A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Educating Children From Diverse Backgrounds

Given the current demographic characteristics of school-age children and youth, if they were evenly divided across the country, the typical American classroom would look like this:

• 10 would be racial and ethnic minorities;
• 10 would be poor (includes students from all backgrounds);
• 6 of the above 10 would be from families where a language other than English is spoken;
• 2-4 of the above 6 would be limited English proficient (LEP); and
• 50 percent of this last subgroup would be immigrant students.

For teachers whose classrooms resemble the above description, a report from the National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning describes what has been learned about improvements in the education of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Educating All Our Students: Improving Education for Children from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds describes four characteristics of effectively organized schools serving students at risk of educational failure. These schools:

• Share a schoolwide vision that defines what high quality schooling should be like;
• Follow an action or master plan to ensure that all students learn to high standards;
• Ensure that innovations (e.g., flexible classroom and subject schedules and assignments of teachers) are explicitly designed to create optimal teaching and learning environments for staff and students; and
• Are in communities of adult learners that are in synchrony with the communities of student learners, both dedicated to the acquisition of knowledge and the enhancement of social and linguistic skills.

Educating All Our Students also identifies areas of school-based research and development that merit additional investigation. These areas include professional development, assesment, and systemic school reforms. The report emphasizes that school-level reforms must be consistent with the cultural and linguistic resources and influences that students and staff bring.

OERI staff are exploring ways to support state and local efforts to improve the educational opportunities of linguistically and culturally diverse students. For more information, contact Gilbert N. Garcia at (202) 219-2144 or e-mail: Gil.Garcia@ed.gov. For copies of the report call Elvia Ortiveros, National Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence, at (408) 459-3500 or e-mail: Center@cats.ucsc.edu.
-###-

[New Adult Learning and Literacy ...]

[Strong Leadership Essential ...]