NIUSI

part of the Education Reform Networks

Democracy

• Toward a framework for preparing leaders for social justice
  Following the idea that putting social justice in educational practices, the authors proposed one possible framework for conceptualizing the preparation of leaders for social justice. To this end, three central questions guided this conceptualization: "What are the common themes in the literature and research on preparing leaders for social justice?"; "How can this framework serve as a guide for developing a course, set of courses, or an entire program toward preparing leaders to lead socially just schools?"; and "How can this literature and conceptualization inform future scholarship in administrator preparation?" This work included a review of 72 pieces of literature.
• Critical Multiculturalism and Racism in Children's Literature
  Multicultural literature can help elementary students learn about cultural differences and racial bias and examine their prejudices and stereotypes. Critiques five children's books that emphasize the African American experience.
• Proactive Culturally Responsive Discipline
  This exemplar was produced by the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt). The ways that schools intervene with students' challenging behavior have been historically "reactive, exclusionary, and ineffective." Traditional reactive discipline interventions include detention, suspension, and expulsion, all of which punish students by excluding them from school and limiting opportunity to receive positive support for behavior change.
• Building a New Life: The Role of the School in Supporting Refugee Children
  The author investigated refugee children's experiences adjusting to life in England. Interviews and surveys involving refugee and non-refugee children ranging from early to mid-adolescence provided data on: children, war, and persecution; flight to safety; early days in Britain; starting school; the importance of English; coping with the past; and providing support for parents.
• Racial Disproportionality in School Disciplinary Practices
  This paper is one of the brief practitioner-oriented pamphlets produced by the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt). This practitioner brief is for all parents, teachers and school leaders interested in understanding how we as educators can identify the overrepresentation of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children in special education and monitor the extent of it.
• Globalization, Immigration, and Education: The Research Agenda
  Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, in this paper, explored a paradigm for understanding immigration and education of immigrant children in the United States in the age of globalization.
• How racial identity affects school performance.
  Today in the United States, race still affects where we live, pray, go to school, and socialize. It seems that for many years to come, race will undoubtedly continue to be a significant source of separation within our society.
• Multicultural Education and Technology: Perfect Pair or Odd Couple? ERIC Digest
  This digest examines how technology can support multicultural education. Multicultural education represents an approach to education and the teaching-learning process that is grounded in the democratic ideals of justice and equality.
• Addressing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Student Overrepresentation in Special Education: Guidelines for Parents
  Do bias or inappropriate practice play a role in the placement of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education? Is the representation of low-income students in special education programs larger than their representation in the school population at your child’s school? If the answers to these questions are yes, it is possible your child’s school may be facing a problem that is called “overrepresentation” in its special education programs. This paper is one of the practitioner-oriented briefs produced by the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt).
• Multiculturalism and the Liberal Arts College: Faculty Perceptions of Pedagogy
  This is a qualitative study of faculty perceptions of the relationship between pedagogy, liberal education, and multiculturalism. The incompatibility of liberal education and multiculturalism ground this study along with the assertion that teaching and learning are central to the liberal education mission.
• On Infusing Disability Studies into the General Curriculum
  This On Point was produced by the National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI). It is about inclusion and applies to all people with disabilities, families and teachers.
• Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy
  This book contends that diversity is often to be highly valued, but not always. It should be remembered that many forms of social and religious diversity are at odds with basic commitments to liberty, equality, and civic ideals.
• School consultants working for equity with families, teachers, and administrators
  In this commentary, the authors summarized four major themes related to collaboration between school consultants and families with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds : (a) Consultation with minority families involves empowering parents to navigate the public education system, integrating cultural considerations into consultation and intervention, and educating families and school personnel; (b) a participatory process that brings together families, school personnel, and community stakeholders is critical to achieving educational equity; (c) a cultural mediator is necessary to assist stakeholders in bridging cultural gaps and achieving shared meanings; and (d) educational equity is a complex, long-term process involving numerous individual, relational, organizational, community, and societal factors. The authors pointed out school consultants can play a central role in facilitating inquiry, negotiation, consensus building, and individual and systemic change to achieve cross-cultural collaboration and educational equity.