Call for Manuscripts
The reality of school is one of diversity among students. Each decade in modern history
has ushered in remarkable change in the student population within U.S. public schools. Today’s
schools include students of numerous cultural, ethnic, and language groups which add to the
mosaic that constitutes U.S. American society. These same students appropriately trust that those
who teach them will be knowledgeable of their unique experiences, beliefs, values, and learning
needs so that they may experience academic success. Significantly, parents and students expect
that educators would possess the beliefs, values, attitudes, and dispositions necessary for
facilitating strong achievement in school.
The landscape of education has also become considerably more complex. While the
numbers of ethnically and linguistically diverse students rise, the programs that would
effectively assist them are under more scrutiny. Educators, administrators, and political leaders
debate the urgency and value of special programs such as bilingual education, English as a
second language (ESL), multicultural education, and culturally responsive teaching in light of the
demands of high stakes testing. A handful of states have eliminated most special language
programs; many schools have allowed multicultural education programs to diminish and
dramatically narrow in scope, noting the lack of time to acknowledge and support the cultural or
affective needs of students. Children from many nations, speaking diverse languages, including
newly resettled refugees from Burma, Bhutan, Burundi, Somalia, and Iraq, and political asylees
from China, Haiti, and Ethiopia stand to profit considerably from effective, research-proven
special language programs and multicultural education programs that facilitate language
development, academic achievement, and peer acceptance and understanding.
Regardless of current political proclivities and the accountability that is inherent in highstakes assessment, children within a variety of groups require informed and compassionate
teachers and administrators to help them thrive in school and have a sense of belonging. Whether
the group is large or small, specific needs remain, including the requirement to learn language
and content concurrently, the desire to find acceptance, adjust socially, and discover academic
strengths and strategies so that, upon graduation from high school, the students are able to pursue
their life’s work, become contributing citizens, and grow to meet their full potential.
Undoubtedly, the various needs of ethnically, linguistically, and academically diverse students
cannot be met by one special program model any more than one teaching strategy will be
uniformly effective with all students. However, it remains clear that teachers must possess the
mindset, skills, and dispositions that will guide decisions regarding what is appropriate for
individual students.
The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) defines dispositions
as, “professional attitudes, values, and beliefs demonstrated through both verbal and non-verbal
behaviors as educators interact with students, families, colleagues, and communities. These
positive behaviors support student learning and development.” What are the essential attitudes
and dispositions regarding ethnic, linguistic, and academic diversity that should be part of each
preservice and inservice educator’s repertoire? How should teacher education and development
programs identify and nurture the attitudes and dispositions that will contribute to student
success? In what ways are teachers being held accountable for possessing the appropriate
mindset for teaching diverse student populations? What type of assessment would demonstrate
that the preservice teacher education candidate holds the beliefs necessary for facilitating
achievement for all students? How might a teacher educator effect change in attitude and
disposition in a variety of class formats, including face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes? Is
there a particular class format that has been shown through research to be superior in the
effective preparation of preservice teachers for teaching in diverse settings?
What challenges exist for educators of diverse learners? Certain challenges include
learning how to work with children whose first language is other than English and identifying
language proficiency levels and academic strengths and needs of linguistically, ethnically, and
academically diverse students. Educators must be willing to determine the most effective
programs for various groups of diverse learners. Teachers in diverse settings should have enough
cultural literacy to be able to communicate with parents who may not be proficient in English
and who may unfamiliar with the English language and U. S. American schools and society.
The primary challenge for teacher preparation programs and school districts must be the
effective development of highly qualified bilingual, ESL, special education and general
education teachers who possess skills, dispositions, the knowledge base, and intercultural
understanding that are central to supporting students in learning English as a second language,
content area information, and the fundamentals inherent in sustaining an ethical, global society.
An additional concern is to explore how to nurture the skills and dispositions that will lead the
highly qualified bilingual, ESL, multicultural educator to be in a position to enthusiastically
enable academic attainment.
Meeting the challenges requires teachers and administrators to have wide-ranging
knowledge of students, parents, cultures, and languages, as well as appropriate programs,
strategies, and resources. The expectation of most students and their parents is that school will be
a safe place where children will progress and achieve academically. Educational leaders in the
U.S. would also expect that while just and effective instructional practice is employed, affective
needs and issues would be addressed in a respectful, accepting environment.
In order to continue the dialog regarding appropriate practice in teaching and leading in
diverse settings, the Department of Teacher Education at Texas Woman’s University proposes to
prepare a monograph entitled Professional Practice in Diverse Settings: Attitudes and
Dispositions that Facilitate Success. Ninth in a series of monographs addressing critical issues
in the education of linguistically diverse students, the monograph will be a compendium of
information, current trends, and research associated with exploring significant themes and
exceptional programs and practice in the fields of teaching children, including but not limited to
those with ethnic, linguistic, and academic diversity.
Interested authors are invited to submit scholarly papers on topics related to identifying
and developing the attitudes and dispositions necessary for equitably and excellently teaching
diverse student populations. Preservice and inservice teachers, teacher leaders, curriculum
specialists, administrators, counselors, and teacher educators would be considered equal partners
in this discussion. Additional topics include how to address the challenges and effectively attend
to the extensive needs of diverse learners, the identification of a suitable assessment for
culturally relevant leadership, innovation in educating diverse populations, professional
development, the multiple roles of the teacher to include curriculum specialist and cultural
mediator, instructional leadership, educational reform and policy initiatives, the suitable use of
technology, teacher leadership, effective instruction and leadership for children with learning
differences, the effectual teaching of English language learners (ELLs) in K-12 bilingual, ESL,
or mainstream classrooms, successful bilingual and ESL programs, language loss, intercultural
communication, acculturative stress, second language acquisition, loss of cultural identity,
effective program models for the newcomer ELL, language policy in the United States, ESL and
content area instruction, educational linguistics, the role of the heritage language and culture in
second language acquisition, the affective and academic impact of refugee resettlement and
political asylum, effective outreach to diverse parents and communities, bilingual literacy,
assessment concerns, culturally relevant and culturally responsive teaching, using music and art
to enhance academic achievement, differentiated instruction for ELLs, the use of multicultural
and multicultural bilingual books, strategies for supporting the native language, multicultural
education and the English language learner, and cross-cultural communication. For more
information please contact Dr. Melinda Cowart, Series Editor, at mcowart@twu.edu or Dr. Gina
Anderson, Managing Editor, at ganderson@twu.edu
The anticipated audience for the monograph will be preservice and inservice teachers,
curriculum specialists, teacher leaders, counselors, and administrators in addition to university
faculty and students. The language of each manuscript should be scholarly yet not intimidating.
In addition, the manuscript should contain much indispensable information, strategies, and
resources that are readily useful. Each manuscript submitted will undergo a blind peer review
process. The deadline for submission is April 11, 2014. Please note that after a year’s embargo,
the monograph will be added to a digital repository in order to facilitate greater access to the
information provided by the authors. Guidelines for authors follow.
Guidelines for Authors
Manuscripts must adhere to the following guidelines:
1. Length: The manuscript, including references, charts and tables should not exceed 20
typewritten pages.
2. Type: The document should be completed in Microsoft Word. The font should be 12
point and in Times New Roman. If you elect to utilize the mark-up editing option in
Microsoft Word, please disable it prior to submitting your manuscript.
3. Style: Manuscripts must conform to the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (APA), 6th edition (2010).
4. All graphics and tables should be in original condition and submitted in a camera ready
format.
5. Cover letter: Include a cover letter explaining the relationship of your scholarly paper to
the theme of the monograph. Provide a statement indicating that the paper is original
material and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. This statement will
also give permission for your manuscript to be added to a digital repository after an
embargo of one year.
6. Title Page: Include the following information on a separate page:
Title of manuscript
Author’s name
Complete mailing address
E-mail address
Business and home phone numbers
Institutional affiliation and address
Biographical data about each author (30-50 words)
7. Abstract: Submit an abstract of 100-150 words.
8. Miscellaneous: Spelling, grammar, and accuracy of references are the responsibility of
the authors. Please avoid the overuse of direct quotes.
9. When possible, please avoid first person perspective.
10. Copies: Submit a double-spaced copy in Microsoft Word 2010as an e-mail attachment to
Dr. Melinda Cowart, Series Editor (mcowart@twu.edu). Her mailing address is: Dr.
Melinda Cowart, Department of Teacher Education, Texas Woman’s University, P. O.
Box 425769, Denton, TX 76204-5769. Copies submitted for consideration for
publication will not be returned. Deadline: April 11, 2014
11. The anticipated publication date is Fall 2014.