Urban Education

Words: 654
Pages: 3

Throughout the United States, the student population in urban schools is becoming culturally and linguistically diverse. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “between fall 2003 and fall 2013, the number of Hispanic students in public elementary and secondary schools increased from 19 to 25 percent, while the number of White students decreased from 59 to 50 percent.” As a result of this diverse population in race, culture, ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic status of each student, the student’s achievement gap, which refers to the disparity in the academic performance among diverse students, is affected by the different reading and writing ability level of a student. These culturally diverse students lack the support and individualized …show more content…
As stated by Geneva Gay, a professor of education at the University of Washington, “CRT uses the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspective of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching more effectively” (106). This component is composed of five different purposes that aim to help overcome the achievement gap in urban school. As asserted by Alfred Tatum, assistant professor in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University, the first purpose of CRT is to “acknowledge student’s cultural heritage as it affects their depositions, attitudes, and approaches to learning” (75). Secondly, “it builds meaning between student’s home and school experience as well as school lessons and the student’s lived realities” (Tatum 75). Thirdly, CRT uses a variety of inclusive and high quality instructional strategies to maintain students engaged (Tatum 75). Moreover, CRT “teaches an appreciation of the student’s own cultural heritage as well of others (Tatum 75). Lastly, this component introduces and implements multicultural information, resources, and materials to connect with the student’s cultural background (Tatum 75). Overall, CRT and its instructional strategies, as emphasized by a middle and high school English teacher …show more content…
In culturally responsive classrooms, teachers and students learn about how to properly address each individual based on his culture and identity (Tatum 74). As a result, students are being exposed to the social factors that aim to promote acceptance of others in a diverse setting. Learning how to accept others, help students become more college and career ready by learning how to interact with individuals and practice the sense respect for others, including the culture they practice. At the same time, as asserted by Tatum, CRT introduces literacy instructions that pays attention to the needs of students of color, which engages student to immerse themselves into the learning environment (74-75). This means that by incorporating CRT into the classroom, students will be able to enhance their writing skills by teacher introducing culturally-centered activities that students can connect to. Tatum also emphasizes that this component does not focus on simply improving a student’s writing and reading skills, rather, “a culturally responsive approach to literacy teaching expands what students are exposed to and challenges teacher to use their power to help students embrace high expectations for themselves”