'I can get future teachers to appreciate the role of culture and poverty, but it is very hard for them to translate that understanding into specific activities or strategies. This book provides so much more than any other text that I have ever used in an Introduction to Education course regarding working with diverse populations' - Rosemary Traore, Assistant Professor of Urban Education University of North Carolina at Charlotte 'Provides a rich collection of research for instructional strategies. The combination of a call to action and supporting strategies provides a tool kit for instructional leaders' - Mary Reeve, Director, Services for Exceptional Students Gallup McKinley County Schools, NM Many caring teachers have expressed a need for more help in improving student achievement, especially in low-performing//high-poverty schools. This research-based book offers a comprehensive set of instructional strategies that have been proven to make a significant difference in student learning when diverse cultures and poverty come into play. Donna Walker Tileston and Sandra K. Darling provide a six-part framework to help teachers build on students' assets and strengths rather than attempt to overcome perceived disadvantages. Based on their extensive experience and gathered data, the authors discuss: - Why some cultures are "turned off" by typical motivational approaches and what educators can do to reach students - What research says about the brain's desire to learn - How teachers can build on students' prior knowledge and help forge new connections - The importance of resiliency, especially for students of poverty and diverse cultures - Teaching procedural and declarative knowledge and preparing students for high-stakes tests This practical resource provides the key structures for working effectively with students of differing cultures and poverty, ensuring higher student achievement in the diverse classroom.
"Helps building and district-level administrators realize that they don't have to abandon sound and effective instructional practices to prepare students for high-stakes tests." -Sheila Smith, Science Specialist Jackson Public Schools, MS "I encourage trainers to discuss this text and its applications with teachers to enhance the performance of students on state and national tests. This book meets a very specific need in classrooms." -J-Petrina McCarty-Puhl, Teacher Robert McQueen High School, Reno, NV Improve student performance on high-stakes tests with research-proven practices for teaching to standards! Standardized tests are one of the leading measures of student achievement and educator accountability today, so it is important to give students the necessary skills to perform well on state exams and to align instructional practices with standards. This step-by-step manual outlines a straightforward, powerful model for infusing state standards and knowledge benchmarks into lesson plans and day-to-day assessments to boost overall achievement. Grounded in the results of more than 30,000 studies, the best practices shared by the authors are linked specifically to the two types of knowledge-declarative and procedural-assessed on high-stakes tests and are ranked according to their effectiveness for each type. To help educators maximize testing results while meeting state standards and ultimately deepening student learning, the text provides a solid framework that empowers teachers to easily: Unpack state standards by grade level into measurable units Identify the key elements of state tests Determine and assess critical benchmarks Select the most appropriate and meaningful strategies based on new data on the effectiveness of various instructional practices From reproducible templates to tangible tactics for mapping lesson plans, this resource offers comprehensive tools for teachers to nurture learning and ensure success in all students.
