Culture and the schools Culture is the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; a shared way of life Microculture is a smaller group within a culture that share similar common identities such as race/ethnicity, religion, language, and geographic origin.
Cultural responsiveness The extent to which research and practice in instruction and assessment take into consideration the cognitive, linguistic, and social assets of an individual that are culturally determined and shape ways in which that individual learns and makes sense of his or her experiences.
Social Context of Special Education History before IDEA: Theories about genetic and cultural deficits Re-emerged in the 1990’s with The Bell Curve Theories about cultural differences Different theories resulted in different responses by schools and school systems
School system responses The common school Treatment of second-and third-generation European Americans, immigrant students, and African Americans Tracking practices School segregation Civil rights movement/ Brown V. Board of Education Desegregation resulted in high numbers of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds being increasingly tracked into programs from students with mental retardations
Court cases related to Nondiscriminatory Evals Larry P. V. Riles
Disproportionate Representation Risk ratio Percentage of students in special education Gifted education placement
Factors associated with disproportionate representation and educational equality Racial/Ethnic considerations Language considerations Poverty considerations Relationships among race/ethnicity, language and poverty Majority values State/federal policy factors Community factors School factors Family factors Student factors
Becoming a culturally responsive teacher and advocate Enhancing your self-awareness Increasing your knowledge and experience of other cultures Advocating for systems of change Implementing culturally responsive instruction Use the adapted posture of cultural reciprocity Incorporate five components for delivering culturally responsive instruction Capitalize upon instruction consultation teams Implement response to intervention