If schools are to meet the challenge of educating increased numbers of children with diverse needs, teachers must embrace instruction and curricula that engage and encourage all students. Research about including children from multicultural backgrounds, children from homes in which English is not the primary language, and children with disabilities indicates the importance of several interrelated educational strategies: heterogeneous student grouping, developmentally appropriate practice, an inclusive curriculum that emphasizes children's strengths yet accommodates their needs, high expectations for all students, appropriate physical environment and materials, collaboration and instructional teaming with other teachers and professionals, support from administrators, families, and the community, and ongoing professional development.

Heterogeneous Student Grouping. Research on grouping practices has shown the detrimental impact of identifying students from minority racial, ethnic, and language backgrounds as low achievers and placing them in "lower" tracks. Villegas (1991) notes: "High and low academic tracks or instructional groups constitute different interactional contexts. Rather than narrowing the gap between the groups, the instructional methods typically used with the less-advanced students tend to accentuate any inequality in skills and knowledge that may be present when children are initially admitted to school." (p. 5)

Similarly, grouping students with disabilities in special education classrooms may isolate them from the real world and limit their opportunities to interact with other children. When circumstances permit, including students with disabilities in general education classrooms is highly desirable for promoting learning as well as social relationships.

Research shows positive results--both socially and academically--for at-risk, ethnic-minority, and language-minority students in heterogeneous, cooperative learning groups (Oakes, 1985; Wheelock, 1992; Johnson & Johnson, 1990; Slavin, 1990, Benard, 1995; Garcia, 1991). The teacher responsible for such a heterogeneous class must be able to identify the individual needs of each child, including any needs for accommodation and support. Assessment of young children can be a formal method for screening, diagnosis, determining eligibility for special services, planning instruction, and placement. Assessment also can be a means for monitoring progress through an Individualized Education Plan or Individualized Family Service Plan, which are required by law for children with disabilities. Further, assessment can be an informal determination of any extra help that an individual child may need in the classroom (Wolery, 1994a). Observations and conversations with family members, as well as formal test information, can help the teacher build upon each child’s strengths, regardless of whether the child is disabled, has a primary language other than English, or is from an ethnic-minority group (Dodge & Colker, 1992; Sanchez, Li, & Nuttall, 1995). This "advocacy orientation" can have positive results in empowering students, notes Cummins (1991). It is a positive contrast to the approach that labels a child "deficient" and produces a program to provide what he or she lacks. Developmentally Appropriate Practice. Developmentally appropriate practice is "based on knowledge about how children develop and learn" (National Association for the Eduation of Young Children, 1996). According to the Southern Regional Education Board (1994), a developmentally appropriate early childhood program emphasizes the following:

• Active, senses-based exploration of the environment
• Self-directed, hands-on learning activities balanced with teacher-directed activities
• A balance between individual and group activities
• Regular and supportive interaction with teachers and peers
• A balance between active movement and quiet activities
• Ongoing observation and assessment, which informs the program

When early childhood professionals make decisions about the developmental appropriateness of practices, they rely on three types of information and knowledge: what is known about child development and learning; what is known about the strengths, interests, and needs of each individual child in the group; and knowledge of the social and cultural context in which children live (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1996). Developmentally appropriate practice is especially important in the diverse early education classroom because it encourages greater cultural sensitivity, recognizes a variety of cultural communication patterns, and allows for intervention in the natural course of teaching.

Developmentally appropriate practice encourages greater cultural sensitivity because it emphasizes the use of an interactive or experiential teaching model marked by guidance and facilitation rather than control of student learning by the teacher. This type of instruction, notes Cummins (1991), "is automatically culture-fair in that all students are actively involved in expressing, sharing, and amplifying their experiences within the classroom." It is especially appropriate for language-minority children because it provides enriching experiences that each child can act upon individually (Nissani, 1993). Research shows that children with disabilities also benefit from this interactive or experiential approach because it emphasizes the child's engaged exploration (Swedo, 1987; Willig, Swedo, and Ortiz, 1987; Wolery, 1994d).

The developmentally appropriate interactive approach allows teachers to adapt classroom interaction to accommodate various cultural communication patterns. Such patterns include the role of eye contact in interacting with adults, the amount of time a student considers appropriate before responding, the type of sequence used in storytelling, and the sharing of information in a group. For example, some cultures discourage calling attention to oneself and showing knowledge; children from this type of background may not participate verbally in classroom activities (see Quintero, 1994; Villegas, 1991). By identifying and acknowledging cultural communication patterns, teachers can help children become comfortable and confident in the classroom setting. McLaughlin (1995) notes: "By validating the students’ cultures and using communication patterns familiar to them, teachers provide a much richer and more effective approach to culturally sensitive instruction than by focusing on occasional celebrations of the history and traditions of different ethnic groups. Children will feel validated in the classroom if they are encouraged to acclimate gradually through daily affirmation of their learning styles and communication patterns."

In addition to validating culture, the developmentally appropriate teaching style allows teachers to work with the different ways that children acquire language—both their first language and a second language. For example, children may learn a second language simultaneously with or successively to first-language acquisition and with or without code-switching, or inserting single items from one language into the other to make meaning clear (McLaughlin, 1995). Developing sensitivity to children's language use and acquisition helps teachers put into practice the viewpoint that bilingualism is an asset, not a deficit to be remedied (Gomez, 1991).

Developmentally appropriate practice promotes naturalistic teaching strategies. Such strategies integrate children’s individual goals into instruction by allowing teachers to intervene immediately in the context of naturally occurring classroom activities. Immediate teacher intervention can improve the language skills of a student whose home language is not English (Nissani, 1993); it also can assist a disabled student in reaching developmental goals such as feeding oneself or asking appropriately for juice at snack time (Diamond, Hestenes, & O’Connor, 1994). If students demonstrate unwelcome behavior (such as prejudice), natural intervention allows the teacher to immediately address the issue (Derman-Sparks & Anti-Bias Curriculum Task Force, 1989).

An Inclusive Curriculum. Another strategy for teaching children in a diverse classroom is an inclusive curriculum that emphasizes the strengths but accommodates the needs of all children--including children with disabilities or developmental delays, at-risk children, children from various minority groups and cultures, and children with limited English skills. In their Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs Serving Children Ages 3 Through 8, the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) describe the following characteristics of an appropriate early childhood curriculum:

• Is based on sound theoretical principles of how children learn and develop.
• Is designed to achieve long-range social, emotional, cognitive, and physical goals.
• Includes realistic and achievable expectations that allow children of varying abilities to work at different levels on different activities.
• Reflects the needs and interests of individual children and incorporates a wide variety of learning experiences.
• Builds upon what children already know.
• Engages children actively.
• Supports individual, cultural, and linguistic diversity, providing a balance between the dominant culture and the minority culture.
• Emphasizes the value of social interaction.
• Is flexible and can be adapted to individual children or groups.

A diverse early education classroom also requires other curricular considerations. The curriculum must balance learning the common core of knowledge from the dominant culture (the English language, for example, or democratic values) with knowledge of minority cultures (Derman-Sparks, 1992). To do so, the teacher must plan to connect cultural activities to concrete, daily life through hands-on experiences, rather than "visiting" other cultures on special occasions.

Teaching with a multicultural perspective encourages children to understand and appreciate other cultures. Curricular units on families (perhaps using photos or making class books), the local community, cooking, music, and work can all be helpful in accomplishing this goal (Derman-Sparks & Anti-Bias Curriculum Task Force, 1989).