Jones, Shelley. (2007). Culturally Responsive Instruction. Leadership. 14-17, 36.

This article talks about how teachers can effectively reach students of color in the new era of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Because NCLB is an accountability program that is full of purpose yet lacking in practicality, many students of color have failed to demonstrate the progress necessary of them in order for the achievement gap to be closed. According to the author, one of the major reasons for this is the vast cultural disconnect between educators and the diverse body of students they teach. The solution, therefore, lies in culturally responsive, standards-based instruction (CRSBI). In order to achieve CRSBI, five components must be met. They are caring, communication, curriculum, instruction, and a focus on the state standards. If these five components were to be met, then the author implies that educators will do a better job of relating to and understanding their students. This will bring about the ultimate goal of closing the achievement gap (which is something that all stakeholders in the education world desire).

Out of the five components listed, the one that I found most intriguing was curriculum. As a way of reaching ethnically diverse students, the author argues that instructional content should continue to be standards-based yet focused more on the contributions and achievements made by people from these groups. Not only will this increase student interest in the subject, but it will provide them with both motivation and the expectation of success. I find myself in complete agreement with this assertion. In fact, when I read this part of the article, two things came to mind. Firstly, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the emphasis I’ve seen in the education world in general to diversify faculty and staff. The reason why I find diversity of makeup to be extremely important is because students need role models to look up to. When students of color are able to see that people from the very same cultures and backgrounds have achieved success, then it empowers them to start thinking that they can reach the plateau of success too. In my opinion, there’s nothing more powerful than altering someone’s mentality or attitude. The other thing that came to mind was the observation that in many schools such diverse curriculums are lacking. This is especially disconcerting if these schools serve large populations of colored students. Seeing that this article was written just over two years ago, it makes me wonder how big of a problem curriculum is in this country. In addition to this, how could such schools exist? To answer this question, one must ask who controls curriculum. Is it the state? Or is teachers and administrators? Answering some of these questions may help us figure out a way to ensure that all schools in the United States have diversified curriculums.