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CREDE is a federally funded research and development program focused on improving the education of students whose ability to reach their potential is challenged by language or cultural barriers, race, geographic location, or poverty.
From 1996-2001, CREDE funded 31 research projects around the country. Researchers in these projects gathered data and tested curriculum models in wide-ranging settings and with diverse student populations–from classrooms with predominantly Zuni-speaking students in New Mexico to inner city schools in Florida to California elementary schools with large populations of native Spanish-speaking students.
During 2001-2003, seven synthesis teams are extracting the key findings and practices from the field, including work done by CREDE's two predecessors–the National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning (NCRCDSLL) and the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP). The teams will producing a range of publications and other tools to help teachers implement best practices in the classroom.
Products and Publications
CREDE offers a wide range of multi-media products (interactive CD-ROMs, videos, online directories), print publications, and a useful website for practitioners, researchers, and parents.
CREDE’s philosophy:
• All children can learn.
• Children learn best when challenged by high standards.
• English proficiency is an attainable goal for all students.
• Bilingual proficiency is desirable for all students.
• Language and cultural diversity can be assets for teaching and learning.
• Teaching and learning must accommodate individuals.
• Schools can mitigate risk factors by teaching social and learning skills.
• Solutions to risk factors must be grounded in a valid general theory of developmental, teaching, and schooling processes.
Synthesis Teams
Each synthesis team is comprised of the nation’s leading experts, practitioners, and policymakers in education. Each team will produce an array of materials to bring state-of the-art knowledge on diversity education into America’s classrooms and will also make recommendations for future research agendas. Each team is charged with a specific area of focus:
• Language learning and academic achievement
• Professional development for diversity
• Preservice teacher education for diversity
• Schools, family, and community
• Mathematics and diversity
• Science and diversity
• Teacher-school-systemic integration for
effective reform
Teaching Alive! Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy
An important facet of CREDE's work is the development of a pedagogy that has been proven to be effective in educating all students, especially at-risk students. The Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy do not endorse a specific curriculum but, rather, establish ideals for best teaching practices that can be used in any classroom environment for any grade level or group of students. The Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy are:
1) Teachers and Students Producing Together
Facilitate learning through joint productive activity among teachers and students.
2) Developing Language and Literacy Across the Curriculum
Develop students' competence in the language and literacy of instruction throughout all instructional activities.
3) Making Lessons Meaningful
Connect curriculum to experience and skills of students' home and community.
4) Teaching Complex Thinking
Challenge students toward cognitive complexity.
5) Teaching through Conversation
Engage students through dialogue, especially instructional conversation.
