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Despite remarkable progress along many indicators of equitable access, participation, and outcomes of schooling, there are still persistent, pervasive issues that must be addresses, including continued disparities in access to athletics and academic programs, sexual harassment, hate crimes, and discriminatory treatment of girls and women. This What Matters brief includes strategies for: * Achieving gender equity in access and opportunities to learn * Achieving a gender-balanced curriculum * Achieving gender-equity in interpersonal relations with/between students * Achieving gender-equity in discipline patterns

The effort to provide an equitable education to all students has led to extensive research on the effects of racial and ethnic differences, and of gender, on access, learning, and achievement. It has also led to great debate about which student population has been most shortchanged, with the argument about gender inequities perhaps most fierce. The impact of ethnicity on gender differences had been only minimally considered by researchers, however, until the Educational Testing Service (ETS) began looking at the topic several years ago, first with a study on test taking (Willingham & Cole, 1997) and now with a report on a variety of education and employment measures (Coley, 2001). The ETS publications, while demonstrating generally that there are "more similarities than variations in gender differences among racial/ethnic groups" (Coley, 2001, p. 3) present statistics showing some interesting twists in the way the differences are manifested. They also raise some questions about educational equity that transcend the issue of gender fairness. Thus, as part of an ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education series consisting of facts about specific student groups, this digest presents highlights from the education findings in Richard Coley's Differences in the Gender Gap: Comparisons Across Racial/Ethnic Groups in Education and Work.

The Equity Alliance at Arizona State University is one of 10 regional Equity Assistance Centers in the U.S. that are funded by the U.S. Department of Education to support the work of the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice in enforcing federal civil rights laws. While the efforts of the Office of Civil Rights have improved educational opportunities for formerly excluded and marginalized students, there is still much work to be done to address achievement gaps and to ensure that all students are provided with high-quality education (Artiles, Rueda, Salazar, & Higareda, 2005; Donovan & Cross, 2002; Klingner, Méndez Barletta, & Hoover, 2008; Losen & Orfield, 2002).

In the debate over the achievement gap between white and minority children in Connecticut, the overrepresentation of black and Hispanic children in special education classes is among the most sensitive subjects.

This resource is the web site for the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt). NCCRESt provides technical assistance and professional development to close the achievement gap between students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their peers, and reduce inappropriate referrals to special education.

The evidence is consistent, positive, and convincing: families have a major influence on their children's achievement in school and through life. This fourth edition of Evidence confirms that the research continues to grow and build an ever-strengthening case. When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more.

Education was historically considered a great equalizer in American society, capable of lifting less advantaged children and improving their chances for success as adults. But a body of recently published scholarship suggests that the achievement gap between rich and poor children is widening, a development that threatens to dilute education's leveling effects.

Authorized under Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA) supports the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) in its mission to respond to Title III educational needs, and implement NCLB as it applies to English language learners (ELLs).

The mission of the Office of Indian Education is to support the efforts of local educational agencies, Indian tribes and organizations, postsecondary institutions, and other entities to meet the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives so that these students can achieve to the same challenging state standards as all students.

"The American Indian College Fund's motto is educating the mind and spirit. We achieve this by providing Native students with scholarships and providing financial support for the nation's 33 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which incorporate American Indian culture and language into their curriculum to honor our students' heritage and Native identity. Established in 1989, the American Indian College Fund is the nation's largest and highest-rated American Indian scholarship organization. "

"This toolkit is designed to help decision-makers, advocates, and elected officials get better results in their work by providing equitable opportunities for all. The toolkit presents a specific point of view on addressing unequal opportunities by race and offers simple, results-oriented steps to help you achieve your goals."

In many classrooms across America, race and ethnicity are very much on the table. Teachers dream of seeing their students discuss difference in a constructive way. Some educators actively encourage their classes to get outside their comfort zones and confront the country's racial history. But in many faculty rooms, there's little to no talk about race. Whether the topic is a racial disparity in students' academic achievement, a teacher who feels victim to racial discrimination or even simply a question about a black student's hair, teachers often elect to keep their mouths shut. If teachers can't have the race talk with each other, how can schools effectively educate their students about difference?

As state-defined standards of learning and standardized tests become more and more closely identified as measures of achievement, not only for students, but also for teachers, administrators, schools and school districts, teachers are feeling less empowered to employ creative means for make their curricula more inclusive and accessible to all students. Even as the Internet and other new educational media broaden classroom access to a virtually endless stream of new resources, perspectives, and interactive capabilities, most curricula are necessarily built around textbooks and standardized tests. These and other contextual factors highlight some of the formidable challenges to any process of curriculum transformation. An additional set of challenges emerges when one attempts to develop a process for curriculum transformation within a multicultural education paradigm. One such challenge is a set of critiques regarding multicultural education, usually coming from educational conservatives. (These critiques and responses to them are listed here.) A second challenge is a lack of training or preparation on the part of teachers for developing inclusive multicultural curricula, and a lack of training or preparation on the part of administrators to support teachers in such efforts. This section of the Multicultural Pavilion will serve as a starting point for teachers who, despite these challenges, are determined to create a more inclusive, multicultural curriculum for their students.

The most significant educational challenge facing the United States is the tragically low academic achievement of many students of color. TDSi helps educators meet the challenge with a collection of research-based tools and resources designed to improve the teaching of racially and ethnically diverse students.

"Since its passage in 1972, Title IX has spawned many changes. More girls than ever are playing sports. Doors have opened for them to take advanced math and science courses. Pregnant and parenting students have more educational opportunities. But most experts and educators say-and the data confirm-that gender equality has yet to be achieved. In this collection, Education Week examines the landmark federal law's history, progress, and remaining barriers. "

Two major premises are developed in this discussion. One is that many students of color are disproportionately assigned to special education because educators lack knowledge about or appreciation for their cultural values and socialization, and how these a€ ect learning behaviors. The other premise is that the educational quality of students of color in both special and regular education can be improved signi®cantly by using instructional programs and practices that re¯ect their cultural heritages, experiences, and perspectives. Several components of this ``culturally responsive teaching'' are explained, along with some research ®ndings about its e€ ects on student achievement. These include critical cultural consciousness of teachers; culturally pluralistic classroom climates; diverse communities of learners; and multicultural curriculum and instruction. The author concludes that without culturally responsive teaching education can never be the best it should be for students who are not part of the majority and mainstream of schools and society.

The United States experienced phenomenal growth in the number of English-language learners over the first decade of the 21st century, expanding the need in many public schools to provide special language instruction.

Two major premises are developed in this discussion. One is that many students of color are disproportionately assigned to special education because educators lack knowledge about or appreciation for their cultural values and socialization, and how these affect learning behaviors. The other premise is that the educational quality of students of color in both special and regular education can be improved significantly by using instructional programs and practices that reflect their cultural heritages, experiences, and perspectives. Several components of this ``culturally responsive teaching'' are explained, along with some research findings about its effects on student achievement. These include critical cultural consciousness of teachers; culturally pluralistic classroom climates; diverse communities of learners; and multicultural curriculum and instruction. The author concludes that without culturally responsive teaching education can never be the best it should be for students who are not part of the majority and mainstream of schools and society.