Culturally Proficient Education: An Asset-Based Response to Conditions of Poverty

by Randall B. Lindsey, Michelle S. Karns (Editor), Keith Myatt (Editor)

Using the framework of cultural proficiency, this timely resource offers educators the knowledge and skills to maximize educational opportunities for all students, independent of students socioeconomic status.

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[David Doty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given my work with students in Job Corps, all of whom come from poverty, I was interested in this book, which focuses on the principle that all students can learn, and that educators should "concentrate on the seven hours students are on our campus and where we have most influence rather than on the 17 hours that students are not on campus and over which we have literally no control."

I liked the authors' emphasis on "academic optimism," which "views teachers as capable, students as willing, parents as supportive, and the task as achievable," and their rejection of the "deficit theory," that presumes students in poverty bring challenges to the classroom that cannot be overcome.

However, I found the writing to be confusing, and many of the charts, tables, and lists to be pedantic and overly complicated to be of much use in practice. This is just not one of the better books on teaching and educational leadership I have read.