Adams-Friendship High School sits in the center of Wisconsin, a few miles east of a national wildlife refuge, surrounded by farmland. Vincent High School, in Milwaukee, sits near the northern edge of the city, a few blocks from a highway. Two schools in the same state, separated by a three-hour car ride and a mile-long list of assumptions about…

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…

It's easy for overweight children to feel singled out and shamed about their body size, at home and at school. Experts say children can easily interpret even the well-intentioned "war on childhood obesity," meant to promote health, to mean a war on their bodies and on them. Size-based stigma stems in large part from the myth that being fat is a…

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists tracks the presence of Latinos in the news. It reports that news stories in which Latinos are the subject most often concern immigration, poverty and crime. And Hollywood does no better in reflecting the broad reality of Latino life. Latino characters are often portrayed as poor and uneducated. In…

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…

Rural schools do not usually make people think of innovation or experimentation. In fact, many people view rural areas as being too traditional or complacent to blaze educational trails. But this author is fortunate to be principal of one rural school, Federal Hocking Middle and High School, that is not afraid to innovate. Federal Hocking is also…

Three decades have passed since federal law mandated inclusion--ending, officially at least, a system that segregated students with disabilities from the rest of the student population. The publishing world has yet to catch up. In children's books, characters with disabilities often inhabit their own separate world, where disability is the only…

In American popular culture, the word "rural" invokes images of sunny farms and little red schoolhouses--while "urban" means drugs, poverty, and crime. But those who know the reality of both worlds will say that rural schools face many of the same challenges as their urban counterparts. The problems of rural schools are often…

Sarah Arnold was in a bind. On the surface, the students in her 11th-grade English courses seemed to have their act together. Like so many people their age, Arnold's students saw open homophobia as uncool. On the other hand, when Arnold listened to her students talking before the bell, she often heard an anti-gay undertone that disturbed her.…

In this article, the author, who has a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), shares her concerns about the stereotypes that too often surround the disorder. She suggests that because most biases and stereotypes are born of ignorance and misinformation, it is important that parents and educators do their part to…

Tells the story of the developing self-confidence that enabled a gay high school student to tell his parents and others about his homosexuality and to face the world without apologies. Highlights the significance of stereotypical messages about gays in his younger years. (SLD)

In this article, the author discusses how some educators are turning to service-learning projects for charitable activities--and helping to foster connections between students and the human beings they aim to serve. The author highlights a program called Kids Can Make a Difference, also known simply as KIDS, as an example of how to turn food…

Examines the ways a teaching artist, a dancer, uses movement as the point from which he and students gain a new perspective. The critical thinking that results from student responses to dance often gives voice to stereotypes that block students' broader vision and acceptance of diversity. (SLD)

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)

Because teachers are human, they sometimes judge their students based on where they live or the language they speak. Students are channeled into honors, regular or remedial classes based on these judgments. Separate sets of expectations are imposed upon separate sets of children, limiting access to information and opportunity. Teachers must…