# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ohio’s PreK-12 Digital Library. Optimized by the Management Council.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trauma-sensitive instruction : creating a safe and predictable classroom environment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ohio’s PreK-12 Digital Library. Optimized by the Management Council.

# data[].attributes.headline
Unearthing Joy. A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Unearthing Joy. A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning

# data[].attributes.body
Use this graphic to facilitate classroom discussions around identity grounded in Values, Assumptions, Beliefs and Power

# data[].attributes.headline
Culturally Responsive Content and Pedagogy

# data[].attributes.subject
Culturally Responsive Content and Pedagogy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Culturally Responsive Content and Pedagogy

# data[].attributes.body
Use this graphic to facilite discover that explore identity

# data[].attributes.headline
The Irreplaceables|Understanding the Real Retention Crisis in America's Urban Schools. 2012

# data[].attributes.subject
The Irreplaceables|Understanding the Real Retention Crisis in America's Urban Schools. 2012

# data[].attributes.body
More on educator retention!

# data[].attributes.headline
What makes them stay?  Uncovering essential leaderhsip strategies to retain effective teachers

# data[].attributes.subject
What makes them stay?  Uncovering essential leaderhsip strategies to retain effective teachers

# data[].attributes.body
A great resource for human capital professionals looking to retain highly qualified educators! Learn more via the video linked above.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Description

In this webinar, school improvement experts guide school and district leaders through the necessary steps to create the organizational conditions that lead to greater teacher retention. Grounded in UChicago Impact's® research-based 5Essentials® framework, the presentation offers practical advice for fostering an environment where teachers feel supported, empowered, and satisfied.

Access the webinar resources here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What makes them stay? Uncovering essential leadership strategies to retain effective teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this webinar, school improvement experts guide school and district leaders through the necessary steps to create the organizational conditions that lead to greater teacher retention. Grounded in UChicago Impact's® research-based 5Essentials® framework, the presentation offers practical advice for fostering an environment where teachers feel supported, empowered, and satisfied.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_5W.htm

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This simple 5 Whys technique, however, can often direct you quickly to the root cause of a problem. So, whenever a system or process isn't working properly, give it a try before you embark on a more in-depth approach - and certainly before you attempt to develop a solution.

The tool's simplicity gives it great flexibility, too, and 5 Whys combines well with other methods and techniques, such as Root Cause Analysis. It is often associated with Lean Manufacturing, where it is used to identify and eliminate wasteful practices. It is also used in the analysis phase of the Six Sigma quality improvement methodology.

How to Use the 5 Whys

The model follows a very simple seven-step process: [1]

1. Assemble a Team

Gather together people who are familiar with the specifics of the problem, and with the process that you're trying to fix. Include someone to act as a facilitator, who can keep the team focused on identifying effective counter-measures.

2. Define the Problem

If you can, observe the problem in action. Discuss it with your team and write a brief, clear problem statement that you all agree on. For example, "Team A isn't meeting its response time targets" or "Software release B resulted in too many rollback failures."

Then, write your statement on a whiteboard or sticky note, leaving enough space around it to add your answers to the repeated question, "Why?"

3. Ask the First "Why?"

Ask your team why the problem is occurring. (For example, "Why isn't Team A meeting its response time targets?")

Asking "Why?" sounds simple, but answering it requires serious thought. Search for answers that are grounded in fact: they must be accounts of things that have actually happened, not guesses at what might have happened.

This prevents 5 Whys from becoming just a process of deductive reasoning, which can generate a large number of possible causes and, sometimes, create more confusion as you chase down hypothetical problems.

Your team members may come up with one obvious reason why, or several plausible ones. Record their answers as succinct phrases, rather than as single words or lengthy statements, and write them below (or beside) your problem statement. For example, saying "volume of calls is too high" is better than a vague "overloaded."

4. Ask "Why?" Four More Times

For each of the answers that you generated in Step 3, ask four further "whys" in succession. Each time, frame the question in response to the answer you've just recorded.

What Is a 5 Whys Template?

The diagram, below, shows an example of 5 Whys in action, following a single lane of inquiry.

Figure 1: 5 Whys Example (Single Lane)

The 5 Whys method also allows you to follow multiple lanes of inquiry. An example of this is shown in Figure 2, below.

In our example, asking "Why was the delivery late?" produces a second answer (Reason 2). Asking "Why?" for that answer reveals a single reason (Reason 1), which you can address with a counter-measure.

Similarly, asking "Why did the job take longer than expected?" has a second answer (Reason 2), and asking "Why?" at this point reveals a single reason (Reason 1). Another "Why?" here identifies two possibilities (Reasons 1 and 2) before a possible counter-measure becomes evident.

There is also a second reason for "Why we ran out of printer ink" (Reason 2), and a single answer for the next "Why?" (Reason 1), which can then be addressed with a counter-measure.

Figure 2: 5 Whys Example (Multiple Lanes)

Step 5. Know When to Stop

You'll know that you've revealed the root cause of the problem when asking "why" produces no more useful responses, and you can go no further. An appropriate counter-measure or process change should then become evident. (As we said earlier, if you're not sure that you've uncovered the real root cause, consider using a more in-depth problem-solving technique like Cause and Effect Analysis, Root-Cause Analysis, or FMEA.)

If you identified more than one reason in Step 3, repeat this process for each of the different branches of your analysis until you reach a root cause for each one.

6. Address the Root Cause(s)

Now that you've identified at least one root cause, you need to discuss and agree on the counter-measures that will prevent the problem from recurring.

7. Monitor Your Measures

Keep a close watch on how effectively your counter-measures eliminate or minimize the initial problem. You may need to amend them, or replace them entirely. If this happens, it's a good idea to repeat the 5 Whys process to ensure that you've identified the correct root cause.

Appreciation

A similar question-based approach known as "appreciation" can help you to uncover factors in a situation that you might otherwise miss.

It was originally developed by the military to assist commanders in gaining a comprehensive understanding of any fact, problem or situation. But you can also apply it in the workplace.

Starting with a fact, you first ask the question, "So what?" - in other words, what are the implications of that fact? Why is this fact important?

You then continue asking that question until you've drawn all possible conclusions from it.

The major difference between this and the 5 Whys technique is that appreciation is often used to get the most information out of a simple fact or statement, while 5 Whys is designed to drill down to the root of a problem.

Tips for Using the 5 Whys Technique

Try to move quickly from one question to the next. That way, you'll have the full picture before you jump to any conclusions.

The "5" in 5 Whys is really just a "rule of thumb." In some cases, you may need to ask "Why?" a few more times before you get to the root of the problem. In other cases, you may reach this point before you ask your fifth "Why?" If you do, make sure that you haven't stopped too soon, and that you're not simply accepting "knee-jerk" responses.

Know when to stop! The important point is to stop asking "Why?" when you stop producing useful responses.

Frequently Asked Questions About 5 Whys

1. What Is the 5 Whys Technique

The 5 Whys Technique is a problem-solving method involving repeatedly asking "why?" It's a way of quickly getting to the root cause of a situation.

2. Who Invented 5 Whys?

The 5 Whys technique was invented in the 1930s by Sakichi Toyoda, the Japanese industrialist, inventor, and founder of Toyota Industries.

5 Whys Infographic

See our infographic on the 5 Whys and use it to get to the root of your problems!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Whys - Getting to the Root of a Problem Quickly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
5 Whys, or 5Y, is a powerful tool for getting to the root cause of a problem, and an effective way to expose weaknesses in your systems or processes.

# data[].attributes.headline
What is Social justice Education?| Learning for Justice|learningforjustice.org 

# data[].attributes.subject
What is Social justice Education?| Learning for Justice|learningforjustice.org 

# data[].attributes.body
A useful resource from a renowned scholar and educator on social justice education!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Justice requires the resources needed for all people to lead secure and fulfilling lives, along with respect for the histories, cultures and experiences of diverse groups, especially those who have been historically marginalized and oppressed.

In Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, now in its fourth edition, my coauthors and I offer our goals for social justice: creating a society where everyone has fair access to the resources and opportunities to develop their full capacities, and everyone is welcome to participate democratically with others to mutually shape social policies and institutions that govern civic life.

The process for attaining social justice we view as necessarily inclusive, respectful of human diversity and affirming of the capacity of all people to join with others to create change for our collective well-being. Social justice requires engaging everyone in democratic and collaborative processes grounded on the premise that there is enough to meet the needs of all.

Social justice, then, works against greed, selfishness and hatred and toward generosity, mutuality and love.

Appreciation for diversity -differences such as race, ethnic heritage, class, age, gender, sexuality, ability, religion and nationality-is a central feature of social justice. Without recognizing and valuing diversity, we cannot effectively address issues of injustice.

Concrete knowledge of different groups' histories, experiences, ways of making meaning and values is important to the social justice goal of recognition and respect.

Understanding and eliminating oppression is an equal feature of social justice. Without addressing injustice in all its forms, we cannot truly value diversity. Oppression is created and kept alive through hierarchies that rank groups in ways that give power, social and economic advantages, and institutional and cultural validity to some groups over others.

Challenging hierarchy requires confronting the ideological frameworks, historical legacies, and institutional patterns and practices that unequally structure social relations.

Social justice education, therefore, provides tools to examine the structural features of oppression and our own socialization within unjust systems. It helps us develop awareness of injustice in our personal lives, communities, institutions and the broader society. Such an education enables us to develop empathy and commitment, as well as skills and tools for acting with others to interrupt and change oppressive patterns and behaviors in ourselves and the institutions and communities of which we are a part.

Understanding the dynamics of oppression is important for developing effective strategies to counteract it.

As noted above, one of the central features of oppression is sorting social groups into hierarchies by race, class, gender, sexuality, age, religion and other markers. A group's position in the hierarchy regulates access to resources, participation, social respect and self-actualization.

Like a computer operating system, categorization and hierarchy run invisibly in the background to make oppressive outcomes seem logical and inevitable.

Furthermore, the effects of oppression accumulate to lock in advantage for some and disadvantage for others across time and institutions. For example, sorting people into racial categories with those labeled white as dominant initially justified both taking land from Indigenous people and coercing labor from enslaved Africans at the nation's founding.

Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants who at first were not considered white were gradually incorporated into this racial hierarchy that positioned white people above other racial groups.

Advantage and disadvantage compound and become baked into social institutions. This can be seen in the compounding effects of segregating people by race and class. Persons who live in poor, rural or predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods today will likely attend under-resourced schools; have less access to opportunities for advancement, reliable transportation, good food and health care; and be exposed to more environmental toxins. In corollary fashion, persons who live in middle or upper-middle class neighborhoods will likely have access to well-resourced schools and opportunities along with a cleaner environment.

Accumulated advantage and disadvantage consolidate in institutional policies and practices to entrench privilege and disadvantage.

Oppressive conditions become normalized through the actions of people going about their daily lives and often can't be isolated to individual or institutional agents. For example, marginalization and exclusion of people with disabilities does not require overt discrimination against them-although this also happens.

Business as usual that does not consider ways to include people with disabilities is sufficient to prevent change.

Barriers to access go unnoticed by those who can climb stairs, reach elevator buttons and telephones, use furniture and tools that fit their bodies and functional needs, are able to speak and use all their senses, and generally move in a world that is designed to facilitate their passage. Without challenge to this status quo, it seems perfectly natural to those whose access is unaffected. That is until they discover these privileges are fleeting once they experience pregnancy, accident, illness, aging or future disability.

Dehumanization is another feature of oppression. Language and images that deny the full humanness of people from different groups play a critical role in justifying mistreatment, brutality and violence that would otherwise not be tolerated.

This is one reason why words, beliefs and symbols matter, not merely for the purpose of civility, but because of the potential they hold for leading down the path to atrocity.

For example, referring to Mexican and Central American people as "animals" or an "infestation" led to policies that separated children from their parents and put them in cages. And even though police brutality is excused through more "benign" terms as well, describing Black men as "superpredators" rationalized police brutality against them.

Remaining silent in the face of mistreatment and violence toward others is also dehumanizing and ultimately leads to the degradation of society as a whole. The dehumanization of systemic police violence and brutality against Black people was largely accepted by white society until shockingly confronted by the murder by police of George Floyd on video.

Oppression is not inevitable or natural. It is learned through socialization. We internalize social norms to make meaning of our experiences, as well as to fit in and survive. Through socialization, an unjust status quo comes to be generally accepted and replicated both by those who benefit and those who suffer from oppressive systems.

To varying degrees, for example, poor people and affluent people alike internalize the stereotype that people who are poor are responsible for their poverty, and that those who accumulate riches deserve their wealth. Assumptions that youth are irresponsible and incapable of serious commitments, or that elders are slow and less vital than middle-aged people in their "prime," are taken as true by people of all ages.

Pressure against rocking the boat keeps most people from challenging inequality and discrimination so that by simply going along with business as usual, we help to perpetuate injustice.

Oppression persists and sometimes shifts into new forms to endure and override challenges against it. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overcome legal barriers at state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Section II was the enforcement mechanism to ensure the protection of this right.

In 2021, the Supreme Court weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act by eliminating Section II, and state laws are now making it much more difficult for Black and Brown people to vote (and many people of all races who are young, disabled or elderly) through restrictive voter ID requirements, purging registered voters from voting rolls, shutting early voting sites in Black and Indigenous communities, and removing drop off boxes for mail-in ballots, to name a few.

Social justice will always require equally persistent effort to maintain fair and just laws and practices.

Though the consequences of oppression fall unevenly on Black and Brown communities, there are consequences for everyone. Heather McGhee in her book The Sum of Us traces the legacies of racism and white supremacy through zero-sum policies that ultimately harmed white people themselves.

Physician Jonathan Metzl in his book Dying of Whiteness shows how the racial resentment that fueled white support of pro-gun laws, resistance to the Affordable Care Act, and cuts to schools and social services has resulted in increasing deaths by gun suicide, falling life expectancies, and rising school dropout rates for white people as well.

A goal of social justice education is to help us recognize the terrible social, political and moral costs of maintaining systems of oppression.

When millions of Americans are homeless and hungry, we all pay a social and moral price. The cost of enjoying plenty while others starve makes it ever more difficult to claim that our society is fair and that we are decent people.

Just as important, it also prevents us from developing a clear view of underlying structural problems in political and economic systems that ultimately make all of us vulnerable to a changing international economy that disregards national boundaries or allegiances.

The productive and creative contributions of people who are shut out of the system are lost to everyone.

Rising violence and division make it increasingly difficult for anyone to feel safe. Reduced social supports, limited affordable housing, and scarcities of food and potable water loom as a possible future for all who are not independently wealthy, particularly as we reach old age.

The current global pandemic and climate crisis highlight the inequalities and injustices in systems of health care, housing, labor and other areas, and reveal our linked fates in the face of challenges that cannot be overcome without addressing inequality.

Social justice requires a commitment toward equality and possibility, and a belief in the capacity of people to transform our world.

Oppression is never complete; it is always open to challenge, as is evident in past and ongoing movements for justice that have made inroads against it. Just as we are socialized into oppression, we can consciously unlearn its habits and proactively work with others to imagine, practice and enact more just and equitable possibilities for living together on this planet.

Since social injustice is based on historical, institutional and systemic patterns-and not simply a matter of individual bias or misunderstanding-education alone cannot dismantle it.

However, the consciousness, knowledge, skills and commitments developed through social justice education can lay a foundation for working effectively, even joyfully, with others in democratic, organized action directed at institutional and societal change aimed at creating a world better for us all.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A renowned scholar and educator explains social justice education and highlights its role in actively countering injustice and helping to build an inclusive democracy for the benefit of all.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: The Mismeasure of Man: 9780393314250: Gould, Stephen Jay: Books

# data[].attributes.headline
Global Diversity, Equity  & Inclusion Benchmarks

# data[].attributes.subject
Global Diversity, Equity  & Inclusion Benchmarks

# data[].attributes.headline
Employee care in the public sector:  Strategies to boost satisfaction, engagement and retention__Metlife.com

# data[].attributes.subject
Employee care in the public sector:  Strategies to boost satisfaction, engagement and retention__Metlife.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
EBTS 2023 Public Sector  Executive Summary.pdf

# data[].attributes.headline
The Advantages of Employee Care__Metlife.com

# data[].attributes.subject
The Advantages of Employee Care__Metlife.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Be an Antiracist — Ibram X. Kendi

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From the National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a refreshing approach that will radically reorient America on the urgent issues of race, justice, and equality.

# data[].attributes.headline
Whit Like Me:  Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son__Tim White

# data[].attributes.subject
Whit Like Me:  Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son__Tim White

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
From "one of the most brilliant, articulate and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation" (Michael Eric Dyson), this now-classic is "a brilliant and personal deconstruction of institutionalized white supremacy in the United States . . . a beautifully written, heartfelt memoir" (Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz).

The inspiration for the acclaimed documentary film, this deeply personal polemic reveals how racial privilege shapes the daily lives of white Americans in every realm: employment, education, housing, criminal justice, and elsewhere.

Using stories from his own life, Tim Wise examines what it really means to be white in a nation created to benefit people who are "white like him." This inherent racism is not only real, but disproportionately burdens people of color and makes progressive social change less likely to occur. Explaining in clear and convincing language why it is in everyone's best interest to fight racial inequality, Wise offers ways in which white people can challenge these unjust privileges, resist white supremacy and racism, and ultimately help to ensure the country's personal and collective well-being.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son [Wise, Tim] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

# data[].attributes.headline
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

# data[].attributes.subject
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The classic, New York Times -bestselling book on the psychology of racism that shows us how to talk about race in America.

Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? How can we get past our reluctance to discuss racial issues?

Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about communicating across racial and ethnic divides and pursuing antiracism. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand dynamics of race and racial inequality in America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race [Tatum, Beverly Daniel] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race

# data[].attributes.headline
So you want to talk about race__Ijeoma Oluo

# data[].attributes.subject
So you want to talk about race__Ijeoma Oluo

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Read 11.4k reviews from the world's largest community for readers. In this breakout book, Ijeoma Oluo explores the complex reality of today's racial landsc...

# data[].attributes.headline
Understanding White Priviledge:  Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships Across Race (Teaching/Learning Social Justice)__Frances Kendall

# data[].attributes.subject
Understanding White Priviledge:  Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships Across Race (Teaching/Learning Social Justice)__Frances Kendall

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Knowingly and unknowingly we all grapple with race every day. Understanding White Privilege delves into the complex interplay between race, power, and privilege in both organizations and private life. It offers an unflinching look at how ignorance can perpetuate privilege, and offers practical and thoughtful insights into how people of all races can work to break this cycle. Based on thirty years of work in diversity and colleges, universities, and corporations, Frances Kendall candidly invites readers to think personally about how race ― theirs and others' ― frames experiences and relationships, focusing squarely on white privilege and its implications for building authentic relationships across race.

This much-anticipated revised edition includes two full new chapters, one on white women and another extending the discussion on race. It continues the important work of the first, deepening our knowledge of the recurring history on which cross-race relationships issues exist. Kendall's book provides readers with a more meaningful understanding of white privilege and equips them with strategies for making personal and organizational changes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships Across Race (Teaching/Learning Social Justice)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships Across Race (Teaching/Learning Social Justice) [Kendall, Frances] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships Across Race (Teaching/Learning Social Justice)

# data[].attributes.headline
Between the World and Me__Ta-Nehisi Coates

# data[].attributes.subject
Between the World and Me__Ta-Nehisi Coates

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hailed by Toni Morrison as "required reading," a bold and personal literary exploration of America's racial history by "the single best writer on the subject of race in the United States" (The New York Observer) #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER | NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER | PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST | NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST | NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review * O: The Oprah Magazine * The Washington Post * People * Entertainment Weekly * Vogue * Los Angeles Times * San Francisco Chronicle * Chicago Tribune * New York * Newsday * Library Journal * Publishers Weekly
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men-bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?

Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates's attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son-and readers-the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children's lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
Praise for Between the World and Me
"Powerful . . . a searing meditation on what it means to be black in America today." -Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Eloquent . . . in the tradition of James Baldwin with echoes of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man . . . an autobiography of the black body in America." -The Boston Globe

"Brilliant . . . [Coates] is firing on all cylinders." -The Washington Post

"Urgent, lyrical, and devastating . . . a new classic of our time." -Vogue

"A crucial book during this moment of generational awakening." -The New Yorker

"Titanic and timely . . . essential reading." -Entertainment Weekly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"I've read a fair bit of African-American history, but "White Rage belongs in a place of honor on the shelf next to other seminal books about the African-American experience such as James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time , Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns , and Michelle Alexander's

"An unflinching look at America's long history of structural and institutionalized racism, The New Jim Crow ." - Santa Barbara Independent Boston Globe White Rage lends perspective and insight for those of us who are willing to confront, study and learn from the present situation in this country." - St. Louis Dispatch " Two steps forward, one step back: White Rage deftly crafts the pattern of how White backlash has always countered African American progress." - ZORA, The 100 greatest books ever written by African American women "White Rage is a harrowing account of our national history during the century and a half since the Civil War--even more troubling for what it exposes about our present, our deep and abiding racial divide. This is necessary reading for anyone interested in understanding--and perfecting--our union." - Natasha Trethewey, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for NATIVE GUARD and Two-term Poet Laureate of the United States Esquire, "If You Want to Learn About Anti-Racism, These 10 Books Are a Start" Michael Eric Dyson, author of TEARS WE CANNOT STOP, for the New York Times "By the Book" Robin DiAngelo, author of WHITE FRAGILITY, for the Amazon Book Review Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post Theo Germaine, Chicago Review of Books White Rage Anderson amplifies and elongates this initial claim [white America's seething resistance to African Americans' sociopolitical advancements] into a striking argument about the nation's failure to recognize African Americans as full members the citizenry. Though stretching a stand-alone essay into an extended study doesn't work very often, White Rage

"[A] powerful survey of American history as seen in the violent white reactions to black progress, from Reconstruction to the great migration to the current political landscape." - operates efficiently and elegantly, offering readers new intelligence about American experience. Following Anderson, one gains insight by accrual." - Lit Hub

"Anderson has shown, with her well-sourced (she has several hundred detailed footnotes) and readable book, why the fights over race and access to the perquisites of American citizenship grind on . . . White Rage is a tragic, yet invaluable contribution to our understanding of race relations throughout American history." - Medium, "We Need to Talk About Systemic Racism" White Rage is the latter." - Ed Yong, The Millions White Rage ] draws a razor-sharp line from the Civil War to Trayvon Martin with all the stops in between. If you want context for . . . the life we're living in this country right this minute, I urge you to pick up a copy. [Its] 160 pages have the power to change your life." - Ann Patchett, Parnassus Musing Bookforum White Rage . It so plainly shows us that whenever African Americans started to make any strides (in education, voting, employment, home ownership), those gains were a threat to the status quo of inequality--those strides sparked incredibly intense and well-organized blowback--all of which leads me to appreciate just how insidious and persistent racial hatred is in the U.S. We have to get smarter, bystanders ... we need your help, it is not enough to proclaim that you're not racist, we need your help." - Michelle Williams, Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Angelopoulos Professor in Public Health and International Development The Globe and Mail White Rage

"Anderson's keen analysis presents a powerful portrait of white rage and entitlement--two shameful forces that continue to characterize our national conversation about race." - offers a clearly written and well-thought-out overview of an aspect of U.S. history with which the country is still struggling to come to terms." - Foreign Affairs Kirkus Reviews Library Journal

"Anderson lays out a troubling yet persistent pattern in American history that started during Reconstruction. For every advancement achieved by African Americans, there is an unequal and ferociously opposite reaction. . . . Anderson's book lays out the horrific story." - Booklist

"One (of many) essential history books that helps unearth some of the truths about racism in this country and how all white people have benefited from it. It inspires the reader to continue to educate themselves on how to be a better and more informed ally." - White Rage , Anderson adeptly highlights both that past and the tenacious grip race holds on the present. There is a handful of writers whose work I consider indispensable. Professor Anderson is high up on that list." - William Jelani Cobb, author of THE SUBSTANCE OF HOPE David Von Drehle, author of RISE TO GREATNESS: ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND AMERICA'S MOST PERILOUS YEAR The Week, Ezra Klein's 6 Favorite Books Tim Wise, "Good Morning America" White Rage

"Professor Carol Anderson's recent book to help white people understand their place in the reproduction of racism and how to fight it." - The Bakersfield Californian

"It's shocking, beautifully written, and, with white supremacy knocking on the White House door, more important than ever. Some books are great, some books are essential.

"Truly, I couldn't put it down. [

"Powerful . . . Like a meticulous prosecutor assembling her case, Anderson lays out a profoundly upsetting vision of an America driven to waves of reactionary white anger whenever it's confronted with black achievement." -

"There is [a] book that I think we all need to read and read again: Carol Anderson's

"Bracing . . . It might all seem very conspiratorial and cloak-and-dagger, were it not also true. Reading through all the frightfully inventive ways in which America makes racial inequality a matter of law (and order) has a dizzying effect: like watching a quick-cut montage of social injustice spanning nearly half a millennium." -

"[F]or readers who want to understand the sense of grievance and pain that many African Americans feel today,

"Prescient . . . provides necessary perspective on the racial conflagrations in the U.S." -

"Anderson's mosaic of white outrage deserves contemplation by anyone interested in understanding U.S. race relations, past and present." -

"[An] engaging, thought-provoking work . . . Anderson's clear, ardent prose detailing the undermining of America's stated ideals and democratic norms is required reading for anyone interested in the state of American social discourse." -

"Few historians write with the grace, clarity, and intellectual verve Carol Anderson summons in this book. We are tethered to history, and with

"To overcome our racial history, Americans must first learn our racial history--as it truly and painfully happened. This powerful book is the place to start." -

"Anderson's book compellingly recenters America's racial narrative on the propulsive power of white fury. The sentiments she traces, and the force they carry, don't just explain our political past; they also reveal our political present." -

"A short, simple history about the racial divide in America--but really approachable." -

"I highly recommend reading . . . Carol Anderson's

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide [Anderson, Carol] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Business of Owning the City

Before the city yielded to winter, as cold and gray as a mechanic's wrench, before Arleen convinced Sherrena Tarver to let her boys move into the Thirteenth Street duplex, the inner city was crackling with life. It was early September and Milwaukee was enjoying an Indian summer. Music rolled into the streets from car speakers as children played on the sidewalk or sold water bottles by the freeway entrance. Grandmothers watched from porch chairs as bare-chested black boys laughingly made their way to the basketball court.

Sherrena wound her way through the North Side, listening to R&B with her window down. Most middle-class Milwaukeeans zoomed past the inner city on the freeway. Landlords took the side streets, typically not in their Saab or Audi but in their "rent collector," some oil-leaking, rusted-out van or truck that hauled around extension cords, ladders, maybe a loaded pistol, plumbing snakes, toolboxes, a can of Mace, nail guns, and other necessities. Sherrena usually left her lipstick-red Camaro at home and visited tenants in a beige-and-brown 1993 Chevy Suburban with 22-inch rims. The Suburban belonged to Quentin, Sherrena's husband, business partner, and property manager. He used a screwdriver to start it.

Some white Milwaukeeans still referred to the North Side as "the core," as they did in the 1960s, and if they ventured into it, they saw street after street of sagging duplexes, fading murals, twenty-four-hour day cares, and corner stores with wic accepted here signs. Once America's eleventh-largest city, Milwaukee's population had fallen below 600,000, down from over 740,000 in 1960. It showed. Abandoned properties and weedy lots where houses once stood dotted the North Side. A typical residential street had a few single-family homes owned by older folks who tended gardens and hung American flags, more duplexes or four-family apartment buildings with chipping paint and bedsheet curtains rented to struggling families, and vacant plots and empty houses with boards drilled over their doors and windows.

Sherrena saw all this, but she saw something else too. Like other seasoned landlords, she knew who owned which multifamily, which church, which bar, which street; knew its different vicissitudes of life, its shades and moods; knew which blocks were hot and drug-soaked and which were stable and quiet. She knew the ghetto's value and how money could be made from a property that looked worthless to people who didn't know any better.

Petite with chestnut skin, Sherrena wore a lightweight red-and-blue jacket that matched her pants, which matched her off-kilter NBA cap. She liked to laugh, a full, open-mouthed hoot, sometimes catching your shoulder as if to keep from falling. But as she turned off North Avenue on her way to pay a visit to tenants who lived near the intersection of Eighteenth and Wright Streets, she slowed down and let out a heavy sigh. Evictions were a regular part of the business, but Lamar didn't have any legs. Sherrena was not looking forward to evicting a man without legs.

When Lamar first fell behind, Sherrena didn't reach automatically for the eviction notice or shrug it off with a bromide about business being business. She hemmed and hawed. "I'm gonna have a hard time doing this," she told Quentin when she could no longer ignore it. "You know that, don't you?" Sherrena frowned.

Quentin stayed quiet and let his wife say it.

"It's only fair," Sherrena offered after a few silent moments of deliberation. "I feel bad for the kids. Lamar's got them little boys in there. . . . And I love Lamar. But love don't pay the bills."

Sherrena had a lot of bills: mortgage payments, water charges, maintenance expenses, property taxes. Sometimes a major expense would come out of nowhere-a broken furnace, an unexpected bill from the city-and leave her close to broke until the first of the month.

"We don't have the time to wait," Quentin said. "While we waiting on his payment, the taxes are going up. The mortgage payment is going up."

There was no hedging in this business. When a tenant didn't pay $500, her landlord lost $500. When that happened, landlords with mortgages dug into their savings or their income to make sure the bank didn't hand them a foreclosure notice. There were no euphemisms either: no "downsizing," no "quarterly losses." Landlords took the gains and losses directly; they saw the deprivation and waste up close. Old-timers liked recalling their first big loss, their initial breaking-in: the time a tenant tore down her own ceiling, took pictures, and convinced the court commissioner it was the landlord's fault; the time an evicted couple stuffed socks down the sinks and turned the water on full-blast before moving out. Rookie landlords hardened or quit.

Sherrena nodded reassuringly and said, almost to herself, "I guess I got to stop feeling sorry for these people because nobody is feeling sorry for me. Last time I checked, the mortgage company still wanted their money."

Sherrena and Quentin had met years ago, on Fond Du Lac Avenue. Quentin pulled up beside Sherrena at a red light. She had a gorgeous smile and her car stereo was turned up. He asked her to pull over. Sherrena remembered Quentin being in a Daytona, but he insisted it was the Regal. "I ain't trying to pull nobody over in the Daytona," he'd say, feigning offense. Quentin was well manicured, built but not muscular, with curly hair and lots of jewelry-

a thick chain, a thicker bracelet, rings. Sherrena thought he looked like a dope dealer but gave him her real number anyway. Quentin called Sherrena for three months before she agreed to let him take her out for ice cream. It took him another six years to marry her.

When Quentin pulled Sherrena over, she was a fourth-grade teacher. She talked like a teacher, calling strangers "honey" and offering motherly advice or chiding. "You know I'm fixing to fuss at you," she would say. If she sensed your attention starting to drift, she would touch your elbow or thigh to pull you back in.

Four years after meeting Quentin, Sherrena was happy with their relationship but bored at work. After eight years in the classroom, she quit and opened a day care. But "they shut it down on a tiny technicality," she remembered. So she went back to teaching. After her son from an earlier relationship started acting out, she began homeschooling him and tried her hand at real estate. When people asked, "Why real estate?" Sherrena would reply with some talk about "long-term residuals" or "property being the best investment out there." But there was more to it. Sherrena shared something with other landlords: an unbending confidence that she could make it on her own without a school or a company to fall back on, without a contract or a pension or a union. She had an understanding with the universe that she could strike out into nothing and through her own gumption and intelligence come back with a good living.

Sherrena had bought a home in 1999, when prices were low. Riding the housing boom a few years later, she refinanced and pulled out $21,000 in equity. Six months later, she refinanced again, this time pulling $12,000. She used the cash to buy her first rental property: a two-unit duplex in the inner city, where housing was cheapest. Rental profits, refinancing, and private real-estate investors offering high-interest loans helped her buy more.

She learned that the rental population comprised some upper- and middle-class households who rent out of preference or circumstance, some young and transient people, and most of the city's poor, who were excluded both from homeownership and public housing. Landlords operated in different neighborhoods, typically clustering their properties in a concentrated area. In the segregated city, this meant that landlords focused on housing certain kinds of people: white ones or black ones, poor families or college students. Sherrena decided to specialize in renting to the black poor.

Four years later, she owned thirty-six units, all in the inner city, and took to carrying a pair of cell phones with backup batteries, reading Forbes, renting office space, and accepting appointments from nine a.m. to nine p.m. Quentin quit his job and started working as Sherrena's property manager and buying buildings of his own. Sherrena started a credit-repair business and an investment business. She purchased two fifteen-passenger vans and started Prisoner Connections LLC, which for $25 to $50 a seat transported girlfriends and mothers and children to visit their incarcerated loved ones upstate. Sherrena had found her calling: inner-city entrepreneur.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The official website of Matthew Desmond, author of EVICTED: POVERTY AND PROFIT IN THE AMERICAN CITY.

# data[].attributes.headline
'The Color of Law' Details How U.S. Housing Policies Created Segregation_NPR

# data[].attributes.subject
'The Color of Law' Details How U.S. Housing Policies Created Segregation_NPR

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

This is the day in 1954 that the Supreme Court issued its famous ruling desegregating schools, Brown versus Board of Education. Today, schools remain largely segregated, and the author Richard Rothstein argues that's because housing is segregated. Even today, black and white people generally don't live in the same neighborhoods. Rothstein's new book is called "The Color Of Law: A Forgotten History Of How Our Government Segregated America." Welcome to the program.

RICHARD ROTHSTEIN: Thank you very much.

SHAPIRO: So the basic argument of your book is that while racist individuals might have contributed to housing segregation in specific cases, there was an overwhelming amount of government policy at the state, local and federal level that explicitly forced black people to live in different places from white people. And I have to admit that reading this book, the geographic scope, the longevity, the sheer creativity of these policies really took me by surprise.

ROTHSTEIN: It takes many people by surprise. This whole history has been forgotten. It used to be well-known. There was nothing hidden about it. The federal government pursued two important policies in the mid-20th century that segregated metropolitan areas. One was the first civilian public housing program which frequently demolished integrated neighborhoods in order to create segregated public housing.

The second program that the federal government pursued was to subsidize the development of suburbs on a condition that they be only sold to white families and that the homes in those suburbs had deeds that prohibited resale to African-Americans. These two policies worked together to segregate metropolitan areas in ways that they otherwise would never have been segregated.

SHAPIRO: The book gives so many different examples of how this played out, and one of the worst offenders is the FHA, the Federal Housing Administration. Explain why this one government agency has so much influence over where people live and what the FHA did to prevent black people from buying and owning homes.

ROTHSTEIN: Perhaps the best-known example is Levittown, just east of New York City, but there were subdivisions like this all over the country. What the federal government did in the 1940s and '50s, it came to a developer like Levitt, the Levitt family that built Levittown. That family could never have assembled the capital necessary to build 17,000 homes on its own.

What the federal government did, the FHA, is guarantee bank loans for construction and development to Levittown on condition that no homes be sold to African-Americans and that every home have a clause in its deed prohibiting resale to African-Americans.

SHAPIRO: The FHA policies here were not merely incentives or encouragements. You tell the story of progressive, idealistic developers who wanted to build integrated housing communities and were absolutely unable to do so. And we're not just talking about in the Deep South here.

ROTHSTEIN: We're not talking about the Deep South at all. We're talking of the North, the West, the Midwest. The great American novelist Wallace Stegner got a job right after World War II at Stanford University. There was an enormous civilian housing shortage. He joined and helped to lead a co-operative of 400 families who bought a large tract outside Stanford University where they wanted to build single-family homes.

The FHA refused to insure those homes refused to provide the capital for construction because the 400-member co-operative had three African-American members. The co-operative tried to resist the FHA's demand, promising the FHA that the number of African-Americans in the co-operative wouldn't exceed the percentage of African-Americans in California as a whole.

The FHA refused that compromise. Finally, the co-operative had to disband because they couldn't go ahead with the project. They sold the land to a private developer, who with FHA guarantees built single family homes with racially exclusive deeds.

SHAPIRO: Your book also explains one way in which black neighborhoods became undesirable. You described zoning laws in which black parts of town were officially zoned for industrial plants, waste disposal, other things that we would consider a blight. And meanwhile, those businesses were explicitly kept out of white neighborhoods in the same cities.

ROTHSTEIN: Yes, there are examples in St. Louis and Los Angeles, neighborhoods that once they had African-American residents were rezoned to permit industrial and toxic uses. Those rezonings turned those neighborhoods into slums. White families outside those neighborhoods looked upon the neighborhoods, saw slums and concluded that African-Americans were slum dwellers and that if they moved into their neighborhoods, into the white neighborhoods, they would bring those conditions with them.

SHAPIRO: Why were all of these policies put in place? Was it just overt racism on the part of policy makers? What actually was the motivation?

ROTHSTEIN: Well, that's very hard to know. And one thing that should be remembered is that it can't be blamed simply on the standards of the time because there were people who dissented. People did know better, but they had other priorities. And they caved in to private prejudice and some of their constituents. They themselves were prejudiced. It was assumptions about racial superiority, but it also was cowardice in not confronting popular views about racial superiority.

SHAPIRO: So as you lay out this history, these segregationist, discriminatory, harmful structures were built over the first half of the 20th century, and then Congress passes the Fair Housing Act in 1968 which says many of those practices were illegal, unconstitutional and they stop - for the most part, the worst ones. Why doesn't that solve the problem?

ROTHSTEIN: Well, because all the Fair Housing Act could do was prohibit future discrimination. But by the time the Fair Housing Act was passed, the patterns of segregation had been firmly established. Simply passing a Fair Housing Act did not enable African-Americans who were previously living in urban areas to relocate to the suburbs from which they'd been excluded. I gave the example earlier of Levittown in 1947-48, when those homes were built with a racially restrictive policy.

Those homes sold for about $8,000 a piece or $100,000 more or less in today's currency. African-Americans, working class families could have bought those homes. Today though, those homes sell for $300,000, $400,000. They're no longer affordable to working class families. In the ensuing two generations, the white families who moved into those homes gained that $200,000, $300,000 in equity appreciation.

African-Americans living in rented apartments, prohibited from moving to the suburbs, gained none of that appreciation. The result is that today nationwide, African-American incomes on average are about 60 percent of white incomes, but African-American wealth is about 5 to 7 percent of white wealth. That enormous difference is almost entirely attributable to unconstitutional federal housing policy practiced in the mid-20th century.

SHAPIRO: The current secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, has criticized what he calls social engineering programs that are meant to help black homeowners or renters. It sounds as though you're arguing that the first two-thirds of the 20th century were social engineering to harm black people in homeownership and that maybe it will require some social engineering to undo that harm.

ROTHSTEIN: Yes. What I tell Secretary Carson is that the reforms that he's criticizing are an attempt to undo social engineering. Clearly he's right that when you try to engineer social policy the way that is necessary to reverse segregation, there are some unintended consequences.

There will be prices to be paid, but those prices are small compared to the costs of the social engineering that was conducted in the first two-thirds of the 20th century by the federal government. And that's a price that we have to pay to rectify a serious constitutional violation.

SHAPIRO: Richard Rothstein is with the Economic Policy Institute and the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. His new book is "The Color Of Law: A Forgotten History Of How Our Government Segregated America." Thank you so much.

ROTHSTEIN: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF PERPETUAL GROOVE'S "TEAKWOOD BETZ")

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
'The Color Of Law' Details How U.S. Housing Policies Created Segregation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with author Richard Rothstein about his new book, The Color of Law, which details how federal housing policies in the 1940s and '50s mandated segregation and undermined the ability of black families to own homes and build wealth.

# data[].attributes.headline
Centering Ancestral Knowledges:  Leadership in Learning Environments__by Muhammad Khalifa

# data[].attributes.subject
Centering Ancestral Knowledges:  Leadership in Learning Environments__by Muhammad Khalifa

# data[].attributes.headline
The Wheel of Power and Privilege_Bright Morning

# data[].attributes.subject
The Wheel of Power and Privilege_Bright Morning

# data[].attributes.headline
The Akron Public Schools DEI Video Library

# data[].attributes.subject
The Akron Public Schools DEI Video Library

# data[].attributes.headline
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

# data[].attributes.subject
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Inaugural Episode - Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

# data[].attributes.headline
Portrait of a Culturally Responsive School System

# data[].attributes.subject
Portrait of a Culturally Responsive School System

# data[].attributes.headline
How Structural Racism Work__Brown University

# data[].attributes.subject
How Structural Racism Work__Brown University

# data[].attributes.headline
Inclusion Summit: The History of Inclusion in Akron

# data[].attributes.subject
Inclusion Summit: The History of Inclusion in Akron

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Inclusion Summit: The History of Inclusion in Akron

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Developing a personal understanding of race and racism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Implicit Bias Module Series | Kirwan Institute

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why focus on implicit rather than explicit bias?

# data[].attributes.headline
How microaggressions are like mosquito bites

# data[].attributes.subject
How microaggressions are like mosquito bites

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How microaggressions are like mosquito bites • Same Difference

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Disturbing History of the Suburbs | Adam Ruins Everything

# data[].attributes.headline
Modern Day Segregation:  How and Why Public Schools ARe (Still) Divided by Race

# data[].attributes.subject
Modern Day Segregation:  How and Why Public Schools ARe (Still) Divided by Race

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nikole Hannah-Jones | Modern Day Segregation | Talks at Google

# data[].attributes.headline
Why black girls are targeted for punishment at school -- and how to change that | Monique W. Morris

# data[].attributes.subject
Why black girls are targeted for punishment at school -- and how to change that | Monique W. Morris

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Black girls are targeted for punishment at school -- and how to change that | Monique W. Morris

# data[].attributes.headline
How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace| Janet Stovall|TED

# data[].attributes.subject
How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace| Janet Stovall|TED

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace | Janet Stovall | TED

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Be a Good Ally - Identity, Privilege, Resistance | Ahsante Bean | Ahsante the Artist

# data[].attributes.headline
The Groundwater Approach__Love and Hayes-Greene of the Racial Equity Institute

# data[].attributes.subject
The Groundwater Approach__Love and Hayes-Greene of the Racial Equity Institute

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Groundwater Approach__Love and Hayes-Greene of the Racial Equity Institute.pdf

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 2021 National School Climate Survey.pdf

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Preliminary Information

On the next page you'll be asked to select an Implicit Association Test (IAT) from a list of possible topics . We will also ask you (optionally) to report your attitudes or beliefs about these topics and provide some information about yourself.

We ask these questions because the IAT can be more valuable if you also describe your own self-understanding of the attitude or stereotype that the IAT measures. We would also like to compare differences between people and groups.

On the IAT, you may find it easier to pair certain attributes with one group of people compared to another. Your IAT results may depart from your personal beliefs.

Note: This site is designed for adults, aged 18 or older.

Data Privacy: Data exchanged with this site are protected by SSL encryption. Project Implicit uses the same secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) that banks use to securely transfer credit card information. This provides strong security for data transfer to and from our website. IP addresses are routinely recorded, but are completely confidential. For research purposes, data without directly identifying information is made publicly available. You can find more information on our Data Privacy page.

Important disclaimer: In reporting to you results of any IAT test that you take, we will mention possible interpretations that have a basis in research done (at the University of Washington, University of Virginia, Harvard University, and Yale University) with these tests. However, these Universities, as well as the individual researchers who have contributed to this site, make no claim for the validity of these suggested interpretations. If you are unprepared to encounter interpretations that you might find objectionable, please do not proceed further. You may prefer to examine general information about the IAT before deciding whether or not to proceed.

If you have questions about the study, please contact Project Implicit at questions@projectimplicit.net. To obtain more information about the study, ask questions about the research procedures, express concerns about your participation, or report illness, injury or other problems, please contact:

Tonya R. Moon, Ph.D.
Chair, Institutional Review Board for the Social and Behavioral Sciences
One Morton Dr Suite 500
University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800392
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0392
Email: irbsbshelp@virginia.edu
Website: https://research.virginia.edu/irb-sbs
Website for Research Participants: https://research.virginia.edu/research-participants

I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT test performance with which I may not agree. Knowing this, I wish to proceed I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT test performance with which I may not agree. Knowing this, I wish to proceed using a touchscreen OR using a keyboard.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On the next page you'll be asked to select an Implicit Association Test (IAT) from a list of possible topics . We will also ask you (optionally) to report your attitudes or beliefs about these topics and provide some information about yourself.

# data[].attributes.headline
CASEL Guiding Questions for Educators: Promote Equity Using SEL

# data[].attributes.subject
CASEL Guiding Questions for Educators: Promote Equity Using SEL

# data[].attributes.headline
A collective APS definition of diversity, equity and inclusion in APS

# data[].attributes.subject
A collective APS definition of diversity, equity and inclusion in APS

# data[].attributes.headline
Engaging White Students in Conversations About Race

# data[].attributes.subject
Engaging White Students in Conversations About Race

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A high school teacher shares strategies for using literature to guide discussions about race with students who would rather avoid the topic.

In February, my seniors read Toni Morrison's Beloved and were considering how a traumatic history can haunt the present. They had finished an article about George Washington's relentless pursuit of runaway slaves, and I asked if this piece of the first president's biography mattered. A few students had mumbled diplomatically: It matters a little, sort of; it doesn't detract from his legacy.

"Whiny people care," Jasper said.

"Does everyone feel that way?" I asked. A minute of silence. I knew that some students disagreed with Jasper but weren't comfortable speaking up, and I'd need to try to draw them out. The bell rang-I'd have to follow up later.

I'm used to White students, especially boys, checking out or offering resistance when race enters a literary discussion, as it does with Beloved, To Kill a Mockingbird, and There There. Some question the well-established historical record or suggest that merely talking about race sows division. Those who view racist jokes as essential free speech provoke classmates. Some White students complain that they can't relate to books written by people of color, as if any of them have been the prince of Denmark or stalked an ex on Long Island. I have often encountered White students who condemn slurs and wince at news of police killing Black people, but doubt they personally benefit from America's history of racism.

Amid June's protests, my students might have responded differently, but in February, apathetic or exhausted, their eyes glazed over. Despite having never really done so, they were tired of talking about race.

White students are 35 percent of my school population. Most of the rest, Latinx students largely, live in neighborhoods that are segregated from those of their White classmates, who often dominate both student government and class discussions. I started my teaching career in a different city, eager to help my Latinx and Black students find opportunity and power, but now, 10 years later, I believe that cracking through the silence and discomfort of White students may be a more pressing antiracist exercise.

This discourse is far from all I prioritize in my English class. But it's necessary, and through planning, frequent failure, honest reflection, and adjustments, I've settled on some strategies for using English class to improve these conversations.

Challenging the Canon

Beloved may be my favorite novel, and it treats race and history with a complexity that suits seniors. But like generations of students past, my ninth graders read To Kill a Mockingbird, which places the unjust trial and killing of an innocent Black man within one little White girl's coming-of-age story. Like many teachers, I don't have the freedom to jettison district-mandated core texts.

So my students critique the book as a vehicle for a meaningful conversation about race. Instead of presenting Atticus as a role model, I encourage students to parse his flaws. Do To Kill a Mockingbird 's lessons about racism really suffice in 2020? Students often come to the conclusion that Atticus's cuddly maxims don't assail the fundamental problem in his world or ours. And if that's the case, why do some teachers (and students) still see the book as perpetually relevant?

But, ideally, students would instead read Kindred or The Nickel Boys to participate in this conversation. I would love to bury Atticus Finch and instead share the latter's Jack Turner and Elwood Curtis, brave young Black characters resisting Jim Crow.

Reading the Book Is Not Enough

Diversifying the curriculum does not fight racism-it's unhelpful to read The Nickel Boys without excavating history, for example, or to shoehorn Kindred into an easy lesson about tolerance and forgiveness that never bends toward justice.

Teachers have to let books like these speak their full truths because many students prefer the easy lessons, sometimes indulging in delusional interpretations of texts for comfort. For example, Marina, a White girl, would not accept that Beloved 's vain abolitionist Mr. Bodwin all but re-enslaves free Black people through an exploitative economic arrangement. I was glad to upset her.

Sometimes we need to foster discussions that force the issue. Half a class of ninth graders insisted that, for trying (and failing) to exclude White kids from her church congregation, To Kill a Mockingbird 's Lula is as racist as bigots who vote and serve on juries. The ensuing debate led many to see racism as the product of power as well as prejudice.

Launching an Inquiry

Instead of force-feeding an opinion to students, I sometimes assign an inquiry after we read Beloved. For example, I've had student panels research the long-standing impact of race on housing development, health care, education, and criminal justice in their own county, and then formally present findings to the rest of class. This way, students own the search, even if they're initially unconvinced of the premise.

Teachers can invite school administrators or see if the media studies class can film the presentations. Make the work public, so what students discover and share can educate others.

Letting Students Write About Themselves (and Pretend Not To)

Sometimes, cautious students write most honestly about an uncomfortable topic when they can remain anonymous, or when they can use fictitious characters to reflect authentic experiences.

When we read There There, my students discuss how author Tommy Orange uses first-person narrators to capture an urban Indian identity ignored by pop culture and mainstream history. Last year, after finishing the book, each student contributed a single chapter featuring a first-person narrator to a book that served as a polyphonic portrait of their high school environment. I asked them to create characters to reflect authentic though overlooked experiences. I wanted them to think about whose experiences are discussed and understood least in the school.

Unsurprisingly, when we turned to the writing exercise, many students-emboldened by anonymity-wrote vignettes detailing personal experiences with racism. No one knew for sure who was responsible for each chapter of the photocopied publication, which we distributed to students and teachers, but many students learned something about their world, including the extent to which their peers confront prejudice.

Taking Steps Forward

I've been inspired by my former students taking to the streets in impassioned protest. Their anger is a healthy response to recent events. I did not understand racism's reach and breadth when I attended mostly diverse public schools in Kentucky. I try to give White kids the education I needed-a jump-start for a lifelong process of action, listening, reflection, and evolution.

In June, Paula, class of 2019, wrote to thank me for preparing her for the reckoning she was having with family and friends. Even more comforting was an Instagram story from Nick-a Jasper from another year. He hadn't posted anything in two years, but when he finally did, it was not a party pic or beach vista, but an earnest missive urging his college classmates to support Black businesses.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Engaging White Students in Conversations About Race

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A high school teacher shares strategies for using literature to guide discussions about race with students who would rather avoid the topic.

# data[].attributes.headline
Kicking Off the School Year with Intention

# data[].attributes.subject
Kicking Off the School Year with Intention

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Setting aside time for relationship building at the start of school can pay big dividends throughout the year.

Photo by Chris Matula/Palm Beach Post/ZUMA Press/Alamy Stock Photo

In my 12 years of teaching, I have come to realize that how I start the year is a sign of the way the year will conclude. A strong start to the year makes everything else easier, while a weak start to the year is nearly impossible to remedy. There are some foundational approaches that have served me-and my students-well.

The First Impression

Research indicates that people need just seconds to form ideas about someone they are just meeting. How can we as teachers maximize the first impression?

As child psychologist Haim Ginott noted, the teacher is "the deciding element" of the climate in the classroom. Here are some things you can do to be meaningfully present the first day of school: Welcome students at the door with a warm greeting. Make it clear where they need to sit. Be intentional with your body placement and posture, eye movements, and vocal approach, because students are reading you, consciously and unconsciously, and responding to what psychologists call " emotional contagion."

Though teachers don't need to be experts in feng shui, I have found it helpful to be mindful of the physical space my students are entering on the first day. This includes having a tidy room prepared with resources, a thoughtful desk arrangement with smart traffic flow, and objectives and agendas posted in spaces clearly marked for specific classes. I also like personal touches that generate conversation, such as photos or posters that are important to me or a diffuser with essential oils.

Have a balance of posted content and free wall space for future student contributions. Make sure that everything has a place. Disheveled paperwork or inaccessible resources not only communicate a lack of organization but also hinder your work later in the year.

Building Relationships

Who is a teacher that had a positive impact on you, and what did he or she do specifically?

What are your pet peeves as a learner?

Are there any conflicts (with people or arrangement) in this room I need to be aware of?

Everything that happens during the first week or two of school is designed to build relationships. This starts with a proper introduction. I always start with a get-to-know-you survey asking questions such as the following:

As students are completing this survey, I make a point to walk around the room, introduce myself with a firm handshake and eye contact, request the name each student wants to be called, and make sure I can correctly pronounce the name.

Icebreakers are another useful tool for initial relationship building. I ask students to find and share a particular item such as a children's book, quote, song, poem, cartoon, or object that tells something important about who they are. Another option is to ask students to write and share a six-word memoir.

Circles are another way to share the work students have written, build connections, establish norms, and identify and address individual or community needs. For example, this year I started with a norming circle where I asked two guiding questions: What do you need from this community to be successful and safe? And what will you offer to this community to create that successful and safe environment? Students' responses then became the classroom rules.

An important element of relationship building is modeling authentic reflection. I read the surveys they completed and compile lists of their needs and pet peeves. Then I publicly share a bit about how I will utilize my strengths and improve my weaknesses to honor student preferences. I also share survey data from last year's students to let them know what I do well and what I'll be working on this year.

Establishing Clarity

Before any student ever shares, establish nonnegotiable parameters for respectful attention. I make sure to explicitly explain what active listening looks and sounds like, why confidentiality is important, how side conversations make students feel insecure, and how scary it is to share a part of ourselves. Then I revisit these concepts frequently. This not only creates a strong community but also lays the groundwork for the risks that rigorous learning will later require.

Share the syllabus only after connections are built; this delay demonstrates that relationships are most important and that clarity matters in this class. Through previewing the syllabus, students are exposed to the regulations required by school, the content and objectives, and an overview of what they can expect from my discipline and pedagogical style.

It may seem odd that there is no direct content instruction the first few days, but the major goal is to build a solid foundation. Intentional investment in relationships and expectations at the outset creates an environment ripe for deeper learning and fewer management issues throughout the year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kicking Off the School Year With Intention

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Setting aside time for relationship building at the start of school can pay big dividends throughout the year.

# data[].attributes.headline
Classroom Discussions on Race:  Hear What 5 Black Students Say They Need

# data[].attributes.subject
Classroom Discussions on Race:  Hear What 5 Black Students Say They Need

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Thousands of high school students have participated in demonstrations against police killings of unarmed Black people. Some students are demanding that their school districts adopt anti-racist curricula.

Against that backdrop of activism, Education Week asked 10 Black high school students around the country about their experiences in school, including class discussions about race and racism.

In another video, students tell educators what they need from their schools to feel safe and supported. Subsequent videos will feature students' views on the importance of Black teachers and what they feel should be the role of school police. See all videos here.

Below are some more-detailed stories from five of those students about class conversations they thought went well, and those they thought didn't go well at all.
'Keeping It Specific'
Zoë Jenkins, 16 and a senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Ky., said her Advanced Placement government teacher led a good discussion about affirmative action and the Supreme Court.

"He ... made sure to give us a lot of context behind why schools were doing these systems to give students like extra points for their race, ethnicity, or gender, and ... just keeping it specific, but also keeping it very factual, and making sure that students were kind of like staying within those bounds. So when students would kind of start veering off, making generalizations or things like that, he was really good about correcting them, but in a way that wasn't calling them out, but just kind of like a group learning moment like, 'Hey, you know, I know you probably didn't mean it this way. But let's just make sure we use this kind of language when trying to talk about a very diverse group of people.' So that one went, I think, particularly well."

It really helped, Jenkins said, that there were "four or five Black students in that class." It meant that "no one felt the pressure of like, I have to stand up for people of underrepresented minorities in this moment, because I'm the only one." Having more Black students in class "also forces people to think a little bit more about what they're going to say and when they say it," she said.
'The Pressure on Students to Correct Other Students'
A discussion that didn't go well, Jenkins said, took place in her AP English class after students had read Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me, and watched the Childish Gambino music video "This is America" and "13th," a documentary about race and incarceration.

During the discussion, some students referred to Black people as '"the Blacks," she said, and one student "was talking about how, in his words, that when we gave Black people their freedom with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, that they didn't know what to do with themselves, so they turned to crack and then that's how we got to the crack epidemic, which is obviously ... just so wrong on so many different levels. But then our teacher didn't correct that."

"I can understand the hesitancy to correct that when you're having, like, a Socratic conversation. You want students to be leading it. But that then puts the pressure on students to correct other students, which can sometimes I think, come off the wrong way, especially in that classroom as the only Black student, there's a lot of pressure, like, 'Hey, Zoë, you should really call out that behavior.' And it's like, I don't even know where to begin to explain, like, on how many different levels that was just wrong."

In that discussion, Jenkins said, "we could have had a lot more work on making sure there was more context. And also just setting norms for how those conversations should be held."
'I'm Going to Police You'
Rena Mateja Walker Burr, 16 and a junior at Cleveland High School in Seattle, recalled an incident in class that sparked a discussion when one Black classmate referred to another Black classmate by using the n-word.

"In like Black culture, it's kind of like a term of endearment," Walker Burr said. "And the [white] teacher just stopped and she was like, 'No, you're not allowed to say it in my classroom.' And all the students are kind of like looking at each other like what do you mean?' ... It just turned into this whole huge class discussion. And it was like two days long. And then other class periods got a hold of it, and then they ended up talking about it."

"A lot of students I talked to ended up like damaged from that conversation," Walker Burr said. The school tried to resolve the upset by conducting structured conversations about it through its restorative justice system, a discussion-based way of resolving conflicts, but Walker Burr ended up feeling that some students' experience of their teachers' comments wasn't fully understood.

"For a teacher to really just kind of ... nonchalantly not really care about our opinions, it was like kind of a slap in our face because we were just trying to educate her and tell her why we thought, personally, it was wrong for her to try to tell us whether we can use the word or not use the word in our classroom."

"One of the things I remember [her] saying so vividly was, 'I don't care. I'm going to police you on this word.' And she said it in multiple class periods. And that was just kind of like, oh wow. ... For me personally, and for some of the other students I talked to, it was more of like, we don't feel safe kind of thing. ... Because you say [the classroomis] inclusive to everybody. But your actions clearly show that it's not inclusive to people who look like me."
"Curriculum Is So Centered in Whiteness'
Jaden Adeyemi, 17 and a senior at Highland High School in Albuquerque, N.M., said school conversations on race are mostly focused on stories of oppression instead of Black triumph. Black students "are not seeing the successes of people who look like us," she said.

"In high school, I see how even our U.S. history curriculum is so centered in whiteness," Adeyemi said. "What we have to understand about Black history is that it's so vast, and there's so much that we don't talk about. ... There are so many things about Black history that people don't know because we don't talk about it."

She said it's important for teachers to teach the full range of Black experiences-and just assigning diverse books isn't enough.

"I think the thing about the books that we read is that even though they talk about Black people in Black history, sometimes they're kind of in that comfort zone of like, 'This is the small sliver of Black history that we talked about, and so let's read this book because it kind of fits into that,'" she said. "And I think what I'm waiting for is for a teacher to have us read a really controversial book about Black history that we don't [typically] want to read in school because it's not centered in whiteness. We're scared to do that."

For example, she has read books like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin in school. Both books are focused on race, but they're written by white authors and are not told from the Black perspective, she said. Adeyemi wishes teachers would assign books like the ones she reads in her free time, including A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story by Elaine Brown and The Autobiography of Malcom X.
'They Can't Be Scared to Talk About It'
McKenzie Curry, 18 and a recent graduate of Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, appreciated when her teacher in her African American history class was honest and direct about the horrors of slavery. Other teachers, Curry said, have shied away from hard truths:

"They kind of move around it, or don't want to speak on it, or don't want to speak on the impact of slavery or racism or anything that has to do with ... the harshest of the Black community and Black history. They kind of move around it, but I feel like they can't be scared to talk about it. ... Because that's how more of your students will feel more comfortable," she said.

It's OK for teachers to be nervous about discussing the history of slavery, Curry said, "but it's still part of your job. You still have to be willing to go out of your way and teach it."

Still, as teachers discuss painful topics, they need to take care not to show gratuitous violence, or trivialize suffering, Curry said. She remembered one lesson in an AP Government class, during which students watched a video on Hurricane Katrina.

"The video was shown to try to understand how the government works, and how a government will work during a crisis. But really, all we really saw were how the horrors of Katrina affected the Black community, and how nothing was done to help them really. ... We saw how African Americans were living day to day in slums, basically, and ... dying in the water, just trying to get to land that wasn't covered in water. ... And it brought an uproar in our class, because we just didn't think it was appropriate."

Her teacher skipped through parts of the video that Curry thought would have been more instructive in demonstrating the government response. "It was more of, we were seeing Black people just living miserably than anything else," she said.

Discussion about Black history and literature in schools shouldn't begin and end with pain and tragedy, Curry said. "We should be able to read more stories with Black fictional characters or autobiographies about Black people that don't always have to deal with slavery and racism, because there's more to the Black experience, and there's more stories to be told."
'This Is My Everyday Thing'
While many teachers have held class conversations on race after high-profile incidents such as the police killing of George Floyd, race should continue to be discussed in class long after the protests have simmered down, said Helena Almaw, 17 and a senior at DSST: Green Valley Ranch High School in Denver.

"Race shouldn't, in my opinion, just be talked about when there's a huge problem that has come up in our society," she said. "There are more people coming out and talking about racial injustice and the injustices that are in our country but only for a small amount of time, and then it blows over. I don't think that's right. You know, this is not something I have to deal with one day, or one week-this is my everyday thing. It's part of everybody's life, and schools-especially my school-hold a lot of diverse students, and it's the perfect place for us to hold those discussions."

School should be the place where students feel safe talking about race, Almaw said, and it shouldn't always be about injustices or inequities. She wishes positive aspects of race and diversity were discussed, too.

"It shouldn't have to be us seeing a person getting killed for us to talk about it," she said.

And that should start early on, Almaw said. She never discussed race-outside of Black History Month-in elementary school.

"If you cut it out of children's lives early, that's something they're going to be subject to-they're not going to focus on it when they're older," she said. "It shouldn't be something that kids are told they can't handle, because one way or another, they're going to see it in the world around them. Kids are our future generations [and] are the ones who are always making changes."
Photos: Zoë Jenkins, Rena Mateja Walker Burr, Jaden Adeyemi, McKenzie Curry, and Helena Almaw -Education Week

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Classroom Discussions on Race: Hear What 5 Black Students Say They Need

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Five Black high school students share stories about class conversations on race they thought went well, and those that didn't go well at all.

# data[].attributes.headline
What Teachers Should Learn From the Death of George Floyd

# data[].attributes.subject
What Teachers Should Learn From the Death of George Floyd

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The death of George Floyd, the community response to it, and the subsequent police violence are shedding some light on racism and its effects-in our country, our communities, and in our institutions-including in schools.

Today, Antoine Germany and Lorie Barber share their thoughts on the question, "What should teachers learn from the death of George Floyd?"

The importance of being anti-racist
Antoine Germany is a teacher at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, Calif., and chair of its English department:
The tragic passing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeled on his neck, has obviously struck a nerve in American society. The subsequent protests nationwide are a testament to how individuals in minority communities have been abused, distrusted, marginalized, and dehumanized for many years. The call for justice for the perpetrators of this senseless killing is only one aspect of why so many Americans have taken to the streets and expressed their outrage and frustration to a society that has seen these injuries to black and brown bodies far too often. The issues involved are many; however, what should educators take away from this particular episode in an ongoing saga of the killing of black men by the people sworn to protect them? What hard truths do teachers, administrators, and policymakers have to confront to remedy issues that George Floyd's death highlight?

Systemic racism is not unique to the criminal-justice system. It is far too easy to point out the martyrs of police killings: Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, and Freddie Gray just to name a few. It is also easy to point out the racial disparities in incarceration rates, bail determinations by judges, and felony disenfranchisement to see that the criminal-justice system works differently for different races. Many have pointed out that the criminal-justice system isn't dysfunctional at all but does exactly what it was designed to do. After the bloody Civil War and the end of slavery, the 13th Amendment freed the slaves but offered the caveat of "involuntary servitude" for duly convicted criminals; shortly thereafter, black men began to be incarcerated at alarming rates for minor offenses such as loitering. The "War on Drugs" which succeeded the "Law and Order" platforms of the '70s began the age of mass incarceration where millions of black and brown people were imprisoned and millions more were relegated to second-class citizens for being a felon. Many would argue that the criminal-justice system offers a window into the American psyche, and what it reveals is a criminalization and fear of black and brown people and a dehumanization of said people.

But what about education? Is it dysfunctional or does it succeed in accomplishing what it was designed to do? The data are clear that black and brown students are suspended more regularly, test more poorly, and drop out more regularly than their white counterparts. The famed "school to prison pipeline" offers a window into the American psyche as well. Public schools in America began as a segregated enterprise, funding for schools was never designed to be equal, and expectations or outcomes were never the same for black students historically.

So if systemic racism is not unique to the penal system and is actually true of the educational system as well, what can we do? What should be done to correct a system that appears colorblind but in fact is anything but?

As Ibram Kendi writes, it is not enough to not be racist, we must be anti-racist. Many individuals, whether they are teachers, administrators, or teacher aides point to their own efforts working with minority communities and ask themselves what can I do to be part of the solution for their students. There are many things that can be done, from valuing diversity in the workforce, particularly in leadership, to teachers actually living in the community in which they teach. However, the greatest catalyst for change is to realize that we as individuals make up the system.

Teachers, coaches, support staff are the educational system. Each individual might not have personal animus toward any race, but that's not enough. Neutrality is what gives us the system we have today. Silence in the face of systemic racism and oppression is no different from the police officers who stood idly by while Mr. Floyd pleaded for his life. We must be anti-racist, we must confront, name, and actively dismantle a system that benefits some but marginalizes others. That means we don't teach history as a dry collection of facts but as a living, moving, drama that affects our students today. That means we select a curriculum that is not only from diverse editors but also raises issues of oppression. It means schools try to intervene when a student is chronically absent or in the behavior office regularly. It means we actively talk about race and racism in faculty meetings and department meetings instead of assuming "colorblindness."

Unfortunately, the story of George Floyd is an all too familiar one. We have seen this story before; the protests eventually fade, the crowds will soon disperse until the next victim. Let's hope that the legacy of Mr. Floyd this time is to do what we can as individuals to right the wrongs that we see everyday and be the voice to so many students who are voiceless.

A change must come
Lorie Barber is a 5th grade teacher and book lover who lives and works in the westurn suburbs of Chicago:
George Floyd.

So, what SHOULD we learn from George Floyd's death?

First, we must learn how to be anti-racist, not NOT racist. Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (author of How to Be an Antiracist) says, "I define an antiracist as someone who is expressing an antiracist idea or supporting an antiracist policy with their actions, and I define an antiracist idea as any idea that says the racial groups are equal." To be anti-racist, we should learn about bias and do the lifelong internal work of uncovering, naming, sitting with, and talking about our biases. We ALL have biases. They're part of our socialized brains. I have uncovered many of mine (and have many more) that have changed the way I interact with my Black students and students of color. The internal work is messy. It's hard. You'll get defensive. But keep asking yourself, "What will happen to my Black students if I don't advocate for them?" DiAngelo's White Fragility is PERFECT for this work.

Most important of all, we need to LISTEN to the Black community. We need to pull back the curtain on micro (and not-so-micro) aggressions toward students of color. There are infinite resources that will allow you to listen to the Black community and begin to understand why "reverse racism" and "all lives matter" are not things. Some are listed here, with the knowledge that my anti-racist journey is built on the shoulders of GIANTS, to whom I am immensely grateful.

Books I've used on anti-racism for teachers and students:

How to Be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram Kendi

White Rage by Carol Anderson

Dying of Whiteness by Jonathan Metzl

Stamped by Kendi & Jason Reynolds (great for the younger set if you're looking to do this work with your children at home or your middle or high school students)

This Book is Antiracist by Tiffany Jewell (great for middle grades and up in classrooms and at home)

We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be by Cornelius Minor

Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed. I use this as the base of my teaching bias and discrimination with my students.

An Indigenous People's History of the United States for Young People, adapted by Jean Mendoza and Dr. Debbie Reese. This is the student version of the original written by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and is a vital component of my social studies curriculum.

Finally, we must learn to teach this relevant and current topic to our students, no matter our discomfort. Our discomfort doesn't matter. Again, sit with it. Say you are uncomfortable. Say you are new at being anti-racist. It's OK to be vulnerable with students as you grapple with this work together.

This lifelong work: Uncovering our biases, listening, and teaching anti-racism is the work of teachers, and it is past time that we act on behalf of our kids.

Thanks to Antoine and Lorie for their contributions!

The question was:
What should teachers learn from the death of George Floyd?
Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email or RSS Reader.I am also creating a Twitter list including all contributors to this column.
This post has been updated to reflect the current legal situation surrounding the death of George Floyd.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Teachers Should Learn From the Death of George Floyd (Opinion)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Two teachers reflect and communicate about what they think educators should learn from the death of George Floyd, including the importance of being anti-racist and challenging White teachers to acknowledge their implicit biases.

# data[].attributes.headline
Civil Schools--Teacher Identity, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Microaggessions

# data[].attributes.subject
Civil Schools--Teacher Identity, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Microaggessions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
CivilSchools - Teacher Identity, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Microaggressions Feat. Jamie Utt

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this clip from our comprehensive diversity, inclusiveness, and bullying prevention training for teachers, Jamie Utt highlights the research of Dr. Geneva Gay on culturally responsive teaching and Dr. Derald Wing Sue on migroaggressions before telling the story of how he was allowing his racial identity to negatively impact some of his students of Color without his even realizing it. Part of being a culturally responsive educator is being aware of our own identity and how it enters the classroom.

What are some of the ways that you've seen your racial identity as a teacher enter into your classroom in both positive and negative ways?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Richard Cowen | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
This teacher keeps an empty chair in his N.J. classroom. Here's why other schools are doing the same.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Daniel Gill, who is retiring after 52 years of teaching, has a bittersweet story about the empty chair in his class that will soon be a book.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.

In this "vital, necessary, and beautiful book" (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and "allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to 'bad people' (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism [DiAngelo, Dr. Robin, Dyson, Michael Eric] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In this stirring follow-up to Cultivating Genius, Muhammad builds upon the framework she introduced therein, adding the pursuit of joy to the four previously identified pursuits of identity; skills; intellect; and criticality, or "developing the ability to read texts to understand power, authority, and anti-oppression." It is through these pursuits, she argues, that educators can work toward making teaching and learning truly student-centered. The author begins by providing historical context for her framework, relying on the literary and educational practices of Black ancestors. From there, she offers practical examples and applications of the framework, including suggested texts, questions for reflection, and sample lesson plans. Muhammad emphasizes the importance of school and district stakeholders undertaking this work in community with one another. The book is firmly grounded in the need for genius, justice, and joy in education, but is also an example of what that can look like; woven throughout the text are poems, artwork, coloring pages, and curated playlists that encourage joy, creativity, and deep reflection. While the author does provide some discussion of her previous work, it is recommended that readers begin with Cultivating Genius. VERDICT Practical, inspiring, and joyous all at once. Outstanding and highly recommended!-Lauren Strohecker

"Hallelujah! Gholdy Muhammad has elevated the conversation about the education of Black and Brown children from detailing their deficits and sterilizing their instruction to creating curriculum that generates joy and genius-for all students, teachers, communities, and ourselves. Her own joy is palpable. She reminds us that we cannot 'harvest joy and genius' without attending to justice. This work does it all. Hers is a call to embrace our full humanity-in classrooms and in the world." She disperses literature, poetry, and classic song lyrics throughout this masterpiece that speaks to her passion for educating, nurturing, and tilling and watering the souls of our babies-the 'revolutionary petunias' and the beautiful 'Black orchids' who she loves so deeply." is THE most important book for educators in a climate that has betrayed the essence of teaching and learning. Through poignant insights, inspirational images, brilliant analysis, and practical examples, Gholdy welcomes us all to replenish the well that springs forth learning. This is a must-have book!!!" "culturally and historically responsive" theory and practice. Sheer genius!" is a celebration of life in the classroom through pedagogy, curriculum, and the power of the arts. As only Gholdy can do, she presents a breathtaking merging of history, theory, and practice that creates the conditions for joy to blossom and flourish, not only in our schools, but also in our everyday lives. Her book is an instant classic that will be read for years to come." is a clarion call for justice-centered, intellectually engaging teaching that is guided by love and joy." is a roadmap for celebrating the inherent worth in each student, and an indispensable treasure."Dr. Muhammad pushes educators into the next (and often, forgotten) steps of liberation-the pathways to joy and love. While most educators merely critique various forms of oppression, she teaches us how to use ancestral and community knowledge to complete all aspects of our humanity in schools. Without joy and love, humanity cannot exist, and schools cannot truly be spaces of liberation and justice." is revolutionary and revolution at the same time. If you want to (re)member the spirit and purpose of your work, read this book. It is layered with joy, wisdom, and practical ideas for creating the kind of curriculum that will not only save education, but also save those who teach, learn, and lead. Dr. Muhammad's clear-eyed framework will make you exhale anything that does not see the genius in Black and Brown children, and breathe in love and joy. Asè.". What Gholdy has created is a gift to our field that will inspire us all. You can't read this book without smiling, feeling loved, and unearthing your joy for teaching. Gholdy has done it again! She is the curriculum scholar of our time. She is in a lane by herself, and we all need to get behind her and follow because not only will our classrooms be better for it, but our world will be, too. In the words of Stevie Wonder, she is education's 'Golden Lady.'" what can happen in classrooms. It is a revolutionary call to action, as well as a text for healing and enriching the lives of its readers. From layered playlists to actionable examples, it is a revelation. Written from a place of deeply felt love for the possibilities in classrooms, Gholdy Muhammad's latest book demands that we sink our hands deep into the loam of pedagogy and start planting for a joyful harvest." is a soul-stirring, magnificently written book that every educator, policymaker, community organizer, caregiver, and family member should read. Centering the tremendously diverse and robust genius of young people, Muhammad shepherds readers into reflective spaces of the cognitive, the intellectual, the affective, the emotional, and the aesthetic to influence, transform, and shape. This is a transdisciplinary book about hope, healing, joy, imagination, design, love, and the human spirit that teaches as it inspires."is a beautiful blend of music, art, poetry, and educational excellence for teaching and learning in schools and classrooms. Revisiting the Black past, this book is helpful for teachers and leaders who seek to unearth the beauty, justice, and joy within each of their students."
-Lisa Delpit, Felton G. Clark Distinguished Professor of Education at Southern University, emeritus, and author of Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom " It is a privilege to spend time inside the beautiful mind of Dr. Muhammad. Unearthing Joy is a continuation of her unparalleled, pedagogical phenomenon, Cultivating Genius. -Derrick Barnes, National Book Award Finalist for Victory. Stand !, and Newbery Honor winner for Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
"Unearthing Joy -Christopher Emdin, author of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education " Brilliant. Beautiful. Humanizing. Joyful. These words describe Muhammad's Unearthing Joy, a book that asks us to locate joy at the center of teaching and learning because stories matter, human lives matter, and the literacies of Black students matter. This book is -Valerie Kinloch, Renée and Richard Goldman Endowed Dean of the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh; President of the National Council of Teachers of English Unearthing Joy -Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Professor of English Education, Teachers College, Columbia University; author of Love from the Vortex & Other Poems
and The Peace Chronicles Unearthing Joy -Sonja Cherry-Paul, founder of Red Clay Educators; author of Breathing New Life Into Book Clubs: A Practical Guide for Teachers and adapter of Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You Unearthing Joy -Andrea Davis Pinkney, New York Times bestselling author of
Because of You, John Lewis Unearthing Joy, -Muhammad Khalifa, Professor of Educational Administration, The Ohio State University; author of
Culturally Responsive School Leadership Unearthing Joy -Cynthia B. Dillard, Dean and Professor, Seattle University College of Education; author of The Spirit of Our Work: Black Women Teachers (Re)member Unearthing Joy -Bettina L. Love, author of

"Everything we need to tap into the greatest sense of our humanity can be found in this book. Drawing upon the brilliance of the ancestors to inform her own genius, Gholdy creates the melody for (re)imagining curriculum, instruction, and ourselves to cultivate educational spaces where all children thrive. We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom "Unearthing Joy
is so much more than a book about -Antero Garcia, Associate Professor, Stanford University; author of Civics for the World to Come : Committing to Democracy in Every Classroom Unearthing Joy

"Gholdy Muhammad has delivered an essential gift to all of us who care deeply about the importance of revealing brilliance in every child. She presents a fascinating cultural history, as well as an interactive guidebook that revolutionizes how we embolden children. -H. Richard Milner IV, author of Start Where You Are, But Don't Stay There:
Understanding Diversity, Opportunity Gaps, and Teaching in Today's Classrooms Unearthing Joy -Joyce E. King, Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair for Urban Teaching, Learning & Leadership, Georgia State University

"Our children need every single word of

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Curriculum and Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Curriculum and Instruction [Muhammad, Gholdy] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Curriculum and Instruction

# data[].attributes.body
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e32157bff63c7446f3f1529/t/5f1739965f252b1d45f0cd4f/1595357599748/Lens-of-Systemic-Oppression.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination

https://time.com/5786710/kimberle-crenshaw-intersectionality/

# data[].attributes.body
https://schoolreforminitiative.org/doc/paseo.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nationalequityproject.org/frameworks/liberatory-design

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why Liberatory Design?
We are all living in challenging times that our past experience and training has not sufficiently prepared us for. Too often, well intentioned equity efforts do not succeed-and even produce unintended consequences. This can lead to frustration, hopelessness and cynicism.
It's important to consider why so many equity efforts stall or fail to achieve intended outcomes:

They do not employ a deep enough equity lens-for example, a diversity and inclusion focus as opposed to interrogating deeper causes produced by systemic oppression.

They take the form of traditional linear, hierarchical plans that focus on strategies, goals, timelines, metrics and accountability. These efforts don't recognize the messiness and complexity of the challenge, so they often are ineffective and, sometimes, even backfire.

They are created in the context of dominant white culture, in traditional structures (e.g. committees, task forces), or in teams that don't have an effective approach to the work. Common problems include:

group members unable to engage in authentic critical dialogue;

lack of trust, especially across role/power and identity difference, that undermines team efficacy;

the process doesn't bring forward sufficiently creative thinking;

urgency leads to hasty, misguided decisions;

creative and potentially powerful solutions are not accepted by leadership.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Liberatory Design - National Equity Project

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Addressing equity challenges and change efforts in complex systems with liberatory design. Learn more about this process or register for an upcoming course.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.communityofpractice.ca/background/what-is-a-community-of-practice/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Creating Communities of Practice

What is a community of practice?

A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a common concern, a set of problems, or an interest in a topic and who come together to fulfill both individual and group goals.

Communities of practice often focus on sharing best practices and creating new knowledge to advance a domain of professional practice. Interaction on an ongoing basis is an important part of this.

Many communities of practice rely on face-to-face meetings as well as web-based collaborative environments to communicate, connect and conduct community activities.

The first community of practice supported by Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia (ARPD) was a group of committed K to 6 teachers from across the province. This community piloted two teaching resources for students with significant disabilities. View the video to hear what the participants had to say about their experience.

What is the origin of the term 'community of practice'?

While people have learned together through informal communities of practice throughout history, the primary use of the concept originated in learning theory. Cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger coined the term "community of practice" when studying apprenticeships as a learning model-the term referred to the community that acts as a living curriculum. Once the concept was articulated the researchers started to see communities everywhere, even when no formal apprenticeship system existed.

To learn more about the origins and theory of communities of practice, see:
http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice

What are the characteristics of a community of practice?

There are three characteristics of a community of practice:

1. Domain: Community members have a shared domain of interest, competence and commitment that distinguishes them from others. This shared domain creates common ground, inspires members to participate, guides their learning, and gives meaning to their actions.

2. Community: Members pursue this interest through joint activities, discussions, problem-solving opportunities, information sharing and relationship building. The notion of a community creates the social fabric for enabling collective learning. A strong community fosters interaction and encourages a willingness to share ideas.

3. Practice: Community members are actual practitioners in this domain of interest, and build a shared repertoire of resources and ideas that they take back to their practice. While the domain provides the general area of interest for the community, the practice is the specific focus around which the community develops, shares and maintains its core of collective knowledge.

Types of communities of practice

Today, communities of practices are increasingly being used to improve knowledge management and connect people within business, government, education, and other organizations.

The design of the community will look different depending on the purpose and needs of the participants. There are four basic types of communities:

Helping Communities
provide a forum for community members to help each other with everyday work needs.

Best Practice Communities
develop and disseminate best practices, guidelines, and strategies for their members' use.

Knowledge Stewarding Communities
organize, manage, and steward a body of knowledge from which community members can draw.

Innovation Communities
create breakthrough ideas, new knowledge, and new practices.

Support for Implementation

The resources found on this site were developed by the ERLC, a member of Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia (ARPDC), as a result of funding from Alberta Education, to support implementation.

Learning for All | Copyright © 2016
Terms of Use | Contact Us

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is a community of practice? - Community of Practice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Creating Communities of Practice A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a common concern, a set of problems, or an interest in a topic and who come together to fulfill both individual and group goals. Communities of practice often focus on sharing best practices and creating new knowledge to advance a domain of professional practice.

# data[].attributes.body
https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/equity-centered-design-framework

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Equity-Centered Design Framework — Stanford d.school

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The design thinking process re-imagined to promote equity.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.designkit.org/methods

# data[].attributes.headline
Housing Segregation and RedLining Video from NPR 

# data[].attributes.subject
Housing Segregation and RedLining Video from NPR 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Housing Segregation and Redlining in America: A Short History | Code Switch | NPR

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_5W.htm

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This simple 5 Whys technique, however, can often direct you quickly to the root cause of a problem. So, whenever a system or process isn't working properly, give it a try before you embark on a more in-depth approach - and certainly before you attempt to develop a solution.

The tool's simplicity gives it great flexibility, too, and 5 Whys combines well with other methods and techniques, such as Root Cause Analysis. It is often associated with Lean Manufacturing, where it is used to identify and eliminate wasteful practices. It is also used in the analysis phase of the Six Sigma quality improvement methodology.

How to Use the 5 Whys

The model follows a very simple seven-step process: [1]

1. Assemble a Team

Gather together people who are familiar with the specifics of the problem, and with the process that you're trying to fix. Include someone to act as a facilitator, who can keep the team focused on identifying effective counter-measures.

2. Define the Problem

If you can, observe the problem in action. Discuss it with your team and write a brief, clear problem statement that you all agree on. For example, "Team A isn't meeting its response time targets" or "Software release B resulted in too many rollback failures."

Then, write your statement on a whiteboard or sticky note, leaving enough space around it to add your answers to the repeated question, "Why?"

3. Ask the First "Why?"

Ask your team why the problem is occurring. (For example, "Why isn't Team A meeting its response time targets?")

Asking "Why?" sounds simple, but answering it requires serious thought. Search for answers that are grounded in fact: they must be accounts of things that have actually happened, not guesses at what might have happened.

This prevents 5 Whys from becoming just a process of deductive reasoning, which can generate a large number of possible causes and, sometimes, create more confusion as you chase down hypothetical problems.

Your team members may come up with one obvious reason why, or several plausible ones. Record their answers as succinct phrases, rather than as single words or lengthy statements, and write them below (or beside) your problem statement. For example, saying "volume of calls is too high" is better than a vague "overloaded."

4. Ask "Why?" Four More Times

For each of the answers that you generated in Step 3, ask four further "whys" in succession. Each time, frame the question in response to the answer you've just recorded.

What Is a 5 Whys Template?

The diagram, below, shows an example of 5 Whys in action, following a single lane of inquiry.

Figure 1: 5 Whys Example (Single Lane)

The 5 Whys method also allows you to follow multiple lanes of inquiry. An example of this is shown in Figure 2, below.

In our example, asking "Why was the delivery late?" produces a second answer (Reason 2). Asking "Why?" for that answer reveals a single reason (Reason 1), which you can address with a counter-measure.

Similarly, asking "Why did the job take longer than expected?" has a second answer (Reason 2), and asking "Why?" at this point reveals a single reason (Reason 1). Another "Why?" here identifies two possibilities (Reasons 1 and 2) before a possible counter-measure becomes evident.

There is also a second reason for "Why we ran out of printer ink" (Reason 2), and a single answer for the next "Why?" (Reason 1), which can then be addressed with a counter-measure.

Figure 2: 5 Whys Example (Multiple Lanes)

Step 5. Know When to Stop

You'll know that you've revealed the root cause of the problem when asking "why" produces no more useful responses, and you can go no further. An appropriate counter-measure or process change should then become evident. (As we said earlier, if you're not sure that you've uncovered the real root cause, consider using a more in-depth problem-solving technique like Cause and Effect Analysis, Root-Cause Analysis, or FMEA.)

If you identified more than one reason in Step 3, repeat this process for each of the different branches of your analysis until you reach a root cause for each one.

6. Address the Root Cause(s)

Now that you've identified at least one root cause, you need to discuss and agree on the counter-measures that will prevent the problem from recurring.

7. Monitor Your Measures

Keep a close watch on how effectively your counter-measures eliminate or minimize the initial problem. You may need to amend them, or replace them entirely. If this happens, it's a good idea to repeat the 5 Whys process to ensure that you've identified the correct root cause.

Appreciation

A similar question-based approach known as "appreciation" can help you to uncover factors in a situation that you might otherwise miss.

It was originally developed by the military to assist commanders in gaining a comprehensive understanding of any fact, problem or situation. But you can also apply it in the workplace.

Starting with a fact, you first ask the question, "So what?" - in other words, what are the implications of that fact? Why is this fact important?

You then continue asking that question until you've drawn all possible conclusions from it.

The major difference between this and the 5 Whys technique is that appreciation is often used to get the most information out of a simple fact or statement, while 5 Whys is designed to drill down to the root of a problem.

Tips for Using the 5 Whys Technique

Try to move quickly from one question to the next. That way, you'll have the full picture before you jump to any conclusions.

The "5" in 5 Whys is really just a "rule of thumb." In some cases, you may need to ask "Why?" a few more times before you get to the root of the problem. In other cases, you may reach this point before you ask your fifth "Why?" If you do, make sure that you haven't stopped too soon, and that you're not simply accepting "knee-jerk" responses.

Know when to stop! The important point is to stop asking "Why?" when you stop producing useful responses.

Frequently Asked Questions About 5 Whys

1. What Is the 5 Whys Technique

The 5 Whys Technique is a problem-solving method involving repeatedly asking "why?" It's a way of quickly getting to the root cause of a situation.

2. Who Invented 5 Whys?

The 5 Whys technique was invented in the 1930s by Sakichi Toyoda, the Japanese industrialist, inventor, and founder of Toyota Industries.

5 Whys Infographic

See our infographic on the 5 Whys and use it to get to the root of your problems!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Whys - Getting to the Root of a Problem Quickly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
5 Whys, or 5Y, is a powerful tool for getting to the root cause of a problem, and an effective way to expose weaknesses in your systems or processes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
pathdoc / Shutterstock

Many common phrases often found in American English actually have racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive origins.

The popular term "peanut gallery," for example, was once used to refer to people - mostly Black people - who were sitting in the "cheap" seats in Vaudeville theaters.

Some of these outdated terms should be left in the past, or revised at the very least.

As language evolves, we sometimes forget the offensive origins of certain words and phrases. Or we never knew them in the first place.

Many common terms and phrases are actually rooted in racist, sexist, or generally distasteful language. For example, the popular phrase "peanut gallery," typically used to reference hecklers, originated as a term to refer to those - usually Black people - who sat in the "cheapest" section of the Vaudeville theaters.

Similarly, people might not realize that the term "uppity," nowadays used generally to refer to a stuck-up or arrogant person, was commonly used to describe Black people that "didn't know their socioeconomic place."

As the nation enters a new age, new phrases should follow suit. Here are 12 popular phrases that you may want to rethink using in everyday conversation.

More commonly known now as a "food coma," this phrase directly alludes to the stereotype of laziness associated with African Americans. According to Mic, it stems from a longer (and incredibly offensive) version - n----ritis.

Modern vernacular dropped the racial slur, leaving a faux-scientific diagnosis for the tired feeling you get after eating way too much food.

We recommend using the technical term instead: postprandial somnolence. Or maybe just say you're stuffed.

In 2011, Rush Limbaugh pontificated that a NASCAR audience booed Michelle Obama because she exhibited "uppity-ism." Glenn Beck even defended him, citing the first lady's love of arugula.

The Atlantic reports that during Segregation racist southerners used "uppity" to describe Black people "who didn't know their place," socioeconomically speaking. Originally, the term started within the Black community, but the racists adopted it pretty quickly.

This phrase intends to reference hecklers or critics, usually ill-informed ones. In reality, the "peanut gallery" names a section in theaters, usually the cheapest and worst, where many Black people sat during the era of Vaudeville.

If it's not directly racist, it's classist and rude at the very least.

"Gyp" or "gip" most likely evolved as a shortened version of "gypsy" - more correctly known as the Romani, an ethnic group now mostly in Europe and America. The Romani typically traveled a lot and made their money by selling goods. Business disputes naturally arose, and the masses started thinking of Romani as swindlers.

Today, "gyp" has become synonymous with cheating someone.

In modern slang, "paddy wagon" means a police car.

"Paddy" originated in the late 1700s as a shortened form of "Patrick," and then later a pejorative term for any Irishman. "Wagon" naturally refers to a vehicle. "Paddy wagon" either stemmed from the large number of Irish police officers or the perception that rowdy, drunken Irishmen constantly ended up in the back of police cars, according to Splinter News.

Neither is particularly nice.

When you call someone a " bugger," you're accusing them of being a sodomite - at least according to the original meaning. The term stemmed from the Bogomils, who led a religious sect during the Middle Ages called "Bulgarus." Through various languages, the term morphed into "bugger."

Many considered the Bogomils heretical and thus, said they approached sex in an "inverse way."

This phrase started appearing in London newspapers around 1898. The Oxford Online Dictionary speculates it evolved from the fictional surname "Houlihan," included in a popular pub song about a rowdy Irish family.

Other sources, like Clarence Rook's book, "The Hooligan Nights," claim that Patrick Houlihan actually existed and that he was a bouncer and a thief in Ireland.

Whatever the case, somewhere along the line, an Irish family landed a bad rap. Most notably, the term evolved into "football hooliganism," destructive behavior from European football (but really soccer) fans.

"Eskimo" comes from the same Danish word borrowed from Algonquin, "ashkimeq," which literally means "eaters of raw meat." Other etymological research suggests it could mean "snowshoe-netter" too.

Either way, when we refer to an entire group of people by their perceived behaviors, we trivialize their existence and culture. Let's start using the proper terms, like Inuit.

Today, if someone "sells you down the river," he or she betrays or cheats you. But the phrase has a much darker and more literal meaning.

NPR reports that during slavery in the US, masters in the North often sold their misbehaving slaves, sending them down the Mississippi River to plantations in Mississippi, where conditions were much harsher.

Though steeped in controversy, some think the first part of this phrase relates to anti-Semitic demonstrations that started in Germany in the 19th century. Germans cheered "hep hep," a German herding call, as they forced Jews from their homes across Europe, according to Cracked.

Alternatively, others believe that the term didn't originate as a racist phrase, but instead evolved to have racist usage.

Just to be safe, we can easily avoid the first two words. "Hooray" conveys just as much merriment as the full version and comes from hurrah, a version of huzzah, a "sailor's shout of exaltation."

AP Photo/Keystone, Martin Ruetschi

Though most people use the word "cretin" to refer to someone that is "insensitive" or "stupid," Merriam-Webster writes that the word used to refer to those who lives in the French-Swiss Alps, and were affected with hypothyroidism.

Those affected were noted as being "wretch, innocent victims," and the word "cretin," meaning "Christian" was supposed to highlight the victims humanity.
Source: Merriam-Webster

Words History Racist Comment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
12 racist and offensive phrases that people still use all the time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many common phrases often found in American English actually have racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive origins. The popular term "peanut gallery," for example, was once used to refer to people - mostly Black people - who were sitting in the "cheap" seats in Vaudeville theaters.

# data[].attributes.body
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60380011d63f16013f7cc4c2/t/60b698f388fe142f91f6b345/1622579446226/Liberatory+Design+Deck_June_2021.pdf

# data[].attributes.headline
Jason Reynolds On Only Recognizing People Of Color Who Are 'Convenient To Love' 

# data[].attributes.subject
Jason Reynolds On Only Recognizing People Of Color Who Are 'Convenient To Love' 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jason Reynolds On Only Recognizing People Of Color Who Are 'Convenient To Love' | TIME 100 NEXT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Heather C. McGhee: Racism has a cost for everyone

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Racism makes our economy worse -- and not just in ways that harm people of color, says public policy expert Heather C. McGhee. From her research and travels across the US, McGhee shares startling insights into how racism fuels bad policymaking and drains our economic potential -- and offers a crucial rethink on what we can do to create a more prosperous nation for all.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is Equity?

Have you ever heard or thought:

"Aren't equality and equity the same thing?"
"Shouldn't I treat all of my students the same?
"How is equity connected to understanding difference?

Brainstorm a list of words that come to mind when you hear the word "equality," then when you hear the word "equity." Identify any words that overlap between these two lists. Think about each word and determine if they apply to both lists.

Are there words that do not apply to both? Why not? Now, look at each image below and consider the following question: what does each plant need to grow and thrive? How are these needs different? What happens if we treat each plant the same?

At some point, we have heard the terms equality and equity used interchangeably. However, it is critical to note that while both concepts are key to social justice and deal with resources, they are significantly different. Generally, equality is associated with treating people the same or people having equal access to resources and opportunities. Above, you were asked to think about what the individual plants need to grow and thrive. At a base level, we know that a cactus will not thrive in the same type of soil or with the same amount of water as a sunflower. The term equity, thereby, asks us to consider the amount, as well as the type of resources, that each plant needs to reach its highest potential.

From a multicultural education perspective, the terms equality and equity are often associated with perspectives on fairness and justice. According to NAME's definition, "multicultural education is a philosophical concept built on the ideas of freedom, justice, equality, equity, and human dignity....recognizing that equality and equity are not the same thing, multicultural education attempts to offer all students an equitable educational opportunity." The distinction between equality and equity is an important one for achieving a quality education for all students, but what difference does this distinction make?

Although the sunflower and the cactus both need sun, soil, and water to survive, they need varied amounts to thrive. Too much water can adversely impact the cactus, whereas not enough will cause the sunflower to whither. Sunflowers may not thrive in sandy, arid soils, but the cactus will. If we continue to extend our reflection on the cactus and sunflower, what happens when we consider how their needs differ seasonally and climatically over time? This question asks us to consider the context for growth, as well. If we want both the cactus and the sunflower to flourish, but they have different needs and contexts for growth, we must differentiate -- provide different environments and resources for growth for each of the plants.
Equity across Dimensions for Multicultural Learning
Let's move away from a simple additive or subtractive understanding of differentiation to critically examine how the sociopolitical context of teaching and learning impacts the four classroom dimensions for multicultural learning: curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, and intellectual challenge. We then begin to see how culturally responsive teaching predicated on providing equitable opportunities to learn is able to support students' access to learning outcomes. The image below illustrates this important distinction of providing equitable opportunities over equal opportunities:

Equality would mean offering everyone the same curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, and challenge, expecting that, despite differences among students, outcomes should be the same. Equity -- the foundation for multicultural learning -- would mean ensuring that every student has access to the curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, and challenge he or she needs based on the recognition and response to individual differences and the sociopolitical context of teaching and learning. Multicultural learning in the classroom becomes an interplay between students and teachers, and among students themselves, in order to enable students to access, engage, and attain the desired student outcomes:

1. Positive Academic Identities

2. Positive Social Identities

3. Respectful Engagement with Diverse People

4. Social Justice Consciousness; and

5. Social Justice Action

Figure 1 also illustrates how each student comes with different prior experiences, cultural resources, capacities, interests, and so forth for engaging opportunities and attaining student outcomes. If everyone has the same or equal opportunities, he or she is not fully tapping into the interplays possible within the classroom community. If students, however, are individually given the educational assets or rights that allow them to successfully tap into these opportunities, all students are better positioned to succeed.
By rethinking these engagements through an equity lens, schools can then build student capacities for success and redefine what is fair in education.
Equality
Equality assumes that everyone has equal opportunities to learn and everyone learns equally the same way. Equality also assumes that everyone should receive the same treatment and access to resources.Consequently, pursuing equality in education, educators and policymakers may advocate for the even distribution of existing resources to all students with no exceptions or additional considerations. However, U.S. schools tend to privilege the experiences of White middle class heterosexual Christian males, often to the exclusion of other experiences prominent in the Americas. This is evident across the curriculum, but most explicit in the construction of required textbooks and delineated suggestions for content-rich, nonfiction texts, basal readers, and other texts for ELA instruction and reading in the content area.

As part of a standardized curriculum, comprehension of these texts along with fluency and other competencies are often assessed through common assessments adopted district-wide to ensure "fair" accountability measures and reporting as they prepare for norm-referenced standardized assessments, such as ACT-Aspire. While providing equal opportunities may seem like an attractive goal, an even distribution of resources often fails to consider those students who do not fit a particular norm and are compelled to "fit", or be "forced" out. Consider how a standardized curriculum, such as an English Language Arts curriculum rooted in a White, middle class, English-speaking model, might be peripheral to the entry points for learning of students who are not White, middle class, and English speaking, such as English-Language learners, students from under-resourced communities, or Navajo students, as examples.

Educators might pursue an "equal" approach to teaching and learning because they feel it is the most fair response to differences, but in many instances, doing so undermines the reality that different individuals might legitimately benefit from different approaches and resources to fully engage their potential. Common assessments, for example, make several assumptions that may be problematic. They assume that the content used to determine whether a student meets a standard is experienced and interpreted the same way for all students regardless of their cultural background. A common assessment of reading comprehension that uses a text passage taken from To Kill a Mockingbird may be interpreted differently by a student from an under resourced community in New York City than a student from an affluent suburban community outside of Atlanta. They also assume that all students can show what they know equally well in the same way (such as through answering multiple choice questions), and that all students experience the assessment process itself in the same way. It is still the individual's responsibility to fill the gap between available resources and the resources needed in order to succeed academically. For those without access to the necessary resources, it is difficult to catch up to their more privileged peers. Fairness in education is not accomplished through a mechanically equal distribution of resources and opportunities. Rather, fairness is achieved when the students who inhabit classrooms and schools have access to the resources they need to learn, grow, and thrive.
Equity
Educators use the word equity to refer to an educational asset or right that students need in order to be successful in school and beyond. Unfortunately, ideal rights are not honored for all students. As discussed earlier, one-size fits all curriculum perpetuates normative ideologies and othering that marginalizes particular students and groups. Ideal rights are routinely violated for students and groups who do not fit into White middle-class, heterosexual and English speaking models. These violations create a need for an equitable education that benefits all students by providing each learner with the specific type and amount of resources, which serve as access to opportunities, needed to be successful. This is where pedagogy as a multicultural dimension becomes integral in that culturally responsive pedagogy specifically works to dismantle inequitable structures sustained and perpetuated by the current sociopolitical context of teaching and learning. More importantly, culturally responsive pedagogy, when combined with an equity pedagogy framework, looks at the intersectionality of diverse students across curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, and intellectual challenge. There are various ways that teachers are attending to the equity issues in their classrooms, and equity pedagogy is one of the most acknowledged practices.

Equity pedagogy is an approach to education in which teachers develop teaching strategies and cultivate classroom environments that better support all students, especially those who have been disadvantaged in school and the outside society (Banks & Banks, 1995). Equity pedagogy can be applied through steps such as: (1) fostering a cooperative learning environment that is proven to benefit students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, (2) developing teaching strategies that help girls or African American students better understand advanced science classes, (3) modifying the curriculum to enable Mexican American students to learn math more effectively, etc. (Banks & Banks, 2004). In so doing, curriculum and pedagogy become culturally relevant and equitable, so students from diverse backgrounds, and especially those who have been socio-economically, linguistically, and culturally marginalized, can succeed in school as well as the outside society (Banks & Banks, 1995). For example, extending beyond its initial focus on students with low socioeconomic status, recent practices for equity pedagogy reach out to structurally disadvantaged students with diverse race/ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, age, religion, body type, (dis)ability, etc. that hinder students from achieving at high levels. Valuing the classroom as a center of societal change, teachers change their methods to help students from diverse backgrounds to excel in the classroom and bring positive changes to their communities (Banks & Banks, 2004). Again, we are called to challenge limited additive and subtractive arguments for equity to dismantle the very structures that support standardization.

The video below outlines how equity and equality play out across school policies, practices, and programs.

How would I find out about equity issues in the classroom? What could I do to introduce equity in the classroom?
Since the interactions between and among students and teachers is at the center of opportunities to learn, it is important that teachers begin with a careful examination of self before moving forward to identify inequities in their classroom. You can begin this examination by visiting the FAQ on implicit associations and bias. Once you complete a self-examination, you should be better equipped to analyze your classroom for inequities in the four dimensions where multicultural learning occurs.

Learning for Justice provides educators with a " Two Heads are Better Than One " toolkit to work together to identify inequitable structures and/or practices in their classrooms. As you go through each activity, reflect on the larger sociopolitical context that enables, grows, or sustains these inequities and consider an action plan that looks at systems in addition to personal advocacy. For instance, what systems (i.e., policies, practices, procedures) in the classroom, school, district, state, or federal levels shape perceptions, access, and opportunities related to these areas where issues of (in)equity occur? Critical multicultural educators also work with their students to identify inequitable structures and practices in schools and classrooms.

Let's apply this line of questioning to some of the ways the Glossary of Education Reform, 2015 outlines how equity is represented in public education:

Societal (in)equity: How do contested immigration policies and public rhetoric impact immigrant children and youth's cultural framing and/or distancing in schools?

Socio-economic (in)equity: What advantages do children and youth from affluent districts have over those with limited financial resources?.

Cultural (in)equity: How do standardized text adoptions from "The Canon" marginalize and distance students who do not come from White, middle class backgrounds?

Familial (in)equity: How do standardized counseling policies such as the college application process disadvantage youth whose parents did not complete high school?

Instructional (in)equity: To what extent do teachers (who are predominantly White and middle class) favor students who share similar cultural backgrounds?

Assessment (in)equity: How can reading assessments that privilege texts from suburban, middle class representations fail to engage students from under resourced communities, rural and urban communities as well as low income families?

Teachers committed to equity work across the four dimensions of multicultural learning (i.e.,curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and intellectual challenge) may raise questions about policy, practice, and programs similar to those found in the table below:
How would I find out about equity issues in my school? What could I do to address inequities in my school to foster positive school climate and culture?

What process should I use to select central texts?

What types of essential questions would support my diverse students?

Which of my students can relate to my existing curriculum and which may not relate?

What types of texts do I allow my students to choose?

How are texts adopted for my classroom? How should I supplement required texts?

How can I create a collaborative learning environment for my diverse students?

How can I differentiate instruction equitably so my diverse students can thrive?

Which of my students does my pedagogy reach well right now?

Who might I be missing?

How do I differentiate strategies beyond what is required to better meet the needs of all of my students?

What types of assessments should I use to support my diverse students?

How should content vary across assessments?

How often should I assess a student?

Should I assess some students more than others?

Which of my students do my assessments work well for?

Which students might know things my current assessments do not capture?

What role do the standards play in my assessments?

How do I communicate high expectations to my students?

How can I challenge my diverse students to reach high standards?

To what extent do my implicit bias impact how I support my students' academic identities?

Which of my students might I be under-challenging?

Who seems bored and why?

What structures do I have in place to foster academic challenge?

We can think about how equity differs from equality in relationship to a wide variety of areas. Let's take achievement gaps among various student groups. What data does your school look at to make identify strengths and needs of "low achieving" student groups. Does your school disaggregate these data sources by subgroups? Are most decisions based on the disaggregated data of a single measure such as ACT-Aspire, the Stanford 10, or another standardized test? This is the primary way many teachers and school leaders identify achievement gaps in their schools. This common practice draws our attention to the distinction between equity and equality in that the analysis is restricted to the outcomes associated with what are larger opportunity gaps (see Figure 1 and Ladson-Billings, 2006).

Disaggregated analyses do a better job of showing us how pervasive and embedded equity issues in schools impact children's opportunities to learn, than how students learn best. In other words, what contributes to gaps in achievement? If we rely on subgroup data, we might believe that poverty or primary language contributes to these gaps rather than seeing the ways that school policies and programs, teacher perceptions and practices, and school climate fail to equitably support children from low income families, racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+ students, English Language Learners, and other marginalized groups. This approach is partial and requires we move beyond a single, decontextualized measure to address opportunity gaps.

To better serve our students, we need to carefully scrutinize policy and practice to identify equity issues that operate in our classrooms and schools (Skrla, McKenzie, Scheurich, & Richardson, 2009). In her work, "Checking and Changing My Systems for Equity," Enid Lee provides educators with a guided self-assessment, organized by preparation, teaching, and reflection, designed for "assessing, advocating and advancing equity in the everyday practices of educators." To begin this process, it is important to examine your school climate. There are a number of tools available to do this. Teaching Tolerance, a Division of the Southern Poverty Law Center, has a free toolkit for understanding and examining school climate. The National School Climate Center also has a number of tools and resources that can be used to assess school climate.
References
Equity audits are a useful strategy for examining how equity issues, in particular, may be operating in your school (Groenke, 2010). In her article, " How Does an Equity Audit Work?", Sparks (2015) provides an overview of the process for determining areas of programmatic inequity as well as variance in teacher quality that may impede our efforts to attain academic equity. The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium also provides free equity audit tools to examine " Criteria for an Equitable School, Criteria for an Equitable Classroom, and Teacher Behaviors that Encourage Student Persistence." Akin to an equity audit, Gorski (2014) developed an equity literacy framework to build teachers' capacities to "recognize, respond, and redress" unjust practices, policies, and procedures that limit access for some students and not others. This framework extends his collaborative work, "Equity Literacy for All," authored with Swalwell (2015).

Banks, C.A., & Banks, J.A. (1995). Equity pedagogy: An essential component of multicultural education. Theory into Practice, 34(3), 152-158.

Banks, J.A., & Banks,C.A. (2004). Handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gorski, P. (2014). Equity literacy: An introduction. EdChange.

Gorski, P. & Swalwell (2015). Equity literacy for all. Educational Leadership, 72(6), 34-40.

Groenke, S.L. (2010). Seeing, inquiring, witnessing: Using the equity audit in practitioner inquiry to rethink inequity in public schools. English Education, 43(1), 83-96.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in US schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3-12.

Lee, E. (2011). Checking and changing my systems for equity.

Skrla, L., McKenzie, K.B., Scheurich, J.J., & Richardson, J. (2009). Using equity audits to create equitable and excellent schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Sparks S.D. (2015). How does an equity audit work? Education Week.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Have you ever heard or thought: "Aren't equality and equity the same thing?""Shouldn't I treat all of my students the same?"How is equity connected to understanding difference? Brainstorm a list of words that come to mind when you hear the word "equality," then when you hear the word "equity."

# data[].attributes.headline
Almost One Million People Are On A Walking Exploration Of Black History

# data[].attributes.subject
Almost One Million People Are On A Walking Exploration Of Black History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
GirlTrek founders T.Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison (left to right).
GirlTrek

2020 will likely go down in history as a year of great social unrest but also social change. Around the world, honest and candid conversations about race are finally taking place and many are on a mission to understand and remedy the racism that plagues our world. One of the first steps to radical understanding and reconciliation is education. Understanding Black history is an important component to dismantle systems of oppression and supremacy. T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison founded an organization called GirlTrek with the mission to "pioneer a health movement for African-American women and girls grounded in civil rights history and principles through walking campaigns, community leadership and health advocacy." In June of 2020, the Black History Bootcamp kicked off. Dixon and Garrison created the Black History Bootcamp to highlight some of the amazing contributions that Black people, and particularly Black women, have made throughout history. The campaign, which is a 21-day walking exploration of Black history, encourages listeners to walk while listening to a curated playlist and a beautifully crafted examination of Black trailblazers. T. Morgan Dixon sat down with Forbes to discuss why the Black History Bootcamp was started, what the impact has been thus far, and what the future holds for their walking explorations of Black history.

Janice Gassam: What was the catalyst to you and Vanessa starting the Black History Bootcamp? What did you envision with the bootcamp when you started?

T. Morgan Dixon: Yeah, it's a great question. It was [asking] how do we... prioritize health when life is coming at us? How do we take care when we're buried by service obligations to our community? Especially in times of great tumult or especially in times of great crisis of a pandemic...of the streets on fire, demanding justice. Especially in those moments. How then do we say, 'Someone better sound the alarms, because Black women are dying?' How do you say that, and not feel like, you know what? We're okay for now...Black women have been okay for 400 years. So, if we are true to our word that the health facing [the] Black community should be on the cover of every newspaper in America, then we better find a way to make it relevant, even in the most challenging of times.

We asked ourselves, 'how do we get women connected?' Because we know isolation is a barrier to health. And then we said, 'how do we get women physically active?' Because we know inactivity is a barrier to health. And then, 'how do we get women prepared to fight the long arc of justice?' Because we know injustice is a barrier to health in our communities. We [asked], 'what would it look like to combine all those things?' and we came up with Black History Bootcamp. It is...resistance training physically. If you walk every day, it's the single most powerful thing you can do to improve your health. But it also is intellectual strategy work. How do we study the blueprints of our past? How do we study the way makers and the women who came before us? That's how it came together. That's how it all came together...we know that if a woman does anything for 21 days, that she can create a life-saving habit. So, if we can do a 21-day walking meditation in the footsteps of our foremothers, there is a possibility that that one collective action could launch something huge in terms of getting women physically and mentally prepared to be active citizens.

Gassam: I love that. I love the idea of a 21-day bootcamp, because that's how long it takes to form a habit. What do you and Vanessa envision for the future of the Black History Bootcamp? Do you plan on continuing?

Dixon: What's going to happen is we're going to take a break in July. We're going to do just joy in July kind of things from a messaging standpoint, highlighting and finding every single piece of good news we can find in our community, and practicing radical acts of joy. Vanessa and I will have convening walk and talks on Fridays that we're going to call Summer Fridays, where we just literally highlight all the good news of the week. That's going to be fun. Then in August, Black History Bootcamp is back.

We're going to do Activism August...August is going to center on turning points in Black history, definitive moments. Definitive moments where everything changed and where movements were built. Think about the moment the Buffalo Soldiers walked into Yosemite Valley and discovered Yosemite National Park...or the Azusa Movement that started the entire Pentecostal movement and became the greatest religious kind of wave in the 19th century. It really did. Or think about Freaknik and Black sexuality...we're thinking about how have Black people...created movements. That is so exciting to me...Black Wall Street. We're thinking about the actual moment...August is going to be about definitive moments. What we are going to learn are the blueprints for movement building. Why that's necessary now is because this fall will become a definitive moment for this country. We want our 800,000...we're at 800,000 now...we want our 800,000 members to be prepared to lead at this definitive moment

Gassam: I know that there are some white allies who join the Black History Bootcamp and listen in...have either of you received reception from them about what they're getting out of the bootcamp?

Dixon: You have no idea who's listening. Just the other day, one of the top writers from The New York Times sent me an email like, 'I'm loving bootcamp.' I was like, 'You're listening?' All sorts of allies have said that their eyes are wide open. That it's a sort of insider conversation that they've never had the privilege of listening to before. And that they're able to do that without taking up space. That in and of itself is such a great opportunity for learning that's less risk, but high, high return. So that's been exciting...it's been a real spiritual journey for me, particularly, to trust. To trust opening my community, one that is undeniably focused and targeted and built for Black women by Black women. To broaden that table and let other people bring their chairs up has been a real spiritual awakening for me. One of the people who helped me think about that was Harriet Tubman, because... I don't know if you saw on our TED Talk, but we distilled the lessons we learned from Harriet Tubman into four points. One, save yourself first. Second, come back and get your sisters. Third is rally your allies. Trust me, Harriet Tubman had allies like William Garrison, who was white as white can be. She had to find those trustworthy allies who had the resources and who could be gatekeepers, who could open up gates to flood the resources and that sort of thing. We've had some of the most righteous allies come and be like, 'I'm betting on GirlTrek as a viable solution...so I've been really excited to collaborate with people who have that kind of a mindset for sure...Black History Bootcamp is one of those things where allies can participate in and not take up space.

Gassam: You and Vanessa stated that one of your goals is to get Michelle Obama on the show. Do you want to share a little bit more about that?

Dixon: Yes. First of all, we just did a Daughters Of campaign where we were asking women to name their matrilineal history. I am Morgan, daughter of Carol, daughter of Letha, daughter of Willie. Women all across the country named it. One of the things that we've been doing is saying, 'we're all collectively the daughters of Michelle Obama.' We're all collectively the daughters of Toni Morrison. Michelle Obama has become such an aspirational idea of Black womanhood for us, that we would love for her to join us. Her Daughters Of story is so powerful. She has been able to trace her lineage all the way back to enslavement. That, to me, is so powerful and how she lived in the White House with her mother and she raised her daughters publicly. So, from that perspective, yes. Then on the other side of things...she's a health icon for us. From her arms, everything. We're like, 'listen, what is her regimen?' We're walking every day. Can she come on and just tell us how to do it her way?

Gassam: The last question that I want to ask you is if GirlTrek is promoting anything that you wanted the public to know about or be aware of?

Dixon: This fall, GirlTrek will be leading walks to the polls in every Black precinct in America. It's called the Black Girl Justice League. We've done it in years past and it's been wildly successful. This will be the biggest year yet for Black Girl Justice League. I know that Michelle Obama is trying to get the vote out and is working hard to do that. This is such a direct way to engage citizens in the process of democracy. We will be helping our neighbors walk to the polls on election day, which will be one of the most pivotal elections in our history.

To learn more about the Black History Bootcamp, click here.

This interview has been lighted edited for brevity and clarity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Almost One Million People Are On A Walking Exploration Of Black History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
2020 will likely go down in history as a year of great social unrest but also social change. Around the world, honest and candid conversations about race are finally taking place and many are on a mission to understand and remedy the racism that plagues our world.

# data[].attributes.body
How you could use this resource:

This resource could be used as an activity both with students and adults. It could also be a resource to help understand and verbalize ones feelings around certain actions/non-actions

# data[].attributes.headline
Korn Ferry: Understanding Bias and the Brain

# data[].attributes.subject
Korn Ferry: Understanding Bias and the Brain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How quickly does the brain make judgements?

What do patterns have to do with making assumptions?

Can the brain self-regulate and correct our thoughts?

Exploring the neural pathways of prejudice may offer clues to lessening its effect.
From the streets of ferguson, Mo., to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, the concept of unconscious bias has become increasingly topical. Yet it is a difficult notion for many to accept, especially for those who consider themselves unbiased. Bias in all its forms-based upon race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, politics or any other group affiliation-is more readily seen as a deliberate choice than as an unintentional predisposition. Nevertheless, research indicates that we human beings innately perceive anyone different from us as a threat because our brain has an evolutionary requirement to do so.

"The capacity to discern 'us' from 'them' is fundamental in the human brain," wrote David Amodio, associate professor of psychology and neural science at New York University, in his 2014 paper, "The neuroscience of prejudice and stereotyping."

"Although this computation takes just a fraction of a second, it sets the stage for social categorization, stereotypes, prejudices, intergroup conflict and inequality," he wrote.

Neuroscientists have begun to probe the neural basis of prejudice and stereotyping in an effort to identify how these biases form and influence behavior and how they might be regulated. What they are finding is a complex process underpinned by a network of neural structures in multiple regions of the brain. The research has frequently focused on the amygdala, a structure in the medial temporal lobes. The amygdala receives direct input from all sensory organs, enabling it to respond rapidly to immediate threats in advance of more elaborative cognitive processing. It plays a central role in arousal, attentiveness and triggering the flight-or-fight response, reacting to social threats in exactly the same way it reacts to physical ones. Unconscious bias, then, is the immediate, reflexive, defensive reaction to the "other."

Stereotyping, on the other hand, represents the cognitive component of social bias. It is the deliberate conceptual linking of social groups to a particular set of perceived inherent and immutable qualities - a process known as "essentializing." This involves the encoding and storage of stereotypical concepts and their application in judgments and behaviors. As such, it employs a different neural network from that of the snap judgments of prejudice and incorporates structures in the cerebral cortex that support conscious thought and semantic memory.

This mirrors the idea, developed in psychologist Daniel Kahneman's book "Thinking, Fast and Slow," that we have two systems of thinking: one that is fast, intuitive and impressionistic (System 1), and one that is slow, deliberate and systematic (System 2). System 1 is automatic and efficient, but it's in a hurry and prone to mistakes. It seeks to quickly identify patterns, a skill that has been key to human survival and evolution. But in doing so, it jumps to conclusions of causality based upon even the sketchiest of information, and tries to interpret scant input by creating a narrative, however flawed it may be. System 2 thinking, on the other hand, seeks to test concepts and detect complexity and nuance. "The attentive System 2 is who we think we are," wrote Kahneman. "System 2 articulates judgments and makes choices, but often endorses or rationalizes ideas and feelings that were generated by System 1."

So, although prejudice and stereotyping are rooted in largely distinct neural systems roughly comparable to System 1 and System 2, the two act in concert with their effects converging in cognition and behavior. That means, among other things, that unconscious bias can cause our higher-order thinking to malfunction.

According to Manie Bosman, CEO and primary leadership consultant at the Strategic Leadership Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa, "when the amygdala is activated, the cognitive tendency is to generalize more, which increases the likelihood of accidental connections. There is a tendency to err on the safe side, shrinking from opportunities. People become more likely to react defensively to stimuli. This means that our ability to understand, make decisions, remember, memorize, plan, inhibit impulses, solve problems and communicate is impaired. You struggle to see the big picture, and ultimately your overall productivity drops."

In a 2013 paper, "Not Just for Stereotyping Anymore," Carmit Tadmor, a psychologist at the Recanati School of Business at Tel Aviv University, and her colleagues showed that prejudice can play a direct role in making people less innovative and creative: "Essentialism appears to exert its negative effects on creativity not through what people think but how they think. Stereotyping and creative stagnation are rooted in a similar tendency to over-rely on existing category attributes. Across studies, we found that an essentialist mindset is indeed hazardous for creativity."

Fortunately, the same neural structures that trigger and reinforce bias are closely tied to the ability to self-regulate. Although the unconscious spark of prejudice has been shown to be difficult if not impossible to extinguish, a number of studies clearly suggest that human brains are plastic enough to be nudged in the opposite direction by even gentle cognitive cues, both internal and external. Just being exposed to more diverse environments can often provide those cues and counteract the deleterious cognitive effects of bias.

In a 2014 study, "Reducing Implicit Racial Preferences: A Comparative Investigation of 17 Interventions," psychologist Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia and his colleagues found that the most successful techniques for mitigating unconscious racial bias employed the simple power of suggestion. Merely introducing subjects to examples and narratives that ran counter to stereotypes dramatically reduced their implicit bias.

Similarly, Carmit Tadmor and her associates undertook a variety of experiments to try to bring about what they called "epistemic unfreezing." In one study, subjects exposed to a 20-minute multimedia presentation illustrating a multicultural perspective were later found to be significantly less likely to endorse stereotypes.

In their paper "Bringing Automatic Stereotyping Under Control: Implementation Intentions as Efficient Means of Thought Control," Brandon Stewart of the University of Queensland and Keith Payne of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, concluded that the "cognitive monster" of stereotyping is indeed malleable and may be countered if an individual can link positive intentions to the relevant situation or group in advance of an interaction.

Sometimes perceived expectations are enough to nudge individuals' intentions in the right direction. In their recently published paper in Consulting Psychology Journal, Shirley Braun of the California School of Professional Psychology and Rebecca A. Turner of Alliant International University found that managers who believed their company had a reputation for favorable practices toward women in the male-dominated fields of science, engineering and technology were more likely to express intentions to hire, develop and promote women.

Researchers caution, however, that reframing individual cognition is only part of an effective strategy for reducing prejudice. "That's not the same as - nor can it be a substitute for - broader cultural or institutional change," says Manie Bosman. "After all, there is ample evidence that culture feeds directly into the mind's process of generating prejudices and adopting stereotypical beliefs."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How quickly does the brain make judgements? What do patterns have to do with making assumptions? Can the brain self-regulate and correct our thoughts? Exploring the neural pathways of prejudice may offer clues to lessening its effect. From the streets of ferguson, Mo., to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, the concept of unconscious bias has become increasingly topical.

# data[].attributes.headline
Dismantling Systemic Racism in Schools - 8 Big Ideas  

# data[].attributes.subject
Dismantling Systemic Racism in Schools - 8 Big Ideas  

# data[].attributes.body
Dismantling Systemic Racism in Schools - 8 Big Ideas  

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
After a long weekend, a hiring manager returns to a stack of resumes on his desk. Countless high potential candidates await review, one of whom will bring the fresh, new perspective his team needs. He comes across someone who hails from his alma mater and served as president of the same social club he did. Thrilled by their similarities, he overlooks her shortcomings. Almost instinctively, he offers the candidate an interview.

This line of thinking is a classic example of unconscious bias, a process that occurs outside of our conscious awareness and allows us to make quick decisions. The hiring manager may think he's making an informed choice, but really he's taking a mental shortcut to make an expedient decision. In times like these, bias effectively blinds us to new or alternative routes of action.

However, bias is an inevitable part of the human condition. That's why at NLI, we like to say, "If you have a brain, you have bias." For leaders, it's important to learn to mitigate that bias before it negatively impacts decision-making and work environments.

Your brain on bias

Evolutionarily, biases act as adaptive processes that allow us to use prior knowledge and experiences to inform our decisions and actions in the present. Take, for example, a negative experience one might have had with a neighbor's dog. Though the circumstances around the dog's poor behavior might be uncharacteristic and subject to change, one might instinctively steer clear of the animal in the future. Acting on bias, in this case, serves survival.

Unfortunately, in our modern world, not all biases serve to benefit us and those around us. In fact, when left untethered, biases can seep into hiring, promotion, feedback, and management and lead to poor decision-making and sub-optimal working environments.

Bias in the workplace

NLI's research on unconscious bias has found that an overwhelming number of biases impact our thinking every day, both personally and professionally. To make them more accessible and easily retrievable, we've condensed 150+ biases into five main categories that make up the SEEDS Model ®:

1. Similarity: The tendency to view people who look or think like us more favorably than people who are different

2. Expedience: The tendency to rush to conclusions in an effort to minimize cognitive effort

3. Experience: The tendency to believe that how we see the world is inherently truer than someone else's perspective

4. Distance: The tendency to assign greater value to those things that we perceive to be closer to us, rather than further away

5. Safety: The tendency to over-account for negative outcomes instead of positive ones

In the hiring scenario mentioned earlier, the manager is acting on biases of similarity and expedience, motivated to both feel good about himself and lessen his cognitive load by rushing his hiring decision. If he hires the candidate based on these biases, his team could suffer in creativity and efficacy because the applicant does not bring the fresh, new perspective they need to brainstorm and make key decisions. These are the all-too-common facets of bias in the workplace.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

Bias doesn't have to be a bad word

As today's companies are making a genuine effort to address the biases prevalent in their workplaces, research shows that simply acknowledging the existence of bias is not enough to prevent its negative effects. To that end, NLI offers a three-step process for reducing the effects of bias: Accept, Label, Mitigate.

Biases form the invisible lens through which we all subconsciously see the world. Accepting your own biases, as well as others', involves understanding that bias is a natural, inevitable part of human cognition - not unique to you, your company, or your employees. Labeling bias using the SEEDS Model® makes it easy to adopt a shared language to call out bias in respectful and meaningful ways. Only then does it become possible to target its root cause and effectively mitigate the negative effects of bias.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Here's Why Having a Brain Means You Have Bias

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After a long weekend, a hiring manager returns to a stack of resumes on his desk. Countless high potential candidates await review, one of whom will bring the fresh, new perspective his team needs. He comes across someone who hails from his alma mater and served as president of the same social club he did.

# data[].attributes.headline
Community Responsiveness By Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade

# data[].attributes.subject
Community Responsiveness By Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Community Responsiveness By Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I will never forget my first experience with implicit bias as an undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley. I had turned in my first in-class writing assignment in Medieval Literature. I loved the topic of courtly love and whatnot. The professor was an older White man and nice enough. There were no other people of color in the class, but I shined that on. I was excited to be reading these literary classics. I got my assignment back and his comment at the bottom was, "actually this is quite good." I was stunned. Actually? Clearly he had a different expectation of my knowledge and skill, a lower expectation. I couldn't believe that he put that thought in writing. That's implicit bias in action.

While on Spring break this past week, I thought a lot about implicit bias. That's when I remembered my professor's micro-aggression. The topic of implicit bias is so complex and emotionally messy that it's tempting to just want to gloss right over it jump to culturally responsive lesson planning and instructional strategies. But an important part of being culturally responsive is the ability to build trusting relationships with diverse students and to validate their experiences. If you are genuinely validating them then that means you don't trivialize bias. That means as culturally responsive educators we educate ourselves about implicit bias - how it operates and what we can do to interrupt it.

In Part I, we looked at how the Department of Justice's findings on the culture and climate in Ferguson city government. It exposed a pattern of explicit racism and implicit bias. Naming and exposing these patterns is part of recognizing the effects of structural racialization. This is the first step in interrupting unconscious bias.

In Part II, I explained what's going on in our brains when our amygdala gets triggered. We learned that the amygdala has been unconsciously programmed with subtle messages aimed at dehumanizing the "other" - be it people of color, women and girls, or immigrants. Because it's passed off as "joking," we let these messages into our subconscious. That why they are so hard to get rid of.

The $64,000 question we are trying to answer now is - how do we stop implicit biases if they are unconscious? It's a good question because it turns out that even if we call ourselves social justice educators, implicit bias gets triggered because of our hidden beliefs. Interesting three-year study done by Dr. Stephanie Jones at the University of Georgia documented the experiences of student teachers who self-identified as social justice or anti-racist educators but when actually in physical proximity of a diverse group (especially when they were in the minority) they experienced classic signs of implicit bias - irrational nervousness, anxiety, and fear - when they were in no immediate danger.

The Good News! - Implicit biases are not permanent.

According to folks studying implicit bias change or "de-biasing" as they call it, our biases are not permanent; they are malleable and can be changed by re-programming our brains and creating new "cognitive habits." The catch is using the right strategies.

What doesn't work?

I know over the past two decades, in education there have been a lot of equity focused trainings and workshops to address issues of racism and implicit bias. Some are helpful; some are really harmful. So, before sharing what seems to work, I want to say a few words about what doesn't work and why.

There are three common approaches I've seen schools try in an effort to address implicit bias in the classroom. Research backs up their ineffectiveness.

Whole staff "diversity training". Most diversity training focuses on having white people look at their white privilege or explore the painful racial history of the United States through a rational lens. While this approach makes people more knowledgeable about past history and injustices, it doesn't do much to educate people about structural racialization or to change deep-rooted, unconscious biased beliefs.

The race talk (aka cross-racial dialogue). Another approach has been to have cross-racial dialogues. Sometimes it's bringing together Black or Latino parents to talk with a mostly White teaching staff. The belief behind this strategy is that ending bias will happen when there is more racial harmony. While cross-racial dialogue is important in building strong communities, this alone does little to actually shift deep-rooted unconscious beliefs. Without skilled facilitation, these conversations can become very harmful. People of color can carry a great deal of hurt and anger over everyday micro-aggressions that others often trivialize or invalid as "being too sensitive." White teachers often come to these discussions concerned about being personally blamed for racial inequality or accused of being racist.

This only triggers the brain's amygdala, reinforcing unconscious biases around people of color being "out of control" or "violent". The presence of stress, anger, and negative emotions without proper processing leads people to shut down.

Data-driven equity conversations. By far the most popular approach since we began disaggregating data under No Child Left Behind is the data-driven equity conversation. The idea is that every teacher disaggregates his student achievement data and gets a clear picture of who is achieving and who isn't, which usually creates a color line with culturally and linguistically diverse students regularly at the bottom. The belief is that seeing this predictable pattern will shift beliefs or at the very least spark some call to action to change this.

Neuroscience tells us why this strategy hasn't been successful. The brain has what they call confirmation bias. Without new beliefs, data simply leads to a person interpreting information in a way that confirms his preconception. So when students of color end up at the bottom of the achievement scale, many teachers say, "See...their parents don't value education," or "they don't apply any effort." The data simply confirms implicit bias rather than interrupts it.

What does work?

One of the nation's leading implicit bias scholars, Patricia Devine of the University of Wisconsin, compares implicit bias to habits that, with intention and practice, can be broken. Her research has found that three conditions need to be in place for individuals to successfully "de-bias":

1. Intention: You have to acknowledge that you harbor unconscious biases and are motivated to change.

2. Attention: You have pay attention to your triggers and know when stereotypical responses or assumptions are activated.

3. Time: You have to make time to practice new strategies designed to "break" your automatic associations that link a negative judgment to behavior that is culturally different from yours.

De-biasing requires a level of metacognition. In this case, you are not thinking about your thinking, but thinking about your unconscious reacting.

Devine and her colleagues developed a "multi-faceted prejudice habit-breaking" intervention that lasted eight weeks. Participants were given a "toolkit" of five strategies, and asked to practice at least three (3) of them consistently on a weekly basis.

Here are four of them:

Re-Association (Stereotype Replacement): An individual recognizes that he or she is responding to a situation or person in a stereotypical fashion. (S)he considers the reasons and actively replaces this biased response with an unbiased one. Another way to use this strategy is to reframe negative associations such as, "Black students are loud and disruptive. A reframe would be, "African American students are enthusiastic and energetic."

Refuting (Counter-stereotypic Imagining): Once a person recognizes she's stereotyped a student of color, she thinks of examples that prove the stereotype to be inaccurate.

Perspective-taking involves stepping into the shoes of a stereotyped person. What does it feel like to have your intelligence automatically questioned, or to be trailed by detectives each time you walk into a store? Perspective-taking can be very useful in assessing the emotional impact on individuals who are constantly being stereotyped in negative ways. It is also a way to checking one's self if you begin to judge a person of color for reacting a particular way in a stressful situation.

Increasing Opportunity for Positive Contact: Another strategy for reducing implicit bias is to actively seek out situations where one is likely to be exposed to positive examples of African Americans, Latinos or others people of color. This can involve either being in a very diverse social setting such as going to a farmer's market in a more diverse part of town or seeking out personal contact through shared group activities with a diverse community.

It's important to point out that interrupting implicit bias requires self-motivation. That's why it's nearly impossible to "make" someone confront his biases. As coaches, parents, or teachers, we may see a teacher behaving in ways that are biased, but we can't make him change. He has to want to change. Or, we have to help that person experience a shift in consciousness by helping him entertain different interpretations of students' behavior or learning moves.

Interrupting implicit biases is a complex work. I've only scratched the surface here. More in the future.
What's been your experience with interrupting implicit biases - yours or another's?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Four Tools for Interrupting Implicit Bias - Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I will never forget my first experience with implicit bias as an undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley. I had turned in my first in-class

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This lesson engages students in giving thanks for Breonna Taylor's life, while offering space to share their impressions, feelings, experiences, and thoughts around the tragic circumstances of her death.

# data[].attributes.headline
White Supremacy Culture Characteristics 

# data[].attributes.subject
White Supremacy Culture Characteristics 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The original piece and therefore this website builds on the work of many people, including (but not limited to) Andrea Ayvazian, Bree Carlson, Beverly Daniel Tatum, Eli Dueker, Nancy Emond, Kenneth Jones, Jonn Lunsford, Joan Olsson, David Rogers, James Williams, Sally Yee, as well as the work of Grassroots Leadership, Equity Institute Inc, the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, the Challenging White Supremacy workshop, the Lillie Allen Institute, the Western States Center, and the contributions of hundreds of participants in the DR process. As noted elsewhere, any wisdom you find here is credit to all those who informed and influenced

Sharon Martinas, who at the time was facilitating the Challenging White Supremacy Workshop, suggested I add the antidotes. The characteristics marked with an asterisk* indicate those that Daniel Buford, who at the time was a lead trainer with the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, ​asked I credit to him when the original article was written.

​the original article and this website. Any fault or shortcoming is mine.

The original article offered this Partial Bibliography:
Notes from People's Institute for Survival and Beyond Workshop, Oakland, CA, spring 1999. Notes from Challenging White Supremacy Workshop, San Francisco, CA, spring 1999. Beverly Daniel Tatum, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? NY: HarperCollins, 1997. Derrick Jensen, A Language Older Than Words. NY: Context Books, 2000. Paul Kivel, Uprooting Racism. PA: New Society Publishers, 1996. Anne Wilson Schaef, Living in Process. NY: Ballantine, 1998. For complete bibliography, see complete workbook for dRwork's Dismantling Racism process (2016).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sometime in the late 1990s, I arrived home after a particularly frustrating consultation with an organization I was working with at the time. In a flurry of exasperation, I sat down at my computer...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
[one_half]

"The Cat & The Coup" by Peter Brinson[/one_half]

[one_half_last]

"Say NO - UNiTE!" by UN Women[/one_half_last]

[one_half]

Lesson idea

Use the Kwintessential Culture Guides to investigate customs and etiquette around the world. Learn about religion, family, concepts of humour and shame, hospitality, table manners, dining, meeting and greeting, gender roles, gift giving and more.

Students can work collaboratively to create etiquette guides or role-play scenarios to develop understandings of differences and similarities in everyday behaviours of people from around the world.

[/one_half][one_half_last]

Wildfire online game

Wildfire is a game about saving the world. Opponents like rampant poverty, gender inequality, inadequate education and environmental degradation cannot be defeated by marching armies, secret potions or magic swords. This is a game about how they can be defeated.[/one_half_last]

[one_half]

Diversity Awareness Quizzes

Paul Gorski, creator of EdChange, designed the Diversity Awareness Quizzes to challenge false information about difference and equity in the United States and the rest of the world. The quizzes are accompanied by teaching guides and include an Equity and Diversity Awareness Quiz, a Classism and Poverty Awareness Quiz, a "Who Said It?" Re-Perception Quiz, and a Digital Sexism Quiz.

Take a Diversity Awareness quiz.

Against All Odds

UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) interactive simulation game, which follows a young person on their journey from oppression in their homeland to a new life in a foreign society. Increases students' awareness and knowledge about refugees - where they come from, what situations they have faced and how they adapt to their new lives.

Play Against All Odds.

"Kwintessential" cultural awareness activities

Especially appropriate for secondary students, these online cultural awareness quizzes are provided free by "Kwintessential", a UK-based intercultural communication training organisation. Although primarily aimed at a corporate audience, including country-specific quizzes on work ethics and business communication practices, the site also includes several interactive maps ideal for classroom use that test knowledge of country locations, country capitals, and world languages.

Browse cultural awareness quizzes.

[/one_half]

[one_half_last]

The Cat & The Coup

A documentary game, created by Peter Brinson and Kurosh ValaNejad, in which you play the cat of Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, former Prime Minister of Iran. Traditional Iranian art mixed with cut and paste metaphoric symbols representing different countries, ideas and individuals act as a backdrop to this historical exploration of the American government-engineered coup.

Play the Cat & the Coup.

Darfur is dying

A simulation game about the refugee experience, focusing on the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. Players must keep their refugee camp functioning in the face of possible attack by Janjaweed militias. Players can also learn more about the genocide in Darfur that took the lives of 400,000 people. Warning: some graphic and mildly disturbing game concepts that reflect the reality of genocide.

Play Darfur is dying.

Games for Change: Online Arcade

Games for Change, founded in 2004, researches, supports and makes digital and non-digital games for social impact. Their "online arcade" includes well over 100 games created by inter-disciplinary teams from around the world. Games are searchable by age group, youth-produced, and themes, including civics, human rights, poverty, and conflict.

Play Games for Change.

[/one_half_last]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
one_half] "The Cat & The Coup" by Peter Brinson[/one_half] [one_half_last] "Say NO - UNiTE!" by UN Women[/one_half_last] [one_half] Lesson idea Use the Kwintessential Culture Guides to investigate customs and etiquette around the world. Learn about religion, family, concepts of humour and shame, hospitality, table manners, dining, meeting and greeting, gender roles, gift giving and more....

# data[].attributes.headline
Social and Emotional Learning - Mood Meter

# data[].attributes.subject
Social and Emotional Learning - Mood Meter

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.centerforearlyeducation.org/news-detail?pk=1027263

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
After several years of pilot programs at The Center, the RULER approach to social-emotional learning-developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence-is now being integrated at CEE across the school, for students of all ages.

What is RULER? RULER stands for five areas of emotional intelligence: Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing and Regulating emotions

Why? Studies show that students in RULER programs are less anxious and depressed, manage their emotions more effectively, are better problem solvers, have greater social and leadership skills, experience fewer attention, learning, and conduct problems, and perform better academically.

RULER students learn a diverse range of feeling words, which allow them to articulate feelings and access emotions in a new way. Feelings that may have been previously suppressed or confused can be expressed and acknowledged, promoting stronger communication between children, teachers, and parents. Teachers integrate RULER into the academic curriculum in creative ways so students continue to practice the concepts throughout the school day.

What does RULER look like?

At the beginning of the school year, each class creates a unique Classroom Charter as an expression of values and norms unique to the class, intended to make all feel safe, welcome, and heard.

Second grade teacher Shoshana Ross is the 2018-19 Leadership Fellow on RULER, along with a task force of teachers from Early Childhood through Upper Elementary helping teachers across divisions implement the approach and build upon their practices. She describes the Charter as a deliberate process that "builds positive emotional climates by creating agreed-upon norms for how we want to feel and how we can help each other experience these feelings. Instead of typical classroom rules that are teacher-directed, the Charter is an agreement that is based in feelings. We start with the question 'How do we want to feel at school?' then, 'How will we make sure to feel these feelings?' and finally, 'What will we do when there is conflict or unwanted feelings?'"

Each class works together to build their own Charter which is then signed by all students and teachers, who share equal ownership in its values. Since the Charter is created completely by the students, and rooted in their feelings, they feel bound to it in an authentic way.

The Mood Meter is a tool that allows students to recognize their feelings and learn how to move between them. It helps enhance self-awareness, supporting the development of a nuanced emotion vocabulary and the ability to self-regulate. You will find Mood Meters of all kinds across the CEE campus!

The axes on the Mood Meter represent two components of emotions: energy and pleasantness. The x-axis describes the degree of pleasantness a person feels (from unpleasant to pleasant) and the y-axis represents a person's energy (low to high). Every emotion can be plotted onto the Mood Meter, which teachers and students rely on in numerous ways during the school day.

Emotions in the RED (high energy and unpleasant) include anger, frustration and anxiety. Emotions in the BLUE (unpleasant and lower in energy) include boredom, sadness and despair. Emotions in the GREEN (pleasant and lower in energy) include tranquility, satisfaction and calm. Emotions in the YELLOW (pleasant and high energy) include excitement, joy and elation.

Each classroom uses Mood Meters differently. Some teachers and students start their days plotting how they are feeling, discussing why they are feeling that way, and thinking about how their feelings might affect their learning. Others conduct this activity in a private way (at each desk, or in a journal). It is not uncommon to overhear "I am in the green today!" on campus; Mood Meters provide a concrete tool students and teachers draw upon throughout the week.
Curriculum Integrations
RULER provides a framework to support social-emotional learning within the academic curriculum, too. Last year, 4th grade literature groups read Rules and Swallowed the Key, two novels which feature characters who go through many highs and lows, providing a number of emotional scenes to draw from. Rules features a girl who has a brother with special needs, as she faces friendship challenges and grapples with finding her identity, while the protagonist of Swallowed the Key is a boy who is diagnosed with ADHD and struggles with impulsive behaviors and trouble at home.

For some students, discussing a character's feelings can come a bit easier than sharing their own feelings; the student can view a situation from one step back as a reader and writer. As Upper Elementary Learning Specialist Adam Koneman describes, the takeaways of breaking down emotional scenes with RULER "will often translate when they are ready to talk about their own situation."

Studying literature through the lens of RULER can be an effective way to identify evidence around a character's thoughts, words, or actions that can support a claim of an emotional feeling. Adam guides the students to root their arguments in concrete specifics; how do they know that someone is feeling something? If a character was "in the red" or "in the blue"-what advice would they give them to move out of that state? What would that look like in their own experience? Exercises like these allow students to practice identifying and expressing emotions throughout the daily academic program.
Finding a Common Language
Teachers reveal that the development of a common language around emotions is key to RULER's success. Students feel at liberty to connect with RULER concepts at any point in the day. Shoshana describes how these tools can help children with times of transition or when conflict arises.

She explains how in one instance, "a student was struggling to regulate his excitement. We used the Mood Meter to talk him through his feelings, 'moving from yellow to green,' helping him practice strategies to help him self-regulate and grow from the experience. It turns what could have been a negative conversation about appropriate behavior into a positive learning experience."

In Early Childhood classrooms, individual glitter jars provide a means for children to pause and calm their emotions in a moment of excitement, stress, or conflict. When shaken, the glitter swirls slowly around the jar. Taking a moment to watch the glitter settle, children have an opportunity to begin to self-regulate and calm the mind. By the time the glitter reaches the bottom of the jar, many children can redirect or shift to a more neutral emotion.

Studies show that the higher emotional intelligence cultivated by RULER can predict future success in academics, healthy relationships, physical health, and overall quality of life. As students and teachers at CEE explore ways to bring RULER into the school day, they see how the little moments add up. The magic happens when an EC2 student finds the words to relate to her pen pal at PATH, a Kindergartener connects with a friend who is new to CEE, and a sixth grader comes to a deeper understanding of an important moment in history. These new perspectives help us all see each other for who we are, fostering better connections, well-supported students, and a strong community, this year and in the future.

This article was originally published in March 2019.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Building Emotional Intelligence Through RULER

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In classrooms a generation or two ago, it is unlikely that "emotional intelligence" topped the list of subjects most teachers prioritized for their students. But today, learning how to recognize, express, and explore feelings is a central part of the CEE curriculum as students develop the agility, creativity, and empathy required in the modern world.

# data[].attributes.headline
Denver Afterschool Alliance Facilitation Guide DRAFT

# data[].attributes.subject
Denver Afterschool Alliance Facilitation Guide DRAFT

# data[].attributes.body
How you could use this resource:

This facilitation guide can be used in school time (IST) or out of school time (OST) as way to embed Social, Emotional, and Equitable practices in any space!

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.sassycooperates.org/sassypontificates/2016/1/23/safe-space

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hey folks, welcome back to my soap box! Before we go any further, I'd like to do something with y'all - its something I do with anyone I might ever want to get real with. Its a magic spell that - when invoked - transports us straight through the land of small talk into the soul-and-world-transforming land of Real Talk.

I'd like to set up Safe Space.

"What exactly do you mean by Safe Space?!" I hear you cry. Self-explanatory as this tool sounds (to me), the politics and mechanics of the words "Safe Space" mean a wide range of things to a wider range of people. So, since my rules are the ones we will be obeying here on this blog, let me break down my version of what this means for you.

What is Safe Space?

The Safe Space Tool is a set of ground-rules for creating consensual, productive, and drama-free high-stakes conversations.

Its a way to instantly create (and replicate) a Safe Space for sharing high-stakes information, talking productively about triggering situations, or calling out dysfunctional dynamics in a relationship, dialog, or process. It is infinitely adaptable. By selecting which sub-principles to emphasize, you can implement the 4 Principles to best support your situation, depending on the level of personal or group risk. Some components may be inappropriate for some settings, and invaluable in others. The more risk involved, the more carefully you want to frame the conversation.

When Should I Use Safe Space?

Anytime there are high-stakes potentially present! Examples include: co-working group meetings; dialog with house-mates, family, or other co-habitators; interpersonal relationship negotiations; dialog involving identities, emotions or triggering situations; and discussions where there is an imbalance of power in the participants.

Personally, I use it everywhere. I have Safe Space set up - to appropriate degrees - with my Clients, my Wife, my friends, my first-dates, my Mother (and whew! did that make our relationship better, lemme tell you!). I make a point to set it up anytime I might potentially get into high-stakes territory with someone - that way, if we go there, we're prepared! Having pre-agreed-upon ground rules for how we talk when shit gets real sets us up for consensual, productive, and drama-free interactions that can go deep easily and safely.

How do I have a Safe Space Conversation?

While you can incorporate these ground-rules into conversation norms in a lot of ways, the following script is a good place to start:

1. "Hey, this conversation might be kind of intense, so I'd like to use this set of ground-rules while we talk. Can we try that?"

2. "Shall I tell you about the Principles, or would you like to read them? Do they make sense to you? Is there anything we should add?"

3. "Let's invoke these rules from now until we're done chatting. Ok? Ok!"

4. "So, I've been meaning to talk to you about..."

5. "Well, that was [challenging/helpful/etc.] Thank you for the talk, and for setting up these ground-rules with me."

6. "...and, hey, now that we've set up these rules, if you ever need to have a high-stakes chat with me, you can just say 'can we have a Safe Space conversation?' Then we'll be on the same page!"

The Principles of Safe Space

These principles are the core of the ground rules - remember that some components of these Principles may be invaluable in some situations, and inappropriate in others. Set it up with your context in mind!
Equalize the Space

confidentiality - share experiences & lessons, not gossip and identifying details

make space/take space - challenge yourself to step out of your pattern

challenge the idea or the practice being voiced, not the person voicing them

everyone has equal worth, and all perspectives are equally valid

Check Your Assumptions

no judgments or 'disclaimers/self-judgments'

everyone is an individual, not just a representative of a group

'I Statements' - own your perspective, don't project it

believe in our common best intentions

The Right to be Human

respect each other's right to be human (to have a bad day, to be triggered, to fail, etc.)

honor differences always, center them when appropriate (family of origin, culture, orientation, race, class, gender, ability, etc.)

acknowledge emotions appropriately

practice giving and receiving forgiveness

Consensual Dialogue

active listening - attention focused, appropriate eye contact, check body language, inquire about (and use) preferred pronouns

take a risk and speak up, but maintain everyone's right to pass

silence is okay - pauses in the pace of dialogue invite all the voices in the room;

50% rule - each party is responsible for an equal part of the 'problem' and the 'solution'

Lets Set Up Safe Space!

You can simply download the tool and follow the instructions - or, for those of you who are more interactive learners, I've made a video for you to follow along!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hey folks, welcome back to my soap box! Before we go any further, I’d like to do something with y’all - its something I do with anyone I might ever want to get real with. Its a magic spell that - when invoked - transports us straight through the land of small talk into the soul-and-world-transfo

# data[].attributes.headline
3 Tips for Making Any Lesson More Culturally Responsive

# data[].attributes.subject
3 Tips for Making Any Lesson More Culturally Responsive

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Last month, I reviewed Zaretta Hammond's fantastic book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Now I'm proud to have Zaretta here as a guest writer to share some specific strategies with us.

Culturally responsive teaching. Everybody is talking about it. The big question is: How do you actually make lessons culturally responsive? That comes up regularly when I am working with groups of teachers to improve outcomes for diverse students who are struggling. I remember working with a group of sixth grade teachers on improving learning for their at-risk students. These teachers were frustrated that their students, 95 percent of them students of color and English language learners, were not applying themselves to learning.

I suggested that we explore making lessons more culturally relevant in order to accelerate student learning. I remember the reaction of Janice, the science teacher. "I am not going to be rappin' about the periodic table," she said defiantly as she crossed her arms and sat back in her chair.

I couldn't blame her. Google "culturally responsive teaching" and you can find a dozen videos of well-meaning teachers leading some call-and-response chant about exponents or rapping about the Boston Tea Party while students sit back and giggle. That's because we usually talk about culturally responsive teaching only as an engagement strategy designed to motivate at-risk students to take learning seriously. Or we try to find a race-based connection to the content to make it "relevant" to minority students.

One of the biggest misconceptions about culturally responsive teaching is thinking you have to tie the lesson's content to African American or Latino students' racial background. The common belief is if you mention Africa, Mexico, or famous black and brown high achievers, it will spark students' attention. Then they will be motivated to participate.

In reality, culturally responsive teaching is less about using racial pride as a motivator and more about mimicking students' cultural learning styles and tools. These are the strategies their moms, dads, grandmas, and other community folks use to teach them life skills and basic concepts long before they come to school and during out-of-school time.

Culturally responsive teaching leverages the brain's memory systems and information processing structures. Why? Many diverse students come from oral cultural traditions. This means their primary ways of knowledge transfer and meaning-making are oral and active. It's a common cultural tradition that cuts across racial groups: African American, Latino, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander communities all have strong oral cultures. Each of these cultural groups uses the brain's memory systems for turning inert information into useable knowledge. They use memory strategies to make learning sticky, like connecting what needs to be remembered to a rhythm or music (that's why we still know the ABC song) or by reciting it in fun ways like a poem, riddle, or limerick.

I asked Janice what area of learning she wanted to help her kids improve. She said science vocabulary; they weren't learning the weekly words and it was getting in the way of their understanding of key concepts. She was frustrated and at the end of her rope. I asked how she was teaching it. She used the typical approach: On Monday, she listed the words on the board. Students copied them down and were required to look each word up and use it in a sentence. On Wednesday, there was a vocabulary test.

I suggested that we design word study to be more culturally responsive by making it more like the students' own cultural learning process. She was open for trying something different.

I offered her these three tips for transforming any lesson into something that looked and felt more culturally responsive to diverse students, something that would allow them to engage more and process the content effectively.

Games are the power strategy for culturally-grounded learning because they get the brain's attention and require active processing. Attention is the first step in learning. We cannot learn, remember, or understand what we don't first pay attention to. Call and response is just a way to get the brain's attention. Most games employ a lot of the cultural tools you'd find in oral traditions - repetition, solving a puzzle, making connections between things that don't seem to be related (Ever play Taboo or Apples to Apples?).

Organizing learning so that students rely on each other will build on diverse students' communal orientation. This communal orientation can be summed up in the African proverb, "I am because we are." Even making learning slightly competitive in a good-natured way increases students' level of attention and engagement. It's why the T.V. show Survivor has been around for so many years; it's a social-based game.

The brain is wired to remember stories and to use the story structure to make sense of the world. That's why every culture has creation stories. In oral traditions, stories play a bigger role in teaching lessons about manners, morality, or simply what plants to eat or not eat in the wilderness because it's the way content is remembered. Diverse students (and all students, really) learn content more effectively if they can create a coherent narrative about the topic or process presented. That's the brain's way of weaving it all together. (Bonus: It also offers a great way to check for understanding and correct misconceptions.)

So Janice took her weekly list of science vocabulary and created a variety of sorting and matching games for students. She built a set of simple card games based on Go Fish or Old Maid. In addition she created some team games. Each week students had different active ways to learn the vocabulary. For 10-15 minutes a couple of times during the week, students got to play these learning games rather than look up words in a dictionary. She gave them instructions for making the games at home if they wanted to.

Instead of the traditional weekly vocab test, she asked them to "storify" their understanding of key concept words like metamorphosis, using vocabulary from past weeks.

When I checked in with the group a few weeks later, she was the first one to share. She said student engagement was like night and day. Now all students were participating. She said she knew they were learning the vocabulary at a deeper level because they were actually using the new science terms during discussions and in their writing with no prompting from her.

The big A-ha's for the group that day were that (1) Culturally responsive teaching doesn't have to be some performance the teacher does to entertain students and (2) It doesn't have to mention race or reference culture at all. Instead, what makes a practice culturally responsive is that it mimics students' own cultural learning tools. They all realized that these practices are helpful for all students, not targeted at minority students.

The real trick is to use these strategies regularly as part of your instructional routine rather than doing them randomly every now and then. Consistency is the key. ♦

Learn more about how to improve diverse students' information processing skills and actually grow their brains in Zaretta Hammond's book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students .

Stick around.
Join my mailing list and never miss another post. You'll get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration - in quick, bite-sized packages - all geared toward making your teaching more effective and joyful. To thank you, I'll send you a free copy of my e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half. I look forward to getting to know you better!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Tips to Make Any Lesson More Culturally Responsive

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Google "culturally responsive teaching" and you can find a dozen videos of well-meaning teachers leading some call-and-response chant about exponents or rapping about the Boston Tea Party while students sit back and giggle.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reading with Relevance Teacher's Guide Ghost Boys

# data[].attributes.subject
Reading with Relevance Teacher's Guide Ghost Boys

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The following children's books have been mentioned on Raising Race Conscious Children. Blog posts are referenced that model how to read a particular book using race conscious practices. This section will be updated periodically to reflect new blog posts-and we invite guest bloggers to blog about reading additional books with children!
Children's books that explicitly name race or show a diverse cast of characters:
A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara (referenced in Activism, the police, and my three-and-a-half-year-old)

All the Colors We Are Todos Los Colores de Nuestra Piel The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color by Katie Kissinger (referenced in It's time to make race talk more common and less awkward)

Baby Faces by Margaret Miller (referenced in Race, board books, and my 5-day-old baby)

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Eric Carle (referenced in Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what (colors) do you see?)

Can You Say Peace? by Karen Katz

Chocolate Me! by Taye Diggs

Harlem's Little Blackbird by Renee Watson (referenced in A hard but needed conversation: New York City's segregated schools)

It's Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr (referenced in How to help children feel it is "all right" to ask questions about differences)

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni (referenced in A Color of his Own: Cross-race versus same-race spaces)

Lakas and the Makibaka Hotel by Anthony Robles (reference in "Who lived here before?": Brooklyn's changing skyline")

Let's Talk About Race by Julius Lester

Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/Marisol McDonald No Combina Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/Marisol McDonald No Combina by Monica Brown

"More More More," Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams (referenced in Why I talk about race when I read with my toddler)

Shades of People by Shelley Rotner and Sheila Kelly (referenced in It's time to make race talk more common and less awkward)

The Colors of Us by Karen Katz

The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (referenced in SURJ Mother's Day Action Toolkit and Negative stereotypes and the danger of students learning not to talk about race)
Additional children's books that can be used to talk about various themes of diversity:
About Chris by Nina Berndadetto (referenced in Raising children who sparkle: Gender, patriarchy, and interupting shame)

And Tango Makes Three (referenced in Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what (colors) do you see?)

Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza (references in Does your family's skin match?)

My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis (referenced in Raising children who sparkle: Gender, patriarchy, and interupting shame and How (and why) I introduced gender identity to my three-year-old)
Additional children's books that can be used to name Whiteness:
Too Many Mittens by Florence and Louis Slobodkin
Books about protest:
Click Clack Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin (referenced in "That's not fair!" and the concept of protest)

We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song by Debbie Levy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Children's Books - Raising Race Conscious Children

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The following children's books have been mentioned on Raising Race Conscious Children. Blog posts are referenced that model how to read a particular book using race conscious practices. This section will be updated periodically to reflect new blog posts--and we invite guest bloggers...

# data[].attributes.headline
How to Coach For Equity with Elena Aguilar

# data[].attributes.subject
How to Coach For Equity with Elena Aguilar

# data[].attributes.body
How you could use this resource:

Equitable Learning Spaces, Coaching Teachers, Strategies for Instructional Coaches, Issues with Bias and White Supremacy, Healing Conversations. Could be used by coaches as a reflection/used as a foundation for conversations within coaching groups

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
READ THE TRANSCRIPT About Elena Aguilar
Elena has trained thousands of educators across the United States and abroad in transformational coaching. She is the author of four highly acclaimed books: The Art of Coaching, (2013) and The Art of Coaching Teams, (2016) Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators (2018) and the Onward Workbook (2018), and the forthcoming Coaching for Equity (August 2020). She is a regular contributor to Edutopia and ASCD's Educational Leadership, and she was a blogger for EdWeek Teacher for many years.

Elena's expertise derives from twenty five years as a classroom teacher, instructional coach and leadership coach working in diverse school environments. In her role as a consultant, she has partnered with leaders in public and private organizations across the United States and abroad. Elena is also the co-founder of Kenya Big Picture Learning, and she's on the advisory board of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. Elena holds a BA in history and Latin American Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MA in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. She received her teaching credential from California State University, Hayward, and she also holds an administrative services credential. Elena lives in Oakland, California, with her husband, son, and two cats. When she's not coaching or writing she enjoys traveling abroad, photographing birds, hiking, drinking coffee and reading fiction.
Show Highlights

Equitable Learning Spaces

Coaching Teachers

Strategies for Instructional Coaches

Issues with Bias and White Supremacy

Healing Conversations

Connect with Elena
Twitter: @brightmorningtm

Website: www.brightmorningteam.com

Connect with me on Twitter @sheldoneakins

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LE 145: How to Coach For Equity with Elena Aguilar

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
READ THE TRANSCRIPT About Elena Aguilar Elena has trained thousands of educators across the United States and abroad in transformational coaching. She is the author of four highly acclaimed books: The Art of Coaching, (2013) and The Art of Coaching Teams, (2016) Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators (2018) and the Onward Workbook (2018), and the forthcoming Coaching for Equity (August 2020).

# data[].attributes.headline
Questions to Assess Equity:  What is Equity?

# data[].attributes.subject
Questions to Assess Equity:  What is Equity?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is Equity?

Have you ever heard or thought:

"Aren't equality and equity the same thing?"
"Shouldn't I treat all of my students the same?
"How is equity connected to understanding difference?

Brainstorm a list of words that come to mind when you hear the word "equality," then when you hear the word "equity." Identify any words that overlap between these two lists. Think about each word and determine if they apply to both lists.

Are there words that do not apply to both? Why not? Now, look at each image below and consider the following question: what does each plant need to grow and thrive? How are these needs different? What happens if we treat each plant the same?

At some point, we have heard the terms equality and equity used interchangeably. However, it is critical to note that while both concepts are key to social justice and deal with resources, they are significantly different. Generally, equality is associated with treating people the same or people having equal access to resources and opportunities. Above, you were asked to think about what the individual plants need to grow and thrive. At a base level, we know that a cactus will not thrive in the same type of soil or with the same amount of water as a sunflower. The term equity, thereby, asks us to consider the amount, as well as the type of resources, that each plant needs to reach its highest potential.

From a multicultural education perspective, the terms equality and equity are often associated with perspectives on fairness and justice. According to NAME's definition, "multicultural education is a philosophical concept built on the ideas of freedom, justice, equality, equity, and human dignity....recognizing that equality and equity are not the same thing, multicultural education attempts to offer all students an equitable educational opportunity." The distinction between equality and equity is an important one for achieving a quality education for all students, but what difference does this distinction make?

Although the sunflower and the cactus both need sun, soil, and water to survive, they need varied amounts to thrive. Too much water can adversely impact the cactus, whereas not enough will cause the sunflower to whither. Sunflowers may not thrive in sandy, arid soils, but the cactus will. If we continue to extend our reflection on the cactus and sunflower, what happens when we consider how their needs differ seasonally and climatically over time? This question asks us to consider the context for growth, as well. If we want both the cactus and the sunflower to flourish, but they have different needs and contexts for growth, we must differentiate -- provide different environments and resources for growth for each of the plants.
Equity across Dimensions for Multicultural Learning
Let's move away from a simple additive or subtractive understanding of differentiation to critically examine how the sociopolitical context of teaching and learning impacts the four classroom dimensions for multicultural learning: curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, and intellectual challenge. We then begin to see how culturally responsive teaching predicated on providing equitable opportunities to learn is able to support students' access to learning outcomes. The image below illustrates this important distinction of providing equitable opportunities over equal opportunities:

Equality would mean offering everyone the same curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, and challenge, expecting that, despite differences among students, outcomes should be the same. Equity -- the foundation for multicultural learning -- would mean ensuring that every student has access to the curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, and challenge he or she needs based on the recognition and response to individual differences and the sociopolitical context of teaching and learning. Multicultural learning in the classroom becomes an interplay between students and teachers, and among students themselves, in order to enable students to access, engage, and attain the desired student outcomes:

1. Positive Academic Identities

2. Positive Social Identities

3. Respectful Engagement with Diverse People

4. Social Justice Consciousness; and

5. Social Justice Action

Figure 1 also illustrates how each student comes with different prior experiences, cultural resources, capacities, interests, and so forth for engaging opportunities and attaining student outcomes. If everyone has the same or equal opportunities, he or she is not fully tapping into the interplays possible within the classroom community. If students, however, are individually given the educational assets or rights that allow them to successfully tap into these opportunities, all students are better positioned to succeed.
By rethinking these engagements through an equity lens, schools can then build student capacities for success and redefine what is fair in education.
Equality
Equality assumes that everyone has equal opportunities to learn and everyone learns equally the same way. Equality also assumes that everyone should receive the same treatment and access to resources.Consequently, pursuing equality in education, educators and policymakers may advocate for the even distribution of existing resources to all students with no exceptions or additional considerations. However, U.S. schools tend to privilege the experiences of White middle class heterosexual Christian males, often to the exclusion of other experiences prominent in the Americas. This is evident across the curriculum, but most explicit in the construction of required textbooks and delineated suggestions for content-rich, nonfiction texts, basal readers, and other texts for ELA instruction and reading in the content area.

As part of a standardized curriculum, comprehension of these texts along with fluency and other competencies are often assessed through common assessments adopted district-wide to ensure "fair" accountability measures and reporting as they prepare for norm-referenced standardized assessments, such as ACT-Aspire. While providing equal opportunities may seem like an attractive goal, an even distribution of resources often fails to consider those students who do not fit a particular norm and are compelled to "fit", or be "forced" out. Consider how a standardized curriculum, such as an English Language Arts curriculum rooted in a White, middle class, English-speaking model, might be peripheral to the entry points for learning of students who are not White, middle class, and English speaking, such as English-Language learners, students from under-resourced communities, or Navajo students, as examples.

Educators might pursue an "equal" approach to teaching and learning because they feel it is the most fair response to differences, but in many instances, doing so undermines the reality that different individuals might legitimately benefit from different approaches and resources to fully engage their potential. Common assessments, for example, make several assumptions that may be problematic. They assume that the content used to determine whether a student meets a standard is experienced and interpreted the same way for all students regardless of their cultural background. A common assessment of reading comprehension that uses a text passage taken from To Kill a Mockingbird may be interpreted differently by a student from an under resourced community in New York City than a student from an affluent suburban community outside of Atlanta. They also assume that all students can show what they know equally well in the same way (such as through answering multiple choice questions), and that all students experience the assessment process itself in the same way. It is still the individual's responsibility to fill the gap between available resources and the resources needed in order to succeed academically. For those without access to the necessary resources, it is difficult to catch up to their more privileged peers. Fairness in education is not accomplished through a mechanically equal distribution of resources and opportunities. Rather, fairness is achieved when the students who inhabit classrooms and schools have access to the resources they need to learn, grow, and thrive.
Equity
Educators use the word equity to refer to an educational asset or right that students need in order to be successful in school and beyond. Unfortunately, ideal rights are not honored for all students. As discussed earlier, one-size fits all curriculum perpetuates normative ideologies and othering that marginalizes particular students and groups. Ideal rights are routinely violated for students and groups who do not fit into White middle-class, heterosexual and English speaking models. These violations create a need for an equitable education that benefits all students by providing each learner with the specific type and amount of resources, which serve as access to opportunities, needed to be successful. This is where pedagogy as a multicultural dimension becomes integral in that culturally responsive pedagogy specifically works to dismantle inequitable structures sustained and perpetuated by the current sociopolitical context of teaching and learning. More importantly, culturally responsive pedagogy, when combined with an equity pedagogy framework, looks at the intersectionality of diverse students across curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, and intellectual challenge. There are various ways that teachers are attending to the equity issues in their classrooms, and equity pedagogy is one of the most acknowledged practices.

Equity pedagogy is an approach to education in which teachers develop teaching strategies and cultivate classroom environments that better support all students, especially those who have been disadvantaged in school and the outside society (Banks & Banks, 1995). Equity pedagogy can be applied through steps such as: (1) fostering a cooperative learning environment that is proven to benefit students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, (2) developing teaching strategies that help girls or African American students better understand advanced science classes, (3) modifying the curriculum to enable Mexican American students to learn math more effectively, etc. (Banks & Banks, 2004). In so doing, curriculum and pedagogy become culturally relevant and equitable, so students from diverse backgrounds, and especially those who have been socio-economically, linguistically, and culturally marginalized, can succeed in school as well as the outside society (Banks & Banks, 1995). For example, extending beyond its initial focus on students with low socioeconomic status, recent practices for equity pedagogy reach out to structurally disadvantaged students with diverse race/ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, age, religion, body type, (dis)ability, etc. that hinder students from achieving at high levels. Valuing the classroom as a center of societal change, teachers change their methods to help students from diverse backgrounds to excel in the classroom and bring positive changes to their communities (Banks & Banks, 2004). Again, we are called to challenge limited additive and subtractive arguments for equity to dismantle the very structures that support standardization.

The video below outlines how equity and equality play out across school policies, practices, and programs.

How would I find out about equity issues in the classroom? What could I do to introduce equity in the classroom?
Since the interactions between and among students and teachers is at the center of opportunities to learn, it is important that teachers begin with a careful examination of self before moving forward to identify inequities in their classroom. You can begin this examination by visiting the FAQ on implicit associations and bias. Once you complete a self-examination, you should be better equipped to analyze your classroom for inequities in the four dimensions where multicultural learning occurs.

Learning for Justice provides educators with a " Two Heads are Better Than One " toolkit to work together to identify inequitable structures and/or practices in their classrooms. As you go through each activity, reflect on the larger sociopolitical context that enables, grows, or sustains these inequities and consider an action plan that looks at systems in addition to personal advocacy. For instance, what systems (i.e., policies, practices, procedures) in the classroom, school, district, state, or federal levels shape perceptions, access, and opportunities related to these areas where issues of (in)equity occur? Critical multicultural educators also work with their students to identify inequitable structures and practices in schools and classrooms.

Let's apply this line of questioning to some of the ways the Glossary of Education Reform, 2015 outlines how equity is represented in public education:

Societal (in)equity: How do contested immigration policies and public rhetoric impact immigrant children and youth's cultural framing and/or distancing in schools?

Socio-economic (in)equity: What advantages do children and youth from affluent districts have over those with limited financial resources?.

Cultural (in)equity: How do standardized text adoptions from "The Canon" marginalize and distance students who do not come from White, middle class backgrounds?

Familial (in)equity: How do standardized counseling policies such as the college application process disadvantage youth whose parents did not complete high school?

Instructional (in)equity: To what extent do teachers (who are predominantly White and middle class) favor students who share similar cultural backgrounds?

Assessment (in)equity: How can reading assessments that privilege texts from suburban, middle class representations fail to engage students from under resourced communities, rural and urban communities as well as low income families?

Teachers committed to equity work across the four dimensions of multicultural learning (i.e.,curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and intellectual challenge) may raise questions about policy, practice, and programs similar to those found in the table below:
How would I find out about equity issues in my school? What could I do to address inequities in my school to foster positive school climate and culture?

What process should I use to select central texts?

What types of essential questions would support my diverse students?

Which of my students can relate to my existing curriculum and which may not relate?

What types of texts do I allow my students to choose?

How are texts adopted for my classroom? How should I supplement required texts?

How can I create a collaborative learning environment for my diverse students?

How can I differentiate instruction equitably so my diverse students can thrive?

Which of my students does my pedagogy reach well right now?

Who might I be missing?

How do I differentiate strategies beyond what is required to better meet the needs of all of my students?

What types of assessments should I use to support my diverse students?

How should content vary across assessments?

How often should I assess a student?

Should I assess some students more than others?

Which of my students do my assessments work well for?

Which students might know things my current assessments do not capture?

What role do the standards play in my assessments?

How do I communicate high expectations to my students?

How can I challenge my diverse students to reach high standards?

To what extent do my implicit bias impact how I support my students' academic identities?

Which of my students might I be under-challenging?

Who seems bored and why?

What structures do I have in place to foster academic challenge?

We can think about how equity differs from equality in relationship to a wide variety of areas. Let's take achievement gaps among various student groups. What data does your school look at to make identify strengths and needs of "low achieving" student groups. Does your school disaggregate these data sources by subgroups? Are most decisions based on the disaggregated data of a single measure such as ACT-Aspire, the Stanford 10, or another standardized test? This is the primary way many teachers and school leaders identify achievement gaps in their schools. This common practice draws our attention to the distinction between equity and equality in that the analysis is restricted to the outcomes associated with what are larger opportunity gaps (see Figure 1 and Ladson-Billings, 2006).

Disaggregated analyses do a better job of showing us how pervasive and embedded equity issues in schools impact children's opportunities to learn, than how students learn best. In other words, what contributes to gaps in achievement? If we rely on subgroup data, we might believe that poverty or primary language contributes to these gaps rather than seeing the ways that school policies and programs, teacher perceptions and practices, and school climate fail to equitably support children from low income families, racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+ students, English Language Learners, and other marginalized groups. This approach is partial and requires we move beyond a single, decontextualized measure to address opportunity gaps.

To better serve our students, we need to carefully scrutinize policy and practice to identify equity issues that operate in our classrooms and schools (Skrla, McKenzie, Scheurich, & Richardson, 2009). In her work, "Checking and Changing My Systems for Equity," Enid Lee provides educators with a guided self-assessment, organized by preparation, teaching, and reflection, designed for "assessing, advocating and advancing equity in the everyday practices of educators." To begin this process, it is important to examine your school climate. There are a number of tools available to do this. Teaching Tolerance, a Division of the Southern Poverty Law Center, has a free toolkit for understanding and examining school climate. The National School Climate Center also has a number of tools and resources that can be used to assess school climate.
References
Equity audits are a useful strategy for examining how equity issues, in particular, may be operating in your school (Groenke, 2010). In her article, " How Does an Equity Audit Work?", Sparks (2015) provides an overview of the process for determining areas of programmatic inequity as well as variance in teacher quality that may impede our efforts to attain academic equity. The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium also provides free equity audit tools to examine " Criteria for an Equitable School, Criteria for an Equitable Classroom, and Teacher Behaviors that Encourage Student Persistence." Akin to an equity audit, Gorski (2014) developed an equity literacy framework to build teachers' capacities to "recognize, respond, and redress" unjust practices, policies, and procedures that limit access for some students and not others. This framework extends his collaborative work, "Equity Literacy for All," authored with Swalwell (2015).

Banks, C.A., & Banks, J.A. (1995). Equity pedagogy: An essential component of multicultural education. Theory into Practice, 34(3), 152-158.

Banks, J.A., & Banks,C.A. (2004). Handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gorski, P. (2014). Equity literacy: An introduction. EdChange.

Gorski, P. & Swalwell (2015). Equity literacy for all. Educational Leadership, 72(6), 34-40.

Groenke, S.L. (2010). Seeing, inquiring, witnessing: Using the equity audit in practitioner inquiry to rethink inequity in public schools. English Education, 43(1), 83-96.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in US schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3-12.

Lee, E. (2011). Checking and changing my systems for equity.

Skrla, L., McKenzie, K.B., Scheurich, J.J., & Richardson, J. (2009). Using equity audits to create equitable and excellent schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Sparks S.D. (2015). How does an equity audit work? Education Week.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Have you ever heard or thought: "Aren't equality and equity the same thing?""Shouldn't I treat all of my students the same?"How is equity connected to understanding difference? Brainstorm a list of words that come to mind when you hear the word "equality," then when you hear the word "equity."

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Tolerance Lesson - How does identity help us relate to others?

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Tolerance Lesson - How does identity help us relate to others?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators-teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners-who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.

# data[].attributes.body
How you could use this resource:

Would be a great way to build a collaborative application. Whether that's IST and OST, or SEL departments and  Equity departments. Super cool if it was all of the above!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Skip to main content

Our Vision

Learning for Justice (LFJ), a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), plays a key role in achieving SPLC's vision of "a world in which everyone can thrive and the ideals of equity, justice, and liberation are a reality for all." We're driven by a passion for social justice, a deep belief that education is the best way to realize this world, and a firm commitment to making sure that every student has the opportunity to learn and thrive.

The Learning for Justice Educator Fund supports educators who embrace and embed social justice, anti-bias and anti-racist principles throughout their classrooms and schools. We seek to collaboratively build educators' capacity to do this. We believe these approaches in education encourage children and young people to challenge injustice and learn how to be agents of change in their own lives and communities.

Learning for Justice's Educator Fund offers the opportunity to work with LFJ to address systemic inequities within education. Throughout our partnership, we offer ongoing guidance and critical resources. With help from your expertise about your own school community, we intend to collaboratively generate innovative solutions that promote affirming school climates, promote student action and raise everyone's consciousness.

Apply Today

The next application deadline is April 14, 2023. See the full list of deadlines here.

Looking for some quick tips on how to prepare for the application process? Read this helpful article. Or, have more questions about the Learning For Justice Educator Fund program? Contact our LFJ Fund Manager.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our Vision Learning for Justice (LFJ), a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), plays a key role in achieving SPLC's vision of "a world in which everyone can thrive and the ideals of equity, justice, and liberation are a reality for all."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The facilitator or presenting teacher gives a brief description of the particular data to be discussed and answers clarifying questions as necessary. (Clarifying questions can be answered with "yes," "no," or a single sentence.) The group does not see the data until Step 2.

# data[].attributes.headline
Data Equity: How districts use data to make decisions

# data[].attributes.subject
Data Equity: How districts use data to make decisions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As districts address unfinished learning, evaluate student growth, and re-engage school communities during the 2021-2022 school year, data equity can highlight where support is needed and help schools better support students' experiences and needs.

Data equity applies an equity-centered lens and mindset to ensure data is collected, analyzed, interpreted, and shared with diverse stakeholders without bias or exclusion. It enables schools and districts to make informed decisions by ensuring diverse stakeholders are authentically engaged throughout the data cycle.

In the Digital Promise Data Equity cohort, districts are engaging in an Inclusive Innovation research and development (R&D) process to identify equity gaps within their data systems and create action plans to use data interoperability to promote deeper understanding and more equitable outcomes in their schools. Districts participate in a peer learning cohort led by a peer coach and receive individualized support from technical and data equity advisors.

Making A Difference With Data Equity

Minneapolis Public Schools (Minnesota) already uses data to inform decision-making in more than 70 schools across the city, but they wanted to find best practices for interoperability to link different systems together for more accurate and timely data.

In addition, the district wanted to examine how that data is applied and how they might address the disproportionality of student outcomes across races in their student population. The focus of the Data Equity cohort aligned "perfectly" with what they were seeking to accomplish.

"We looked at it as an opportunity to hear from other districts and their journeys towards interoperability," says Justin Hennes, the district's senior information officer. "It also gave us some more focus to really start having these conversations and collaborate more with teams across the district."

"The notion of data interoperability as an equity tool itself was something that hadn't really been on my radar. Now, I think it's critically important to the work that we do, and to making our data equitable in the district," says Callie Vaughn, data scientist at Minneapolis Public Schools.

In working through the Digital Promise Data Ready Playbook -a resource designed to support districts with creating an effective interoperable data solution-the Minneapolis Public Schools team identified a tool they wanted to revamp by engaging more teachers and staff.

The tool originated as a ninth grade "on-track tool," acting as a predictor of whether a student is going to graduate based on their performance in their ninth grade school year. Now, the district has expanded its use to grades 6-12, pulling in core course information (e.g., English, math, social studies, and science) as well as attendance and behavioral data to provide a more holistic view of all students.

"The tool we're looking at goes all the way from helping staff identify which students are going to need additional support at the student level, and goes all the way to the aggregate level and giving school leaders reports on which of their student populations are struggling in specific areas," says Vaughn. The tool can also identify staff members who might need additional support in engaging students.

For example, an English teacher would have the ability to check the tool and see that a student's math teacher had recently contacted the student's family. Using this information, the English teacher could coordinate with the math teacher to determine a strategy for increasing engagement and support.

"The big thing is trying to get data into one place to make it more equitable and accessible by staff," says Abby Wolf, an IT strategy process analyst for the district. "We're looking at the ways we can have an impact and change and repair the foundation of all of our data."

The district is also working to make data more accessible to families. This year, they are working to launch the "Grad Tracker" in their student and parent portal to more clearly show students' progress toward graduation in relation to their course sequences.

"We're trying to give students and parents access to that so they can see [the progress] rather than trying to read a transcript that doesn't help. You need a visual to see exactly what gaps there are to have conversations with school staff or a counselor," says Hennes.

To further support family engagement, the district's parent participatory evaluation group engages five cultural groups (Somali and East African, Black/African American, Native American, Hmong, and Hispanic/Latino) to provide feedback on areas the district could improve. Evaluation specialists train parents and caregivers to become evaluators for questions they have about data and to gather data from their communities. To ensure family perspective is not only heard but incorporated into the decision-making process, members present their findings and their recommendations to district leadership.

The district offers a similar program for students to engage in projects to survey their schools and come up with recommendations for issues including dress code, interactions with the disciplinary system, and school lunch.

"They're not necessarily interacting with data systems that we have designed, but they are collecting their own data," says Vaughn. "It's a way for students and families to take ownership of data in the district."

Setting A Clearer Vision for The Future with Data

The Village of Roselle, New Jersey, was the first community in the world to be illuminated by electric light by Thomas Edison. Today, Roselle Public Schools is steadily making gains to dispel myths and buck the imposed label of "under-performing district." The district's participation in the Data Equity cohort is helping them set a clearer vision for the future.

"The pandemic exposed where we needed to really prioritize [efforts]-how we were using data to make both day-to-day, simple decisions to complex decisions," says Dr. Nathan L. Fisher, the district's superintendent. "A lot of times, we just look at surface information and we go with it. This process has allowed us to start to look and get to the root cause of some of our problems."

Like many districts that were forced to quickly pivot to emergency remote learning, Roselle did not have 1:1 device access for students prior to the pandemic. The district acted quickly to fill gaps to ensure the continuity of learning by implementing a new learning management system (LMS) called Schoology. In addition, the district strived to understand which students and families in their community were already connected to the internet, and who might require additional support and access. All of this added to an already overloaded, disparate data structure within the district.

Roselle Public Schools has a "wealth of data." But that data has traditionally been isolated and presented and analyzed in silos. During the pandemic, the district was tracking not only assessment, but also student attendance and whether learners were logging into classes-however, none of their data systems communicated with one another. Without interoperable systems, the data cannot provide a holistic picture of student opportunities and outcomes.

"When I found the Data Equity cohort, I already knew that our [students'] test scores did not really reflect what our children are capable of doing," says Karen Tanner-Oliphant, district supervisor of research and assessment.

"What also runs parallel is trying to put out relevant data to the community. If you're only getting one side of the picture of Roselle, that's what you're stuck with," adds Dr. Fisher. "What other measures that currently exist within our district can we utilize to highlight our growth? This data has been of paramount importance as we engaged our school community through the district's Strategic Planning process. The district strategic planning process allowed us to share the State of the Roselle School District which encompassed a variety of data points that will guide our vision into the future."

By working through their data challenges in a supportive peer setting, the district hopes to disrupt those siloes, identify strategies for "recalibrating" curriculum, and accelerate student learning following year-long school closures due to the pandemic. They're also leveraging the cohort as a research-driven professional learning community.

"We come to the table with a lot of qualitative data-how do we feel about it? what's your opinion?-but when you look at the data, that kid who you think is not paying attention is actually in great shape. So, that brings up bias," shares Tanner-Oliphant.

As part of a larger, data-driven strategic plan, Roselle has updated policies on equity across all schools and grade levels. According to the district, staff have deepened their understanding of how student achievement and experience is intertwined with their own biases. They're also supporting an initiative to make data visible to all stakeholders by going into the community to co-design and redesign district processes. One idea the district has is to develop a publicly-accessible data dashboard on every school's website to raise accountability and fully engage families and community members as partners.

"Most of the work we do is focused around some form of data, and to have [data equity] as a pillar in our efforts is critical," says Dr. Fisher.
To learn more about data equity, readiness, and interoperability:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Districts Are Using Data Equity to Drive Decisions and Improvements - Digital Promise

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As districts address unfinished learning, evaluate student growth, and re-engage school communities during the 2021-2022 school year, data equity can highlight where support is needed and help schools better support students' experiences and needs. Data equity applies an equity-centered lens and mindset to ensure data is collected, analyzed, interpreted, and shared with diverse stakeholders without bias or exclusion.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hey. Thanks for stopping by my blog. You might have found your way here through a number of possible paths. Maybe you heard about my book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Or, maybe you typed in www.ready4rigor.com and those shadowy internet puppeteers redirected you here. Maybe you ended up here because you were doing a Google search for culturally responsive teaching practices

Or maybe your school is reading Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain in a book study and you wanted to know more about this Zaretta Hammond chick who wrote it.

It doesn't matter how you got here. What's important is that you and I are now connected.

Since you are an equity-minded educator like me, you are probably waging your own private movement to bust the myths behind student engagement (or the lack of) among low performing students of color, poor students, and English learners.

Well, you are in the right place. This is a blog where we can get answers to our collective and individual questions about how we can help students become confident and competent learners. In this space, I want to highlight what I am learning from being out in schools and classrooms with teachers who are successful with diverse students. I want to focus on how we can take everyday strategies and practices and put them to work in their classrooms to be more culturally responsive.

So, again, welcome!

Just to let you know, on average, I publish a new post every other week - two times per month at the least (sometimes a few more). That gives me time to be in schools and to write. If you don't want to miss updates on what I am seeing and learning, sign up for my newsletter by pushing that button below.

Binge-worthy Posts and Podcasts

Books are good, but sometimes you want your knowledge in bite-sized doses. That's what I like to deliver: consumable, usable, and entertaining food for thought (and action). Here are some of the most popular blog posts and guest podcast interviews to sample.

About Zaretta Hammond

It's funny. These days a lot of folks are calling me "Dr. Hammond" since the book has become required reading in many teacher education programs and school districts. Well, to set the record straight, I am not a PhD. I do have a Master's degree, but I consider myself a "boots on the ground" teacher. I call myself a former writing teacher turned equity freedom fighter. My heart is forever with children and teachers in the classroom, not in an ivory tower, even if these days most of my "students" are new leaders and pre-service teachers. [ A quick note: Not throwing any shade at all the PhDs out there doing the work.]

When I was in the classroom back in the day, I taught composition (expository writing). It was where I started to understand how important literacy was to equity, and how neuroscience and culture should inform our instructional practice.

Since leaving the classroom, I have done work as a curriculum designer and professional developer at organizations such as the National Equity Project and the Annenberg-funded Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC) in the San Francisco-Bay Area. I am a trained facilitator in anti-bias processes and have facilitated groups focused on learning to talk about issues of racial politics and privilege.

My primary work has been linking instruction, equity, and literacy. I have spent time as an adjunct instructor at Saint Mary's College in Norther California where I taught Adolescent Literacy and trained tutors and parents in reading support strategies for struggling students of color.

As an undergraduate, I attended University of California, Berkley before finishing up my degree at New York University where I majored in English Literature with a minor in Writing. I completed my Masters in Secondary English Education, with a Concentration in Writing Instruction at University of Colorado, Boulder where I simultaneously did my teacher certification program (starting three months after the birth of my son. I do not recommend this).

For the past 25 years, I've maintained a small, independent education consulting practice from which I do my research and writing as well as support schools doing deep instructionally-focused equity work.

Stay in touch

I hope this blog inspires, motivates, and challenges you to try some new practices that move you toward being more culturally responsive. If it does, send me a note. I'd love to hear from you. The best way to keep in touch with me is to sign up for free email updates (where you get all kinds of exclusive goodies).

Other Ways to Connect

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
About - Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hey. Thanks for stopping by my blog. You might have found your way here through a number of possible paths. Maybe you heard about my book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Or, maybe you typed in www.ready4rigor.com and those shadowy internet puppeteers redirected you here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When used thoughtfully, data can help us make informed decisions that support student success. But data can also be incredibly harmful when they reinforce untrue and negative stereotypes about our students.

For Dr. Ivory A. Toldson, the solution to this BS-"bad stats"-is rethinking how we approach data. A professor of counseling psychology at Howard University and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Negro Education, Dr. Toldson is especially concerned with how bad data negatively impact Black male students. In his 2019 book No BS (Bad Stats): Black People Need People Who Believe in Black People Enough Not to Believe Every Bad Thing They Hear about Black People, Dr. Toldson dispels several myths about Black male students by reframing the data that supposedly inform them. He also presents a framework that educators, administrators, researchers, and policymakers can use to rethink their own approach to using data for educational equity.

Earlier this month, Education Northwest's chief executive officer, Patty Wood, sat down with Dr. Toldson over Zoom to discuss how to filter out "bad stats," where to find good data, and ways to center our most valuable data sources: our students. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Patty Wood: We have access to more and more data now than ever before, and yet many of our educators and stakeholders still have what you describe as "bad stats" about Black students and communities. What are "bad stats?"
Dr. Ivory Toldson: Bad stats are data points that are dumbed down to a quick sound bite. They're meant to invoke a certain reaction and make a point. Bad stats are often very misleading. They are given without context, or only with context created by the one who's sharing the statistic.

In my book, I talk about the bad stat that there are more Black men in prison than in college-which is not true. Advocates for criminal justice reform will give that stat within the context that we need to do something about mass incarceration, but someone else may use the same stat to argue that Black males are more prone to criminal behaviors. They use the exact same stat but package it the way they want, to sell the story that they want to sell. It ignores the full picture of all the young Black men who have found themselves unfairly in the criminal justice system, as well as those who are college bound. All of these important issues get lost in the noise of people throwing out these bad stats. It can become hyperpartisan.

There's a term that I thought right before this call-the "memeification" of statistics. We're in this culture now because of social media. We want things quickly, and we have a lot of people trying to sell an agenda, as opposed to coming up with meaningful solutions. They take one data point, put it in a meme, and circulate it. Then it just repeats itself.
PW: Your book presents a framework for using data to achieve educational equity for Black students. The framework is based on W.E.B. DuBois' philosophy of "using people to represent numbers, rather than using numbers to represent people." What are the pitfalls of using numbers to represent Black students?
IT: Numbers become a proxy so you don't have to deal with the real thing. You can insult numbers. You can criticize numbers and not feel like you're doing anything wrong. But when you see stories-when you see people-it forces you to think about more than just a number. If you see a high dropout rate, you can talk bad about that statistic and have moral invectives that delve into insults and slights. But when you're talking to a child who dropped out for whatever reason-an unintended pregnancy, something going on at home, a learning disorder that went undetected and untreated for most of their academic career, homelessness-that child is represented in the dropout rate.

High dropout rates at a particular school only tell us there's something that we need to fix. They don't tell us why the rates are so high or how to fix them. The only way to know is to go to the school and start talking to people. When you get their stories, you have a better understanding of the solutions.
PW: In your book, you note that data that should be predictors of academic success often become determinants instead. That really resonated with me as a policymaker. How do we deal with that problem of using data as a determinant rather than a predictor?
IT: We've come to a reasonable conclusion that certain indicators-achievement tests, the ACT, GPAs-predict something. Some of the ways the predictions have been calculated have some scientific merit, so we feel a certain degree of confidence that if we take a student's GPA and ACT score, we can predict how well they do in college.

But at some point, we have to step back and scrutinize these measures. We don't have enough people asking questions about the validity of achievement tests. Many are constructed to generate a normal distribution: a mean at the top of the bell curve, some students doing very well, and some students at the opposite end. Schools start using a test that's just been developed to separate students into different categories-but the test hasn't been in use long enough for us to make any reasonable conclusions about its validity. Then we start teaching to the test, and when all students start to do well, it messes up the bell curve. At that point, instead of saying, "Okay, great...the students are doing better," we redo the test to create that bell curve again.

Now, there's a bit of absurdity to that. We're saying that helping students do better on the test is not really the goal. Instead, the goal is to create a stratification in the system so that we can pick out the high achievers, middle achievers, and low achievers-so we can reward the high achievers and punish the low achievers. That's the system as it's designed right now.
PW: How can people look at refined, valid data beyond standardized tests, beyond what's in the normal operating procedures of the educational system, that do tell the stories of the students' lives? What indicators can identify students that need extra help without labeling them-and without using those indicators as determinants?
IT: Part of the problem is that we don't do a good job of interpreting the data that we already have. If we look at attendance data through a biased lens-thinking that poor kids are not going to school because they lack motivation or structure at home, but that wealthy kids miss class because they are enriching themselves outside of school-then we don't serve the students well.

There are also lots of other data points. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is where we get the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Every school district is sensitive to NAEP scores. But NCES collects mountains of data...the NAEP is only one piece. The High School Longitudinal Study asks students all types of things about their experiences in high school: their relationships with their teachers, the types of organizations they belong to, whether their schools have mental health services and drug counseling. Every few years, NCES also conducts a parent engagement survey of about 50,000 parents. You can use those data to get an indicator of the types of interactions parents have with schools and how that relates to their children's performance.

These are just two examples. There's lots and lots of data. And so the question becomes, why aren't we using all this data we're collecting? We know that we have the capacity to use it because we use achievement data. So why aren't we using the holistic indicators and data points the way that we should?
PW: What about the main source of the data itself? Going back to the beginning of this conversation about using people to understand data, how do we incorporate student voice?
IT: We can think of the current system as a pyramid: The top makes decisions that permeate down and ultimately reach the students, who are at the bottom. Another way we could structure the system is as a circle with the students right in the middle. As you spread out, you have families, and then teachers, and then the leadership all around. With students at the center, their stories go to the people who talk to them the most-in most cases, teachers. Those teachers send data to school leaders, who then send it out to district leaders. Instead of leaders being charismatic figures at the top, they are data managers on the perimeter, taking in all this data coming out from the center and feeding it back into the system to benefit everyone. I think that's the way the system needs to be reworked to amplify student voice.
PW: How can educators and policymakers use qualitative data-bringing that human element back into the work-without over-relying on anecdotal data?
IT: The first thing we have to do is destigmatize anecdote. If you have the numbers, you need anecdotes to understand what those numbers represent. We can do a lot more if we acknowledge the incompleteness of the data and that the only way to complete the picture is to get the proper story.

There have always been different schools of thought about how to advance students, as people, towards their highest level of achievement. The cognitive and behavioral perspective believes in punitive discipline, that people who are doing wrong need course correction to think and act differently. Then there's the humanistic approach, which believes that people grow based on relationships. Humanists philosophically believe that students need a certain type of relationship with their teachers, with other classmates, with school leadership. These people have always been in schools, but their agenda has not risen to the level of policy. These people do good in their immediate sphere of influence, but they aren't in a position to change the system.

I think that, right now, a lot of the more humanistic people are closer to students-they're the activist, socially conscious teachers. Sometimes they are school leaders and can transform a school, but they operate in a bubble, so their school does well while the district maintains the status quo. That's why I believe in an inside-out approach, as opposed to top-down. With more teachers in leadership positions, there's a better use of anecdotes and stories across the system. Data points work in concert with the stories to create this big picture. Overall, there's a philosophy of humanism. We want to know the 'why' behind the data, and we think about the relationships that we're building as a strategy towards getting students to be more successful.
PW: Can you share any easy guidelines for identifying and filtering out bad data?
IT: When you get data, you should ask questions, not draw conclusions. The smaller the data point, the more questions you should ask. If you read an article with a lot of data, you'll come up with some conclusions, but you still want to ask questions. If you get a quick sound bite, you should have nothing but questions-no conclusions at all.

Think about how you receive data on your own child. Imagine that your child is in the fifth grade, but an assessment said they are functionally at a fourth-grade level. But you know your child, and you care about your child, and what the assessment told you is inconsistent with your experience with your child. You're going to ask a lot of questions: What's the assessment? Is it valid? How long have they been using this assessment? And then you'll talk to your child: What was your mood when you took this test? Did you blow it off or did you understand what the test was about? And then you might ask their teachers if they noticed anything that might have given them pause. You're trying to pick apart the whole thing.

If you get a data point that says that the majority of Black children are reading behind grade level, you should ask the same questions. What was the test? Under what conditions were they given the test? Who is administering the test? Just like with your own child, after you dig in, you may find that there is something that needs to be corrected. But what you find based on those questions will put you in the best position to genuinely help.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The People in the Numbers: Rethinking Data for Black Student Success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When used thoughtfully, data can help us make informed decisions that support student success. But data can also be incredibly harmful when they reinforce untrue and negative stereotypes about our students. For Dr. Ivory A. Toldson, the solution to this BS-"bad stats"-is rethinking how we approach data.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards

# data[].attributes.headline
Culturally Responsive Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Podcast

# data[].attributes.subject
Culturally Responsive Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Podcast

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
READ THE TRANSCRIPT About Ambra Green, Ph.D.
Dr. Ambra L. Green is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at The University of Texas at Arlington. Her research is focused on behavior disorders, positive behavior intervention and supports, and disproportionality in special education referrals and exclusionary practices. She has experience working within the U.S. Department of Education Office for Special Education Programs (OSEP) and serves on the OSEP Center on PBIS equity workgroup. She is a national special education scholar with publications and funded research focused on diverse learners with disabilities and issues of inequity and injustice for vulnerable populations.
Show Highlights

What is PBIS?

PBIS vs RTI

Benefits of PBIS

Challenges of PBIS

Flexibility in PBIS

Connect with Ambra
Connect with me on Twitter @sheldoneakins

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LE 147: Culturally Responsive Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports with Dr. Ambra Green

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
READ THE TRANSCRIPT About Ambra Green, Ph.D. Dr. Ambra L. Green is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at The University of Texas at Arlington. Her research is focused on behavior disorders, positive behavior intervention and supports, and disproportionality in special education referrals and exclusionary practices. She has experience working within the U.S.

# data[].attributes.headline
Creating a safe school lesson for Helping Students Heal From Trauma

# data[].attributes.subject
Creating a safe school lesson for Helping Students Heal From Trauma