Learning How to Teach

As immigration swelled at the end of the nineteenth century, the nation’s “real” Americans dug in their heels and created an oddly romantic and destructive notion of democracy called the “melting pot theory,” which they applied relentlessly to immigrant schoolchildren. Recently, that myth has been replaced with one that describes our nation as a “rich, multicultural tapestry” of peoples. These conflicting messages permeate our educational system, giving mixed signals to children and teachers about what it takes to be a successful student and just who is smart and who is not.

But, when it comes to measuring educational achievement, we’re still stirring the melting pot. We honor cultur...