natives in Heart of Darkness. We firmly believed that literacy educators could encourage a multicultural reading of any text (Nieto, 1992), even one several thousand years old, such as The Odyssey. By the same token, we were wary of those educators and literary theorists who equated multiculturalism with simply offering tex

Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Othello, Pygma-lion, and Heart of Darkness in addition to popular films and hip-hip music, which we discuss later in this chapter. We also developed vocabulary units and units that prepared students for the SA

dents would need to understand, interpret, and produce in the Language of Wider Communication (LWC) (Smitherman, 2001), or what others might refer to as Standard English; they needed to develop linguistic competencies and literacy skills for academic advancement, professional employment, but also for civic participati

d peoples; that is centered in a critique of struc-tural, economic, and racial oppression; that is focused on dialogue instead of a one-way transmission of knowledge; and that is structured to empower in-dividuals and collectives as agents of socia

persistent and substantial overrepresentation of Blackstudents in special education has lasted for forty y

color already experience inequalities in schools at a high rate, the negativeoutcomes associated with their placement in special edu

The disproportionate representation of students of color in special education is a serious concernthat has lasted for forty years. Research suggests that students of color are too often not identifiedaccurately for special education and that the programs they are placed in are frequently poor inquality. This trend contributes to a less-than-optimal learning environment that lowers theirchances for future success. Some of the factors that may contribute to this problem include povertyand inaccurate teacher perceptions. To reduce this problem, teachers can be trained to be culturallyresponsive and the

view of her positioning. As I was preparing to present the first iteration of this paper, I worried I might be attributing inaccurate feelings to her so I asked her how she felt about being labeled as a child with special needs. She fired back with no hesitation, "I hate it!"

ducator/scholar to give "testimony" or "bear witness" (Burdell & Swadener, 1999) to her/our ongoing struggles with a society that exacts a steep toll on those who are "different." Based on my daughter's and my struggles with our "profoundly interrelated lives" (Hillyer, 1993, p. 105), I will raise some issues to ponder, and identify some implications of her/our

In this paper I draw on my life story as a teacher educator and the mother of a daughter with disabilities to trouble the identity that positions

Ngo is an Education Science major who, at the time of this writing,attends the University of California Irvine. Ngo is a Vietnamese American who is part of theLGBTQ+ community. And as a female-born individual, Ngo identifies as a non-binary queerwho wishes to transition as a male. In hopes of

While Lucille Clifton penned this poem to convey her everyday struggles as a non-White woman,1 the sentiment seems apt for a discussion of poverty. Like racism, poverty creates daily obstacles that call on the strength and per-severance of those who endure it. The economic recession continues to have a ripple effect on much of the country, despite improvements for some. Previous downturns in the stock market, falling home prices, high unemploy-ment rates, and shrinking school budgets left much of the country reeling economically. Undoubtedly, these occurrences have an influence on the nation’s schools and students. Recent census data indicate that more than 1 in 5 of children below the age of 18 live in poverty, putting the number at close to 16 million (Addy & Wight, 2012).

g and other displays of displeasure. Either expression is likely co receive negative sanction in the classroom setting. Researcher Harry Morgan documents in a 1990 study what most of us who have worked with African-American children have learned intuitively: that African-American children, more than white, and boys more than girls, initiate interac-tions with peers in the classroom in performing assigned tasks. Morgan concludes that a classroom that allows for greater movement and interact

white teachers, who are all afraid of black kids. It is this last group that, according to my young informant, consistently has the most difficulty with teaching and whose students have the most difficulty with learning. I would like to suggest that some of the problems may cer-tai

n any discussion of education and culture, it is important to remember that children are individuals and cannot be made to fit into any preconceived mold of how they are "supposed" to act. The question is not necessarily how to cre-ate the perfect "culturally matched" learning situation for each ethnic group, but rather how to recognize when there is a problem for a particular child and how to seek its cause in the most broadly conceived fashion.