What Is It?
Teachers are responsive to adolescent students' needs for choice and flexibility and offer clear expectations and support for higher achievement. A variety of materials and resources are available for teaching and learning. Engagement can be the key to motivating learners previously caught in a cycle of failure in reading and writing. Teachers are also responsive to differing cultural perspectives, making these perspectives clear through their facilitation of discussion, choices of literature, structuring of assignments and assessment strategies. Teachers encourage students from all backgrounds and from diverse perspectives to participate in supportive classroom discussions.
The Knowledge Loom provides research and case studies of culturally responsive practice. It makes explicit the work of teachers who use and respect their students' languages, cultures, and life experiences through the following principles, which can also be found on the Culturally Responsive Teaching Spotlight.
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There are many good Web sites listing books and resources by genre, intended audience, cultural perspectives, and theme, which target young adult readers. You might want to check out the following to broaden the reading materials you provide or recommend to engage learners:
http://falcon.jmu.edu/%7Eramseyil/yalit.htm
