Catharine R. Whittaker

Planning Differentiated, Multicultural Instruction for Secondary Inclusive Classrooms

g Mr. Bueti, a social studies teacher, and Ms. Mayone, a collaborative teacher, co-teach a U.S. History Class at Poughlceepsie High School. Over 80% of the students come from culturally and linguistically diverse groups. Approximately one third of the class receives special education services and five of the students are English language learners. There are also several students who are high achievers in the class. Mr. Bueti and Ms. Mayone are experienced teachers and enjoy teaching together in an inclusive classroom. However, they are keenly a^are of the challenges posed by such a heterogeneous, diverse student population. It is their responsibility to assist all their students to pass the highstakes Nevy York State Regents Exam in U.S. History. Despite their collaborative relationship and their culturally responsive teaching styles, sometimes they feel ovenvhelmed. They struggle to find enough time to plan effective, differentiated instruction that also recognizes their diverse student population.

Creating Instructional Rubrics for Inclusive Classrooms

inclusive classroom, and her students were confused. Ms. Leon was confused because her students’ work was far below her expectations for them. Ms. Leon’s students were confused because they did not understand what her expectations were. They were also frustrated and disappointed by their grades. After several family members spoke to her about their children’s grades, Ms. Leon decided to work with her students to develop a rubric to evaluate their performance on their next assignment, a WebQuest entitled Culture Quest (Kelly, 2000; Lynch & Tennille, 2000; see box, “What Is a WebQuest?”). Ms. Leon had heard about WebQuest from colleagues in an Internet-based Listserv that provides teachers with information and resources on using the Internet in classrooms. She also examined several WebQuests and rubrics that were available online. The goal of the Culture Quest was for students to understand, explore, and research the culture and customs of groups in the United States by visiting teacher-designated Internet sites, interviewing individuals, gathering resources in the media center, and exploring software. Ms. Leon divided the class into groups, and each group was to select and study aspects of a culture (e.g., art, music, symbols, and famous people) and create a Web site. She wanted the students to include a title page with a table of contents, and three to five Web pages that describe two aspects of the culture the group studied. Their Web sites also needed to include an author page containing student drawings and brief descriptions of the authors, links to Web resources, and a bibliography of resources used. The site was to include navigation buttons; appropriate backgrounds; graphics; and readable, edited text. Before she assigned students to the Culture Quest project, Ms. Leon worked with them to create a rubric to evaluate the Web sites they would develop. First, she gave them an example of an exemplary Web site developed by a previous class, asked them to examine it, and discussed with them the features of the site that made it outstanding. Next, she gave them a Web site that she considered inadequate and discussed with them the features of the site that were lacking. Together, Ms. Leon and her students listed the ways in which the two Web sites differed, and grouped them into

Diversifying Teacher Education Programs to Recruit and Graduate Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Teachers.

The participation in and completion of teacher education programs by students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds is one of the biggest challenges facing higher education institutions today. The success of teacher education programs in responding to this challenge is related to their ability to incorporate diversity into all aspects of their programs. Using the MSETP as an example, this article presents a framework for diversifying teacher education programs to successfully recruit and support culturally and linguistically diverse students into the field of special education.

COLLABORATIVE PEER WRITING GROUPS

Recently educators have recognized the value of teaching writing by using collaborative peer writing groups. This article describes a variety of collaborative writing strategies teachers can employ within the four subprocesses of writing: prewriting, drafting, revising, and publishing. Guidelines for teaching peers to work collaboratively also are presented.

Diversifyring the Special Education Training Curriculum to Address the Needs of Migrant Students and Families

One group of culturally and linguistically diverse students whose unique educational needs are not being addressed is migrant students. A significant factor in the failure of schools and agencies to meet the special education needs of migrant students is the severe shortage of qualified, trained personnel to work with these students. This article provides teacher trainers with a variety of instructional materials, resources, and activities that can be employed to diversify the special education training curriculum to address the needs of migrant students and families.

ADAPTING COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRUCTURES FOR MAINSTREAMED STUDENTS

Cooperative learning is frequently cited as an instructional strategy that helps students with disabilities succeed academically and socially in the mainstream classroom. Careful planning and systematic instruction based on individual needs must accompany each element of cooperative learning. I describe specific strategies for promoting positive interdependence, individual accountability, and social skills instruction, with a focus on reading and writing instruction.