Culturally Responsive Reading Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities

As student populations are becoming more diverse in ability and ethnicity across American classrooms, teachers are faced with instructional challenges in meeting their students' learning needs. Challenges are heightened for general and special education teachers who teach students with learning disabilities (LD) and have a culturally and linguistically diverse background. This article analyzes three main domains of culturally responsive reading instruction for students with LD: (a) instructional delivery, (b) environmental support, and (c) curriculum context. Specific strategies and teaching tools are described in each domain to assist teachers in making their daily reading instruction more culturally responsive and relevant to the needs of their students.