Equity in Schools:Moving Toward Deep Levels of
Change
JoEtta Gonzales, DirectorThe Equity Alliance at ASU
February 15, 2011
Why Shift Toward Culturally Responsive
Policy & Practice?
Explanations for Achievement Disparities
Linguistic DifferencesCultural DifferencesSocietal RacismInferior EducationRationales for Schooling
Au, 1998
From a Deficit Model to an Appreciative Model
Funds of Knowledge : Language and culture are
strengths to be built upon
All students need high quality, culturally
responsive instruction
Students who are differently labeled
and/or culturally and linguistically different should be educated in
an inclusive environment
Teaching and learning is a social and cultural
process
All Children
Can Learn
Socio-Historical Context
Culture is not inherited; rather we are socialized
to behave according to
traditions established over
generations
The cultures of schools may or may not be in
harmony with the culture each
student brings to school
Schools greatly influence how
young people see themselves and
therefore need to understand and
validate their backgrounds
How do the Professional Learning opportunities that your district supports advance educational equity?
What do we know about change?
The Equity Alliance at ASU’s Framework for Approaching and Assessing Systemic Change
Equitable Resource Development & Distribution
The ways new teachers get assigned to schools, grade levels and/or content areas
How buildings and grounds are renewed across the district
How class sizes are distributed The ways in which schools get
equipped with furniture and technology
Educational Equity: District Level
Local school councilsTeam and committee structuresBuilding Leadership TeamsDecision makingShared VisionContinuous Improvement Cycles
Shared Governance and Leadership for Equity
Educational Equity: District Level
Culture of Renewal & Improvement
How reform initiatives are selectedYour district’s process for choosing professional learning topics and activitiesThe opportunities your district provides for mentoring or coaching How often and how the district develops and reviews an improvement plan
Educational Equity: District Level
District/Community Participation and
PartnershipsThe ways your district connects with families in your community
What community centers and houses of worship your district collaborates with around after-school programs
How the district ensures that family/community events are distributed by day of week and time of day
Educational Equity: District Level
Design and Use of Time and Space
How schools’ appearances differHow school schedules and calendars maximize learning timeWhere students’ classrooms are locatedThe structures supported for Professional Learning
Educational Equity: District Level
The forms of inquiry used to think about student dataOther forms of data that drive dialogue and decision makingHow educators are engaged in researching their own and others’ practiceThe cycles for continuous improvement
Inquiry for Equity in Education
Educational Equity: District Level
Systemic change is enacted through…
People: Students, teachers, administrators, families, etc.
Policy: Federal and state mandates, district and school level, classroom policy, etc.
Practice: Pedagogy, discipline, curriculum, etc.
Dispositions
Awareness
KnowledgeSkills
Practice People
What we do
•Interactions with colleagues, students & families•Actions/behaviors
What we decide
•Instruction•Curriculum•Assessment•Discipline
What we value
•What we choose to act upon•Things we reward•Things we acknowledge
Practices
Educates
Informs
Needs to be Equitable
Emancipates
Ensures Access
Policy…
1. Analyz
e Current Data
The Process We Use
Dialogue Groups
Values in
Theoryare in sync
with the Values
in Practice
Values
Beliefs
Assumptions
Perceptions
Behavioral
norms
Artifacts
Patterns of
behavior
Culturally Responsive Leadership Certification Training
Resources to Guide Professional Learning
Ready to Use and Customize -Professional Learning Modules
Tools for Learning
Equity exists, in part, to the degree that all
students feel they belong, are included, and are
empowered.
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