Debbie Zacarian - Responsive Schooling for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

ADVANCE PRAISE

Debbie Zacarian and Ivannia Soto masterfully translate culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy into practical, ready-to-implement strategies for teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Their new book is a much-needed resource that will help all educators create empowering learning environments and apply effective instructional practices that build on students strengths rather than focus on deficiencies!

Andrea Honigsfeld , Author and Professor, Molloy College

Debbie Zacarian and Ivannia Sotos Responsive Schooling for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students is a timely new contribution to the conversation around supporting CLD students. Zacarian and Soto present a rare combination of relevant research, theory, and opportunities for real-world application, drawing from their vast expertise in the field. I highly recommend this book for all teachers to ensure they have the latest tools at their fingertips to provide CLD students a more equitable education.

Diane Staehr Fenner, Ph.D. , President, SupportEd, LLC

The authors address valuable questions the field is asking: Why culturally responsive teaching, and what does this look like? They demonstrate a balanced approach to instruction and provide ways in which schools can work with parents and community. Additionally, the scenarios, tips, reflection tasks, and other tools give the reader opportunities to discuss in learning communities how to adapt and implement these great ideas.

Margarita Caldern, Ph.D. , Professor Emerita, Johns Hopkins University

Responsive Schooling exemplifies todays educational movement toward enhanced inclusion and empowerment of multilingual learners and their families. With emphasis on enriching opportunities and equity in schools, Zacarian and Soto illustrate the assets and contributions of this growing student population to create linguistically and culturally sustainable classrooms. This go-to resource helps educators better understand the importance of building student identity and partnerships through strategies of engagement and co-construction to shape a collaborative, socially responsive learning environment.

Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D. , WIDA Co-founder and Lead Developer, University of WisconsinMadison

NORTON BOOKS IN EDUCATION

Responsive Schooling
for Culturally and Linguistically
Diverse Students

DEBBIE ZACARIAN AND IVANNIA SOTO

Note to Readers : This work is intended as a general information resource for teachers, administrators and others who work with students who are culturally and linguistically diverse and their caregivers. Although the authors have extensive experience in the subject matter, neither they nor the publisher can guarantee that any educational approach, strategy or technique that this book describes or proposes will work with every individual student, parent, or caregiver. None of the authors is a lawyer, and nothing stated in this book should be construed as legal advice.

Names and potentially identifying characteristics of individual students and educators other than the authors have been changed. Any URLs displayed in this book link or refer to websites that existed as of press time. The publisher is not responsible for, and should not be deemed to endorse or recommend, any website other than its own or any content, including any app, that it did not create. The authors, also, are not responsible for any third-party material.

Copyright 2020 by Debbie Zacarian and Ivannia Soto

All rights reserved

First Edition

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales at specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830

Cover design: Sally Rinehart

Cover image DESKCUBE / iStock / Getty Images Plus; background texture jes2ufoto / iStock / Getty Images

Production manager: Katelyn MacKenzie

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Names: Zacarian, Debbie, author. | Soto, Ivannia, author.

Title: Responsive schooling for culturally and linguistically diverse students / Debbie Zacarian and Ivannia Soto.

Description: First edition. | New York : W.W. Norton & Company, 2020. |

Series: Norton books in education | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019047645 | ISBN 9780393713527 (paperback) | ISBN 9780393713534 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Culturally relevant pedagogyUnited States. | MinoritiesEducationUnited States. | Limited English-proficient studentsUnited States. | Community and schoolUnited States.

Classification: LCC LC1099.515.C85 Z34 2020 | DDC 370.117dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019047645

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., 15 Carlisle Street, London W1D 3BS

Contents

We express our gratitude to several people who contributed to this book. At Norton, Carol Collins supported us throughout the genesis and drafting process, and Mariah Eppes and Jamie Vincent throughout the editing and production process. A very special thanks goes to our spouses for their support throughout the writing project.

We dedicate this book to students, families, and scholars. They show us how we can work and learn together to create responsive and sustaining classrooms for diverse learners, and there is no better time to do just that than right now.

IN THERESA LAFONTAINES second-grade class, students are studying how to multiply single-digit numbers. For homework, they were given five word problems to complete from the course text. The first problem asks students to calculate how much orange juice can be made from one cup of orange juice concentrate by adding three cups of water. Here is an exchange that Mrs. LaFontaine has with Janeen, a student in her class.

MRS. LAFONTAINE: Janeen, lets look at your homework assignment.

JANEEN: It be at home.

MRS. LAFONTAINE: Hmmm. Okay, lets talk about the problems. Were you able to complete them?

JANEEN: It be hard. I don get the book (She says with her eyes facing the floor).

MRS. LAFONTAINE: What was hard?

JANEEN: What be concentrate? (She asks quietly).

MRS. LAFONTAINE: Concentrate?

JANEEN: Yea, juice concentrate?

MRS. FONTAINE: Oh! I see. Did you know that there are different meanings for that word, concentrate?

JANEEN: What?

MRS. LAFONTAINE: Yes! Concentrate is what we do in school and at home and everywhere when we focus our brains on something. So, that is like an action that we take, we concentrate. Right?