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.

Educational Trends That Affect Teaching

Standards-Based Reform
Despite a wide range of student differences—or perhaps because of it— there is an increased emphasis
to have all students reach the same academic goals and standards. Some education experts have
referred to this movement as "standards-based reform." Many advocates of standards-based reform have
argued that expectations for students have been too low, especially for students with disabilities and
students from minority groups and lower socioeconomic classes. This perception has led to the idea that
whatever standards or educational goals are set should be uniformly applied to the vast majority of
students and particular attention should be given to historically underperforming groups. This shift in
thinking has been a challenge for educators. Despite the challenges with standard-based reform, this
movement holds many promises, such as
 Helping educators focus on critical knowledge and skills.
 Enhancing the coherence and continuity of instruction by eliminating what some educators have
viewed as a chaotic patchwork of curricula that may vary from teacher to teacher or from school to school.
 Addressing the soft bigotry associated with lower expectations for poor and minority students.
 Serving as a catalyst to promote collaboration between teachers in general education, special
education, ESL, and bilingual education. Standards-based reform also helps educators share
responsibility and accountability for the progress of all students, including students with disabilities and
students from diverse backgrounds.
Inclusion
As attention increases to ensure that all learners reach common standards, there is also more attention
focused on integrating students with disabilities into general education classrooms. Some experts have
referred to this movement as "inclusion." It is important to note, however, that the physical placement of
students with disabilities in general education classes is not an end in and of itself, but rather a means to
an end. The power of inclusion lies in how educators respond to individual differences. While standards-
 based reform calls for convergence in terms of learning outcomes, inclusion calls for divergence in terms
of the strategies used in teaching. When inclusion is considered alongside standards-based reform, it
would appear that teachers are being called upon to produce greater similarity in learning outcomes
despite greater diversity in student populations. For teachers who are attempting to manage the tension
between standards-based reform and inclusion, there are still many challenges. Inclusion provides many
opportunities for educators, such as
 Enhancing access to general education curriculum for students with disabilities. Greater
academic gains have been associated with general education placement for students with disabilities
(Waldron & McLeskey, 1998). This enhanced access to a general education curriculum should include
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and materials for students with difficulties reading and
understanding print that meet the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). This
support is particularly important in a standards-based context because most students with disabilities will
be held to the same educational standards as their peers without disabilities.
 Providing greater opportunities for students with disabilities to learn socially appropriate
behaviors through interaction with their peers without disabilities. For example, when segregated in
separate settings, students who have emotional or behavioral disorders are exposed only to other
students who have similar disorders. This practice limits their opportunities to see appropriate behaviors
and diminishes their inclination to conform to these behaviors through the dynamics of peer pressure.
 Preparing students with and without disabilities for the real world. As adults, students will be
exposed to a wide range of human variance, including individuals with disabilities. By providing
opportunities for all students to have interactions with students with disabilities during their educational
experience, the groundwork will be laid for these students to embrace all individuals with disabilities
throughout their lives.
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
Of course, disability status reflects only one aspect of human diversity. Factors such as race, ethnicity,
class, gender, and language also contribute to the classroom mosaic and may influence the cultural
characteristics that students bring. Given the pervasive manner in which culture influences thought and
behavior, it is not hard to imagine that it plays a significant role in the learning process. In fact, almost
every aspect of the teaching and learning process is culturally influenced, such as attitudes about what is
important to learn and decisions about how learning is best accomplished and assessed. While student
diversity provides a rich educational resource, it also adds to the complexity of teaching in a standards-
based context. Nevertheless, there are many opportunities that cultural diversity provides, such as
 Providing opportunities for all students to learn from other students who are
[Link] diversity gives students a chance to learn about different languages, customs, and
worldviews.
 Reducing ignorance that comes from lack of exposure. Oftentimes, when students only
interact with persons who share the same background, they become blind to other ways of seeing and
doing things. This cultural isolation frequently works to their disadvantage.
 Providing opportunities for all students to develop cross-cultural competence. Through
everyday activities in diverse school settings, students are challenged to find ways of interacting
 effectively with students who are culturally different. In so doing, they develop important skills in cross-
cultural competence.
 Preparing students for the real world. Similar to inclusion, giving students opportunities to
interact with diverse individuals in their school experiences better prepares them to do so as adults in the
workplace.
Integrating standards-based reform, including students with disabilities, and teaching more students from
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds combine to create the perfect educational storm. How do
all of these trends fit together? In some regards, these trends may seem to reflect incompatible ideas. On
one hand, these movements were created to provide the same standards for all learners; but each reform
mandates respect for each student's individual differences. The next section addresses these tensions.

Can Inclusion Really Work in Diverse, Standards-Based

Classrooms?
Despite the fact that it is not always possible to get all students to exactly the same point in the curriculum
at exactly the same time, it is feasible to move most students through the curriculum toward established
standards. Although the concepts of inclusion and teaching for cultural and linguistic diversity often seem
to conflict with standards-based reform, these ideas actually work together.
As is shown in Figure I.1, the overarching goals of standards-based reform, inclusion, and teaching for
cultural and linguistic diversity are the same—to enhance the educational outcomes for all students. For
example, standards-based reform emphasizes the need to support all students in reaching rigorous
standards. Students with disabilities and students with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
have historically been among the most vulnerable to diminished educational outcomes as a result of low
expectations. The reality is that the vast majority of students with disabilities and students from culturally
and linguistically diverse backgrounds do not have severe cognitive deficits. These students have the
ability to succeed academically in the inclusive classroom. While raising standards is not the same thing
as raising expectations, some educators feel that the accountability assessments associated with
standards-based reform will force the issue of higher expectations. It is possible that we will have to
change our behaviors and adjust our attitudes and expectations. For example, a teacher may not initially
believe in a student's ability to meet a certain standard; however, that teacher will still earnestly work with
that student because he or she will encounter that same standard on an accountability assessment in the
future. Despite the teacher's initial doubts, the student may master the standard in question. This
student's achievement will make it possible for that teacher to see potential in other students with similar
characteristics. Without the standards and accountability assessment processes, this teacher may never
have given this student the opportunity to master the standard in question. The core idea of not
underestimating students' abilities is implicit in standards-based reform and holds particular importance in
the education of diverse students.

Figure I.1. Current Movements in Education

 Standards-Based Reform Inclusion Education for Diversity

Overarching Enhance educational Enhance educational Enhance

Goal outcomes for all students outcomes for all students educational outcomes
for all students

Basic Tenet Educational outcomes can Educational outcomes Educational

be enhanced by setting rigorous can be enhanced by outcomes can be
standards, teaching to those maximizing opportunities for enhanced by
standards, and assessing progress students with and without embracing student
toward accomplishing those disabilities to be educated diversity
standards together

Associated Curriculum is aligned Differentiated Multicultura

Instructional with standards instruction l education

Practices Uses large-scale Universal design Sheltered

assessments instruction

The metaphor of all boats rising or sinking together is often used when describing approaches to
standards-based reform, such as the No Child Left Behind Act. For example, in order for a school to
achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP), all student subgroups, including English language learners,
students with disabilities, and students from minority groups, must make adequate yearly progress. The
progress of the group as a whole cannot mask the lack of development of designated subgroups. To
extend the nautical metaphor, we can't ignore a hole in our neighbor's end of the boat and still expect to
have our end remain dry. Special education students and other historically marginalized groups cannot be
sent to the trailer and be forgotten.
The goal of helping all students meet rigorous standards can only be attained by attending to the needs of
the most vulnerable students—students with disabilities and students from culturally and linguistically
diverse backgrounds. The ideas embodied in movements such as inclusion and teaching for cultural and
linguistic diversity provide this needed attention. Additionally, while standards-based reform is largely
silent on the issue of instructional methodology, the inclusion and teaching for cultural and linguistic
diversity movements infuse instructional approaches that maximize opportunities for all students to learn
from their diverse peers. These approaches include differentiated instruction, universal design, sheltered
instruction, and multicultural education.

Instructional Approaches That Support Inclusion in Diverse,

Standards-Based Classrooms
Differentiated Instruction
Without the supporting pedagogy, inclusion in diverse, standards-based classrooms could not be
successful. Differentiated instruction is an example of a supporting instructional approach that embraces
the needs of academically diverse populations of students, in particular students who are gifted or who
have disabilities. Differentiated instruction involves creating multiple paths to learning for diverse students
(Tomlinson, 1999). Instruction can be differentiated in a variety of ways, such as tailoring content to an
individual student's needs, modifying instructional methods to address student learning characteristics
more appropriately, or adjusting learning products or assignments based on a student's skill and ability
levels.
Universal Design for Learning
Universal design is an instructional approach that gives particular attention to students who have physical,
sensory, and cognitive disabilities. Like differentiated instruction, universal design embraces the idea that
instruction should be designed from the beginning with students' diverse needs in mind. Universal design
supports the thought that educators should not have to retrofit lessons for students with exceptional
needs after those lessons have already been created. According to Orkwis (1999), "Universal design
implies a design of instructional materials and activities that allows learning goals to be attainable by
individuals with wide differences in their abilities to see, hear, speak, move, read, write, understand
English, attend, organize, engage, and remember" (p. 1). With universal design, it is important that
learning activities provide multiple means of representation or modes of presentation (i.e., auditory, visual,
and varying levels of complexity). Learning activities also must allow students to respond in various
modes and should be designed to engage learners with varying interests and aptitudes. Often, educators
use assistive technology to implement universal design to make instruction accessible for a broader array
of students. Assistive technology refers to "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether
acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or
improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability" (U.S. Department of Education, 2004, 20 U.S.C.
1401 (a) (25)). Hence, low-tech devices such as pencil grips may be considered assistive technology as
well as high-tech devices such as screen readers or electronic books. The principles of universal design
are important to engineering classrooms that support diverse learners, including those students with
physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities (see Chapter 2 for an in-depth discussion on UDL).
Sheltered Instruction
Like differentiated instruction and universal design, sheltered instruction also embraces the needs of
diverse learners, specifically English language learners. Echevarria, Vogt, and Short (2004) define
sheltered instruction by using the following eight broad elements: (1) preparation, (2) building background,
(3) comprehensible input, (4) strategies, (5) interaction, (6) practice and application, (7) lesson delivery,
and (8) review and assessment. The preparation element suggests that teachers first identify lesson
objectives aligned with state and local standards. The building background element requires that teachers
link new content to students' background experiences and helps students focus on unfamiliar vocabulary.
With the comprehensible input element, as the name implies, teachers use controlled vocabulary,
sentence structure, and visuals and gestures to facilitate students' comprehension. The strategies
element refers to teaching students different approaches for organizing and retaining information
associated with effective learning. The interaction element shows teachers how to structure opportunities
for students to interact with their peers in the learning process. The interaction phase leads to the practice
and application element, which requires teachers to provide frequent opportunities for students to practice
new language skills in context. The lesson delivery element illustrates how teachers can appropriately
pace the lesson and provide for active engagement. The review and assessment element focuses on
establishing standards and including language-based and content-based evaluations. All of these
elements are important in designing classroom instruction that embraces the needs of English language
learners.
Multicultural Education
Multicultural education is another approach that is important in today's diverse, standards-based
classrooms. As the name implies, multicultural education addresses the needs of culturally diverse
populations of students. Banks (2001) defined this approach with the following five major dimensions: (1)
content integration, (2) the knowledge construction process, (3) bias reduction, (4) empowering school
culture, and (5) equity pedagogy. Content integration implies that curricula should include content about
diverse populations and present information from diverse points of view. The knowledge construction
process focuses on the extent to which teachers explore the influences of culture with students. This
process includes exploring how knowledge is constructed and how attitudes are formed in regards to
what constitutes valuable or important knowledge. Bias reduction refers to activities that are designed to
examine and reduce bias in attitudes. Building an empowering school culture eradicates systemic factors
such as the negative effects of tracking practices on diverse groups of students. Equity pedagogy helps
teachers use instructional strategies that embrace the learning characteristics and cognitive styles of
diverse populations. Multicultural education supports educators in enhancing the educational experiences
of all learners, including students from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Together, differentiated instruction, sheltered instruction, universal design, and multicultural education
address the broad array of students in today's classrooms. By using these approaches, teachers have the
pedagogical tools they need to teach standards in diverse, inclusive classrooms.

MMECCA: A Framework for Success

As you read the descriptions of the instructional approaches, you probably noticed that there was some
similarity in the strategies used for each. For example, encouraging teachers to vary how they present
content to students is a common theme for all of the instructional approaches. This overlap suggests that
teachers need not have a separate repertoire of strategies for each aspect of student diversity. Rather, it
may be more helpful to consider implications of student diversity on the critical elements of instruction.
Combining instruction with an awareness of student diversity is the theme of this book. The following
chapters will focus on the MMECCA framework which is composed of six critical elements of instruction
 that must be addressed to appropriately respond to student diversity in standards-based classrooms. As
shown in Figure I.2, the MMECCA framework helps to integrate the four instructional approaches
associated with teaching diverse populations that were discussed in the previous section. This MMECCA
framework is composed of the following elements:
 Methods of Instruction. This element shows the strategies and techniques that are employed
during instruction. This is the "how" through which instruction is accomplished.
 Materials of Instruction. This element pertains to the tangible items that are used to support
instruction. This is the "with what" through which instruction is accomplished.
 Environment of Instruction. This element focuses on the physical environment of the
classroom, behavior management, and general classroom ethos. This is the "where" of instruction or the
instructional context in which learning will occur.
 Content of Instruction. This element details what is being taught to students. It addresses
curricular issues related to what students should know and be able to do. This is the "what" of the learning
process or the knowledge, facts, and understandings that are the essence of teaching and learning.
 Collaboration for Instruction. This element pertains to how educators should work together in
delivering instruction to diverse populations. It includes educational practices such as collaborative
problem solving and co-teaching. This element also addresses how educators and parents should work
together. This is the "it takes a village" element of instruction.
 Assessment in Instruction. Finally, this element focuses on the assessment process that
begins and ends the instructional cycle. It includes informal, teacher-made assessments, as well as large-
scale standardized tests. This is the "how do we know what students need and what they know?" element
of the instructional process.

Figure I.2. Elements of Instruction in Inclusive, Standards-Based Classrooms

This framework has been field tested in 50 diverse, standards-based classrooms. Participating teachers
were trained to use the MMECCA framework during a three-month period. They developed lessons using
this framework, taught the lessons, and then evaluated the outcomes. Participating teachers reported that
using the MMECCA framework enhanced their ability to design lessons that met the educational needs of
their diverse students. For example, one teacher said, "Learning about the MMECCA framework in-depth
has really helped me in working with special needs students." Student work samples taken from the
lessons were evaluated based on how they mastered the standards targeted in the lesson. These student
work samples and the teachers' reflections supported the teachers' reported growth in the area of
teaching in inclusive, standards-based classrooms (Voltz, 2006).
The remaining chapters of this book will address each element of the MMECCA framework in-depth.
Suggestions on integrating these ideas into your instruction will be provided in each chapter. We will
follow elementary, middle, and high school teachers as they examine these six elements of their
instruction. Through the lens of the instructional models associated with inclusion and teaching for cultural
and linguistic diversity, each of the elements from the MMECCA framework will be explored and concrete
strategies and illustrative examples will be provided to show how inclusion in diverse, standard-based
classrooms can work for YOU!

Inclusive Education: What It Means,

Proven Strategies, and a Case Study
Considering the potential of inclusive education at your school? Perhaps you are
currently working in an inclusive classroom and looking for effective strategies. Lean
into this deep-dive article on inclusive education to gather a solid understanding of
what it means, what the research shows, and proven strategies that bring out the
benefits for everyone.

What is inclusive education?

Inclusive education is when all students, regardless of any challenges they may have,
are placed in age-appropriate general education classes that are in their own
neighborhood schools to receive high-quality instruction, interventions, and supports
that enable them to meet success in the core curriculum (Bui, Quirk, Almazan, &
Valenti, 2010; Alquraini & Gut, 2012).
The school and classroom operate on the premise that students with disabilities are as
fundamentally competent as students without disabilities. Therefore, all students can
be full participants in their classrooms and in the local school community. Much of
the movement is related to legislation that students receive their education in the least
restrictive environment (LRE). This means they are with their peers without
disabilities to the maximum degree possible, with general education the placement of
first choice for all students (Alquraini & Gut, 2012).

Successful inclusive education happens primarily through accepting, understanding,

and attending to student differences and diversity, which can include physical,
cognitive, academic, social, and emotional. This is not to say that students never need
to spend time out of regular education classes, because sometimes they do for a very
particular purpose — for instance, for speech or occupational therapy. But the goal is
this should be the exception.
The driving principle is to make all students feel welcomed, appropriately challenged,
and supported in their efforts. It’s also critically important that the adults are
supported, too. This includes the regular education teacher and the special education
teacher, as well as all other staff and faculty who are key stakeholders — and
that also includes parents.
The research basis for inclusive education
Inclusive education and inclusive classrooms are gaining steam because there is so
much research-based evidence around the benefits. Take a look.

Benefits for students

Simply put, both students with and without disabilities learn more. Many studies over
the past three decades have found that students with disabilities have higher
achievement and improved skills through inclusive education, and their peers without
challenges benefit, too (Bui, et al., 2010; Dupuis, Barclay, Holms, Platt, Shaha, &
Lewis, 2006; Newman, 2006; Alquraini & Gut, 2012).
For students with disabilities (SWD), this includes academic gains in literacy (reading
and writing), math, and social studies — both in grades and on standardized tests —
better communication skills, and improved social skills and more friendships. More
time in the general classroom for SWDis also associated with fewer absences and
referrals for disruptive behavior. This could be related to findings about attitude —
they have a higher self-concept, they like school and their teachers more, and are more
motivated around working and learning.

Their peers without disabilities also show more positive attitudes in these same areas
when in inclusive classrooms. They make greater academic gains in reading and math.
Research shows the presence of SWD gives non-SWD new kinds of learning
opportunities. One of these is when they serve as peer-coaches. By learning how to
help another student, their own performance improves. Another is that as teachers take
into greater consideration their diverse SWD learners, they provide instruction in a
wider range of learning modalities (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic), which benefits
their regular ed students as well.
Researchers often explore concerns and potential pitfalls that might make instruction
less effective in inclusion classrooms (Bui et al., 2010; Dupois et al., 2006). But
findings show this is not the case. Neither instructional time nor how much time
students are engaged differs between inclusive and non-inclusive classrooms. In fact,
in many instances, regular ed students report little to no awareness that there even are
students with disabilities in their classes. When they areaware, they demonstrate more
acceptance and tolerance for SWD when they all experience an inclusive education
together.
Parent’s feelings and attitudes
Parents, of course, have a big part to play. A comprehensive review of the literature
(de Boer, Pijl, & Minnaert, 2010) found that on average, parents are somewhat
uncertain if inclusion is a good option for their SWD. On the upside, the more
experience with inclusive education they had, the more positive parents of SWD were
about it. Additionally, parents of regular ed students held a decidedly positive attitude
toward inclusive education.

Now that we’ve seen the research highlights on outcomes, let’s take a look at
strategies to put inclusive education in practice.

Inclusive classroom strategies

There is a definite need for teachers to be supported in implementing an inclusive
classroom. A rigorous literature review of studies found most teachers had either
neutral or negative attitudes about inclusive education (de Boer, Pijl, & Minnaert,
2011). It turns out that much of this is because they do not feel they are very
knowledgeable, competent, or confident about how to educate SWD.

However, similar to parents, teachers with more experience — and, in the case of
teachers, more training with inclusive education  — were significantly more positive
about it. Evidence supports that to be effective, teachers need an understanding of best
practices in teaching and of adapted instruction for SWD; but positive attitudes toward
inclusion are also among the most important for creating an inclusive classroom that
works (Savage & Erten, 2015).
Of course, a modest blog article like this is only going to give the highlights of what
have been found to be effective inclusive strategies. For there to be true long-term
success necessitates formal training. To give you an idea though, here are strategies
recommended by several research studies and applied experience (Morningstar,
Shogren, Lee, & Born, 2015; Alquraini, & Gut, 2012).

Use a variety of instructional formats

Start with whole-group instruction and transition to flexible groupings which could be
small groups, stations/centers, and paired learning. With regard to the whole group,
using technology such as interactive whiteboards is related to high student
engagement. Regarding flexible groupings: for younger students, these are often
teacher-led but for older students, they can be student-led with teacher monitoring.
Peer-supported learning can be very effective and engaging and take the form of pair-
work, cooperative grouping, peer tutoring, and student-led demonstrations.
Ensure access to academic curricular content
All students need the opportunity to have learning experiences in line with the same
learning goals. This will necessitate thinking about what supports
individual SWDs need, but overall strategies are making sure all students hear
instructions, that they do indeed start activities, that all students participate in large
group instruction, and that students transition in and out of the classroom at the same
time. For this latter point, not only will it keep students on track with the lessons, their
non-SWD peers do not see them leaving or entering in the middle of lessons, which
can really highlight their differences.

Apply universal design for learning

These are methods that are varied and that support many learners’ needs. They include
multiple ways of representing content to students and for students to represent
learning back, such as modeling, images, objectives and manipulatives, graphic
organizers, oral and written responses, and technology. These can also be adapted as
modifications for SWDs where they have large print, use headphones, are allowed to
have a peer write their dictated response, draw a picture instead, use calculators, or
just have extra time. Think too about the power of project-based and inquiry learning
where students individually or collectively investigate an experience.

Now let’s put it all together by looking at how a regular education teacher addresses
the challenge and succeeds in using inclusive education in her classroom.