A Framework for Culturally Responsive Practices

“A Framework for Culturally Responsive Practice is a timely and necessary addition to the scholarship on supporting and empowering historically marginalized groups of students. In an effort to provide equitable opportunities for all students, the editors and contributors advocate for inclusionary practices in all facets of interactions and relationships with students. Within each of the six chapters, authors bridge the gap between research and practice, making this text a great resource for practicing teachers, administrators, and teacher educators. The volume also serves as a starting point for developing and implementing inclusive practices that recognize students’ identity, excellence, and culture. A Framework for Culturally Responsive Practices offers a solid foundation for educators looking for a starting point to begin dismantling inequitable and harmful K-8 classroom practices.”

“EL students’ classroom experience can be improved when teachers utilize discourse to deepen understanding. The CRIOP framework guides teachers through the importance of building upon students’ backgrounds and collaborative relationships. The scenarios provide teachers with incredible perspective for instruction and assessment, coupled with great suggestions for activities. I cannot wait to delve into this with teachers in our district!”

Dr. Molly McComas, Director of Student Services, Scott County Schools, KY

“The Critical Consciousness element of the CRIOP is essential for all aspects of culturally responsive instruction to function since it sets the stage for reading the world and examining how we are situated within it. This chapter offers several accessible examples of what critical consciousness looks like in varied contexts; it helps us understand how in community, educators can grow in their understanding and practice of critical consciousness along with their students and families.”

Dr. Yolanda Gallardo, Dean, School of Education, Gonzaga University

“Every educator is committed to teaching in a culturally responsive way, but how do you marshal your staff around a common vision of what effective culturally responsive instruction actually is? The CRIOP framework is the answer. Compelling, clear, and accessible, this book will guide you and your staff through the process of making your instruction more culturally responsive."

Matt Shuman, Instructional Coach, Boston Public Schools

“I look forward to using A Framework for Culturally Responsive Practices: Implementing the Culturally Responsive Instruction Observation Protocol (CRIOP) In K-8 Classrooms as a key text for my teacher preparation courses as it provides a well-researched and comprehensive culturally responsive teaching framework. The chapter on assessment is especially helpful as it offers rare insight and guidance with regard to equitable assessment practices.”

Dr. Lisa Eddy, Associate Professor Emeritus, Georgetown College

“This book will help all educators understand CRIOP and the importance it plays in classrooms! Complex texts, diversity, and relationships are vital to helping our students truly grow as people. Using this in my classroom has changed my teaching forever because I see the results daily, as well as in the data.”

Eric Miracle, teacher, Lexington, KY

Introduction
Rebecca Powell and Susan Chambers Cantrell

Chapter 1
Classroom Relationships
Doris Walker-Dalhouse
  Classroom Scenario 1.1 - Kindness Study
  Melissa Collins and Aimee Gonzalez
  Classroom Scenario 1.2 - Rare Bird
  Taylor Cain

Chapter 2
It Takes a Village to Teach a Child: Family Collaboration as an Essential Component of Culturally Responsive Instruction
Kristen H. Perry
  Classroom Scenario 2.1 - Creating a Collaborative Relationship With Families
  Elisabeth Darce
  Classroom Scenario 2.2 - Family Collaboration
  Jill Robertson

Chapter 3
Assessment as the Bridge Between Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning
Shannon O. Sampson and Carolyn A. Oldham
 Classroom Scenario 3.1 - New Learning Experiences, From Instructional Practices to Assessment
 Jennifer Caudill

Chapter 4
Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Instructional Practices
Susan Chambers Cantrell and Tiffany R. Wheeler
  Classroom Scenario 4.1 - Connecting Geologic and Biologic History to Students’ Lives
  Brittany Manion
  Classroom Scenario 4.2 - PWIM
  Emily D. Banks

Chapter 5
Discourse and Culturally Responsive Instruction
Pamela Knuckles Correll
  Classroom Scenario 5.1 - Implementing Accountable Talk in the Elementary Classroom
  Ashley Mangum

Chapter 6
Critical Consciousness
Rebecca Powell and Victor Malo-Juvera
  Classroom Scenario 6.1 - Blessing Bags
  Anita Johnson
  Classroom Scenario 6.2 - Plastic in the Ocean
  Margot Schenning
  Classroom Scenario 6.3 - Ghost Boys Reading Enrichment Unit
  Kala Damron
  Classroom Scenario 6.4 - Critical Consciousness
  Annabeth Edens

About the Authors
Index

Rebecca Powell

Dr. Rebecca Powell is Professor Emeritus and former Director of the Center for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy at Georgetown College. She currently works as an independent consultant in culturally and linguistically responsive instruction, and serves as an instructional coach for Project PLACE at the University of Kentucky, a federal grant project funded through the US Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition. In this role, she works in both urban and rural schools and supports teachers in their implementation of the various CRIOP elements. Dr. Powell was a primary developer of the Culturally Responsive Instruction Observation Protocol (CRIOP), an observation research instrument and framework for guiding teachers’ growth in culturally responsive instruction. She helped to develop the CRIOP training manual and for the past several years, has assisted in training researchers across the United States in using the CRIOP observation instrument. Dr. Powell has written or co-edited four other books: Literacy as a Moral Imperative: Facing the Challenges of a Pluralistic Society; Straight Talk: Growing as Multicultural Educators; Toward a Literacy of Promise: Joining the African American Struggle (with Linda Spears-Bunton), and Literacy for All Students: An Instructional Framework for Closing the Gap (with Elizabeth Rightmyer). She has authored over thirty book chapters, journal articles and monographs in literacy and equity pedagogy, and has published in diverse journals such as Linguistics and Education, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, The Reading Teacher, and Teachers College Record. Dr. Powell is a graduate of The College of Wooster and received her M.Ed. degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Ed.D. from the University of Kentucky.

Susan Chambers Cantrell

Dr. Susan Chambers Cantrell is a professor of Literacy in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Kentucky, where she teaches courses in literacy education. Her research is focused on teachers’ professional learning, efficacy development, and instructional change, particularly for underserved students.