Which statement distinguishes culturally sustaining teaching from culturally relevant teaching?

• A. Both terms mean the exact same approach
• B. Culturally sustaining teaching focuses on valuing and maintaining all cultural identities, while culturally relevant teaching focuses on adapting lessons for students' interests and cultures
• C. Culturally relevant teaching ignores student culture
• D. Culturally sustaining teaching requires ignoring student backgrounds

Answer: (B)

The main idea being tested is how these two approaches use culture in teaching. Culturally sustaining teaching aims to value and keep all students' cultural identities—languages, practices, and worldviews—alive in the classroom over time. Culturally relevant teaching, by contrast, uses students' cultural backgrounds to make learning meaningful and relevant, often by selecting topics and examples that connect with their interests and experiences. So the statement that best distinguishes them is that culturally sustaining teaching focuses on valuing and maintaining all cultural identities, while culturally relevant teaching focuses on adapting lessons for students' interests and cultures. For example, a culturally sustaining approach might invite students to bring in family or community knowledge as part of a science unit and support using home languages in discussion; a culturally relevant approach would tailor readings and projects to reflect students' cultural experiences to boost engagement and achievement.