My apologies to iconic hip-hop artists, De La Soul for I have shamelessly appropriated the title, "Stakes is high" to underscore the importance of the work ahead for educators, students, parents, community members, and researchers as we attempt to develop a generation of what I call "new century" students for a world we can hardly imagine. Through…

Despite the intense focus on the achievement gap that exists between African American, Latino, and other students of color and their White counterparts, the achievement gap discourse keeps us locked in the deficit paradigm. This article challenges us to look at the inherent fallacies of the achievement gap discourse and place students' academic…

Explores some aspects of the debate surrounding teacher assessment and raises questions about what is missing in so-called authentic assessments of teachers. Some proposed assessments may actually reinscribe narrow teaching practices that do not serve children of color and children living in poverty well. (Author/SLD)

A teacher educator who prepares students for teaching (and teaching about) culturally diverse students found her class hardly able to identify key names and phrases associated with civil rights/multicultural education issues. She recommends more emphasis on cultural diversity in the education of teachers, given rapid demographic change. (DM)

Supports the existence of an African connection and a cultural consciousness, and uses them as a basis for understanding how the schooling experience could and should be liberatory for African-American students. The case study of a culturally relevant teacher illustrates effective teaching for African Americans. (SLD)