Describe the changes that have occurred in the demographics of schooling, and discuss why it is important for teachers to be able to help all students learn.

• Over the past half century, the student population in American schools has changed dramatically. Understanding diversity and helping each student learn are the major teaching challenges of the twenty-first century.
• Using appropriate language when discussing diversity or referring to students' backgrounds and abilities is critical.

Discuss how the concepts of equity, differential treatment, and variations in learning abilities are of concern in regard to student learning.

• Much of the research and concern with diversity has focused on three topics: equity, differential treatment, and variations in the learning abilities of students.
• Equity refers to making the conditions in schools impartial and equal for everyone. Historically, equal conditions have not existed. Some students have been provided restricted opportunities because of their race, social class, or abilities.
• Differential treatment refers to the differences in educational experiences of the majority race, class, culture, and gender and those of minorities.
• Studies over the years have shown that minority students receive a lower-quality education as a result of enrollment patterns, tracking and grouping patterns, and differential interactions with teachers.
• Teachers' expectations affect relationships with students, what they learn, and students' perceptions of their own abilities. Teachers can learn to be aware of and minimize their biases about students of different backgrounds.
• Students vary in their abilities to learn. For many years, human intelligence was conceived of as a single ability.
• Modern theorists view ability and intelligence as more than a single ability and propose the theory of multiple intelligences.
• Debates have existed for a long time over whether ability to learn is inherited (nature) or is a result of the environment (nurture). Today, most psychologists believe it is a combination of both and also recognize that an individual's capacity to learn reflects cultural backgrounds.

Discuss how students with disabilities and students who are gifted are to be educated today, and describe how teachers can best work with students with special needs and with the gifted.

• Students who have learning disabilities have special needs that must be met if they are to successfully function in and out of school. Traditionally, these students have received an inferior education. Current efforts to mainstream and include students with special needs are aimed at correcting this situation.
• Inclusion is an effort to extend regular classroom educational opportunities to students with special needs, a group that traditionally has been segregated and has received inferior educational opportunities.
• Public Law 94-192 specified that students with disabilities must be educated in the least restrictive environment and that each must have an individualized educational plan (IEP).
• Teachers' responsibilities for working with special-needs students include helping with the IEP process and adapting instruction and other aspects of teaching so all students can learn.
• Perspectives differ on how best to work with students with disabilities. Some advocate highly structured approaches, whereas others argue that instruction should stem from the student's interest and emphasize problem solving and critical thinking. A combination of both is likely to prove to be the most effective.
• There is lack of consensus about how to identify and educate students who have special gifts and talents. Some believe that paying attention to the gifted takes resources away from students who need them more.
• Characteristic of gifted students can include extraordinary cognitive functioning, the ability to retain lots of information, flexible and creative thought processes, large vocabularies, and advanced artistic talents.
• Effective strategies for working with gifted students include differentiating instruction, creating rich learning environments, using flexible groupings, compacting curriculum and instruction, using independent study, and helping gifted students set high standards for themselves.

Describe contemporary perspectives about culture and race, compare these with views from earlier times, and explain what teachers do to work effectively with students in culturally and racially diverse classrooms.

• Contemporary perspectives reject ideas about cultural deficits and instead embrace theories of cultural differences and cultural discontinuity to account for the difficulties minority students experience in school.
• To work effectively with students in culturally and racially diverse classrooms, teachers must recognize, understand, and appreciate cultural groups, whether based on racial, ethnic, language, gender, or other differences.
• Becoming aware of one's own bias and developing understandings and sensitivities of students' cultures is an important first step for successful teaching in culturally diverse classrooms.
• Effective teachers of racially and culturally different students know how to create culturally relevant and multicultural curricula and how to use culturally relevant pedagogies.
• Specific teaching models and strategies available to accomplish multicultural learning goals include direct instruction, cooperative learning, reciprocal teaching, and community problem solving.

Discuss the significance of language diversity in today's classrooms, and describe effective strategies to use with English language learners.

• Teachers will find significant language diversity in today's classrooms. This includes diversity in dialects spoken by native speakers as well as many students who speak English as their second language.
• Second-language acquisition is a difficult and long-term process for students. It includes not only learning phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary, but also learning to interpret gestures and facial expressions, learning the norms that surround language usage, and using language to acquire cognitive knowledge.
• Language diversity must be respected and bilingual skills must be encouraged and developed for students who are English language learners.

Discuss the importance of gender differences in today's classrooms and describe how effective teachers work with these differences.

• Even though teaching has been a field dominated by women, gender bias and differential treatment of girls have been problems in schools.
• Most studies show that there are few major, inherent differences between the abilities of men and women. However, some evidence exists that girls do better in language arts, reading, and oral and written communication, whereas boys seem to excel slightly in mathematical reasoning.
• Although some aspects of female and male personality and behavior can be attributed to nature, socialization likely plays a more important role in role identity.
• Traditionally, teachers have interacted differently with boys and girls. They ask boys more questions, give them more praise, and afford them greater independence.
• Effective teachers are aware of their own possible gender bias, show respect, challenge all students, and make sure their language and curriculum materials are gender-free and balanced.
• Today students are making known their sexual orientations. It is important for teachers to show respect and concern for gay, lesbian and bisexual students.

Describe the characteristics of low-SES students, explain the special needs they have, and list effective strategies for working with them.

• Low-SES students, for the most part, come from families who are poor, have limited formal education, and often speak English as a second language. They come to school in poor health, with old clothes, and speak a language other than English.
• Socioeconomic status has rather dramatic effects on school learning, mainly because of tracking and grouping and because of differential interactions with teachers.
• Low-SES students respond to teachers who show them respect, who challenge them by holding high expectations for their academic learning, and who will be advocates for their rights to an equal education.

Explain why schoolwide actions are required to ensure the success for all students.

• Teachers alone cannot solve all the problems faced by schools today. Many of the challenges of providing equal opportunities can be met only through community and schoolwide actions and reform.