Full Description
Advancing Equity and Achievement in America's Diverse Schools illustrates how educators, students, families and community partners can work in strategic ways to build on social, cultural, and ethnic diversity to advance educational equity and achievement. By drawing on the latest data on demographic change, constructions of culture and cultural difference, and the politics of school reform in urban, rural, and suburban school communities, this volume looks toward solutions and strategies for meaningful educational improvement.
Contributors consider both the diversity of youth and families served in public schools, and the culture of U.S. schooling, highlighting the influence of policy and reform agendas; students' identities and agency; experiences and approaches of diverse educators; and the workings of effective school partnerships. Chapters also focus on those often overlooked in educational scholarship such as Native Americans, students experiencing poverty and/or homelessness, Muslim students, students with special needs, and students and educators who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or queer. In all, this edited collection stresses the need for high quality education that is inclusive, culturally responsive and unifying so all students can experience academic success. This book is a meaningful resource for educators, policymakers, and community-based leaders interested in doing such transformative work.
Contents
Section I: Understanding Educational Equity and Achievement in America
A Nation (of Students) at Risk: The Political Rhetoric of Equity and Achievement in U.S. Education Reform
Sonya Douglass Horsford, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
NCLB's Intensifying Makeover: Race to the Top's Troubling Changes to Rules, Incentives, and Practice
Kevin G. Welner and Carol C. Burris, University of Colorado, Boulder/National Education Policy Center
Examining Teacher Quality, Educational Policy, and English Learners in Latina/o Growth States
Julian Vasquez Heilig, The University of Texas at Austin
Francesca Lopez, Marquette University
Daniela Torre, Vanderbilt University
Cultural Work and Demographically Changing Schools: New Opportunities for Transformative Leadership
Camille M. Wilson, Wayne State University
Section II: Affirming Multiple Dimensions of Diversity in Schools
Religious Diversity, Multiculturalism, and Representation: The Challenge of Facing Islam in the Classroom
Liz Jackson, University of Hong Kong
Marginalized Sexualities in Public Schools: The Need for Activist Educators
James W. Koschoreck and James G. Allen, Northern Kentucky University
Disrupting Deficit Views: Latina/o and Native American Youth Constructing Cultural, Linguistic, and Learner Identities
Lucila D. Ek, Patricia D. Quijada Cerecer, and Elsa Cantú Ruiz, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Teacher Identities in Transition: Perspectives from ESL International Teachers
Christine W. Nganga, South Dakota State University
Section III: Fostering Collaboration and Partnerships
Attending to Urban Teacher Development through a School-University Partnership: The Case of South Kilbourne Elementary School
Tambra O. Jackson, University of South Carolina
Sarah G. Smith, Principal, South Kilbourne Elementary School
Reducing Achievement Gaps and Increasing the School Success of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students with Special Needs Using the Comprehensive Support Model
Festus E. Obiakor and Christopher D. Yawn, The City University of New York
Policy Intersections in "Real Lives": Families Experiencing Homelessness and
School-Related Matters
Alexandra E. Pavlakis and Peter M. Miller, The University of Wisconsin Madison
New Horizons for Urban Teacher Preparation and Parent Engagement in the Post-Civil Rights South
Tondra Loder-Jackson and Deborah L. Voltz, The University of Alabama at Birmingham Michael Froning, Birmingham Education Foundation