Category: Writing

Families face a number of social and economic challenges
that affect the well-being of their children. Which factors do you think are
most damaging to children? What should teachers and schools do to help students
develop resiliency and be able to achieve academically under adverse
circumstances?
1. What signs might teachers see to make them wonder
whether a child or adolescent is being abused? What steps should you take if
you suspect abuse or other risktaking behaviors?

What are your experiences with or perceptions of families
headed by a mother who has never been married? How can you support students in
single-parent families?
1. How will you respond when you meet with an interracial
or gay couple to discuss the academic progress of their child?
3. How can a school develop a climate of acceptance of
all students regardless of the structure of the families in which they live?

Select two schools in different parts of your state and
analyze the student achievement data in one of the subject areas tested in your
state. (You should be able to locate these data on the website of the school or
school district.) How are students in the grade that you plan to teach (or
closest to the grade you plan to teach) performing on the test? What
differences exist among groups of students in the school? What should teachers
consider in improving their students’ test scores in the next testing cycle?

Identify one cultural group with which you have limited
or no experience and write a paper on the group’s historical and current
experience in the United States. What other information would be helpful to you
if students from this group are in your classroom when you begin teaching? How
will you work effectively with the families from this group?

Diversity, social justice, and equality are concepts that
support multicultural education. What conditions and practices in schools
suggest that these concepts are undergirding the education system as you know
it? What are signs that these concepts are being addressed and implemented in
schools?