RESEARCH MATTERS

Creating CulturallyResponsive SchoolsBarbara Bazron, David Osher, and Steve Fleischman

During the last 10 years, U.5. schools have expe-rienced a rapid growth in ethnic and racialdiversity. In the near future, the young peoplenow filling classrooms will be paying taxes,working in the public and private sectors, and

consuming the goods and sen,dces ihal fuel our economyGiven the increased diversity of the student population, howcan schools ensure that all students master the social,emotional, intellectual, and technical competencies necessaryto Killill [hese essential roles?

What We KnowAn increasing body of research demonstrates the importanceof addressing the needs of culturally and linguistically diversestudents and their families. Unfortunately, the cultural under-pinning of schools in the United States islargely congruent with middle-class,European values (Boykin, 1994), leadingmany schools to ignore or downplay thestrengths of diverse students and theirfamilies. Valerizuela (1999), afterstudying Mexican American high schoolstudents, defined this approach assubtractive schooling. For example, schoolsignored students" knowledge of Spanishor even treated it as a deficit.

This cultural disconnect often leads topoor self-concepts, discipline problems,and poor academic outcomes for ethnic minorities. Part ofthe problem is tbat teachers unfamiliar with students' diversebackgrounds sometimes misinterpret cultural difference asmisbehavior (Osher, Cartledge, Oswald, Artiles, &r Coutinho,2004). Several statistical studies have established tbatcompared with their Caucasian peers, minority students aresuspended from schoo! more frequently and for longer dura-tions (Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2000), punishedmore severely (Office for Civil Rights, 1992), and dispropor-tionately referred for restrictive special education services(Losen & Orfield, 2002).

Culturally responsiveeducation canstrengthen studentconnectednesswith schools.

But research has also identifiedways in which schools can servestudents of color effectively. Forexample, studies of the AVIDprogram in San Diego, California,show that ratber than trackingethnic and language-minoritystudents into low-level classes,setting high expectations andproviding a "scaffold" of supporthelps students of color succeed(Meban, Villanueva, Hubbard, & Lintz, 1996). AVID givesstudents direct instruction in tbe "bidden curriculum" of theschool^Vi'hicb courses to take, which teacbers to seek out,the importance of tests, how to study, and so on.

Another approach, supported by bothexperimental and quasi-experimentalresearch, is creating an environment thatenables teacbers and students toconnect v̂ ath one another. For example,the Project STAR experiment inTennessee found tbat students of colordisproportionately benefited fromreduced class size in 1st grade; tbeseadvantages persisted over time (Finn,Gerber, Achilles, &r Boyd-Zaharias,2001). Similarly, a six-district, quasi-experimental study of the Child Devel-

opment Project found that building classroom communityproduced even more benefits for students of color than forCaucasian students (Solomon, Battistich, Watson, Schaps, &Lewis, 2000).

Perhaps the most powerful approach is making classroomInstruction more congruent with the cultural value systems ofa diverse student population. Ethnographic studies havedemonstrated that cukumlly responsive education—defined byGay (2002) as "using tbe cultural knowledge, prior experi-ences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethni-cally diverse students to make learning more relevant and

A S S O C I A T I O N F O R S U P E R V I S I O N A N D C U R R I C U L U M D t ; \ ' t L O P M E N T 8 3

effective for them"—can strengthenstudent connectedness with schools,reduce behavior problems, andenhance learning (Kalyanpur, 2003).

What You Can DoEducators should consider thefollowing approaches supported by theresearch to promote culturally respon-sive education.

• Match classroom instruction tocultural norms for social interaction toenhance students' social skills develop-ment and problem-solving ability. Forexample, many African American youthsthrive on intense and sensitive peer rela-tions (Tharp, 1989). Teachers can makepositive instructional use of these skillsand behaviors by creating assignmentsthat require group interaction.

• When asking questions or givingdirections, adjust wait time forstudents from different cultures toenhance classroom participation andthe development of critical thinkingskills. Rowe (1987) found that PuebloIndian students took twice as muchtime to respond spontaneously toinstruction as Native Hawaiians did. Ateacher who moves on too quicklymight falsely assume that PuebloIndian students are unresponsive or donot understand the concepts beingpresented. In contrast, a teacher mightinappropriately consider NativeHawaiian students' preference for shortwait times and overlapping speech as"acting out."

• Be sensitive to the cultural shiftsthat immigrant students, or otherstudents with minority family andcommunity cultures, must make asthey move between school and home.This transition may be most difficult atthe beginning of the school week, afterstudents have been immersed in theirhome culture over the weekend.Teachers need to be sensitive to transi-tion challenges and collaborate withfamilies to develop mechanisms to easethe stress caused by them.

• Help parents gain cultural capital—the skills to negotiate the educationsystem and knowledge of the norms of

behavior that govern schools (Briscoe,Smith, & McClain, 2003). Withoutthis information, many minorityparents, especially new immigrants,may not feel competent to negotiatethe system on behalf of their child orknowledgeable enough to supporttheir chiids efforts. Teachers can helpby talking with parents directly ratherthan using more formal writtencommunications, such as letters ornotes. This is particularly valuable forfamilies from relational cultures, inwhich personal connections andconversational language are thepreferred ways of gathering informa-tion (Kalyanpur, 2003).

• Use cukurally responsive andrespectful approaches in charactereducation, social skill instruction, anddiscipline. For example, a schooldistrict located in the Navajo Nationbuilt on tradition and created a SweatLodge Program that helped studentswith behavioral problems reflect ontheir behavior while they reconnectedto a communal spiritual perspective.This enhanced both the students' self-esteem and their viallingness to becomeresponsible community members(Osher, Dwyer, &Jackson, 2004).

Educators Take NoteEmbracing the strengths andaddressing the diverse learning needsof our increasingly multicultural,multilingual student populationrequires major transformation of ourcurrent school practices. The culturallyresponsive education practicesoutlined here can help establish alearning environment that promotessuccess for all students. S!

ReferencesBoykin, A. W. (1994). Afrocultural expres-

sion and Us implications for schooling.In E, R. Hollins, J. E. King, &r W. C.Haymen (Eds,), Teaching diverse popula-tions (pp. 243-256). Albany, NY: StateUniversity of New York Press.

Briscoe, R. V., Smith, A., & McClain, G.(2003). Implementing culturally compe-tent research practices. Focal Point, 17(1),10-16.

Einn,J. D., Gerber, S. B., Achilles, C M., &

Boyd-Zaharias, J. (2001). The enduringeffects of smalf classes. Teachers CollegeRecord. !03, 145-183.

Gay, G. (2002). Culturally responsiveteaching. New York: Teachers CollegePress.

Kalyanpur, M. (2003). A challenge toprofessionals: Developing culturalreciprocity with culturally diverse fami-lies. Focal Poim, ]7(1), 1-6.

Losen, D., & Orfield, G. (Eds.). (2002).Minority issues in special education.Cambridge, MA: The Civil Rights Projeci,Harvard University &r The MarvardEducation Publishing Group.

Mehan, H., Villanueva, I., Hubbard, L., &Lintz, A. (1996). Constructing schoolsuccess: The consequences ofuntrackinglow-achieving students. Cambridge, UK:Cambridge University Press.

Office for Civil Rights. (1992). Elementaryand secondary civil rights survey, J990-Arlington, VA: DBS.

Osher, D., Cartledge, G., Oswald, D,,Artiles, A. J., &r Coutinho, M. (2004).Issues of cultural and linguistic compe-tency and disproportionate representa-tion. In R. Rutberford, M. Quinn, &r S.Mather (Eds.), Handbook of research inbehavioral disorders (pp. 54-77). NewYork: Guilford Publications,

Osher, D., Dwyer, K,, &Jackson, S. (2004).Safe, supportive and successful schools: Stepby step. Longmont, CO: Sopris WestEducational Services.

Rowe, M. B. (1987). Wait time: Slowingdown may be a way of speeding up.American Educator, 11(1), 38-47.

Skiba, R, J., Michael, R., Nardo, A., &Peterson, R. (2000). The color ojdiscipline. Bloomington, IN: IndianaEducation Policy Center.

Solomon, D-, Battistich, V,, Watson, M-,Schaps, E., &r Lewis, C. (2000). A six-district study of educational change:Direct and mediated effects of tbe ChildDevelopment Project. Social Psychology ofEducation, 4, 3-51,

Tharp, R. (1989). Psycbocultural variablesand constants: Effects on teacbing andleaming in schools. American Psycholo^t,44(2), 249-359.

Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive .schooling.-U.S.-Mexican youth and the politics ojcaring. Albany, NY: State University ofNew York Press.

Barbara Bazron is a Managing Directorand David Osher is a ManagingResearch Scientist at tfie AmericanInstitutes for Research (AIR). SteveFleischman, series editor of thiscolumn, is a Principal Research Scientistat AIR; editorair@air.org.

84 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/SEPTEMBER 2005