3.5+Diversity,+Equity+and+Challenging+Curriculum

__**Indicator 3.5: Diversity, Equity and Challenging Curriculum (Research)**__ //**One of the most frequently cited attributes of schools with high levels of student learning and consistent positive student growth is that schools emphasize (and students take advantage of) a challenging and appropriate curriculum (Bryk, Lee, and Holland 1993; Chubb and Moe 1990)**//
 * 3.5 Offers a curriculum that challenges __each student to excel__, reflects a commitment to __equity__,** **and** **demonstrates an** **appreciation of __diversity__**

[|Second Language Literacy Instruction]

//**Diversity**// According to researchers at Brown University, culturally responsive teaching is characterized by: Geneva Gaye, in her essential text, Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research and Practice, published by Teachers College Press in 2000, defines culturally responsive teaching as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective for them; it teaches to and through students' strengths.
 * Communicating high expectations
 * Learning within the context of culture
 * Culturally-responsive curriculum
 * Teachers as facilitators
 * Student-centered instruction
 * Positive perspectives on parents and families.

There are five basic cultural competence skill areas. They apply to individual educators as well as the schools they work in and the educational system as a whole. Growth in one area tends to support growth in another (Adapted from Diller and Moule, Cultural Competence: A Primer for Educators, Thomson Wadsworth 2005): Because many cultural groups like to work collaboratively, inviting other classmates to contribute suggestions can put less pressure on a student and help with interactions (Allison & Rehn, 2007; Davis, 2007; Slavin 2001). as librarians become more aware of specific examples that resonate with students, those examples could be incorporated into future sessions, exhibits, book displays, handouts, and ** instruction ** guides (whether in print or online). Even a relatively simple act of displaying images and book jackets representative of students' cultural backgrounds can help students feel accepted and better connected to the library as a place where they belong.
 * **Valuing** **Diversity**. Accepting and respecting differences—different cultural backgrounds and customs, different ways of communicating, and different traditions and values.
 * **Being Culturally Self-Aware**. Culture—the sum total of an individual's experiences, knowledge, skills, beliefs, values, and interests—shapes educators' sense of who they are and where they fit in their family, school, community, and society.
 * **Dynamics of Difference**. Knowing what can go wrong in cross-cultural communication and how to respond to these situations.
 * **Knowledge of Students' Culture**. Educators must have some base knowledge of their students' culture so that student behaviors can be understood in their proper cultural context.
 * **Institutionalizing Cultural Knowledge and Adapting to Diversity**. Culturally competent educators, and the institutions they work in, can take a step further by institutionalizing cultural knowledge so they can adapt to diversity and better serve diverse populations.

[|Teaching Tolerance] [|Teaching Diverse Learners - Equity and Excellence for All] [|Strategies for Diverse Learners] (ASCD)

** __Essential Questions__ ** **Good instruction is 15 to 20 times more powerful in producing student achievement than family background and income, race, gender, and other explanatory variables.** **Student learning must be at the heart of all decisions made in the school.** (Hershberg 2005, page 224 **//The First Days of School//**) **__RESEARCH__**
 * //3.5 a - How does the school ensure that all staff members hold high expectations for each student they work with, and encourage all students to achieve their full potential? //
 * //3.5 b - How does the school support students with special needs to fully participate in all aspects of its programs?//
 * //3.5 c - In what ways does the school assure that differing cultures and languages of students and families are taken into account?//
 * [|Bilingual and ESL Educational Resources] (NREL)
 * [|Information for Mainstream Teachers of ELL Students]
 * [|National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition]
 * [|Creating Culturally Diverse Classrooms]

__**Resources**__ // National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force (2004). Assessment of diversity in American's teaching force: A call to action. Washington, D.C: National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force. [] (accessed October 16, 2011). // //**If you want to feel safe and secure, continue to do what you have always done. **// //**If you want to grow, go to the cutting edge of our profession. **// //**Just know that when you do, there will be a temporary loss of sanity. **// //**So know when you don't quite know what you are doing, you are probably growing! (Madeline Hunter) **// //__Essential Questions__ //
 * ** Colorin Colorado! (**Leading website for teachers and parents of English Language learners. Numerous articles, resources and ideas to support ELL students at school and home)
 * ** Center on Instruction ** (Collection of scientifically based research and information on K-12 instruction in reading, math, science, special education and English language learning)
 * [|Science Strategies for Hispanic Students]
 * [|Helping Students from Rural Mexico Feel Comfortable in Class]
 * //3.5 a - How does the school ensure that all staff members hold high expectations for each student they work with, and encourage all students to achieve their full potential? //
 * //3.5 b - How does the school support students with special needs to fully participate in all aspects of its programs? //
 * //3.5 c - In what ways does the school assure that differing cultures and languages of students and families are taken into account? //

A. __Students__ 1. Students in grades 6, 7 and 8 are eligible for the Academic Honor Roll. 2. Elementary students achieved recognition by placing in the Fire Prevention Poster Contest. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">3. Students in grades 7 and 8 participated in the State Math Counts competition. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">4. Students in grades 4 – 8 participated in our local and district wide Spelling Bee. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">5. Students received honors in the Malcolm State Band competition in March. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">6. Three Students from the GA Band represented the school at the Blair Honor Band Festival. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">7. Eighth graders received recognition through the distribution of the President’s Award for Educational Excellence at their Graduation Mass. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">8. Students achieved recognition through the Presidential Physical Fitness Testing program conducted in May for grades 4-8. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">9. Fourth grade students participated in the Family Genealogy program at the John A. Stahl Library in West Point. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">10. Students’ artwork is collected during the year for display at the Cuming County Fair in early August. GA students receive many fine ribbons for their work.