21st Century American Education

According to the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau, African Americans comprise more than 13% of the U.S. population. The rest of the population is composed of 78% Caucasians, 16% Hispanics or Latinos, 5% Asians, and 1% Native Americans. A language other than English is spoken in about 20% of households.

Logically, students in U.S. schools come from various economic, social, racial, cultural, and academic backgrounds. Because of this diversity, preparing these students for life in the twenty-first century is challenging. Introducing strategies to support success for all learners and engage them in productive classroom experiences is critical. As an educator, you must explore various ways to build an effective, dynamic system of twenty-first-century American education in order to best support your students’ success.

This resource provides instruction for users to:

• Describe a variety of ways that diverse students engage with curricular materials to construct meaning
• Describe elements of culturally relevant pedagogy
• Propose a curriculum review process that considers the needs of early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school students; English language learners; and special education and general education students
• Defend the implementation of Response to Intervention as a reform strategy