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Topical Briefs
We invite you to download some or all of our Topical Briefs for free. These publications have been written by a variety of researchers, practitioners and family members about specific practices that support inclusive schooling and culturally responsive practice. We write these Topical Briefs with three standards in mind:
(1) We strive to make these products authentic so that the ideas and illustrations that you read about can be applied in a variety of educational settings.
(2) You should find our Topical Briefs accessible. We work to make our language clear and precise. When possible, we translate our Briefs into a variety of languages.
(3) These Topical Briefs should help you link theories and practices so that you have framework for exploring or informing practice as well as examples of how the theory is translated into practice that is effective and produces learning results for students. All of our Topical Briefs are distillations of research, so all references are listed at the end if you want to read more about a particular topic.
Many school leaders, teacher educators, and technical assistance providers use our Topical Briefs to support professional learning in their work. These helpful publications are also available for purchasing for a minimal cost – around $5 per copy. Order your own glossy, durable booklets using our online order form.
Culturally Responsive Practice As more and more students from diverse backgrounds populate 21st century classrooms, and efforts mount to identify effective methods to teach these students, the need for pedagogical approaches that are culturally responsive intensifies. Today’s classrooms require teachers to educate students varying in culture, language, abilities, and many other characteristics (Gollnick & Chinn, 2002). To meet this challenge, teachers must employ not only theoretically sound but also culturally responsive pedagogy. Teachers must create a classroom culture where all students regardless of their cultural and linguistic background are welcomed and supported, and provided with the best opportunity to learn.  Coming to an understanding if the ways in which ones beliefs, experience, values, and assumptions are linked to culture is an essential feature of culturally responsive practice.  In order for culturally and linguistically diverse students to reach their full potential, instruction should be provided in ways that promote the acquisition of increasingly complex knowledge and skills in a social climate that fosters collaboration and positive interactions among participants. Such classrooms are inclusive in their emphasis on high standards and outcomes for all students, including culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Important features of such settings include high expectations, exposure to academically rich curricula and materials, approaches that are culturally and linguistically responsive and appropriate, use of instructional technologies that enhance learning, and emphasis on student-regulated, active learning rather than passive, teacher-directed transmission.  This What Matters brief presents general trends in the social and emotional well-being of youth who identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (GLBTQ), followed by a guide of sexual orientation definitions. Additionally, readers learn a series of steps that schools must address in order to build inclusive, safe, and effective schools for all students, including those who identify as GLBTQ.  This brief, in Spanish, defines the concept of overrepresentation, identifies possible causes for the problem, and offers a variety of ways that parents and families can help prevent or decrease overrepresentation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education programs.  This OnPoint introduces Multiple Intelligences theory and explores its use with all students by looking at the research on classrooms that use MI. In particular, we explore the Project on Schools Using Multiple Intelligences Theory (Project SUMIT) in depth so that readers can have a robust example to draw on for their own classrooms.  This OnPoint is designed to develop understanding about the contexts in which this country has viewed immigration and how these contexts constrain our responses to the new waves of immigration.  The laws governing special education, and overrepresentation issues in particular, can be intimidating. Lost in the mishmash of federal and state laws and regulations, however, are some fairly basic rules. This practitioner brief explains and outlines those rules.  In this brief, we highlight four key elements of culturally- and linguistically-responsive prereferral intervention for culturally and linguistically diverse students. These elements are (1) Preventing School Underachievement and Failure, (2) Early Intervention for Struggling Learners, (3) Diagnostic/Prescriptive Teaching, and (4) Availability of General Education Problem-Solving Support Systems.  This publication demonstrate the need for rethinking current approaches to professional learning and provides guidelines for professional learning for culturally responsive teaching, as well as research-supported examples of schools and districts engaged in this process.  This OnPoint describes the way in which NIUSI defines culture and how to think about educational settings and scenarios from the point of view of culture.
Disabilities This OnPoint reviews a study of classrooms with and without students with severe disabilities and examines the differences in instructional time and time lost to interruptions. It also provides helpful suggestions for creating classrooms that are inclusive and where students with and without disabilities can be successful.  Teachers and administrators are all familiar with the growing movement toward the inclusion of children with disabilities into general education classrooms. This OnPoint is intended simply to provide some hints and resources about how to start thinking, talking, and teaching about the meaning and experience of children with disabilities in our schools.  The purpose of this report is to present some important statistics that reveal how students with disabilities appear to be faring; to identify some strategies that appear to result in desirable outcomes; and to suggest some resources for further information about this topic.
Disproportionality This brief, also available Spanish, defines the concept of overrepresentation, identifies possible causes for the problem, and offers a variety of ways that parents and families can help prevent or decrease overrepresentation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education programs.  This brief examines the various calculations used to examine disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education. It also provides background information on the history of this issue, relevant legal decisions and statutes, disproportionate access to the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), and the concept of significant disproportionality. This brief, in Spanish, defines the concept of overrepresentation, identifies possible causes for the problem, and offers a variety of ways that parents and families can help prevent or decrease overrepresentation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education programs. The laws governing special education, and overrepresentation issues in particular, can be intimidating. Lost in the mishmash of federal and state laws and regulations, however, are some fairly basic rules. This practitioner brief explains and outlines those rules.  In this brief, we highlight four key elements of culturally- and linguistically-responsive prereferral intervention for culturally and linguistically diverse students. These elements are (1) Preventing School Underachievement and Failure, (2) Early Intervention for Struggling Learners, (3) Diagnostic/Prescriptive Teaching, and (4) Availability of General Education Problem-Solving Support Systems.  This brief examines the phenomenon of disproportionate application of disciplinary practices for culturally and linguistically diverse students including the history and background of the problem, contributing factors, impact of current zero tolerance policies, and recommendations for preventing and reducing disproportionate practices.
English Language LearnersAs more and more students from diverse backgrounds populate 21st century classrooms, and efforts mount to identify effective methods to teach these students, the need for pedagogical approaches that are culturally responsive intensifies. Today’s classrooms require teachers to educate students varying in culture, language, abilities, and many other characteristics (Gollnick & Chinn, 2002). To meet this challenge, teachers must employ not only theoretically sound but also culturally responsive pedagogy. Teachers must create a classroom culture where all students regardless of their cultural and linguistic background are welcomed and supported, and provided with the best opportunity to learn. This OnPoint is designed to develop understanding about the contexts in which this country has viewed immigration and how these contexts constrain our responses to the new waves of immigration.  This OnPoint tackles the complexity of English language learners’ needs from the point of view of two native Polish-speaking teacher educators who teach in teacher education programs in the United States. Born and raised in Poland, these teacher educators and share their passion for their native language and culture with students who are either already practicing public school teachers or in the process of becoming teachers.
Family EngagementThis brief, in Spanish, defines the concept of overrepresentation, identifies possible causes for the problem, and offers a variety of ways that parents and families can help prevent or decrease overrepresentation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education programs. This OnPoint is designed to develop understanding about the contexts in which this country has viewed immigration and how these contexts constrain our responses to the new waves of immigration.  Schools that successfully reach all their students are inclusive. They use a variety of teaching approaches, engage with families and communities to support life-long learning, and keep students motivated to learn and create. To do this work well means that schools, teachers, and other school professionals need to understand and respond to the unique needs that families and their students may have. This OnPoint provides a backdrop for understanding how critical these relationships can be in building the social and emotional resources that families need to support their children throughout their school careers. The laws governing special education, and overrepresentation issues in particular, can be intimidating. Lost in the mishmash of federal and state laws and regulations, however, are some fairly basic rules. This practitioner brief explains and outlines those rules.
Inclusive EducationThis What Matters brief presents general trends in the social and emotional well-being of youth who identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (GLBTQ), followed by a guide of sexual orientation definitions. Additionally, readers learn a series of steps that schools must address in order to build inclusive, safe, and effective schools for all students, including those who identify as GLBTQ. This OnPoint reviews a study of classrooms with and without students with severe disabilities and examines the differences in instructional time and time lost to interruptions. It also provides helpful suggestions for creating classrooms that are inclusive and where students with and without disabilities can be successful. Teachers and administrators are all familiar with the growing movement toward the inclusion of children with disabilities into general education classrooms. This OnPoint is intended simply to provide some hints and resources about how to start thinking, talking, and teaching about the meaning and experience of children with disabilities in our schools.  In this OnPoint, we discuss the role of principals in building a school’s capacity to serve all learners well and the strategies and resources that successful principals use to develop an inclusive learning community in urban schools.
Leadership Focus groups are an effective means of collecting qualitative information that can be used to guide improvement planning and efforts. This OnPoint describes the process of planning, carrying out, and using information gathered from focus groups for Building Leadership Teams.  Today’s schools are striving to meet the challenges of systemic reform and school improvement. In the midst of such demands, however, teachers find themselves with more to do in the same amount of time, or even in less time, than they have had in the past. This OnPoint gives tips and suggestions for optimizing use of time in schools. In this OnPoint, we discuss the role of principals in building a school’s capacity to serve all learners well and the strategies and resources that successful principals use to develop an inclusive learning community in urban schools.  Skilled Dialogue© is a relational approach to communication and interactions that stems from the evidence-based premise that three qualities characterize cultural competence: respect, reciprocity, and responsiveness.  A Building Leadership Team (BLT) is a school-based group of individuals who work to provide strong organizational process for school renewal and improvement. This OnPoint identifies who should be on the team, what effective decision making processes are, and how to address important topics in an inclusive format.  The School Improvement Process can help school communities to develop an information system to guide the improvement of services to all students and their families. This process engages families and students in new roles as active participants and leaders in the process. Each page of this guide focuses on a different part of the School Improvement Process. You’ll find ideas about how to gather and use information to set your focus areas and action cycles.
Response to Intervention Looking through the lens of culturally responsive practice, we consider how best to implement Response to Intervention (RTI) in a way that will provide equitable educational opportunity for students who are English Language Learners. In this brief, we highlight four key elements of culturally- and linguistically-responsive prereferral intervention for culturally and linguistically diverse students. These elements are (1) Preventing School Underachievement and Failure, (2) Early Intervention for Struggling Learners, (3) Diagnostic/Prescriptive Teaching, and (4) Availability of General Education Problem-Solving Support Systems.
School ImprovementA Building Leadership Team (BLT) is a school-based group of individuals who work to provide strong organizational process for school renewal and improvement. This OnPoint identifies who should be on the team, what effective decision making processes are, and how to address important topics in an inclusive format. The School Improvement Process can help school communities to develop an information system to guide the improvement of services to all students and their families. This process engages families and students in new roles as active participants and leaders in the process. Each page of this guide focuses on a different part of the School Improvement Process. You’ll find ideas about how to gather and use information to set your focus areas and action cycles.
Teacher Learning This brief has a twofold purpose: (a) to demonstrate the need for rethinking current approaches to teacher education pedagogy and (b) to provide guidelines for developing culturally responsive teacher education pedagogy.  As schools restructure and reform for the 21st Century, educators are being required to work together in more ways. This OnPoint addresses the challenges of teacher collaboration, including how to manage time, share ideas and tasks, and how to work toward group practice to meet the changing demands of todays schools.  When students with disabilities, linguistic differences or other unique abilities join general education classrooms, even willing teachers fear their lack of training and preparation to deal with such differences make their role as primary teacher inappropriate and inadequate. This OnPoint describes two approaches to this dilemma.  Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is an educator-driven, flexible system where educators engage in planning learning experiences over time that result in better and better learning and life experiences for students and educators. This OnPoint describes CPD and identifies 8 principles for effective CPD.
Urban Schools This timely brief describes the ways in which homelessness can impact students lives, identifies legal requirements for services, and provides helpful suggestions for school leaders, community members, and educators for how to support students who face homelessness.  This OnPoint examines the unique challenges urban schools face in supporting the mental health of students, staff, and communities, including emerging trends, ways to enhance mental health in schools, and ways to support a mentally healthy school climate.
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