Teacher preparation for culturally diverse classrooms: Performance-based assessment of beginning teachers

Abstract: To respond to an increasingly diverse student population, educators need to evaluate how well teacher education programs prepare graduates in culturally responsive teaching (CRT). In this study, we used a performance-based assessment to determine whether (a) different levels of preservice preparation in CRT and (b) preparation in special versus general education affected foundational CRT skills of 68 beginning teacher graduates of 4 traditional university programs. Preparation was designated as high or low according to participants ’ recollections of preservice coursework and internship experiences. Scores on nine performance criteria selected for their relevance to CRT were analyzed using a 2 3 2 multivariate analysis of variance. We found no differences due to level of preparation in CRT, but special and general education teachers differed on three criteria: knowledge of students ’ backgrounds, fairness, and extending students ’ thinking. We discuss implications for future research, measurement, and accountability in teacher education. Students from racially, culturally, and eth-nically diverse backgrounds are entering our nation’s public schools in increasing numbers (Gollnick & Chinn, 2002; Wil-liams, 1992) with a variety of languages, per-spectives, and learning styles that challenge teachers to provide appropriate instruction (Hilliard, 1992; Ortiz & Garcia, 1995). Over half of the students in California, Flor-ida, and Texas are projected to come from culturally and/or linguistically diverse (CLD)1 families by 2010, and Whites will become a ‘‘minority’ ’ of the U.S. population as a whole around 2050. The teaching force, however, remains predominately White an