The Equity Leadership Committee has structured its meetings with guiding questions designed to keep the conversations focused and lead members closer to their goal. Examples of questions include: What would the Bellevue School District look like if it were a truly equitable district? What elements of equity can reasonably be addressed within a school system? Based on your reading and personal experiences, what do you believe equity looks like in a classroom?
The group has brainstormed a vision of equity from 30,000 feet up, one that went well beyond the classroom and school and outlined the contributions that parents, residents without kids in school, business owners, as well as school personnel, could make in order to create an community-wide equitable system. The direction then shifted to a close-up view and identified elements inside and outside the district, which, if in place, would move the system closer along the continuum to a strong position of equity.
The outline details characteristics that would be present in various settings if our school system identified equity as a key operating principle.
Classroom
Teacher differentiates instruction
Every student receives attention
Teachers know their students
Students are expected to succeed
Students are engaged in learning and appropriately challenged
Data are used in instructional decision-making
Teachers understand equity
Students have access to materials they need
Teacher exhibits cultural understanding
School
Principal focuses on building teacher expertise
Data are used in decision-making
Administrators, teachers and parents work together in a collaborative fashion
District
Classroom resources are distributed according to greatest need
Data are used in decision-making
District focuses on building teacher expertise
Administrators, teachers and parents work together in a collaborative fashion
Community
Teacher engages parents
Volunteers are recruited and trained to work in partnership with teachers to improve student learning
Parents are provided with the knowledge they need to support students
It is essential that a process be put in place to address the learning needs of students as soon as they start to struggle or fail. This is at the core of NCLB and easily lost sight of in attempts to create socioeconomic equity. Income level and ethnic background can easily mask individual learning needs that cause individual students to succeed or fail. This can happen among an socioeconomic or ethnic group.
BSD has a curriculum driven approach that is regarded by many as “one size fits all.” Teachers have district scripted lessons and are required to deliver them at a prescribed pace. This ignores the very obvious reality that individuals learn in different ways and at different rates.
My experience as a parent is that failing students are ignored, if at all possible. In the case of my children, both of whom have received failing grades, nothing is done to determine why they are failing or what needs to be modified in the classroom to help them succeed. This is an egregious failure of the district that is at the core of all the achievement gap issues.
Providing consistent curriculum and setting high standards will not help struggling and failing students whose learning needs are ignored. Every teacher should be required to initiate a process whereby those needs are identified and addressed as soon as a student falls into a pattern of failure. This process needs to be thoroughly developed and implemented for every student who struggles and fails, so that all are given what they need to succeed.
By: flyinglula on June 8, 2010
at 5:46 pm
The interventions you describe are what Dr. Cudeiro is calling differentiated instruction. She intends to train schools in using differentiated instruction starting next year. Teachers will be assessing regularly, which will allow them to identify gaps and address the needs of students before they are failing.
By: annoxrieder on June 8, 2010
at 6:18 pm
The communication between the district, the school and the parents impacts equity and should be addressed. I have witnessed this impacting families from less financially privileged backgrounds and families from diverse language backgrounds. I heard school officials openly discourage parents from sending their children to ‘choice’ schools if the parents were not ready to donate a large amount of energy and time to the school. I have heard school officials telling parents that they should not send their children to Spanish immersion, for example, if they speak another language than English at home. I have seen paperwork forms that imply parents are required to volunteer in order to register their child — and thereby also get police background checks. I’ve seen requirements that paperwork be handed in in-person between 8am and 4pm, under tight deadlines, which can negatively impact families where parents spend long hours out of the house working.
I think the issues the school district and schools are trying to address need to be articulated more precisely and complexly so that parents can make informed decisions, especially parents who might already feel like outsiders to Bellevue’s K12 educational culture.
Equity needs to include a hand that welcomes people in. Just like classroom teachers are expected to differentiate instruction, the district should differentiate communication with parents — It’s a part of instruction.
Look at the diversity in Bellevue’s ‘choice’ schools and compare that diversity to the neighborhood schools. While all of Bellevue’s schools are very good, the noticable difference in funded school lunch, languages spoken, and to a lesser but still important extent, racial identity, implies that the communication systems and registration process are discriminating. Choice schools are whiter, richer and more predominantly English speaking at home.
By: slepeint on June 7, 2010
at 5:09 pm
Good feedback. The district’s Parent Action and Advisory Committee for parents of ESL students and racially and culturally diverse students will be asked to review this and incorporate ideas into its program plans for next year.
By: annoxrieder on June 7, 2010
at 5:41 pm