Collaboration is tough even in ideal circumstances. How do you begin to effect change when nearly half of the families in a district speak a language other than English in the home, but traditional education models rarely emphasize the strengths of cultural or linguistic diversity? Or when nearly all students live in low-income families and face…

Principals are required by policy, regulation, legislation and democratic discourse to promote equity of outcomes. This integrated review investigates research on equity issues facing five student groups: special needs students; religious, cultural and racial minorities; groups disadvantaged by socioeconomic status; gender groups; and students…

This "Handbook" offers a broad definition of family and community engagement, seen through the lens of scholars and practitioners with a wide-ranging set of perspectives on why and how families, communities, and schools collaborate with one another. Taken together, the chapters in this "Handbook" sketch out the components of a…

Communication is most effective between people who have similar beliefs and values. Thus, black principals are more effective in black schools. Black and white principals lead differently; black principals place a higher priority on community involvement than do whites. In black communities this is a key ingredient in improving academic…

This book has been designed to provide teachers of kindergarten through grade 12 with techniques and approaches for helping their African American students achieve in school. It presents a planned approach to four major initiatives: (1) to restructure the instruction and behaviors practiced in most classrooms today; (2) to provide teachers with…

It is important that the culturally different pupil be distinguished from the "culturally disadvantaged" student. Different does not necessarily mean disadvantaged; the mono-cultural orientation of schools in the United States has perhaps needlessly created educational disadvantages for all pupils. The reaction of educators to the problems of…

Describes learning strategies used to improve education in Rock Point Community School on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Problems affecting educational achievement are identified, low-cost instructional techniques that were adopted are discussed, and improvements in academic achievement and other positive effects are noted. (LRW)

The primary focus of this article is a community-based project initiated under the auspices of the Palm Beach County School District's Office of Multicultural Affairs. The students in this district represent 150 countries and 104 language groups. The nation with the highest representation among this population is Haiti. Project CASAS (Community…