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Multicultural Education in the US: Current Issues and Suggestions for Practical Implementations

DOI:10.5296/ije.v9i2.11316
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Yahya Alghamdi at King Abdulaziz University
Yahya Alghamdi
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The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the concept of multiculturalism in educational settings in the US. Particularly, it discusses the term multicultural education as well as some of its advantages in education. Also, this paper presents an overview of the history and key dimensions of multicultural education in the US. In addition, it presents some of the current major issues and dilemmas of multicultural education that inhibit its effectiveness in many public schools around the US. Finally, this paper provides some practical suggestions and insights for an effective implementation of a multicultural education system.
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International Journal of Education
ISSN 1948-5476
2017, Vol. 9, No. 2
http://ije.macrothink.org
44
Multicultural Education in the US: Current Issues and
Suggestions for Practical Implementations
Yahya Alghamdi1,*
1Dept. of Curriculum & Instructions and Literacy Development, Cleveland State University,
2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, USA
*Correspondence: Dept. of Curriculum & Instructions and Literacy Development, Cleveland
State University, 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, USA. Tel:
966-550-786-688 E-mail: y.a.alghamdi@vikes.csuohio.edu
Received: February 9, 2017 Accepted: April 14, 2017 Published: May 26, 2017
doi:10.5296/ije.v9i2.11316 URL: https://doi.org/10.5296/ije.v9i2.11316
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the concept of multiculturalism in educational
settings in the US. Particularly, it discusses the term multicultural education as well as some
of its advantages in education. Also, this paper presents an overview of the history and key
dimensions of multicultural education in the US. In addition, it presents some of the current
major issues and dilemmas of multicultural education that inhibit its effectiveness in many
public schools around the US. Finally, this paper provides some practical suggestions and
insights for an effective implementation of a multicultural education system.
Keywords: Multiculturalism, Multicultural Education, Immigration, Diversity, US Public
School.
International Journal of Education
ISSN 1948-5476
2017, Vol. 9, No. 2
http://ije.macrothink.org
45
1. Introduction
The United States of America (US) has been so far called “a melting-pot country” or a
multicultural nation. This metaphor was given to reflect the country’s accumulation of
immigrants from different countries over history. Those immigrants found the US the most
convenient destiny to seek work opportunities and a better and safe life. Immigration is one
of the main reasons that made the US a diverse and a multicultural country. Because of
immigration, schools around the country admit students every year from different racial and
cultural backgrounds. Those diverse students need an educational system that addresses their
needs and facilitate their learning.
Consequently, public schools in the US should consider the issue of multiculturalism in order
to provide a quality-equity education and a democratic environment including social justice
to all students who are less advantaged than their peers in the dominant society (Gollnick &
Chinn, 2013). In this paper, I will shed lights on multicultural education by considering its
definition, importance, and advantages based on evidence and impact of its implementation.
Additionally, I will discuss the origins, history, and dimensions of multicultural education.
Furthermore, I will highlight some current dilemmas, concerns, and practices that are taking
place regarding multicultural education. Finally, I will provide some possible
recommendations for effective implementation of a multicultural education system.
1.1 Definitions of Multicultural Education
Multicultural education is an educational system that follows a standard process to deliver
basic educational concepts that are suitable for all students. This system requires an overall
school reformation to confront some practices of discrimination and racism in schools and
communities. This reformation should target schools curricula and the strategies used in their
teaching and the interactions between school personnel as well as students and their families
(Lucas, 2010).
Diverse students who are seeking education in the US have different characteristics compared
to their peers in the dominant society. These characteristics involve different physical and
mental abilities, gender, ethnic and racial backgrounds, socioeconomic classes, languages,
religions, and sexual orientations. Therefore, it is demanded to develop an educational system
that addresses diversity.
Koppleman (2011) acknowledged that a multicultural education involves students with racial
and ethnic differences—Blacks and Whites—as well as students of various nationalities that
have come to the US to acquire a quality education. Such an acknowledgment admits that we
should not only determine students’ differences as individuals but also to customize the
curricula to meet their needs. Accordingly, a multicultural education system requires an
effective consideration in order for diverse students to get an equivalent opportunity to
achieve their academic success (Banks & Banks 2009).
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2017, Vol. 9, No. 2
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46
2. Historical Overview and Key Dimensions of Multicultural Education
Several factors influenced the history of multicultural education in the U.S. Foremost is the
revolution of the civil right movements in 1962 (Banks, 2013). During the 1960s and 1970s,
African Americans demanded freedom, social justice, political, economic and educational
rights that they disadvantaged over the history (Banks, 2013). Another factor is the increasing
number of immigrants to the US due to poverty, wars, and persecution they had in the
countries of origin. The majority of American cultural groups are American Indians,
European Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, and other
Pacific Islanders (Ameny-Dixon, 2004; Gay, 2004). Gollnick and Chinn (2013) argue that the
reason why people who chose to immigrate to the US—as their destination—from different
countries is to fulfill the demands, for example, freedom, that they failed to achieve in their
home countries.
The US has provided an active economy that requires a growing labor force, which has
matched some of those immigrants’ willingness and ambitions. However, some who arrived
as slaves, for example, the early Mexicans, who became residents after the US government
has seized their lands, have not yet met the typical aspirations of immigrants and are still
struggling within the socio-political and economic context of the U.S. (Gollnick & Chinn,
2013).
Studies have shown that the number of immigrants over the last decades, who preferred the
US as their destination, has been nearly one million per year (Monger & Yankay, 2013). Four
states including California, New York, Florida, and Texas embrace more than half of the
foreigners who were born outside the US. This makes up one-fourth of California’s
population and one-fifth of New York’s population (Gollnick & Chinn, 2013). A recent study
has shown that the number of foreign-born population in the US has increased dramatically,
from 9.6 million in 1970 to 41.3 million in 2013 (Zong & Batalova, 2015). This means that
the number of immigrants has grown from 4.7 percent in 1970 to 13.1 percent in 2013 (Zong
& Batalova, 2015). These figures prove that the US is a multicultural country and, therefore,
dictates that schools have diverse populations. Since the occurrence of the civil rights
movement along with the increasing number of ethnic groups, all has made a need for an
educational system that addresses multiculturalism.
As mentioned previously, the term multicultural education is a broad concept that has a
variety of essential dimensions. Therefore, educators and school reformers should
acknowledge this fact and understand these dimensions for a better integration of a
multicultural education system (Banks, 2004).
Banks and Banks (2009) mentioned five key dimensions of a multicultural education system.
The first dimension focuses on content integration, which refers to the extent to which
educators will use examples and different sources from a variety of cultures in their
curriculum when teaching students with diversity. Teachers might include different
generalizations, principles, key concepts, and theories in their subject area or discipline. It
makes diverse students feel that they are able to better understand how society adapts to the
International Journal of Education
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2017, Vol. 9, No. 2
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47
changes and how it is addressed in different ways (Banks & Banks, 2009). Thus, teachers
need to reflect students’ different cultures in curriculum materials when teaching diverse
students. For instance, teachers might link a classroom discussion to students’ cultural
practices and lifestyles in language arts or social studies classes by integrating multicultural
stories in reading classes and ask students to share their voices when addressing such
discussions. These strategies will create an environment of appreciation and respect among
diverse students.
The knowledge construction process is another dimension, which emphasizes students to
recognize, examine, and decide social norms, structure of references, views, and biases
within self-control that may better influence their knowledge construction and transformation
(Banks & Banks, 2009; Banks, 1996). Teachers can use social studies to show their students
the process of knowledge construction. For instance, a teacher may ask his students to explain
“the war in the north”—a particular event in history. Of course, with the existence of students
from different cultures in the classroom, those from the Middle East would explain that it is
from Russia, and so forth. In this case, the role of the teacher is to acknowledge that there are
diverse students in the class that belongs to different societies. Therefore, he or she should
address the issue and explain per person what the prompt really means to them in relation to
their different origins. In addition, teachers may ask their students to share their cultural
stories like some kinds of practices they do in particular events or holidays.
The third dimension focuses on prejudice reduction, which aims to help and aid students in
developing democratic racial attitudes that are positive in nature. Teachers should guide them
to see the bright side of uniqueness, yet a part of a society that welcomes their uniqueness.
Banks (2009) defined prejudice reduction as assisting students with classroom instructions so
they can eliminate their intentions regarding others with diverse cultural backgrounds. In
other words, teachers’ goal is to create positive ethnic and racial attitudes among their
students; simply by using images and country maps in their classrooms that explain different
cultural groups may contribute to achieving this goal.
The fourth dimension focuses on equity pedagogy. Educators can practice this dimension by
differentiating their teaching strategies to accommodate their students’ academic achievement,
even if they belong to different racial groups (Banks, 2009). Demonstrating this dimension
requires teachers to include students’ families and their cultural practices when teaching
history classes. Above all, teachers should integrate a cooperative learning by gathering
students in small groups. These groups require a mixture of students with different levels of
performance and different cultural backgrounds so they can learn from each other and share
different experiences. Consequently, teacher education programs should be more responsible
for implementing training programs to educate pre-service and in-service teachers on how to
teach in multicultural classrooms.
The final dimension focuses on empowering school culture and social structure. While it is
true that many schools have students of different races and origins, the role of such
organizations—including all staff members—is to promote equality among diverse students
and contribute to its reformation (Banks, 2009). Grouping and labeling practices,
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participating in sports, reducing achievement gaps between groups, varieties in enrollment
rates in gifted and special education programs, the participation of the staff and the students
across ethnic and racial borders are essential variables that schools should inspect and
restructure to create an engaging diverse society (Banks, 2009). Public schools may
implement some sports activities that include a team of students from different grades playing
against their school staff members. These practices may create an atmosphere of trust and
intimacy between students and school members.
Multicultural education needs more insights and appreciations not only from schools but also
from the society as to accept and support diversity in education. Banks (1996) concluded that
all the five dimensions are correlated; therefore, schools should consistently focus on and
give sufficient attention to all these dimensions in order to implement an effective
multicultural system.
3. Advantages of Implementing a Multicultural Educational System
Many students from different countries and diverse cultural backgrounds came to the US to
seek quality education. Students from the dominant culture should understand differences and
similarities between their own culture and other cultural backgrounds. Implementing a
multicultural education system has several advantages for future generations. First, it creates
an engaging and socialization classroom climate, so it is important for teachers when
delivering educational instructions to address students’ cultural diversity. Second, it develops
confidence and friendship between students and their teacher, which may increases students’
performance. Therefore, teachers should show care and respect to their students’ ethnic and
racial backgrounds to achieve such goals (Gay, 2004). Furthermore, participating in
classroom activities allow students to learn from each other by sharing different thoughts and
ideas from different cultural experiences.
Consequently, multicultural education, if adopted effectively, will help in reducing racial
attitudes among students and improving diverse students learning to achieve academic
success so they can be active participants in the society (Okoye-Johnson, 2011). Finally,
providing challenging activities to all students, for example, encouraging multicultural music
in arts education, can promote their cognitive thinking skills and creativity (Reed, 2010). The
role of teachers here is to add more efforts to ensure that all students are achieving these
advantages. Hence, creating a multicultural classroom environment that addresses the
previous strategies may narrow the achievement gap between students from the dominant
society and others who came from diverse cultural backgrounds (Okoye-Johnson, 2011).
4. Current Issues and Dilemmas of Multicultural Education in the US
Many schools in the US undergo some dilemmas that impede an effective implementation of
a multicultural education system. One of these dilemmas is the idea that different cultural
groups should assimilate and neglect their cultural identities so they can be accepted by the
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dominant society (Ameny-Dixon, 2004). Additionally, some educational organizations fail to
address diversity among their students. For example, Guild (2001) wrote that teachers and
instructors always treat students as if they are all equal. They deliver the same instructional
strategies, give the same test to measure all students’ performance, always marginalize
diversity, and only carry biases toward uniformity. These practices impede students’
performance, especially minority students whose cultural backgrounds are different from that
of the majority (Guild, 2001).
Educators should understand that students are different therefore should receive differentiated
instructions to achieve the demands of No Child Left Behind Act and the American Dream.
In this regard, Hochschild and Scovronick (2003) emphasized that public school students are
capable of success as long as they have equal opportunities in education. On the other hand,
Noguera (2003) noticed that whites are more likely to succeed in the American society
compared to African Americans and other minorities at public schools. In addition, Kirkland
(2013) has discussed the literacy of Black males through the lenses of social and cultural
context. He mentioned that teachers should understand that “pleasure, play, curiosity, and
creativity are prerequisites to literacy” (p. 8). However, “if schools teach the basics well, then
there is no excuse for illiteracy” (Hochschild & Scovronick, 2003, p. 10). All these practices
have labeled schools around the US that serve poor and non-white students as failures
(Noguera, 2003).
Another concern in multicultural education is that students of different cultural backgrounds
and, particularly, poor students are presumed to be less knowledgeable and less competent to
succeed in class participation and educational activities (Noguera, 2003). Kirkland (2013)
describes how Black males were believed to be threatening, bad, and lacking literacy. He
mentioned the story of a teacher and her young Black male in which she was surprised that
her student’s writing in his diary was totally different from what he writes in his class. He
was always writing in his diary in an interesting way; however, he did not share it with his
teacher. The labels and stereotypes of society, ‘Blacks are inferior to Whites’, caused this
situation. The student did not trust his teacher well enough to share his writings, which then
affected his work productivity in class (Kirkland, 2013).
The social context in urban areas, in which the population is a construction of
impoverished-Blacks and minorities, is the main concern that confronts public schools
(Bishaw, 2014). Miretzky and Stevens (2012) mentioned that millions of black male and
female students go to low-performing schools around the country that have teachers who lack
training in dealing with multicultural education. Therefore, such issues have contributed to
increase the achievement gap between students who go to public schools in American major
cities compared to students in other schools that are comprised of only Whites (Noguera,
2003).
5. Suggestions for Effective Implementation of a Multicultural Education System
Issues of conflictions in a multicultural society remain pervasive in many public schools
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around the US. For this reason, there is a litany of recommendations and different types of
approaches to consider when implementing an engaging multicultural education system to
help diverse learners improve their academic achievement.
First, having professional and diverse teachers to teach students in public schools around the
country that serve minority and diverse students is mandatory. Gollnick and Chinn (2013)
emphasized on hiring faculty members who are qualified and trained to deal with diverse
learners. Thus, the role of teachers is inevitable in empowering and enhancing schools that
serve diverse learners.
Second, effective implementation of a multicultural education system requires public schools
to have some characteristics and qualities that contribute to students’ academic success. For
instance, schools need to establishing classrooms that are equipped with modern technology
to support cooperative learning, having recreation rooms for students to spend their leisure
breaks, and other extra facilities that help visitors to engage in the school activities.
Additionally, teachers should implement differentiated and effective instructional strategies
that address multiple intelligences to meet diverse learners needs and increase their
motivation (Danzi, Reul, & Smith, 2008).
Third, the implementations of teacher education programs that prepare pre-service teachers
for a multicultural education system have started since 1981 (Cochran-Smith, 2003). Hence,
teacher education departments should be aligned with school reform policies to provide
teachers with training programs that enable them to create an environment that values a
multicultural education system. These institutions are also responsible to enhance in-service
teachers with training programs that promote their awareness of multicultural education (Gay
& Howard, 2000).
Fourth, The role of schools, being as social institutions, is to encourage diverse social groups
of different races to form their own unions and organizations, grant them with the same rights
as the other groups, and enable them to excel in various activities. In order to create such
unions, schools should implement different programs to engage students and their families in
cultural activities that promote and reinforce social ties among other cultural groups.
Last but not least, school environments should be portrayed with reciprocal understanding
and respect to students who have characteristics that are different from other students in the
dominant culture. Teachers should also make sure that these differences should not stand as
obstacles to hinder their students’ rights in education. In addition, it is suggested to
implement a multicultural curriculum that includes lessons of students’ history, experiences,
and cultural traditions so that all students in the classroom are able to know and understand
diverse groups in their country (Gollnick & Chinn, 2013).
6. Conclusion
The concept of multicultural education is too broad; therefore, teachers should understand
that delivering basic educational concepts that are suitable for all students is a significant part
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due to different characteristics their students have. The importance of implementing
multicultural education has many advantages that all students should gain to be active
participants in the society. The history of this concept has evolved since the civil rights
movement and constant immigration to the country, which, therefore, made schools receiving
diverse populations from different countries. Educators should understand and adhere to the
five key dimensions of multicultural education and give up all different practices that hinder
its implementation. Eventually, schools as social institutions should encourage diverse social
groups to form their own unions and organizations, implement engaging activities and
programs that would help narrowing the achievement gaps between diverse learners, promote
solidarity, teamwork and morality.
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This study explored the approaches to integrating multicultural concepts as input to a multicultural teacher education program using qualitative research design through content analysis. This investigation used purposive sampling in selecting the participants for the individual interviews and focus group discussions (FGD), while complete enumeration identified the key participants including their ethnicity profile. Results revealed that the school failed to keep the ethnicity profile of the students, faculty and staff. The indigenous group is not well represented in the student organizations. Multicultural issues are not introduced early in the teacher education program. Infusion of multicultural concepts in the syllabus is limited only to meet the felt needs of the diverse students. Based on these findings, the study suggests a Multicultural Teacher Education Program that clearly integrates multiculturalism in the campus, and boosts its identity as a Multicultural Education Hub.
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... The lack of contrasting ideological stances, rationale, or debate in the presentation of facts within textbooks, complicates the classroom experience. Teachers are expected to promote a range of opinions that challenge students to engage with the content and form educated opinions (Alghamdi, 2017); however, the limitation of resources and the diminishing of counter-arguments in many textbooks make this task exponentially arduous. ...
Textbook Reliance: Traditional Curriculum Dependence Is Symptomatic of a Larger Educational Problem
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2021
The complexities of adapting traditional educational courses to a virtual setting highlighted numerous inequalities within the current United States' K12 school system. Students in low socioeconomic communities have suffered a more significant academic slide in core competencies due to poor lesson integration, online learning fatigue, poor learning environments, and low technological proficiency. Policymakers, believing achievement gaps result from teaching performance, have argued for additional academic controls that promote rigorous standardized instruction to reduce existing achievement gaps. However, a state-mandated textbook-driven curriculum that prioritizes test-taking strategies will only exasperate previous educational deficiencies. As numerous schools face significant financial constraints, technological and resource investment is severally limited, and teacher professional development is marginalized. Without appropriate tools or skills to adapt curriculum, classes devolve into simple rote-learning of textbook content lacking any semblance of differentiated instruction. Students in impoverished communities disassociate with taught content as textbooks lack a multicultural presentation; thus they perceive school environments as unwelcoming and hostile towards their lived-experiences. Performance-based funding through high-stakes accountability further incentifies underfunded schools to abandon student-centric learning designs and prioritize a textbook dependent 'one-size-fits-few' strategy to avoid sanctions to meet state benchmarks.
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... Berdasarkan kondisi di lapangan maka perlu disusun model pembelajaran menulis puisi dengan berbasis multikultural agar dapat membuka wawasan siswa tentang keadaan sekitar yang sangat beragam (Asrori, 2012;Tonbuloglu, Aslan, & Aydin, 2016). Dengan pendidikan berbasis multikultural, siswa diharapkan dapat melakukan survei di lingkungan masing-masing (Zulaikha, 2009;Alghamdi, 2017). Siswa diharap dapat memahami kondisi kultur yang sangat beragam di sekitarnya (Aliismail, 2016) sehingga dapat memunculkan banyak ide dalam menulis puisi. ...
Pembelajaran Menulis Puisi di Sekolah Menengah Atas
Article
  • Dec 2020
This study aims to describe learning to write poetry in high schools in Brebes Regency. (1) the importance of developing learning to write poetry for high school students that is attractive and fun, (2) the importance of the dimensions of the knowledge construction process in the learning process, (3) there is no model deemed appropriate for learning to write poetry, (4) the importance of the media used in learning to write poetry for high school students, and (5) the importance of introducing students to multiculturalism in learning to write poetry. Things that are needed by teachers and students in learning to write poetry include: (1) easy-to-use media, (2) an interesting and fun learning atmosphere, (3) can develop students' talents and interests, (4) can increase social feelings between friends, and (5) can train courage and self-confidence.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan pembelajaran menulis puisi di SMA se-Kabupaten Brebes. (1) pentingnya pengembangan pembelajaran menulis puisi siswa SMA yang menarik dan menyenangkan, (2) pentingnya dimensi The knowledge construction process dalam proses pembelajaran, (3) belum adanya model yang dianggap tepat untuk pembelajaran menulis puisi, (4) pentingnya media yang digunakan dalam pembelajaran menulis puisi siswa SMA, dan (5) pentingnya mengenalkan kepada siswa tentang multikultural dalam pembelajaran menulis puisi. Hal yang diperlukan guru dan siswa pada pembelajaran menulis puisi, meliputi: (1) media yang mudah digunakan, (2) suasana pembelajaran yang menarik dan menyenangkan, (3) dapat mengembangkan bakat dan minat siswa, (4) dapat meningkatkan rasa sosial antarteman, dan (5) dapat melatih keberanian dan percaya diri.
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Book Review: Culturally and socially responsible assessment: theory, research, and practice
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2023
Multicultural education is beginning to gain inroads into teaching practices, educational research, and teacher training programs. There is a growing list of resources to support educators in creating welcoming spaces in the classroom for marginalized students from underrepresented groups. Educational researchers and practitioners have provided frameworks for the proper integration of multicultural content and strategies into the teaching and learning process. However, a vital part of the learning process is assessment, which is majorly framed after the content of the dominant culture. Research has shown that intelligence and state-approved tests are characterized by content that is relatable to students from the dominant culture. Taylor and Nolen (2022) have combined years of experience in teaching and research to suggest ways of creating an inclusive and just assessment that showcases the diversity of the modern American classroom. This article is a review of their book, whose aim is to situate culturally and socially responsible assessment in educational theory, research, and practice. Keywords: Assessment, multiculturalism, K-12, educational research, practice
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14. Fra fag til transfaglighet
Chapter
  • Feb 2023
Denne vitenskapelige antologien presenterer ulike forskningsarbeider som tar for seg verdier, holdninger og kompetanseutvikling i et utdanningsperspektiv. Boken dekker et bredt spekter av fagområder, fra journalistikk og interkulturell kommunikasjon til teologi, pedagogikk og barnehage- og grunnskolelærerutdanning. Yrkesutøvelse er i dag basert på kunnskap, refleksjon og profesjonsverdier. Disse verdiene har en moralsk karakter og innebærer en forpliktelse til å sette barnet, eleven eller studenten, samt samfunnets interesser foran egne interesser. Samtidig krever samfunnet at kvaliteten i utdanningen forbedres og at studiene forbereder den enkelte på morgendagens krav. Når verdier enten danner et intensjonsgrunnlag for handling eller skaper retning for handling, vil verdiene bli et fortolkningsgrunnlag i vurderinger av våre profesjonelle handlinger. Disse handlingene og refleksjonene analyseres i antologiens 17 kapitler, skrevet av 30 bidragsytere fra akademia med lang kjennskap til praksisfeltet. Boken gir dermed leserne et dypere innblikk i sammenhengene mellom verdier, yrkesutøvelse og kvalitet i utdanningene, og vil være en viktig ressurs for forskere, undervisere, studenter og andre med interesse for denne tematikken.
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Developing 21st-Century Skills through Restorative Practices
Article
  • Jun 2021
School counselors are an important cornerstone in addressing inequities and supporting student success. A thorough review of the literature promotes the unification of contemporary school counselor practice, restorative practices, and the development of students’ 21st-century skills. This article sheds light on this concept, illustrating how school counselors can infuse skill-building within the restorative practices framework.
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How Does Location Impact Meaning and Opportunity? Rural Schools and the NCATE Diversity Standard
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2012
Background/Context While there is ample evidence that the K–12 student population is becoming increasingly diverse and the teacher workforce is not, very little literature addresses the specific problems rural teacher education programs may experience attempting to meet the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) diversity standard. A 2005 NCATE-sponsored survey found that an unknown number of respondents indicated difficulty in meeting the requirements of the standard and that “geographically isolated” programs were especially affected. The existing research that targets rural programs tends to describe specific practices. As NCATE and TEAC, the two major teacher education accreditation programs, move toward consolidation, revisiting the expectations regarding diversity is critical. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this study was to explore rural SCDEs’ experiences with the diversity standard as well as the implications of these experiences, with the aim of reporting and suggesting possible strategies for enhancing the application of the standard at the institutional and agency levels. We hypothesized that rural schools experience difficulty with meeting aspects of the standard due to the potential limitations associated with the schools’ locations. Research questions focused on how rural programs define diversity, identification of obstacles, priorities for programs, and adaptations. One hundred and sixteen NCATE coordinators and/or deans participated in the study's online survey. Research Design This research was an exploratory study that used qualitative and quantitative methods. The instrument included survey questions and items for open-ended responses. Conclusions/Recommendations Rural teacher education programs do experience difficulties with meeting the requirements of the NCATE diversity standard. Respondents singled out recruitment and retention of diverse faculty and candidate's inability to provide high-quality diversity experiences, and location as the biggest issues. Respondents perceived that NCATE focuses on race and ethnicity to the exclusion of other categories. In particular, respondents reported strong beliefs that SES and exceptionalities are more universal and more locally relevant and deserve to be recognized as critical priorities for educating candidates who could build on this competence in working with other diversities—a kind of “transferable skills” perspective. Programs would like to see recognition for “good faith” efforts and would value the opportunity to demonstrate the strengths and generalizability of their diversity programs. As NCATE and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) move toward consolidation, new frameworks for assessing these frameworks should be considered.
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Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners: Practical Approaches for Teachers
Article
  • Sep 1998
Foreword Index of Figures and Reproducibles Preface 1 Moving Toward Authentic Assessment * Assessment of English Language Learning Students * Definition of Authentic Assessment * Purposes of this Book and Target Audience * Overview of the Book 2 Designing Authentic Assessment * Approaches to Teaching and Learning * Types of Authentic Assessment * Awareness of Authentic Assessments * Designing Authentic Assessments * Technical Quality of Authentic Assessments * Issues in Designing Authentic Assessment * Conclusion * Application Activities 3 Portfolio Assessment * Instructional Context * What a Portfolio Is and Isn't * Self-Assessment: The Key to Portfolios * Managing Portfolios * Using Portfolio Assessment in Instruction * Conclusion * Application Activities 4 Oral Language Assessment * Nature of Oral Language * Authentic Assessment of Oral Language * Using Oral Language Assessment in Instruction * Conclusion * Application Activities 5 Reading Assessment * Nature of Reading in School * Authentic Assessment of Reading * Using Reading Assessment in Instruction * Conclusion * Application Activities 6 Writing Assessment * Nature of Writing in School * Authentic Assessment of Writing * Using Writing Assessment in Instruction * Conclusion * Application Activities 7 Content Area Assessment * Content Area Instruction in Schools * Authentic Assessment in Content Areas * Using Content Area Assessment in Instruction * Conclusion * Application Activities 8 Examples from the Classroom * Talk Show * Geoboard * Magnet Experiment * Interpreting Portfolio Entries * Reading Response Time * Anecdotal Records * Book Talks: Integrated Reading Appendix Sample Entries from Roxana's Portfolio Glossary References Index of Classroom-based Assessment Techniques
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The Importance of Multicultural Education
Article
It's not just an add-on or an afterthought. Curriculums infused with multicultural education boost academic success and prepare students for roles as productive citizens.
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The Construction and Historical Development of Multicultural Education, 1962–2012
Article
  • Oct 2013
The field of multicultural education emerged during the 50 years in which Theory Into Practice has been published. I provide a brief historical overview of how the field developed from ethnic studies, to multiethnic education, and to multicultural education, and identify articles published in Theory Into Practice that describe and analyze trends in the field since it was founded in 1962. The Theory Into Practice articles are discussed without the broad context of the historical development of the field. The most recent manifestation of multicultural education is its global focus and how it is implemented in nations around the world.
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Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledge, and Action: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
Article
  • Jan 1996
Essential to continued growth in the field of multicultural education is the documentation of its historical roots and its linkages to the current school reform movement. James Banks demonstrates the ways in which the current multicultural education movement is both connected to and a continuation of earlier movements, both scholarly and activist, designed to promote empowerment, knowledge transformation, liberation, and human freedom in US society. The book's five parts: discuss the types of knowledge, the characteristics of transformative knowledge, the historical roots of multicultural education and its links to transformative teaching; document the historical development of transformative scholarship, surveyed through case studies of individual pioneer scholars and activists in race relations and multicultural education such as Carter G. Woodson, Allison Davis, George I. Sanchez, Franz Boas, Mourning Dove, Ella Deloria, and Robert E. Park; focus on the work of women scholars and activists, and particularly women of colour, who have faced the triple oppressions of race, gender and class; describe the rise and fall of the intergroup education movement and the emergence of research related to prejudice in the 1930s and 1940s; and highlight the school reforms currently needed to promote educational equity and accommodate a culturally diverse and democratic society.
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