February 1998 Improving the Odds for All Students
In many classrooms today, teachers face a diverse population of students with individual needs ranging from learning disabilities and physical impairments to language barriers and poverty. When schools are increasingly faced with classrooms that are more different than similar, even the most experienced and skilled teachers struggle with the challenge of tailoring instruction to meet many learning styles.All Students Learning: Making It Happen in Your School, the latest in NWREL’s By Request series, explores the concept of "learning for all" and discusses what it means for education today. Author Jennifer Fager approaches the issue broadly and builds on two premises: 1) student differences do exist and do influence the way students learn, and 2) schools and teachers can take certain measures to improve the odds of all students succeeding in school.
Serving all students hasn’t always been a priority for educators—schools simply weren’t expected to meet the educational needs of all children. Since the mid-1960s, however, legislation has demonstrated a growing commitment to educate diverse learners. As thoughts about schools have continued to evolve, attitudes toward the roles that schools play in the lives of all children have begun to broaden.
Research indicates that while serving all students has not always been a priority in schools, it is often suggested as a way of attaining many of today’s education goals. To make learning for all a priority requires an active commitment and ongoing effort from the entire school community.
Knowing what actions to take and options to investigate can be overwhelming for educators. The booklet considers implementation strategies, suggests guidelines for daily instruction, details different variables that can be adapted to the individual learner, outlines potential problems that may arise in the process, and reviews recommendations from pertinent research.
Profiles of eight school or district programs that exemplify a learning-for-all mission are included to provide educators with practical advice and strategies they can implement in their own classrooms. The solutions offered are not fool-proof, but rather are intended to help educators examine their own practices and develop their own strategies. Individual schools must determine the approach that will be most effective for them.
Research indicates that a learning-for-all approach offers several advantages, including:
- Teaching students that all people are equally valuable members of the school and society
- Creating an atmosphere of trust and respect as students learn that differences enrich learning
- Empowering previously unsuccessful students
- Encouraging educators to expand their skills
- Broadening students’ views of others and helping them become more accepting
- Helping students work in varied settings and with many types of people
- Ensuring that all students have the opportunity to become contributing members of society
- Encouraging parents and the community to become partners with the school in establishing and reinforcing this mission
All Students Learning: Making It Happen in Your School is available online.
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