Keys to Success

This article discusses how Roland G. Tharp and his colleagues from the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, & Excellence, a federal research center at the University of California, identify methods to help "nonmainstream" pupils make academic gains. Tharp has identified five standards that he says mark effective instruction in classrooms with high concentrations of students from backgrounds outside the U.S. cultural mainstream. These standards are: (1) Teachers and students "producing" together, whether they are producing knowledge or some tangible product; (2) Developing students' language and literacy competence in all subjects; (3) Connecting school and learning to students' lives, or "contextualizing" knowledge; (4) Teaching complex thinking; and (5) Teaching through conversation rather than relying almost exclusively on lectures.