Closing the Poverty and Culture Gap

Donna Walker Tileston is a veteran teacher and administrator. She is currently the president of Strategic Teaching and Learning, a consulting firm that provides services to schools throughout the United States and worldwide. Donna's publications include Ten Best Teaching Practices: How Brain Research, Learning Styles, and Standards Define Teaching Competencies (2000), which has been on Corwin's bestseller list since its first year in print, in addition to the ten-volume award-winning series What Every Teacher Should Know, now in its second edition. Other recent titles are Teaching Strategies for Active Learning (2006), Teaching Strategies that Prepare Students for High Stakes Tests (2008), and Closing the Poverty and Culture Gap (2009). Donna received her BA from the University of North Texas, her MA from East Texas State University, and her EdD from Texas A & M University-Commerce. She may be reached at www.whateveryteachershouldknow.com Sandra K. Darling is the founder and president of Learning Bridges. Grounded in five years of research, the Learning Bridges Aligned Instructional Database contains the most effective, research-based instructional strategies for the standards of all states-ranked in order of their power to impact learning. Born into extreme poverty in rural Minnesota, Darling understands the power of having significant adults in her life who believed in her, held high expectations, and taught her the value of integrity. She has co-authored three books in education and published articles in several education journals. She has presented on standards-based education, curriculum alignment, inclusion practices, transformational leadership, school improvement, strategic planning, and assessment practices to thousands of educators. She is the leading expert on aligning instructional strategies to content standards and delivering that instruction with the modifications to close the gap in achievement for diverse learners, i.e., students from poverty, diverse cultures, and English language learners. She received her BS degree, three master's degrees, and her PhD from the University of Minnesota in related areas of education.

Foreword by Belinda Williams Acknowledgments About the Authors Introduction 1. Culture and Poverty 2. Motivation From Within 3. Resiliency: Why It Matters 4. Teaching Declarative Knowledge 5. Teaching Procedural Knowledge (or Process) 6. The Role of Leadership in the Poverty School 7. Closing the Achievement Gaps References Index

"I can get future teachers to appreciate the role of culture and poverty, but it is very hard for them to translate that understanding into specific activities or strategies. This book provides strategies and supporting information about how and why culture and poverty are important. It provides so much more than any other text that I have ever used in an Introduction to Education course regarding working with diverse populations." -- Rosemary Traore, Assistant Professor of Urban Education "Provides a rich collection of research for instructional strategies. The combination of a call to action and supporting strategies provides a tool kit for instructional leaders." -- Mary Reeve, Director, Services for Exceptional Students