Many educators share the vision of the Equity Principle--teachers holding high expectations for all students. However, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports, minority students continue to lag behind white students in mathematics achievement. Furthermore, the discrepancies are more pronounced on the extended,…

School violence has mushroomed into a devastating epidemic and is deteriorating the basic foundation of education. In this article, the author will present several teaching strategies for preventing school violence from becoming an arduous enigma within the classroom and school environments, and focus on assessment and reflection in order to…

This 3 year longitudinal study reports the feasibility of an "Improving Teacher Quality: No Child Left Behind" project for impacting teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge in mathematics in nine Title I elementary schools in the southeastern United States. Data were collected for 3 years to determine the impact of standards and…

Students share folk beliefs that make it difficult for them to understand inequality, especially the harmful consequences of social practices they routinely engage in, are attached to, and take for granted. Four of these beliefs include: (a) harm is direct, extreme, and the product of an individual's intentions; (2) harm is the product of the…

This article presents two conceptual frames to help with teaching about issues of race and racism. First the concept of the web of racism describes a matrix that helps students understand the depth of damage racism has instilled in contemporary U.S. society. Second, the web of resistance offers a model of anti-racist activities to help students…

In recent years mounting evidence reveals that many children, for different reasons, do not receive equal opportunities for learning, and therefore are marginalised. However, despite the fact that many education systems have attempted to solve this problem and respond to the contemporary needs of all children by deploying a variety of policies for…

As the minority population and achievement gap in the United States continue to grow, the rapidly increasing epidemic of leaving English-language learners (ELLs) behind is one of grave concern for educators. Due to disparities between academic Discourses and ELLs' primary Discourse, a free and equal education, as claimed by the U.S. government,…

Although many programs ascribe to promoting and celebrating diversity, traditional teacher preparation rarely centralizes multicultural education courses. Instead, these courses are often "added on" to or disconnected from the rest of the program. Multicultural education courses and other courses that address diversity often ask the preservice…

Stories weave common elements of the nature of science between topics and activities, regardless of whether it's short historical narratives about scientists or current event articles that are read. Stories also can help students realize the important contributions of persons of color, women, and other traditionally underrepresented groups. In…

This paper will discuss "both-ways" as the philosophy which underpins course programs and operations at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, the only tertiary institution in Australia that caters exclusively to Indigenous students. This paper draws on recent research undertaken by the author focusing on the following…

This longitudinal study of middle school science teachers explored the relationship between effective science instruction, as defined by the National Science Education Standards (NRC in National science education standards. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996), and student achievement in science. Eleven teachers participated in a three…

This study examines the use of engineering design to facilitate science reasoning in high-needs, urban classrooms. The Design for Science unit utilizes scaffolds consistent with reform science instruction to assist students in constructing a design solution to satisfy a need from their everyday lives. This provides a meaningful context in which…

This article describes kindergarten from the perspective of the whole child. Specifically, it reviews current research on best practices to improve children's math and language arts competencies, memory skills, and the role of kindergarten in beginning science. It also describes the social experiences children have in kindergarten with respect to…

The thrust of the multicultural movement has been aimed at teaching students to become culturally responsive in their interactions with peers. Less attention has been focused on information needed by educators who attempt to promote positive intercultural exchanges in the classroom. This article describes a faculty supported pilot seminar aimed at…

Culturally responsive instruction appears to offer the potential to improve students' academic achievement and chances for success in school. However, it is not easy to see how culturally responsive instruction can be applied, especially in classrooms with students of many different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In the first section of this…