African American English and the Achievement Gap

Research has shown that students who can adapt and use Standard American English for academic purposes demonstrate significantly better test scores than their less adaptable peers. This volume discusses dialectal code-switching and stresses the benefits and importance of African American students becoming bi-dialectal. It provides background theory and science supporting the most promising educational approach to date, Contrastive Analysis, a set of longstanding methods drawn from Second Language research and used effectively with students ranging from second grade through college.