Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings at the National WIDA Conference on October 17, 2013

   

Somewhere along your path to becoming a teacher you have probably heard the terms culturally relevant teaching or culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). The terms are interchangeable and refer to teachers' abilities to adapt their instruction so that it is responsive to their students' diverse cultures. For a quick refresher on CRP, I recommend watching this online video from Teaching Tolerance. It provides a quick introduction to culturally responsive pedagogy, tangible and intangible culture, the importance of CRP, and the difference between race and culture. I also recommend a second video because it talks about how culturally competent teachers approach their students. I particularly appreciated the explanation of what culturally competent teachers do and what they don't do to successfully teach their students.
Now that you have refreshed your memory on CRP, let me virtually introduce you to the woman who started it all.       

Welcoming Utah to WIDA!

 This summer has been a time of growth at WIDA. Most recently, Utah joined the Consortium. Some time ago Utah adopted the WIDA ELD Standards for use in their classrooms. But now Utah is an official consortium member. That means that this school year, Utah educators will be giving the ACCESS for ELLs assessment for the first time. 

Earlier this month I suggested a few blog posts for new consortium members. Click here to check those out.  

If you are interested in knowing more about the 33 members of the WIDA Consoritum, check out this page.




Written by: Tammy King

Image: Freedigitalphotos.net