Connecting Teachers, Students, and Standards

by Deborah L. Voltz, Michele Jean Sims and Betty Nelson

Introduction: Teaching in Diverse, Standards-Based Classrooms

Today’s schools are becoming increasingly diverse. Many teachers find that their classrooms are populated by English language learners, gifted students, students with disabilities, and students who are culturally diverse. Nearly half of all students in U.S. public schools (42 percent) are students of color, approximately 20 percent of students speak a language other than English at home, and approximately 14 percent of students have an identified disability (U.S. Department of Education, 2007a). Approximately half of the students who have an identified disability spend 80 percent of their school day in general education classrooms (U.S. Department of Education, 2007b). To add to this diversity, approximately 12 percent of students in public schools are labeled as gifted and talented (Friend, 2007). Like their peers with disabilities, gifted and talented students also are integrated into general education classrooms. All of these differences make teaching more interesting and exciting as well as more complex.

For more information and options to order the book click here.