Book excerpt: Sure to get students engaged and thinking critically about CLD students, this text examines theory and research-based methods that are specific to and effective with CLD students and which promote linguistic and academic achievement. This text concentrates on ways in which the differential needs of CLD students can be mutually accommodated within various classroom settings. Focusing on answering the provocative question: “In what ways do the needs of CLD students differ from those of students whose culture and language correspond to the dominant culture/language in American society?,” students will gain an understanding of the complex realities that CLD students face as well as the differential language and transition needs of these students. The specific challenges and processes of the sociocultural, academic, cognitive, and linguistic dimensions of the CLD student biography are explored in the text.