BISSNET is committed to fostering a climate of acceptance and respect within its member schools. With the support of the John R. Oishei Foundation, a Diversity Program was put into place in the fall of 2007.

At BISSNET, our member schools believe that a diverse learning environment is critical to achieving a true education. Understanding people of different cultures, economic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and ways of thinking are key to developing students who are contributing members of society.

BISSNET’s Diversity Program has four goals:

1. To assist schools in creating and maintaining a climate of respect and acceptance among students, faculty and staff members through ongoing workshops and programming.
2. To work with school heads to attract a more diverse population of students and teachers.
3. To provide resources to teachers that can enrich their curriculum through the inclusion of multicultural perspectives.
4. To facilitate relationships between the schools and local cultural organizations.

Diversity Programs:

John R. Oishei Scholarship
This scholarship offers economically disadvantaged minority students nearly full four-year scholarships to private secondary schools in the Buffalo-Niagara region.

For more information on this scholarship, please go to www.bissnet.org/oishei.cfm.

National SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity)
Adults and students from BISSNET schools are fortunate to participate in a national diversity project. This project was developed at Wellesley College, and is called SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity).

Through the use of articles, videos, books, and interactive exercises, the SEED Project encourages participants to look closely at their own lives in relation to diversity issues. One important aspect of this program involves rethinking the curriculum by balancing “the scholarship on the shelves” with “the scholarship in the selves.” Topics discussed in this year’s SEED group include: classism, privilege, gender, race, ethnicity, immigration, assimilation, and how to create change in our schools. Two SEED groups meet monthly for three-hour sessions to discuss diversity issues.

Student Conference on Leadership and Diversity
This year’s Diversity Conference was held on October 26, 2011 at Canisius College. The theme for the conference was “Living Diversity through Language, Learning and Leadership” Students came together to discuss how to combat bias, prejudice, and racism and in their schools.

Summer Professional Development Series
Each summer, educators from the BISSNET consortium are presented with a variety of daylong workshops related to diversity. Some sessions offered include incorporating diversity into the curriculum, an introduction to the SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity), and examining multicultural education practices.

Diversity Mini-Grant Program
Schools within the BISSNET consortium are able to apply for mini-grant funding to support diversity programming.

People from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to consider applying for positions in the BISSNET schools. Please contact Heather Jenkins for more information.

If you are interested in more information about the Diversity Program, please contact:
Heather Jenkins, BISSNET Diversity and Community Engagement Coordinator
Phone: 716-380-1966
Fax: 716-829-2735
E-Mail: hjenkins@bissnet.org
Mail: P.O. Box 745
Buffalo, NY 14215

Diversity Links:

Center for Multicultural Education
University of Washington faculty developed the Center to coordinate activities and programs related to multicultural education scholarship. The site includes information about model programs and downloadable publications.

Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE)
Through research, publication, and education, CREDE works to assist linguistic and cultural minority students to achieve academically to their highest potentials. The site includes a wonderful array of tools and resources for researchers, teachers, and students studying instruction and policy in education.

The Civil Rights Project
This Harvard-based project aims to reinitiate the civil rights movement through the distribution of information and resources about contemporary civil rights issues.

Cybrary of the Holocaust
This online multimedia library of resources on the Holocaust includes photographs, a teacher’s guide, poetry, and a myriad of other diverse learning experiences for both teachers and students.

Disability Social History Project
This site represents a movement by people with disabilities to reclaim their history and to highlight the contributions of people with disabilities in the history of the world. Resources include a timeline and an index of related sites.

Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education (EMME)
EMME is a purely electronic magazine that publishes curricular tools and ideas, reviews of multicultural media, and scholarly essays on multicultural education.

History Matters
A collaborative project between the City University of New York and George Mason University, this site is composed of a large collection of progressive, active teaching and learning resources for high school and undergraduate college students. Read articles, download monthly quizzes, search for classroom activities, and dialogue with other educators on topics of historical importance.

Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC)
MAEC houses a compendium of equity resources for principals, teachers, counselors, and parents. The site is very well organized and contains frameworks, links to statistical information, and many other tools.

Multicultural Education Supersite
Hosted by McGraw-Hill’s Higher Education Division, the Multicultural Education Supersite bridges multicultural education theory and practice by offering a variety of resources including original articles, intercultural classroom activities, an exploration of multicultural curriculum transformation, and book reviews. The site is specifically designed for preservice teachers, inservice teachers, and teacher educators.

Multicultural Pavilion
Multicultural Pavilion provides resources for teachers, educators, and activists to explore and discuss multicultural education; facilitates opportunities for educators to work toward self-awareness and development; and serves as a forum for educators to interact and collaborate toward a critical, transformative approach to multicultural education. The site offers a plethora of theoretical and practical resources including awareness activities, dialogue forums, collections of original essays and research, an intercultural poetry exchange, and a host of collaborative opportunities for teachers and students.

National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)
NAME is the largest organization in the world specifically dedicated to the ideals and principles of multicultural education. The site contains information on NAME’s national conference, quarterly journal, and national listserv on multicultural issues in education. A highlight of the site is a collection of position statements on topics including high-stakes testing, Title IX, teacher testing, and the digital divide.

New Horizons for Learning: Multicultural Education
The multicultural education area represents just one of several sets of resources housed within the New Horizons Web site. It is primarily a collection of articles and short papers on multicultural education and related topics. Authors include James Banks, Mary Stone Hanley, and Gary Howard.

Racism: No Way
This Australia-based site, also known as International Approaches to Anti-racism Education, includes classroom activities, a library of readings, and other resources on education equity. The activities range in intensity and age appropriateness and are very well explained.

Rethinking Schools Online
The online version of this journal, published by Rethinking Schools, a nonprofit publisher run by activist teachers, contains highlights from the print version and other progressive education reform resources.

Teaching Diverse Students Initiative
The Teaching Diverse Students Initiative (TDSI) provides research-based resources for improving the teaching of racially and ethnically diverse students.

Teaching Tolerance
This site promises to awaken Americans to the problems of hate and intolerance, prompt them to action, and provide resources to make that a reality.

Vandergrift’s Children’s Literature Page
Kay Vandergrift of Rutgers University has compiled an extensive set of resources on children’s literature with special attention to multicultural concerns. Sections include“Gender and Culture in Picture Books,” “Powerful Multicultural Images,” and “Thought Capsules,” a collection of short writings about culture and children’s literature from a variety of sources.

Links list adapted from Paul Gorski’s article, “I Don’t Want to Live Without Them: Twenty-five Websites for Educational Equity,” published in Multicultural Perspectives (2005).