CREDE CREDE was one of 12 national research and development centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Students. CREDE assisted the nation's population of diverse students, including those at risk of educational failure, to achieve academic excellence. The purpose of CREDE's research was to identify and develop effective educational practices for linguistic and cultural minority students, such as those placed at risk by factors of race, poverty, and geographic location.

The Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE)

The Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE)The Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) is a national research and development center operated under a cooperative agreement between the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Office of Educational Research and Improvement of the U. S. Department of Education.CREDE assisted the nations population of diverse students, including those at risk of educational failure, to achieve academic excellence. The purpose of CREDEs research was to identify and develop effective educational practices for linguistic and cultural minority students, such as those placed at risk by factors of race, poverty, and geographic location.Research Projects of CREDE at CAL

Two-Way Immersion EducationThis study continued the research conducted on two-way bilingual immersion by the National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning. It examined instructional outcomes (English-language attainment), student populations and long-term effects. It documented program implementation in schools across the country. Newcomers: Language and Academic Programs for Recent ImmigrantsThis study documented newcomer programs for recently arrived secondary students with limited English proficiency and the ways in which these programs promote student transitions into U.S. schools. It also identified secondary-level newcomer programs, examined their administrative, instructional, and socio-cultural features, and compared their programs with traditional programs serving these students.

A National Survey of School/ Community-Based Organization Partnerships Serving Students Placed at RiskThis study identified essential features of successful partnerships between schools and community-based organizations (CBOs) that support the academic achievement of language minority students.The Effects of Sheltered Instruction on the Achievement of Limited English Proficient StudentsThis project worked with teachers to identify key practices for sheltered instruction and to develop a professional development model that would enable more teachers to use sheltered instruction effectively in their classrooms.

The CREDE Standards for Effective Pedagogy and Learning

Joint Productive ActivityTeacher and Students Producing TogetherCollaboration between the teacher and a small group of childrenCreation of a tangible or intangible productProviding responsive assistance towards the creation of a productAssisting children to collaborate with peersLanguage DevelopmentDeveloping Language and Literacy Across the CurriculumProviding opportunities for childrens language use and literacy developmentModeling the appropriate language for the academic content

ContextualizationMaking Meaning: Connecting School to Students LivesIntegrating new academic knowledge with childrens home, school, and community knowledgeAssisting children in making connections between school and their personal experiencesHelping children to reach a deeper understanding of the academic material through the deeper personal connection

Challenging ActivitiesTeaching Complex ThinkingDesigning activities that require complex thinkingProviding responsive assistance as children engage in complex thinkingIncreasing childrens knowledge and use of complex thinking strategiesFocusing on concept development in order to uncover the why of the activityInstructional ConversationTeaching Through ConversationWorking with a small group of childrenHaving a clear academic goalEliciting children talk with questioning, listening, rephrasing, or modelingAssessing and assisting children in reaching the academic goalQuestioning children on their views, judgments, and rationales in reaching the academic goal

Modeling (MD)Promoting childrens learning through observation.Modeling behaviors, thinking processes, or proceduresProviding examples of a finished product for inspirationAssisting children as they practiceChild Directed Activity (CDA)Encouraging childrens decision-making and self-regulated learning.Providing choice in classroom activitiesBeing responsive to activities generated by the childrenAssisting children in generating, developing, or expanding on their ideas or creations within an activity.

These standards articulate both philosophical and pragmatic guidelines for effective education. Standards do not endorse a specific curriculum. Its effective with both majority and minority students in the classrooms across subject matters, curricula, cultures and language groups. Teachers and students work together, on real products, real problems. Activities are rich in language, with teachers developing students capacity to speak, read, and write English and the special languages of mathematics, science, humanities, and art.

They teach the curriculum through meaningful activities that relate to the students lives and experiences in their families and communities. Teachers challenge students to think in complex ways and to apply their learning to solving meaningful problems. Teachers and students converse; the basic teaching interaction is conversation, not lecture. A variety of activities are in progress simultaneously (individual work; teamwork; practice and rehearsal; mentoring in side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, teacher-student work). Students have systematic opportunities to work with all other classmates. They learn and demonstrate self-control and common values: hard work, rich learning, helpfulness to others, mutual respect.