Cultural Reciprocity: A Path for Bridging the Gap Between Home and School

Patricia A. Edwards and Guofang Li, Principal Investigators

Rebecca Norman and Maria Selena Protacio, Research Assistants

Teaching the culturally diverse child is one of the major challenges in American education today. The project is about schools that serve culturally diverse students and how to close the achievement gap for these students and their families. Specifically, this project addresses three questions: (1) What are the barriers for teachers to address diversity in the classroom? What can they do or not do to build upon children’s cultural backgrounds, abilities and beliefs? (2) What are the ways to bring parents into the learning process in ways that respect their contributions? and (3) What are the best practices and strategies that teachers and parents can use in school and home to bridge the achievement gap?