Linguist Rosina Lippi-Green concludes in her book, "English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States," "Accent discrimination can be found everywhere in our daily lives. In fact, such behavior is so commonly accepted, so widely perceived as appropriate, that it must be seen as the last back door to…

In this article, the author recounts how school taught him that he was poor. For him, third grade was the year in which he learned in school that he was poor. The author's story reminds everyone that all children do not experience school in the same way. Their social class (in the case described in this article), as well as their race, gender,…

In one recent national survey of teenagers who had been in relationships, 29 percent reported experiencing sexual or physical abuse or receiving threats of physical violence from partners. About 10 percent of students in grades nine to 12 consistently say they've been physically hurt on purpose by a dating partner during the past year, according…

The basketball players sit in a corner of the cafeteria. The rockers hang out near the stage. The ditchers and smokers congregate near the school gates. The JV football players and cheerleaders? They're near the field. This is how students at California's Hawthorne High described the typical lunch period at their school. In doing so, they also…

Tia Hall wanted to learn German. As a student at an elite private school, Hall felt that this was a reasonable request. But she still recalls the teacher who ridiculed her, saying, "Why on earth would a black kid want to study German?" She never forgot how it felt to be the "only one." As an adult, she married a man who'd had a similar school…

In 2002, only 11 public schools in the United States had gender-segregated classrooms. As of December 2009, there were more than 550. The movement is based on the hypothesis that hard-wired differences in the ways that male and female brains develop and function in childhood through adolescence require classrooms in which boys and girls are not…

Kawania Wooten's voice tightens when she describes the struggle she's having at the school her son attends. When his class created a timeline of civilization, Wooten saw the Greeks, the Romans and the Incas. Nothing was said about Africa, even though the class has several African American students. This article discusses racial…

Cyberbullying is the repeated use of technology to harass, humiliate, or threaten. Unlike most types of traditional bullying, it comes with a wide audience. Anywhere from one-third to one-half of youths have been targeted by cyberbullies, and those experiences produce damaging consequences--everything from a decline in academic performance to…

Innovative programs for migrant students prove the payoff of making parents partners in classroom learning. This article features "Abriendo Puertas," or Opening Doors, an innovative program developed by Texas A&M University specifically for migrant education. The program emphasizes on literacy, academic success, and--most…

This article features Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), a systems-based method that offers a schoolwide approach to improving student behavior. PBIS was developed at the University of Oregon and has been shown to work at all grade levels and be effective in districts with greater concentrations of poverty and higher…

Describes several programs in which music and dance are used to unlock doors that stereotypes of race, gender, language, religion, or ability have kept shut. Exposure to the music and dance of other cultures helps children's awareness of the diversity of the world and people's essential similarities. (SLD)

Teaching about color and value scales emphasizes a systematic approach to the effects of color and may reinforce assumptions rooted in racism. Describes how an 8th grade art class challenged the symbolism of black as evil and white as good. By showing that this is a culturally constructed meaning, art teachers model that such meaning can also be…

Describes the Romani (Gypsy) culture and refutes some stereotypes about this ethnic group. Discusses ways to improve educational opportunities for Romani children, whose culture has been wary of conventional public education and describes the importance of the Internet for Romani-American communication. (SLD)

Voices and Visions is an initiative launched cooperatively by a school district, museum, and university. Situated within the museum, it is intended to help children feel curiosity and delight about people's differences while learning how much they actually have in common. The program also includes yearlong classroom activities, built around six…

Describes the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at a high school in Canton (Massachusetts), a school-sanctioned student organization that gives gay and straight students a safe place to discuss sexual orientation issues. The GSA serves as a forum for educating students and can be a base for larger community education efforts. (SLD)