Suggests that classrooms should attempt to develop different kinds of intelligence While accepted by teachers, is controversial because of a lack of a firm research base

Ability Grouping Places students of similar aptitude and achievement together for instruction Between-class ability grouping divides students for all subjects. Within-class ability grouping divides students only in certain subjects, such as math and reading. Tracking: at the secondary level, divides students across the curriculum.

Learning Styles Describes students’ personal approaches to learning Popular with educators, viewed skeptically by researchers, and difficult to implement Suggests we should develop metacognition—students’ awareness of how they learn most effectively

Students with Exceptionalities Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Passed in 1975 Guarantees a free public education for all students with exceptionalities Mainstreaming: moves students from segregated settings into the regular classroom

Students with Exceptionalities (continued) Inclusion: more recent and more comprehensive approach, advocates a total, systematic, and coordinated school-wide system of services Least restrictive environment (LRE): places students in as normal an education setting as possible Individualized Education Program (IEP): individually prescribed instructional plan created and implemented by multiple stakeholders