Resources
Read more about Eileen’s new book Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities
Eileen is a frequent contributor to national and international media on issues that impact our diverse schools and communities. Here are several articles, commentaries and radio interviews you may find valuable in your work. To quote them, please contact Eileen via email or call 703-644-3039.
Is Anyone Listening to Families’ Dreams? Schools can build partnerships with “invisible” parents through targeted programs that value their dreams and experiences.
Educational Leadership May 2011
Partnering with Parents and Families to Support Immigrant and Refugee Children at School
Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, Issue Brief June 2009
Helping immigrant and refugee students succeed: It’s not just what happens in the classroom
Article documenting that school-based mental health services which partner with families open doors to academic achievement.
A version of this article appears in November 2009 Kappan
Families: The Key to Ending College ‘Mismatch”
Education Week, December 4, 2009
Why are We Out to Destroy Our Diversity?
Washington Post, Outlook commentary, May 11, 2008
Bridging the Disconnect Between Educational Leaders and Diverse Families
BAM Radio Interview – Leadership Challenges
VolunTouring – Gaining Far More Than What is Given
NEA website, April 2009
Finding a “Good School” – Beyond the Myths
National PTA Magazine, Our Children, September 2003
What we Owe Immigrant Children
Education Week – May 17, 2006
Building Partnerships with Immigrant Parents (pdf)
Educational Leadership, March 2007
Increasing Diversity in Rigorous Challenging Classes
Educational Leadership, June 2006
For copies of other articles, please contact us.
DEBUNKING THE MIDDLE-CLASS MYTH:
WHY DIVERSE SCHOOLS ARE GOOD FOR ALL KIDS
Excerpts and Reviews
EXCERPTS
Introduction, p. xxii
Schools with diverse student populations constantly battle myths that these schools are less desirable. The reality is that a diverse school can provide a first-class academic education. Learning comes alive when wisdom is shared not only by competent teachers and textbooks, but also by fellow students with life experiences and cultures that illuminate whole new worlds. With a teacher who encourages all students to speak their minds and listen to others, classroom discussions with students from varying backgrounds are rich and challenging, fostering critical thinking skills. Students learn there are a range of perspectives on issues, motivating them to study and thoughtfully define their own views. These schools provide world-class academic environments.
REVIEWS
This is a forceful and straightforward support for public school diversity from a parent activist. Rarely do we find in print first-person parental accounts that forward the notion of diversity as a clear indicator of academic excellence for majority students. Free of educational jargon and hard-to-understand statistics, Kugler’s book is suitable for both popular and academic audiences. …This book is recommended for all parents, teachers, and professors of education who are looking for literature that chronicles health rather than pathology in public education. Summing Up: Essential. All levels.
American Library Association
