Set I


Set I: Wednesday, October 1 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM
Select one session from Set I:

I01 Community Stakeholders as Allies for Equity

Learn how to leverage community resources to assist in bringing about organizational transformation in schools. Explore various levels of community engagement. Investigate ways to define and disseminate parent and community strategies for confronting the ‘pushback' and ‘resistance' of systemic racism Develop strategies to move beyond forums and information gathering to implementation of accountability measures.

Will Walker and Courtlandt Butts, Pacific Educational Group, Inc., San Francisco, CA.

Strand: Community Empowerment

I02 So What Does It Really Look Like? Incorporating Equity Into the Recruiting and Hiring Process

After four years of equity work, Middletown City Schools is changing how we recruit and hire teachers and administrators. Learn how we are explicitly seeking candidates who can effectively intertwine racial awareness and instructional/administrative decision-making to transform their practice and accelerate student achievement district-wide. Examine the changes we have made to our recruitment and interview procedures--and find out why they are making a difference. Participate in the process of constructing and discussing equity-focused interview questions and hiring practices.

Steve Price, Superintendent, and Lisa Lowrey, Human Resources Director, Middletown City Schools, Middletown, OH.

Strand: Equity Leadership

I03 Tackling Color Blind Racism and Other Harmful Liberal Educational Ideologies

"I don't see color"; "We need to go slow to go fast": and, "I treat all of my students the same"...are just a few of the debilitating actions that spring from unexamined, often unconscious racist belief systems. Learn how Critical Race Theory encourages deep investigation into the delusion of colorblindness; examine our comfort with gradualism and incremental change, and our struggle to welcome equity into unequal racial circumstances. See how a "Critique of Liberalism" serves as an essential and continuous stopover on our respective anti-racism journeys. Venture deeper into the theory; uncover some harmful practices in state departments, districts, schools and classrooms; and discuss alternative strategies for accelerating equity transformation system-wide.

Glenn Singleton, President, Pacific Educational Group, Inc. San Francisco, CA.

Strand: Equity Leadership

ONLY AVAILABLE DURING SESSION A03

I04 Collectivism and Social Justice in a Mathematics Classroom: Tools for Developing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy for All Teachers (Repeat of A03)

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

I05 Building Equitable Classrooms: The Critical Role of Professional Learning

Professional learning is critical to any sustained, systematic effort to provide equitable learning opportunities and classrooms for traditionally underserved students. Explore the essential components of professional learning that focuses on equity, anti-racist pedagogy and practice. Learn strategies for developing, implementing, and monitoring a professional learning plan. Develop a deeper understanding and skill-set for building equitable classrooms through professional learning.

Diana Levy, Director of Professional Development, Hayward Unified School District, Hayward, CA.

Strand: Anti-Racist Learning and Teaching

NO LONGER AVAILABLE

I06 Open Space—Almost Privileged: How White Parents Negotiate the System on Behalf of their Children 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.

ADDED--MOVED FROM SESSION H04
I07 Delivering On-Demand Professional Development that Drives Equity

Can professional development drive the development of equity in schools? Examine how school systems must succeed in changing actual teaching and administrative practices in order to eliminate racial achievement disparities; and see how this requires constant and rapid professional development that is tied to the immediate needs of educators--not the management and schedule of the central office. Discover the benefits of on-demand professional development that allows teachers and administrators alike to access the knowledge and practices they most need, when they actually need it. Learn new ways of delivering equity-based professional development through the use of technology, classroom observation, and action research.

John Linton, Founder and Director, School Improvement Network, Sandy, UT.

Strand: Anti-Racist Learning and Teaching

ADDED--MOVED FROM SESSION H01
I08 Making the Status Quo Seem More Dangerous than Resisting Transformational Change

In this roundtable discussion, learn with and from anti-racist leaders who are engaged in examining the policies, practices, programs, and procedures where institutionalized racism may exist. Challenge and support one another to develop and accelerate the will, skill, and capacity needed to eliminate barriers that contribute to racial achievement disparities and the diminished capacity of ALL children. Acquire strategies for engaging others in leveraging leadership and networks of practice to bring about systemic equity transformation.

Cynthia Hays, Director of Leadership, Organizational and Strategic Development, Pacific Educational Group, San Francisco, CA

Strand: Equity Leadership

I09 Good Teaching is Not Just Good Teaching: Engaging Courageous Conversation and Culturally Relevant Teaching Practices to Eliminate Racial Disparities in Education

Explore the concept of "Systemic Equity/Anti-Racism Transformation" through a framework that applies Courageous Conversation to our work in learning and teaching. Examine how traditional, whole school models of school restructuring rarely focus on essential student-teacher relationships and specific learning improvements for the lowest performing student groups. Learn how "good teaching" does not currently meet the needs of all students; and discover how to use culturally relevant instruction to eliminate racial disparities in our schools. Develop a corps of educators who are prepared to discover, implement, and document culturally relevant teaching to improve learning for our most underserved student populations.

Jamie Almanzan, Director of Learning and Teaching, Pacific Educational Group, Inc., San Francisco, CA.

Strand: Anti-Racist Learning and Teaching

I10 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