Equity part of the Education Reform Network

You are in: Educational Type —>

Educator's guide

A guide intended for use by educator's as a supplement to a lesson or unit plan.

• 21st Century Schools
  It is the position of 21st Century Schools that the current educational system in the United States is in need of total restructuring. This restructuring must occur on all levels simultaneously, and cannot be accomplished with bits and pieces of reform here and there.
• A Critical Bibliography on North American Indians
  This bibliography, compiled by the Anthropology Outreach Office of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, is a response to teachers' concerns about choosing culturally sensitive and historically accurate books for children about American Indians and Alaska Natives.
• A Guide to Gender Fair Education in Science and Math
  A guide that can be downloaded of information and activities, including assessment exercises, intervention and teaching strategies, and actual classroom activities to increase gender equity in science and math education.
• A Specialized Knowledge Base for Teaching American Indian and Alaska Native Students
  This paper outlines a knowledge base that can be adopted by beginning teachers of American Indian and Alaska Native students. This knowledge base is above and beyond what is now in most mainstream teacher education programs.
• Achieving Gender Equity in Science Classrooms
  This handbook describes the aspects of culture that researchers believe contribute to attrition from science, engineering and math majors, and there are suggestions to address each of these issues. If implemented, these changes may prevent very capable students from leaving the sciences and may also attract students initially not involved in the sciences.
• African Voices
  African Voices is an exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History that examines the diversity, dynamism, and global influence of Africa's peoples and cultures over time in the realms of family, work, community,and the natural environment.
• BICS versus CALPS in English Language Learners
  This provides a concise explanation of the difference between BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and CALPS (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Skills), the knowledge of which is central to an understanding of how vitally important it is to the cognitive development of non-English speaking students to receive at least some instruction in their native language as they learn English. Underscores how damaging the ?English only? movement is to the future of Limited English Proficient children.
• Can Do!
  The Can Do! web site offers stories, activities, and resources to help create a better understanding and deeper appreciation of how people can overcome their challenges and reach their dreams by using their abilities and a "can-do" attitude.
• Center for Gifted Education Policy
  The Center for Gifted Education Policy is run by the American Psychological Association and conducts research and advocacy work to inform educational policy on Gifted and Talented youth. They also have a newsletter, a journal, and a listserv.
• Center for Talented Youth at John Hopkins University
  The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) provides challenging educational programs for students scoring at 97% or above on national standardized tests. They also provide distance learning opportunities and conferences.
• Circle of Inclusion
  For families and early childhood educators with a great deal of information about effective and best practices of inclusion and accommodations for special needs children. Includes free materials to download and links to other resources.
• Circle of Stories
  Circle of Stories uses documentary film, photography, artwork and music to honor and explore Native American storytelling.
• Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders
  The Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, the premiere organization to assist children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, has back issues of its journal, "Beyond Behavior", available free on its site at http://www.ccbd.net/beyondbehavior/.
• Creating an Anti-Bias Learning Environment
  The downloadable checklists linked to this page include some criteria for creating positive, anti-bias environments where respect for diversity is taught, modeled, and experienced firsthand.
• Differentiated Instruction
  CAST is well known in the Special Education world (see SPED references in section below), and is especially worth checking out for their work on assistive technology. Here is an excellent overview of classroom best practices in Differentiated Instruction.
• Diversity in the Classroom: A Checklist
  This checklist is designed to help teachers and other educators to effectively identify and respond to diversity in the classroom. It focuses on various aspects of the classroom environment, including curriculum materials, teaching strategies and teacher/student behaviors.
• Educational Justice
  The Justice Matters Institute sponsors Educational Justice, a fantastic site of extensive research and annotated links on the gamut of educational equity issues, including how equity plays out in whole school reform efforts. Research-based strategies and online discussion forums.
• Eisenhower National Clearinghouse
  As mentioned above, the taxonomy of the Equity Portal was based on the excellent work done by the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse. Their site deserves another mention here, and particularly this page of a fantastic collection of self-assessment on equity.
• Exemplary and Promising Gender Equity Programs 2000
  This well-researched report provides reviews of an exemplary other promising gender equity programs in a variety of subfields including gender equity in math, science, and technology and in career education.
• FairTest
  FairTest, otherwise known as the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, is the only national watchdog group as alarmed as the rest of us with the overuse and misuse of standardized testing. The site has research on how standardized tests are biases on the basis of gender, race, class, and cultural difference.
• Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network
  GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Educator Network, is the premiere organization for all educators concerned about the physical and emotional safety and well-being for gay, lesbian, or questioning youth both in and out of schools. Annotated resources, current issues, and information on local chapters is also provided.
• Gender Equity in the Classroom: Viewing Guide
  A remarkable free equity resource is the Viewing Guide, written by notable gender equity experts David Sadker and Phyllis Learner, for their Gender Equity in the Classroom video. The video is also available for purchase at this site.
• Let There be Equity! (A Gender Equity Webquest)
  A remarkable resource and the only gender-equity webquest we could find. This leads the teacher through a professional development experience of examining resources, doing self-assessments, conducting peer observations, and creating gender equity projects.
• Multicultural Pavilion - Teacher's Corner
  A comprehensive site of useful classroom activities, books, quotes, and discussions on multicultural education.
• National Association for Gifted Children
  NAGC is an organization of parents, teachers, educators, community leaders and others who are concerned with providing the best educational and life experiences for children who are identified as Gifted and Talented. They have added a useful feature to their site: a "Parent Resource Specialist_ who will respond electronically to your questions and concerns about providing appropriate services to Gifted and Talented children.
• National Women's Law Center
  The National Women's Law Center's section on Education has many policy briefings and texts of Congressional testimonies on issues of females and education, especially on Title IX, and has special sections on sports, sexual harassment, single-sex schooling, career education, and overall gender equity in educational achievement.
• North Dakota State Board for Vocational and Technical Education
  The North Dakota State Board for Vocational and Technical Education has developed a comprehensive list of Educational Equity Standards that cover preservice and inservice education, climate, curriculum, instruction, assessment, administration and leadership, and the workplace. These are copywrited so ask permission before using or adapting.
• Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
  Part of the OSEP Technical Assistance Center is the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program. PBIS provides free resources, including a newsletter, to schools and individuals interested in best practices of school-wide discipline programs.
• Rethinking Schools
  The Rethinking Schools magazine is one of the best resources that provides intellectual and emotional sustenance for those of us doing the hard work of educational equity. Their website provides electronic copies of back issues for free, and their database of back issues is searchable.
• SEED Project
  The SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Project in Inclusive Curriculum provides resources to set up powerful roundtable, book study groups of teachers who wish to transform the (still) largely White Male curriculum. Peggy McIntosh developed the SEED project through the Wellesley Center for Research on Women (www.wellesley.edu) and is the author of "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack._ Short, powerful, and easily readable, her 1989 article has centered our thinking about race (and other variables) on the notion of "privilege_ like nothing else.
• Teaching Tolerance/Southern Poverty Law Center
  Teaching Tolerance is a national education project of the Southern Poverty Law Center dedicated to helping students foster equity, respect, and understanding in the classroom and beyond. The Teaching Tolerance magazine is free and excellent with many useful articles and information for the classroom teacher as well as equity researcher.
• The Association for the Severely Handicapped
  TASH is an international association of people with disabilities, their family members, other advocates, and professionals fighting for a society in which inclusion of all people in all aspects of society is the norm.? This site was recommended by Special Education experts for its Methods and Practices section. Information is available on its provocative newsletter, Connections, that consistently challenges any hesitancy about the full inclusion of people with disabilities in the classroom and in the greater society.
• The National Association for the Education of Young Children
  NAEYC describes itself as the nation's largest and most influential organization of early childhood educators. Although a bit dated, every equity researcher and inservice and preservice teacher should have a copy of the Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children by Louise Derman-Sparks, full of research and strategies, available through NAEYC's website for an incredible $12.00!.
• Wellesley Centers for Women
  The Wellesley Centers for Women, formerly the separate Stone Center and Wellesley Center for Research on Women, is an excellent site with many resources, links, and analysis on gender equity issues, for both girls and boys. Top line researchers in gender equity are housed in the Centers, including the work of Peggy McIntosh, Jean Baker Miller, Nan Stein, Susan McGee Bailey, and Deborah Tolman.