Respected literacy researcher Kathy Au addresses the question of what educators can do to close the literacy achievement gap. She begins by outlining theory and research and then provides practical strategies to help teachers improve the literacy learning of students of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The text addresses phonics, non-mainstream varieties of English, and ownership of literacy, and each chapter includes a reflection activity for students.

This book is a sequel to the author's earlier volume entitled, Literacy Instruction in Multicultural Settings. In addition to extensive updating of earlier material, this book extends the content coverage to include issues of power, attitudes, and systemic change through the application of discourse theory and critical theory. In doing so, however, the author has tried to maintain the brevity, stylistic clarity, and classroom focus of the earlier volume. Key features of this important new book include: *Teaching Flexibility. Although written with the classroom needs of pre-service teachers in mind, theory and research are treated in sufficient depth to make the book suitable for graduate courses and for teacher study groups. *Issues Organization. Each chapter is organized around familiar issues that characterize schools and classrooms with diverse student populations and explores these issues through new lenses that most teachers have not previously encountered. *Social Constructivist Perspective. Critical theory, discourse theory, and historical perspective are introduced in order to sensitize readers to the need to recognize negative, socially sustained patterns that hamper literacy achievement and replace them with positive patterns. To this end each chapter asks students to maintain a running list of negative patterns along with alternative positive patterns.

This is the first research handbook to address all dimensions of diversity that have an impact on literacy achievement. Leading experts examine how teaching and learning intersect with cultural and language differences and socioeconomic disparities in today's increasingly diverse schools and communities. The volume weaves compelling research findings together with theory, policy considerations, and discussions of exemplary instructional practices. It offers fresh perspectives on such topics as family literacy, multiliteracies, drawing on cultural resources in the classroom, factors that promote success in high-poverty schools, equity issues, and ways to teach specific literacy skills. The concluding section provides crucial recommendations for teacher preparation and professional development.

An invaluable resource for both practicing and pre-service teachers, this long-awaited book offers a fresh and much-needed point of view of how to "rethink" literacy and technology in today's diverse classrooms. Authored by some of the most respected researchers in the field today, Literacy, Technology, and Diversity reflects on the idea that great expectations are achievable through educational projects that foster academic growth, with classroom diversity and technology as catalysts for deeper learning, and that a narrow focus ongrade expectations yields superficial results. Arguing today's learning principles need to incorporate the core values of community learning, critical pedagogy, multilingualism, anti-racist education, high academic standards, and technological fluency, Cummins, Sayers and Brown provide a thought-provoking introduction into these learning principles that will inspire the life-long learning of students. Take a peek inside... Provides examples of projects, backed by research-based theories for their effective adaptation to help both pre-service and practicing teachers become more independent and creative in the ways they use technology. Gives useful suggestions on how to effectively integrate literacy and technology into the classroom. Presents Portraits (Case studies) of collaborative projects promoting literacy learning and often involving technology on such topics as: Cognition, Assessment, Community of Learning, and Tools and Resources in Section II (Chapters 5-9). Contains an appendix of short vignettes of exemplary projects that promote learning of standards-based expectations for academic achievement. Includes a complimentary CD-ROM of additional resources for teachers as well as updated portraits on exemplary projects.

"Dispels the myths regarding culturally diverse learners and provides concrete strategies that any teacher can easily implement. The book contains current research from the most reputable sources in the field and is a must-read for every teacher."-Akina Luckett-Canty, Special Education TeacherBrighton Middle School, Birmingham, AL"This text addresses the literacy needs of learners who have been 'left behind.'"-Ursula Thomas-Fair, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood EducationUniversity of West GeorgiaGive students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds the literacy skills to succeed! All students bring unique cultural and language experiences to their learning. Offering perspectives from experts in diversity and literacy, this clearly organized, comprehensive resource illustrates how teachers can improve reading achievement for students from diverse backgrounds by combining research-supported best practices with culturally responsive instruction.Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction connects students' backgrounds, interests, and experiences to the standards-based curriculum. Teachers will find effective practices to help plan, implement, manage, and evaluate literacy instruction for students with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This book provides:A range of interventions that support five critical areas of reading instruction-phonemic awareness, phonics/decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehensionLearning materials that take advantage of multicultural literature, themes, and topicsGuidelines for helping students connect language and literacy tasks to their own cultural knowledge and experiencesMake a significant difference in all your students' reading success with effective, culturally responsive teaching practices!

Diversity - social, cultural, linguistic and ethnic - poses a challenge to all educational systems. Some authorities, schools and teachers look upon it as a problem, an obstacle to the achievement of national educational goals, while for others it offers new opportunities. Successive PISA reports have laid bare the relative lack of success in addressing the needs of diverse school populations and helping children develop the competences they need to succeed in society. The book is divided into three parts that deal in turn with policy and its implications, pedagogical practice, and responses to the challenge of diversity that go beyond the language of schooling. This volume features the latest research from eight different countries, and will appeal to anyone involved in the educational integration of immigrant children and adolescents.

Teacher Diversity and Student Success makes a powerful case for diversifying the teaching force as an important policy lever for closing achievement gaps and moving schools closer to equity goals. Written by three leading scholars, the book provides nuanced solutions on how to diversify the teaching force, increase student exposures to same-race teachers, and improve teacher training for a culturally diverse student body. They argue that teacher diversity should be seen as one element of teacher quality, and policies focused on improving teacher quality should take race explicitly into consideration. The authors also address the historic and contemporary factors that have kept people of color out of teaching and highlight emerging research showing the significant, long-lasting impact of same-race teacher exposures, particularly for Black and Latino students. This timely book is a call to action for building teacher diversity to ensure student success.