Standards for Diverse Learners.

Abstract

ii.. ,.§4 * Students are no longer either Catholic, Jew, or Protestant; in fact, the fastest growing religion in the United States is Islam (Hodgkinson, 1998). * Most of the 5.3 million U.S. students with disabilities spend some part of their day in classes with nondisabled students (Kaye, 1997). * By 1995, bilingual programs were operating in nearly 200 U.S. schools (Rethinking Schools, 1998). * At least one-third of the school-aged population in the United States is nonwhite (Marlowe & Page, 1999). * 43 million people in the United States move every year (Hodgkinson, 1998), creating an increasingly mobile student population. In addition, trends such as multicultural education, antitracking pedagogy, inclusive education, dual bilingual programs, magnet schools, and multiage classrooms are contributing to the rich diversity of U.S. schools. The standards movement will have little meaning if it cannot respond to the needs of all these students. Can we develop standards and make curriculum, instruction, and assessment responsive to learning differences?