Background: Both academic research and educational policy have focused on the diverse language resources of young schoolchildren. African American Language (AAL) in particular has a rich history of scholarship that both documents its historical evolution and sociolinguistic complexity and reveals the persistent lack of knowledge about AAL in our…

Studies on the acting white hypothesis--the premise that black students purposefully do poorly in school and on standardized tests because of racialized peer pressure--to explain the black-white achievement gap have not been able to negate the fact that a "burden of acting white" exists for some black students, even though it is not prevalent…

Many diversity courses that prepare pre-service teachers do not address the significance or the impact of language barriers on linguistically diverse learners. Often time, new and veteran teachers construct their bilingual and/or bidialectical students as others and are unaware of how to use their students' social, cultural, and political…

This is the first research handbook to address all dimensions of diversity that have an impact on literacy achievement. Leading experts examine how teaching and learning intersect with cultural and language differences and socioeconomic disparities in today's increasingly diverse schools and communities. The volume weaves compelling research…

"With the idea in mind that America will continue to move toward a truly democratic society, however slowly, the contributors of these eight articles and introduction examine the possibility that language and culture will eventually not be an impediment to fulfilling the idea that America is a democracy. Diversity is at the heart of today's…

Since the 1980s, "Rethinking Schools" magazine has been renowned for its commitment to racial equality in education. Now, "Rethinking Multicultural Education: Teaching for Racial and Cultural Justice" has collected the best Rethinking Schools articles that deal with race and culture. "Rethinking Multicultural…

For scholars of literacy and educational linguistics, the years 2004 and beyond have given them cause to not only revisit racial issues 50 years after "Brown v. Board of Education," but also to revisit 25 years of language and racial politics since "the Martin Luther King Black English case." This chapter discusses what needs…

This paper examines the political meanings of language in the USA, from the perspectives of both majority- and minority-language groups, and focuses especially on Mainstream US English, African-American Vernacular English, and Spanish. It briefly traces the history of language policy in US education and argues that because language serves as a…

How can teachers make sound pedagogical decisions and advocate for educational policies that best serve the needs of students in today's diverse classrooms? What is the pedagogical value of providing culturally and linguistically diverse students greater access to their own language and cultural orientations? This landmark volume responds to the…

With more than 180,000 copies in print, the first volume of "Rethinking Our Classrooms" broke new ground, providing teachers with hands-on ways to promote values of community, justice, and equality--and build students' academic skills. This companion volume continues in that tradition, presenting a rich new collection of…

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. (Individual papers contain references.) [For the 2009 proceedings, see ED504973.]