CRS Resource Repository

The list of books that promote diversity and inclusion highlights how literature helps foster empathy by allowing readers to experience different perspectives. These books cover topics such as bullying, physical and mental challenges, love, and adventures, all while reflecting a diverse world. They encourage understanding and connection through characters of various backgrounds and experiences. For more suggestions, the list also recommends books with characters of color and those that teach empathy.

​The Edutopia article highlights how Hood River Middle School in Oregon collaborates with local experts to enhance student learning. By involving professionals like geologists, chefs, and engineers, students gain real-world insights and inspiration, making their education more relevant and engaging. This approach not only enriches the curriculum but also broadens students' career perspectives and aspirations. ​

Explores how gathering and using parent feedback helps teachers better support students and build stronger school-home connections. Simple tools and thoughtful questions make feedback more meaningful and actionable.

This is an article that explores the role of technology in building relationships with colleagues and students. The resource emphasizes that while technology can be a useful tool for communication and collaboration, it cannot replace the importance of one-on-one interactions in building strong relationships. This article provides practical strategies for educators to use technology to enhance, rather than replace, face-to-face interactions, such as using digital tools to facilitate communication, collaboration, and community building. It also highlights the importance of creating a positive school culture that fosters positive relationships among colleagues and students, and provides tips for building strong relationships with students, such as getting to know them as individuals, listening actively to their perspectives, and providing opportunities for student voice and choice.

The research article is a literature review of 32 studies. It examines different models of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) in Maths to expand understanding of how PLC in Maths can be structured. The study reveals three strategies namely, developing norms for collaboration, developing teachers' understanding about Maths and its teaching, and developing teachers' repertoire of teaching actions.

This author calls on teachers to start collecting "street data" to inform their culturally responsive teaching practices. Street data is fine-grained and only possible to collect through one-on-one interviews with students, shadowing students to see schooling from their perspective, or asking students for feedback on your teaching. It is impossible to know if culturally responsive schooling is truly supporting students without listening to and learning from them.

Provides information on how educators can implement CRT in their classrooms, including building positive relationships with students and their families, incorporating diverse perspectives and experiences into the curriculum, and adapting instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners.

This toolkit breaks down creating a welcoming environment into four strategies: motivate students to attend by forging positive relationships with each student and family, engage in effective attendance messaging, recognize good and improved attendance, and emphasize attendance at strategic points throughout the year. Each strategy includes instructional videos, sample handouts and communications, and other interactive tools.

This podcast episode discusses the importance for art teachers to create culturally responsive curriculum that avoids cultural approproation. Art teacher Tasha Newton and assistant professor Dr. Heather Ann Moody talk about their collaboration that resulted in a consequential, meaningful, and thoughtful curriculum.

This article summarizes a webinar on creating a culturally responsive environment. It is told from the perspective of an immigrant and prior ELL student who is now a teacher. She emphasizes that culturally responsive teaching is ongoing, not a quick fix for educational equity. She offers teaching strategies such as embracing and utilizing students' native languages, building relationships with students by getting to know their culture, connecting with ELL families by including their home languages around the classroom, and above all, maintaining an asset-based mindset when considering the cultural diversity of your students.

In their presentation, Rachel Hanley and Ebony Wrenn emphasize the powerful impact of classroom visuals on children’s perceptions and the importance of selecting media content intentionally to foster inclusion and affirm student identities. They offer best practices for representing diverse backgrounds and call on educators to expand their exposure to different perspectives while reflecting on their own biases.

This article highlights the importance of using culturally responsive icebreakers to build an inclusive classroom community from the first day. It offers practical examples—like the “Name Story” and “#Ricebreaker”—that help students and school staff share their identities, foster belonging, and encourage meaningful connections in both in-person and online settings.

In their article, Barbara Bazron, David Osher, and Steve Fleischman outline how school leaders can create culturally responsive schools by aligning instruction with students' cultural norms, adjusting classroom practices, and supporting both students and families in navigating cultural differences. They emphasize the importance of respectful approaches in character education, social skills instruction, and discipline.