Benefits of Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Classrooms Joseph Adams January 2016 Walden University

Student Demographic Information  “Student A” brings a rich cultural and linguistic background to our classroom  Student A has academic challenges  Stats:  Age: 10  Grade: 5  Gender: Female  Race: American Indian  Home Language: English  Socioeconomic status: Low

Student Academic Background  Student A began school with minimal knowledge of both numbers and letters  She has been working to catch up throughout her school career  Student A appears to be more concerned with the social aspect of school (fitting in with peers, writing notes with classmates, being funny in class) rather than devoting the additional energy to her academics  She is well liked by her peers and is respectful of her teachers  She would be a good candidate for additional intervention services if our school offered them  Student A is average with homework completion.

Academic Challenge #1: Reading Fluency & Comprehension  Student A reads very slowly  Student A is about one grade level below her peers – she has more success with texts at a 4 th grade level  Student A reads with little expression which makes it more challenging to understand the story when she reads aloud  Student A spends a lot of her time decoding words which inhibits her ability to comprehend the story

Academic Challenge #2: Basic Math Skills  Student A needs additional time to figure out basic math facts  Student A’s overall number sense is poor  Student A struggles with abstract concepts in math

Academic Challenge #3: Spelling & Grammar  Student A has average handwriting skills  Student A’s spelling is slightly below average  There are often grammatical mistakes in Student A’s writing and mistakes with punctuation  Student A will say things such as, “I seen this yesterday.”

Funds of Knowledge: Cultural & Family  Student A is American Indian  Student A’s family lives on a reservation north of the school district. Student A’s family open enrolled her into the school district in order to benefit from the educational experiences our district has to offer. As a result, Student A rides the bus for approximately an hour each way to and from school.  Student A’s family is very close. She often talks about her auntie and her grandma. Different family members live with each other from time to time.

Funds of Knowledge: Practical/Social  Student A is friends with everyone; she often is the bridge between different groups  She is very smiley and happy and nonjudgemental. She does not act entitled. She is very accepting of everyone. She does not discriminate among different groups at school.  If someone is feeling bad Student A is really quick to be supportive.

Strengths Related to Literacy Expectations of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)  Student A has a positive attitude and when she is on-task, she gives a strong effort toward her work.  She’s being exposed to all of the information in the standards this year.

Challenges Related to Literacy Expectations of the CCSS  Student A has been playing catch up and is behind academically. There is so much material to cover in a year with CCSS it can be overwhelming. Because Student A’s basic skills in reading and math are lacking, she has a hard time keeping up. She will likely make a years worth of progress this year, however this means that she will still be a year behind at the beginning of next year.