This Indianapolis Star article discusses how one school fosters cultural competency to help students learn.

"Third-year teacher Jared Allen's Pike High School students were cuffed and hooked to gauges for a biomedical science lesson on how body movements affect blood pressure. At the end of class, a pile of papers was due.

"'Mr. Allen,' a student said, 'you're doing the most.'

"A puzzled Allen asked, what does that mean—'the most?'

"Of the 21 students in the room, nearly all were black and Hispanic. Allen is white. The kids chuckled at his cluelessness. Then they explained: 'The most' means he's asking too much.

"Teen slang is one example of the cultural divide common in urban schools, where students increasingly belong to ethnic and racial minority groups and their teachers do not. In the classroom, that divide—which can be exacerbated by income levels and life experiences—is an obstacle to building trust and understanding. But it is an obstacle that some educators think can be overcome—or at least reduced—with specialized training that is being employed more frequently in the nation's schools and here in Indiana."

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