Set A


Set A: Monday, September 29 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Select one session from Set A:

A01 An Answer to America's Perfect Storm: Equity/Anti-Racist Leadership Development and Systemic Equity Transformation

Transformational leaders emerge when given the time, space--and the right conditions--to rediscover their passion and will to educate all students. Learn and practice new skills (Courageous Conversation) in an authentic, experiential setting and develop greater capacity and resolve to do "whatever it takes" to eliminate racial disparities in education. Understand how to develop a district-wide professional learning organization that is focused on achieving equity and excellence for ALL learners.

Cynthia Hays, Pacific Educational Group, San Francisco, CA; Barbara Adams, Boston Public Schools, Boston, MA; and Greg Baker, Portland Public Schools, Portland, OR.

Strand: Equity Leadership

A02 Building Regional Capacity for Equity, Excellence, and Anti-Racism Work

Eliminating racial achievement disparities and learning how to be anti-racist leaders is the ambitious goal of the West Metro Education Program's (WMEP) Leaders in Equity and Anti-Racism Network (L.E.A.R.N.). Discover how a large urban/suburban coalition of school districts leverages resources to influence equity transformation; understand how L.E.A.R.N. works towards these ends in a challenging political and fiscal environment; and hear first hand from superintendents about the intensity and challenges of the work, and the uplifting stories of success. Compare notes, share experiences, and engage in thoughtful dialogue about the rewards and challenges of a regional equity initiative.

Daniel Jett, Superintendent, West Metro Education Program; Debra Bowers, Superintendent, St. Louis Park Public Schools; and Julie Sweitzer, Chair, West Metro Education Program Joint Powers Board; Minneapolis, Minnesota

Strand: Equity Leadership

A03 Collectivism and Social Justice in a Mathematics Classroom: Tools for Developing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy for All Teachers

Educators from all levels and disciplines will learn how to use the cultural precepts of collectivism and realness to foster student inclusion, promote social justice, and de-center the teacher's role in the classroom. Discover how to make your classroom a place where ALL students are engaged, share responsibility for each other's successes and failures, and hold each other accountable for learning. Use student testimonials, classroom videos, current research, sample lessons, and assessments to explore culturally responsive strategies that challenge students to examine issues of social and racial justice. Become part of a learning community to support the implementation of strategies developed during and after this session.

Zachary Bissinger, Math Teacher/C.A.R.E. Cadre Member, Overland High School, Cherry Creek School District, Aurora, CO.

Strand: Anti-Racist Learning and Teaching

A04 The Black Kids Used to Come in the Back Door: Systemic Anti-Racist Leadership for Suburban High Schools

Achieving racial equity in high schools requires strong leadership and unique systemic planning. Learn about the Hopkins High School anti-racist leadership model and how it can be implemented in other schools. Discover the important role of administrative and teacher leadership, collaborative action research, systemic staff development, and programs that address student empowerment, academic support, and family engagement. Interact with equity leaders as we grapple together with the challenges and opportunities that come with focused, intentional equity work in secondary schools.

Willie Jett, Principal; Patrick Duffy, Equity Coordinator; Jennifer Heimlich, teacher--PASS Team representative; Terrall Lewis, Equity & Integration Specialist; Lydia Kabaka, Guidance Counselor, and Maggie Temple and Valarie Jones, teachers--Equity Team representatives; and Natalia Costa-Roberts, teacher--CARE Team representative, Hopkins High School, Hopkins, MN.

Strand: Equity Leadership

A05 Equity and Opportunity in a Culturally Responsive Classroom

Explore the idea of race and culture as they apply to educators and education, and examine how power and privilege disparities within our schools and society create inequitable experiences for students of color. Develop an awareness of how our own culture and racial background influences our beliefs and practices as educators; explore the impact of power and privilege, both individually and institutionally; begin the developmental process of becoming a culturally responsive educator; and recognize culturally responsive pedagogy and practices for student achievement.

Jeana Khalaf Cheetany, CARE Teacher and Facilitator, and Ronald Garcia Y Ortiz, CARE Teacher, Eaglecrest High School, Cherry Creek School District, Aurora, CO.

Strand: Anti-Racist Learning and Teaching

A06 Is NCLB a Civil Rights Act?

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed in 1965--less than one year after the Civil Rights Act--as a part of the Great Society. Responses to the 2001 reauthorization of ESEA, referred to as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), appear to miss the Act's civil rights legacy. Consider the major provisions of NCLB and investigate the extent to which those provisions serve an equity agenda. Describe portions of the law you find problematic and analyze whether the law itself or implementation of the law creates problems.Consider what equity-minded educators can do during reauthorization to promote racial justice.

Circe Stumbo, President, and Deanna Hill, Senior Policy Analyst, West Wind Educational Policy, Inc., Iowa City, IA.

Strand: Equity Leadership

A07 The Friendship Between Culturally Relevant Teaching and Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning (PBL) has been a successful way of meeting the needs of marginalized students at Central Academy in Middletown, OH. Discover how culturally relevant teaching becomes transparent in a PBL setting, as students make real choices about how to learn, what to learn, and with whom to learn, and take part in the development of checklists and rubrics to evaluate their learning. PBL naturally supports differentiated instruction as students progress through the process of their own ability levels. Watch students working on projects, hear student feedback, and engage in dialogue with presenters and participants.

Kim Amburgey and Kathy Larison, Elementary Teachers, Central Academy, Middletown City School District, Middletown, OH.

Strand: Equitable Learning and Teaching

NO LONGER AVAILABLE

A08 Open Space--Sharing Power: Addressing Our Struggle to Organize Families and Communities of Color

During Open Space Sessions, participants engage in a freeform discussion around the topic, sharing thoughts, ideas, approaches, and asking questions of the other participants. The purpose of Open Space is to allow participants to go deeper in certain subjects, share their own personal work, and provide them a safe place wherein they can ask questions that have not been adequately addressed.

A09 Engaging with Racist-Anti-Racists: The Complexity of Engaging in Courageous Conversations with aSocially Conscious, Predominately White Staff and our         Struggles to Interrupt Oppression within this Environment

The Youth Empowerment School (Y.E.S.) in Oakland, CA, has been using Critical Race Theory (CRT) to analyze curriculum, respond to student perceptions about their classroom experiences, and interact with families about student success. Learn how the Y.E.S. Equity Team has worked to build habitual use of CRT into our analysis of achievement (or lack thereof) and identify how we allowed our intent to hide our impact. Explore the dangers of engaging in Courageous Conversations with a liberal, white staff, and discover our process of unpacking how we disguised our involvement in the oppression of students of color.

Maureen Benson, Principal; Tim Bremner, Teacher/Advisor/Community Organizer; Hilary Hays, Teacher/Advisor; Afreen Malim, Teacher/Advisor; and Marcus Moore, Instructional Assistant/Advisor, Youth Empowerment School, Oakland, CA.

Strand: Equity Leadership

MOVED TO SESSION F09

A10 The Hidden Costs of Power and Privilege: How Racial Disparities in Education Harm White Students

Do white students and families have a vested interest in creating equitable schools? Prepare for a deep exploration of how being educated in inequitable schools actually harms white students; examine how they learn internalized white supremacy; and generate new understandings of the "costs" they pay for such educational environments. Practice using Courageous Conversation strategies for engaging white students and parents in a process of understanding their own vested interest in eliminating racial educational disparities and creating equitable schools.

Graig Meyer, Coordinator, Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate Program, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Chapel Hill, NC.

Strand: Anti-Racist Learning and Teaching

A11 Beginning the Drive Towards Equity in a Failing School

The most persistent obstacle faced by failing schools that serve large numbers of students of color is the persistent belief among educators that they are doing all they can for these students. Discover how--to effectuate change in a failing school--it is first necessary to convince teachers that as they change their teaching practices to better address the needs of their diverse learners, students of all races and backgrounds will succeed in their classrooms. Explore the Learning Framework and how it has been applied in St. John the Baptist Parish Schools just outside of New Orleans, LA.

Stacy Spies, Director of Special Education, St. John the Baptist Public School System, Reserve, LA.

Strand: Anti-Racist Learning and Teaching

A12 Equity Transformation Online: Using Technology to Transform Ourselves and Our Schools

Explore the effectiveness of the online venue as a tool to help us grapple with issues of race, racism, equity, and diversity as we strive towards equity transformation. See examples of model programs and student work, as well as new technologies being implemented by Pacific Educational Group. Experience, reflect, and discuss the merits and/or disadvantages of using technology to facilitate personal and professional growth and transformation in the area of equity.

Nancy Dome, Director of Online Programming, Pacific Educational Group

Strand: Equity Leadership

A13 Distinguished Lecturer: Mica Pollock -- Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real about Race in School

Mica Pollock is editor of a groundbreaking book called Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real about Race in School, in which leading experts offer concrete and realistic strategies for dealing with race in schools. Everyday Antiracism, includes more than 60 essays on counteracting structures of racial inequality, working against racist notions about "types of people," and equalizing opportunities across racial lines. Dr. Pollock will demonstrate the book’s inquiry method to zoom in on ordinary acts taken by educators on a daily and moment-to moment basis, discuss the opportunity consequences of those acts, and pinpoint optimal acts that can serve to equalize opportunity and counteract racism in classrooms and schools.

Dr. Pollock is an anthropologist and associate professor of education at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She studies how youth and adults struggle daily to discuss and address issues of racial difference, discrimination, and fairness in school and community settings. Her first book, Colormute: Race Talk Dilemmas in an American School, winner of the 2005 AERA Outstanding Book Award, explores when it helps and harms to talk in racial terms about people and patterns in schools.

Dr. Pollock’s forthcoming book, Because of Race: How Americans Debate Harm and Opportunity in our Schools (Princeton University Press), builds on her experience working in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, where she investigated and addressed claims of discrimination in schools. Because of Race explores ongoing American arguments over opportunity denials experienced by students and families of color in educational settings. Pollock is also spearheading The Project on the Preparation of Educators for Diversity, a new national research effort examining efforts to prepare and assist teachers to serve diverse populations.

Strand: Anti-Racist Learning and Teaching

ADDED--MOVED FROM SESSION B03
A14 Applied Differentiation: How to Succeed at Differentiating Instruction in the Classroom for Diverse Learners

Differentiation is a widely touted strategic solution to addressing the needs of diverse learners. But how is it actually applied in the classroom? Learn about the Applied Differentiation model that presents educators with a clear matrix that guides them in successfully planning, managing, and executing differentiated lessons. Discover how Applied Differentiation guides teachers in identifying student differences and needs based on race, language, learning style, and readiness; analyzing the curriculum and teaching methods accordingly; and authentically assessing students with formative data. See teachers apply this model successfully in the classroom and overcome racial achievement disparity through the power of differentiated instruction.

Blanch Linton, President, School Improvement Network, Sandy, UT.

Strand: Anti-Racist Learning and Teaching