insights

Cultural Relevance in Community College Math

“You all did not try to change the way we are teaching,” says a school readiness coach who participated in WestEd’s Early Math Training workshop at the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona. “Instead,” says the coach, “you showed us ways we could incorporate what we’ve learned … to enhance our programs.” Learn how the Early Math Training Network is collaborating with the Navajo Nation to boost children’s math development in the home.

In the U.S., 50 percent of students identify as being a person of color, yet only 20 percent of their teachers do so, with Black men in particular accounting for just 2 percent of the overall teaching force. Does the mismatch matter? Yes. This Council of Chief State School Officers’ vision and guidance paper, whose authors recently joined WestEd, explains why a diverse and culturally responsive workforce is crucial to education equity and reports what states are doing to make it happen.

The 1965 mandate to desegregate public schools, established in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education court decision, was a good start in addressing inequity. But almost 55 years later, racial and socioeconomic segregation persists in schools and communities. In this ASCD article, WestEd’s Saroja Warner examines how educators can support equitable educational opportunities and outcomes for all learners.

This professional learning series provides a teaching framework that emphasizes experiential, active, and student-centered learning. The series provides the pedagogical principles that help educators create (or adjust) lessons that are informed by aspects of Native American cultures. Implementing this process can help pave the way for students to achieve success, both in and out of the classroom.