Reflections on culturally responsive teaching: Embedding theory into practices of instructional and behavioral support

This paper offers reflections on the embedding of culturally responsive teaching practices into Response-to-Intervention (RtI) and School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SW-PBS) models. These types of systemic change models are increasingly being adopted by schools to address academic achievement and to foster a positive school climate. Moreover, they hold promise for addressing the disproportionality that many students who are culturally and linguistically diverse students experience in our schools. Following a review of the existing literature on systemic change, three guiding principles are offered that demonstrate how culturally responsive teaching can be embedded into models of instructional and behavioral support