Kimberly M. Jones-Goods
(kmjones3@ncat.edu)
has a background in
education that spans
10 years as a classroom
teacher and building level
administrator at a K–12
public charter school,
where she was in charge of
the instruction for racially,
culturally, ethnically,
and linguistically diverse
students. She is an adjunct
professor at North Carolina
Agricultural & Technical
State University.
s demographics change, schools must change to meet the needs of students from
diverse cultures. Teachers must capitalize on diverse races, ethnicities, and
cultures in the classroom to have the greatest impact on literacy acquisition.
Unfortunately, a literacy gap exists wherein white students consistently
outperform their diverse counterparts.
In order to close the gap, a greater focus has been given to the Common Core
State Standards (CCSS) instructional shifts in English language arts and literacy.
By Kimberly M. Jones-Goods
LITERACY
LEADERSHIP
THE CULTURALLY
RESPONSIVE
CLASSROOM
Why we need to transform instructional strategies
6
March/April 2015 | READING TODAY