Maryland schools need more CRT. It’s not what you think it is

There isn’t enough CRT in Maryland schools. That’s according to experts who evaluated classrooms across the state.

But it’s not critical race theory, the academic concept conservatives have attacked in recent years, that officials say is missing. It’s culturally responsive teaching.

This kind of instruction incorporates students’ cultural experiences, languages and identities into the learning process. Using students’ cultures can make lessons more relevant and engaging, education researchers have found. The term was first coined by multicultural education researcher Geneva Gay in 2000.

In Avonshae Rounds’ kindergarten classroom at KIPP Harmony Academy, a Baltimore charter school, culturally responsive teaching can look pretty simple. In a lesson about the letter “Y,” students sitting on a rug were instructed to turn to a classmate and discuss what “Y” word is the color of a banana. “Yellow!” they shouted.