The media's ebonics hysteria has sparked a national debate concerning the failure of the nation's urban schools to serve African American and other minority students' needs. Oakland Unified School District's systemic reform of curricula and standards hinges on new teaching practices exploiting the connections among language, literacy, and…

As African American mothers and teacher educators, the authors' investment in teacher education is both personal and professional. The authors build upon these personal and professional investments in their teaching practices with primarily White pre-service teachers, in the hopes of better preparing them to teach African American children. This…

This course is designed to give university students an introduction to the varying social and cultural backgrounds of students in inner city communities. Materials in the areas of literature, music, and history are assigned and presented to these future teachers. Class presentations are used to help students to broaden their perspectives and…

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…

Describes the Linguistic Affirmation Program (LAP), a comprehensive nonstandard language awareness program for students not proficient in Standard American English, that facilitates the acquisition of Standard American English without devaluing students' home language and culture. Notes its six research-based critical instructional approaches.…

A review of ethnographic research investigated issues associated with regional or dialectal language use, particularly the use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in the special education classroom, and noted the implications for research and classroom practice. Research with speech/language pathologists is under way to develop a…

A growing trend in bilingual education is to provide instruction in standard ("mainstream") English for children who are native speakers of an English dialect, such as black English. Debate over the practice focuses on effectiveness and the potential drain on bilingual education funding. Although not criticizing or devaluing the nonstandard…

Investigated the phenomena of cultural denial and cultural limbo among African American preservice teachers with linguistic allegiance to African American English, presenting data from interviews with two preservice teachers. Discusses African American self-love within the language politics of teacher education. Examines survival strategies used…

"Brown v. Board of Education" reminds this author, a linguist, of the linguistic diversity among black Americans, be they descendants of enslaved Africans--as he is proud to be--or Africans who escaped slavery. There is as much linguistic diversity among their race as among any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. When the…

Tongue-Tied is an anthology that gives voice to millions of people who, on a daily basis, are denied the opportunity to speak in their own language. First-person accounts by Amy Tan, Sherman Alexie, Bell Hooks, Richard Rodriguez, Maxine Hong Kingston, and many other authors open windows into the lives of linguistic minority students and their…

Marva Collins' teaching style includes positive reinforcement, high teacher expectation, high motivation, and love. Cultural congruence, or the relationship between curriculum and the pupil's cultural experiences outside the school, is also a significant factor. Although she uses a traditional curriculum, Ms. Collins' success lies in the…

"Freedom Schooling" looks at a Freedom School class taught by Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture). Specifically, this article explores the philosophies of language and education that informed this class and the organic relationship fostered between the classroom and the political goals of African American communities during the…

This 3-year research project sought to determine whether language differences between Gullah-influenced and English speaking students in Charleston County (South Carolina) influenced test performance and subsequent interpretation of test results. A sample population of 503 educable mentally handicapped, learning disabled, and regular students…

Renewed interest in the connection between black English and reading difficulty warrants a summary of the groundwork laid in the 1960s and 1970s. Linguists have established the fact that black English is a legitimate language, that its speakers are not language deficient, and that the basic difference in black and standard English pertains to…

This paper addresses the issue of how to make school matter to historically disenfranchised, inner city African American youth, as well as youth from other struggling ethnic minority groups. It asserts that one way to do this is to reconceptualize approaches to the acquisition of literacy and literacy skills in teaching, engaging, and motivating…