Chapter One An Introduction to the Topic of Cultural Diversity - NAGC

must have an impact on classroom work and address the problems of academic
achievement and the demographic changes occurring in U.S. schools (Rios &
Montecinos, 1999). Sleeter (1990) suggested using interdisciplinary units drawing upon
the students' backgrounds, interests, and learning styles to include different perspectives.
These units would enable teachers and students the opportunity to get to know each other
and incorporate the contributions of various cultural groups, moving well beyond the
celebration-of-culture weeks commonly found in schools (Banks, 1993). Stereotypes can
be eliminated when material and learning experiences enable students to understand the
similarities among individuals (Gomez, 1991), and all students can benefit from this
approach. Students develop more positive racial attitudes when realistic images of ethnic
and racial groups are included in teaching materials in a consistent, natural, and
integrated manner (Banks, 1993).
Alternative Assessments
Just as instruction must be culturally responsive, assessments must both align with
curricula and be culturally sensitive. Culturally responsive classrooms provide multiple
opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning. Students may, for example,
choose to create plays, songs, books, or poems that reflect knowledge of the required
content. Assessments need to reflect the goals of instruction, such as understanding
important events in history or mathematical concepts. Broadening the ways in which
students can share what they have learned enhances their understanding of content and
may provide teachers with a better profile of the capacities of CLED students (Ford &
Trotman, 2001).
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