Diverse classrooms focus of talk

An organizational meeting for a state-sponsored project designed to help teachers improve their work in culturally diverse classrooms, begins Friday (Feb. 10) at East Carolina University.

Members of ECU’s education faculty will meet with faculty from Elizabeth City State University and with officials from two other education agencies and four county school systems. The meeting is at 1 p.m. in Room 129 of the Speight Building. The purpose of the meeting is develop plans for a project titled “Preparing Teachers for Culturally Diverse Classrooms.” Directed by the ECU School of Education, the project is funded through the N.C. Department of Public Instruction to help teachers become more effective with children from diverse cultures.

ECU, ECSU, representatives from the Northeast Regional Technical Assistance Center, and schools in Bertie, Hertford, Pitt and Washington counties will participate in the work during the next 14 months. The project will involve the development of instructional materials for student teachers and the pilot testing of the materials with students at the two campuses and in the public schools.

The project’s director is Dr. Edwin D. Bell of ECU.