Giving Compass' Take:

· Chalkbeat discusses the importance of allowing students to learn more about their culture in schools and providing curriculum that is culturally relevant. 

· How can educators create comfortable and inclusive learning environments for their students?

· Making students feel included is key to their overall well-being and academic success. 

Growing up as a student of color in New York, Abigail Salas Maguire says she struggled to connect with the material she read.

“When I was in school and I was reading ‘Little House On The Prairie,’ that was hard to relate to–meadows, and rolling hills, what is that? I don’t know what that is,” said Maguire.

Now as a fourth grade teacher at the Emily Dickinson Elementary School in Manhattan, Maguire acknowledges that finding relatable, authentic literature can be a “struggle,” even for her. She wants not only books in Spanish for her dual language students but ones that represent them as well.

Last week, Maguire and more than 400 other educators came together at the Reimagining Education summer institute at Teachers College of Columbia University to learn how to provide students with academic experiences that reflect the diversity of their schools.

Read the full article about diversity in schools by Savannah Robinson at Chalkbeat.