A CI unit on Liz Cohen’s work was developed by Beth Scarloss and Rachel Lotan. The task cards for this unit are included here. Resource cards, not included here, contained pages cut from various types of gardening, kitchen and tool catalogs (at least 2 different catalogs per activity). Several seed packets were included with the gardening activity as well.

EQUITABLE CLASSROOMS IN A CHANGING SOCIETY

What is an equitable classroom? Because equity is the bottom line of the interventions described in this volume, one must be clear about the observable features of the goal. In an equitable classroom, teachers and students view each student as capable of learning both basic skills and high-level concepts. All students have equal access to challenging learning materials; the teacher does not deprive certain students of tasks demanding higher-order thinking because they are not ready; classmates do not block access to instructional materials or prevent others from using manipulatives. Even students who cannot read or understand the language of instruction have opportunities to complete activities and to use materials. The interaction among students is "equal-status," that is, all students are active and influential participants and their opinions matter to their fellow students. Finally, the achievement of students does not vary widely between the academically stronger and weaker students. While the more successful students continue to do well, the less successful students are much more closely clustered around the mean achievement of the classroom rather than trailing far out on the failing end of the distribution.

Equity is a matter of degree; classrooms are more or less equitable. According to the definition we have posed, very few classrooms are highly equitable. Moreover, there is considerable concern among educators that classrooms are becoming increasingly inequitable As national educational systems struggle to raise the standards of content coverage and level of difficulty, more students fail because they cannot meet the new standards. Compounding this problem is the fact that the demography of school populations has changed. There are many more students who do not respond to traditional educational methods and to demands for higher levels (as traditionally defined) of academic functioning.

More and more classrooms around the world contain racially, ethnically, and linguistically heterogeneous groups of students. This increase is a function of the growing heterogeneity of school populations. Areas that formerly contained culturally homogeneous middle-class residents have experienced significant in-migrations of economic and political refugees and migrant labor. In addition to these sources of migration, there has been a general increase in the transiency of world populations. Central-city areas have become increasingly polyglot in many countries featuring ethnic enclaves with distinctive languages and cultures.

Migrants from other countries are not the only source of diversity in the United States. Some minority families who have been concentrated in the inner cities are moving to the suburbs. In 1989 10% of students in metropolitan public schools outside of central cities were African-American, up from 6% in 1970 (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1992). Similarly, the percentage of Hispanic students in metropolitan areas outside of central cities went from 4.4% in 1972 to 10.2% in 1989. The fastest rate of growth in child poverty from 1973 to 1992 was in the suburbs, where the rate increased 76.4% (from 7.8 to 13.8%) (Cook & Brown, 1994). As a consequence of these changes, teachers who used to work with homogeneous middle-class populations now work with students from low-income households or from rural areas of other countries.

As a result of immigration, students may not be proficient in the language of instruction or may exhibit marked cultural differences from the majority group. In the United States, linguistic and cultural diversity are the currently preferred terms to describe the heterogeneity of school populations. The newcomers bring strengths and richness to the life of the school, particularly if school personnel know how to capitalize on the multicultural resources that these students represent.

Beyond the social fact of diversity, educators generally fail to face the implications of a hierarchical ranking of groups within the larger social system. School populations come from a larger system of social stratification. Immigrants often occupy places near the bottom of that system of social classes. Certain native-born racial, linguistic, and ethnic groups hold the same low ranks. With few economic or political resources, members of these groups may experience discrimination and exploitation by the dominant groups. Thus, teachers may face more than cultural and linguistic differences. They may face problems of dominance and inequality stemming from the larger society.

EQUITABLE CLASSROOMS IN A CHANGING SOCIETY

What is an equitable classroom? Because equity is the bottom line of the interventions described in this volume, one must be clear about the observable features of the goal. In an equitable classroom, teachers and students view each student as capable of learning both basic skills and high-level concepts. All students have equal access to challenging learning materials; the teacher does not deprive certain students of tasks demanding higher-order thinking because they are not ready; classmates do not block access to instructional materials or prevent others from using manipulatives. Even students who cannot read or understand the language of instruction have opportunities to complete activities and to use materials. The interaction among students is "equal-status," that is, all students are active and influential participants and their opinions matter to their fellow students. Finally, the achievement of students does not vary widely between the academically stronger and weaker students. While the more successful students continue to do well, the less successful students are much more closely clustered around the mean achievement of the classroom rather than trailing far out on the failing end of the distribution.

Equity is a matter of degree; classrooms are more or less equitable. According to the definition we have posed, very few classrooms are highly equitable. Moreover, there is considerable concern among educators that classrooms are becoming increasingly inequitable As national educational systems struggle to raise the standards of content coverage and level of difficulty, more students fail because they cannot meet the new standards. Compounding this problem is the fact that the demography of school populations has changed. There are many more students who do not respond to traditional educational methods and to demands for higher levels (as traditionally defined) of academic functioning.

More and more classrooms around the world contain racially, ethnically, and linguistically heterogeneous groups of students. This increase is a function of the growing heterogeneity of school populations. Areas that formerly contained culturally homogeneous middle-class residents have experienced significant in-migrations of economic and political refugees and migrant labor. In addition to these sources of migration, there has been a general increase in the transiency of world populations. Central-city areas have become increasingly polyglot in many countries featuring ethnic enclaves with distinctive languages and cultures.

Migrants from other countries are not the only source of diversity in the United States. Some minority families who have been concentrated in the inner cities are moving to the suburbs. In 1989 10% of students in metropolitan public schools outside of central cities were African-American, up from 6% in 1970 (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1992). Similarly, the percentage of Hispanic students in metropolitan areas outside of central cities went from 4.4% in 1972 to 10.2% in 1989. The fastest rate of growth in child poverty from 1973 to 1992 was in the suburbs, where the rate increased 76.4% (from 7.8 to 13.8%) (Cook & Brown, 1994). As a consequence of these changes, teachers who used to work with homogeneous middle-class populations now work with students from low-income households or from rural areas of other countries.

As a result of immigration, students may not be proficient in the language of instruction or may exhibit marked cultural differences from the majority group. In the United States, linguistic and cultural diversity are the currently preferred terms to describe the heterogeneity of school populations. The newcomers bring strengths and richness to the life of the school, particularly if school personnel know how to capitalize on the multicultural resources that these students represent.

Beyond the social fact of diversity, educators generally fail to face the implications of a hierarchical ranking of groups within the larger social system. School populations come from a larger system of social stratification. Immigrants often occupy places near the bottom of that system of social classes. Certain native-born racial, linguistic, and ethnic groups hold the same low ranks. With few economic or political resources, members of these groups may experience discrimination and exploitation by the dominant groups. Thus, teachers may face more than cultural and linguistic differences. They may face problems of dominance and inequality stemming from the larger society.

EQUITABLE CLASSROOMS IN A CHANGING SOCIETY

What is an equitable classroom? Because equity is the bottom line of the interventions described in this volume, one must be clear about the observable features of the goal. In an equitable classroom, teachers and students view each student as capable of learning both basic skills and high-level concepts. All students have equal access to challenging learning materials; the teacher does not deprive certain students of tasks demanding higher-order thinking because they are not ready; classmates do not block access to instructional materials or prevent others from using manipulatives. Even students who cannot read or understand the language of instruction have opportunities to complete activities and to use materials. The interaction among students is "equal-status," that is, all students are active and influential participants and their opinions matter to their fellow students. Finally, the achievement of students does not vary widely between the academically stronger and weaker students. While the more successful students continue to do well, the less successful students are much more closely clustered around the mean achievement of the classroom rather than trailing far out on the failing end of the distribution.

Equity is a matter of degree; classrooms are more or less equitable. According to the definition we have posed, very few classrooms are highly equitable. Moreover, there is considerable concern among educators that classrooms are becoming increasingly inequitable As national educational systems struggle to raise the standards of content coverage and level of difficulty, more students fail because they cannot meet the new standards. Compounding this problem is the fact that the demography of school populations has changed. There are many more students who do not respond to traditional educational methods and to demands for higher levels (as traditionally defined) of academic functioning.

More and more classrooms around the world contain racially, ethnically, and linguistically heterogeneous groups of students. This increase is a function of the growing heterogeneity of school populations. Areas that formerly contained culturally homogeneous middle-class residents have experienced significant in-migrations of economic and political refugees and migrant labor. In addition to these sources of migration, there has been a general increase in the transiency of world populations. Central-city areas have become increasingly polyglot in many countries featuring ethnic enclaves with distinctive languages and cultures.

Migrants from other countries are not the only source of diversity in the United States. Some minority families who have been concentrated in the inner cities are moving to the suburbs. In 1989 10% of students in metropolitan public schools outside of central cities were African-American, up from 6% in 1970 (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1992). Similarly, the percentage of Hispanic students in metropolitan areas outside of central cities went from 4.4% in 1972 to 10.2% in 1989. The fastest rate of growth in child poverty from 1973 to 1992 was in the suburbs, where the rate increased 76.4% (from 7.8 to 13.8%) (Cook & Brown, 1994). As a consequence of these changes, teachers who used to work with homogeneous middle-class populations now work with students from low-income households or from rural areas of other countries.

As a result of immigration, students may not be proficient in the language of instruction or may exhibit marked cultural differences from the majority group. In the United States, linguistic and cultural diversity are the currently preferred terms to describe the heterogeneity of school populations. The newcomers bring strengths and richness to the life of the school, particularly if school personnel know how to capitalize on the multicultural resources that these students represent.

Beyond the social fact of diversity, educators generally fail to face the implications of a hierarchical ranking of groups within the larger social system. School populations come from a larger system of social stratification. Immigrants often occupy places near the bottom of that system of social classes. Certain native-born racial, linguistic, and ethnic groups hold the same low ranks. With few economic or political resources, members of these groups may experience discrimination and exploitation by the dominant groups. Thus, teachers may face more than cultural and linguistic differences. They may face problems of dominance and inequality stemming from the larger society.