Concha Delgado Gaitan Educational Research and Writing Consultant

Concha Delgado Gaitan, independent educational researcher and writer, brings extensive firsthand experience and knowledge on the topics of culture in the school and academic equity for linguistic and culturally diverse students to the Corwin Press book, Building Culturally Responsive Classrooms (2006). Her professional experience includes positions as an elementary school teacher, elementary school principal, ethnographic researcher, and a professor of anthropology and education at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Davis campuses. During years of observing and interviewing parents, educators, and community leaders, Delgado Gaitan collaborated with all three groups to facilitate family-school partnerships. One of the most successful efforts continues to thrive in Carpinteria, California, and has been the focus of countless articles, many national and international presentations, and a professional video, Parents and Schools United for a Better Education. Delgado Gaitan is the recipient of the George and Louise Spindler award for her lifetime contributions to the field of anthropology and education. Reflecting her interests in language and cultural diversity, Delgado Gaitan has worked extensively as an ethnographic researcher and collaborator in underrepresented communities. Among them are Latinos in the Southwest, Russian refugees, Hmongs in central California, Alaskan Natives in Alaska, and transnational populations in Mexico and Spain, where she has also lectured. Some of these communities appear in her earlier books: The Power of Community; Literacy for Empowerment; Protean Literacy; Crossing Cultural Borders, School and Society, and Involving Latino Families in the Schools.