Content area
Full Text
Despite significant electoral changes at the national and state levels in recent years, American schools remain both challenged and burdened when it comes to issues of linguistic and cultural diversity. The goal of this special issue of Multicultural Education is to explore the critical connections between language, culture, schools, and families, with a specific focus on English language learners (ELLs) and their families.
There are many children in our schools who face the daunting challenge to not only understand the content that they are learning, but also to simply understand what their teacher is saying. These ELLs are challenged by the demands of becoming experts in the curriculum they are being taught at the very same time they are attempting to become fluent in English. Also consider the many parents who are English learners, who often must rely on their own children to assist them in navigating the U.S. school system, since they do not take part in the daily exercises learning English that their children experience.
These educational realities in the area of language are further complicated by the many diverse cultures and ethnicities represented among the student population of schools across the United States, further challenging the abilities of teachers, parents, and communities to work together to achieve the best education for all students.
This special issue offers a collection of articles by authors from the United States and Canada who are interested in and look at such topics as bilingualism, teaching language learners, family literacy, and issues of cultural bias. They provide case studies, practical practices, examples of school-family partnerships, and research.
We open with Martin Scanlan's "Inclusión: How School...