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Moving From Awareness to Action: Equity Detours and the Equity Literacy Framework

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Recorded March 21, 2024

In this recorded webinar, learn about common roadblocks hindering equity in education and how to effectively navigate and overcome these challenges. 

The webinar offers practical strategies, resources, and culturally responsive teaching practices designed to enhance equity literacy skills and promote an inclusive learning environment. Explored relevant case studies that highlighted successful equity actions, and see how participants can apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios for deeper understanding.

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Recorded on February 22, 2024.

In this recorded webinar session, participants understood the importance of centering culture and equity in data interpretation and use, and identified the broad range of data resources beyond assessment that informed culturally responsive data use and educational equity.

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Foundations of Culturally Responsive & Sustaining Education

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January 18, 2024

In this session, we explored various manifestations of culture within schools, classrooms, and shared environments. Click on the links below to uncovered practical strategies aimed at fostering equitable and inclusive learning environments.

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WEEAC Webinar 5 Family and Community Engagement_ADA

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Family Engagement Guidance and Toolkit, Washington Office of Superintendent and Public Instruction

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Family Engagement Guidance and Toolkit, Washington Office of Superintendent and Public Instruction

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Creating Welcoming and Affirming Learning Environments, New York State Dept. of Ed

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Creating Welcoming and Affirming Learning Environments, New York State Dept. of Ed

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Dual-Capacity Building Framework, Dr. Karen Mapp

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Dual-Capacity Building Framework, Dr. Karen Mapp

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Based on existing research and best practices, the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (Version 2) is designed to support the development of family engagement strategies, policies, and programs. It is not a blueprint for engagement initiatives, which must be designed to fit the particular contexts in which they are carried out. Instead, the Framework should be seen as a compass, laying out the goals and conditions necessary to chart a path toward effective family engagement efforts that are linked to student achievement and school improvement.
Suggested citation:
Mapp, K. L. & Bergman, E. (2019). Dual capacity-building framework for family-school partnerships (Version 2). Retrieved from: www.dualcapacity.org

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Based on existing research and best practices, the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (Version 2) is designed to support the development of family engagement strategies, policies, and programs. It is not a blueprint for engagement initiatives, which must be designed to fit the particular contexts in which they are carried out.

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Creating Authentic Partnerships with Historically Marginalized Families and Other Stakeholders: Embracing an Equity Mindset, Dr. Alexandria Harvey

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Creating Authentic Partnerships with Historically Marginalized Families and Other Stakeholders: Embracing an Equity Mindset, Dr. Alexandria Harvey

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Educational systems in this country have been shaped by the influence of White dominant culture, frequently precluding the authentic partnership of families and stakeholders who are vested in the success of historically marginalized students in their communities. This resource describes characteristics associated with White dominant culture as compared to those rooted in an intentional equity mindset. This resource can be used to assess the cultural norms that currently exist and to think about what changes are needed to create authentic opportunities for partnership that can improve learning conditions and outcomes for historically marginalized populations.

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Creating Authentic Partnerships with Historically Marginalized Families and Other Stakeholders: Embracing an Equity Mindset

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Educational systems in this country have been shaped by the influence of White dominant culture, frequently precluding the authentic partnership of families and stakeholders who are vested in the success of historically marginalized students in their communities. This resource describes characteristics associated with White dominant culture as compared to those rooted in an intentional equity mindset.

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Culturally Responsive & Sustaining Family Engagement, NYU Steinhardt

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Culturally Responsive & Sustaining Family Engagement, NYU Steinhardt

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Culturally Responsive & Sustaining Family Engagement Explained in 6 Minutes

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WEEAC Webinar 4 Equity Detours & the Equity Literacy Framework_ADA

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Family Engagement Toolkit (CA Dept. of Ed)

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Family Engagement Toolkit (CA Dept. of Ed)

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Policy Review Tool (Great Lakes Equity Center)

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Policy Review Tool (Great Lakes Equity Center)

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Policy Review Through Equity Lens Tool (Ohio DOE)

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Policy Review Through Equity Lens Tool (Ohio DOE)

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WEEAC Webinar 3 Cultuarally Responsive Data Literacy_ADA

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Expanding on the content covered in Part 1 of this series, participants developed a foundational understanding of how beliefs, policies, procedures, and practices contribute to racial inequities. They cultivated the skills necessary to steer conversations that promote understanding, empathy, and collaboration while addressing potentially sensitive topics.

Video Recording: https://vimeo.com/916816587
Slide Deck: https://weeac.wested.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beyond-Diversity-Pt2-Achieving-Racial-Equity-by-Addressing-Systemic-Beliefs_ADA.pdf
For Session I Pt. 1, click here.

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From Beliefs to Action: Designing Culturally Responsive Systems - Session I Pt. 2

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Expanding on the content covered in Part 1 of this series, participants developed a foundational understanding of how beliefs, policies, procedures, and practices contribute to racial inequities. They cultivated the skills necessary to steer conversations that promote understanding, empathy, and collaboration while addressing potentially sensitive topics.

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In this session, participants recognized and learned strategies to navigate the three core tensions commonly experienced by educators when discussing race and equity.

Video Recording: https://vimeo.com/916805851
Slide Deck: https://weeac.wested.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beyond-Diversity-Pt1-Achieving-Racial-Equity-by-Addressing-Systemic-Beliefs_ADA.pdf
For Session I Pt. 2, click here.

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From Beliefs to Action: Designing Culturally Responsive Systems - Session I Pt. 1

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In this session, participants recognized and learned strategies to navigate the three core tensions commonly experienced by educators when discussing race and equity. Video Recording: https://vimeo.com/916805851 Slide Deck: https://weeac.wested.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beyond-Diversity-Pt1-Achieving-Racial-Equity-by-Addressing-Systemic-Beliefs_ADA.pdf For Session I Pt. 2, click here.

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3 Practices to Promote Equity in the Classroom

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3 Practices to Promote Equity in the Classroom

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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High Tech High Graduate School of Education

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© High Tech High Graduate School of Education 2008 - 2024. All rights reserved.

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Culturally Responsive School	Leadership Framework - UMN

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Culturally Responsive School	Leadership Framework - UMN

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Our Culture Our Schools Culturally Responsive Education in New York City

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Our Culture Our Schools Culturally Responsive Education in New York City

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Our Culture Our Schools Culturally Responsive Education in New York City

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Video: What Culturally Responsive Teaching Looks Like: A Native Educator Explains

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Video: What Culturally Responsive Teaching Looks Like: A Native Educator Explains

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What Culturally Responsive Teaching Looks Like: A Native Educator Explains

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Learn how to identify community assets and resources, and how to engage them in the community change effort.

What is a community asset?

Why should you identify community assets?

Who should identify community assets?

When should you identify community assets?

How do you identify community assets?

Mapping community assets

Using the community assets you have identified

Many community organizations focus on the needs or deficits of the community. Every community has needs and deficits that ought to be attended to.

But it is also possible to focus on assets and strengths -- emphasizing what the community does have, not what it doesn't. Those assets and strengths can be used to meet those same community needs; they can improve community life.

To draw upon a community's assets, we first have to find out what they are. So in this section, we will focus on identifying community assets and resources. We'll also show how they can be harnessed to meet community needs and to strengthen the community as a whole.

What is a community asset?

Our definition is broad. A community asset (or community resource, a very similar term) is anything that can be used to improve the quality of community life. And this means:

It can be a person -- Residents can be empowered to realize and use their abilities to build and transform the community. The stay-at-home mom or dad who organizes a playgroup. The informal neighborhood leader. The firefighter who risks his life to keep the community safe. These are all community assets.

It can be a physical structure or place -- a school, hospital, church, library, recreation center, social club. It could be a town landmark or symbol. It might also be an unused building that could house a community hospice, or a second floor room ideal for community meetings. Or it might be a public place that already belongs to the community -- a park, a wetland, or other open space.

It can be a community service that makes life better for some or all community members - public transportation, early childhood education center, community recycling facilities, cultural organization.

It can be a business that provides jobs and supports the local economy.

You and everyone else in the community are potential community assets. Everyone has some skills or talents, and everyone can provide knowledge about the community, connections to the people they know, and the kind of support that every effort needs - making phone calls, stuffing envelopes, giving people information, moving equipment or supplies - whatever needs doing. This suggests that everyone in the community can be a force for community improvement if only we knew what their assets were, and could put them to use.

One student of communities, John McKnight, has noted:
"Every single person has capacities, abilities and gifts. Living a good life depends on whether those capacities can be used, abilities expressed and gifts given."

Why should you identify community assets?

They can be used as a foundation for community improvement.

External resources (e.g., federal and state money) or grants may not be available. Therefore, the resources for change must come from within each community.

Identifying and mobilizing community assets enables community residents to gain control over their lives.

Improvement efforts are more effective, and longer-lasting, when community members dedicate their time and talents to changes they desire.

You can't fully understand the community without identifying its assets. Knowing the community's strengths makes it easier to understand what kinds of programs or initiatives might be possible to address the community's needs.

When efforts are planned on the strengths of the community, people are likely to feel more positive about them, and to believe they can succeed. It's a lot easier to gain community support for an effort that emphasizes the positive - "We have the resources within our community to deal with this, and we can do it!" - than one that stresses how large a problem is and how difficult it is to solve.

Who should identify community assets?

Community members of all stripes and from all sectors should be involved in identifying assets. One reason here is the commitment to participatory process that you'll find in most Community Tool Box sections. An even more important one, however, is that community members from a broad range of groups and populations are far more likely to identify assets that may not be apparent to everyone. The community's perception of what constitutes an asset or a resource is at least as legitimate as the "standard" list of institutions and people with specific skills.

A number of garbage-strewn, overgrown empty lots in a neighborhood can be seen as an eyesore and a neighborhood shame. But those lots can also be seen as open space that can be turned into playgrounds, pocket parks, and farmers' markets with volunteer labor that in itself provides a neighborhood community-building opportunity. Community perception is crucial, because seeing something as an asset can make it possible to use it as one.

When should we identify community assets?

Every day. But here are some situations when it's especially desirable to do so:

When you are conducting a community assessment and need to find assets to mobilize to address community needs.

When the community includes talented and experienced citizens whose skills are valuable but underutilized.

When you can't provide traditional services, even if you wanted to, and are looking for other ways to build up the community.

When you want to encourage residents to take pride in and responsibility for local concerns and improvements.

When you want to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones that will promote successful community development in the future.

How do you identify community assets?

The techniques for identifying community assets aren't very hard. You don't need a lot of special training or expertise to do the job well.

Before you begin, though, you do need to answer some important questions. You can do this yourself, in the privacy of your own home. But we recommend strongly do so before you start. Here they are:
What is the size of the community you're concerned with?
An entire county? Town? Neighborhood? Housing development?

The bigger the community, the more work is involved - and you might need and probably different study methods for a large community than for a small one.
What people are available to do the work?
An individual? A small group of people? A larger organization? If you're starting out alone, it makes sense to reach out to others, get them excited about the project, and recruit them to work with you. (Unless your community is very small, identifying all or most of its assets is a big job for one person).
How much time do you have for the task or how much time can you allow?
Tonight? A week? A month? As much time as it takes?

The more time you have, the more assets you will be able to uncover.
What financial resources, if any, can you count on to support the work?
If available, resources for copying or printing and to support human resources (time) can be helpful.
What do you want to do with the results?
Will they be posted in an online directory? Contacted about an opportunity to take action? If so, what action, and how?

What comes next?

There are different approaches to identifying community assets. Each can be valid and useful. Which approach is right for you? The answer will depend in large part on your answers to the starting questions above. So, once again, answer them before you start.

But below are two basic approaches you could use in your own community. They complement each other. One of them focuses on the assets of groups -- specifically, associations, organizations, and institutions. The other focuses on individual people.

Identifying the assets of groups

The central task here is to take an inventory of all the groups (associations, organizations, and institutions) that exist in your community. You want to make a list. But how do you figure out what goes on the list in the first place? Some suggestions follow:
Start the list with what you know. Write down anything that comes to mind. You can always correct your list later.
You can do this work by yourself; but it might be more useful and fun to work with others. Are there other people who could join you and make this a group project?

This is a great project for students or interns.
These can include:

United Way's 211 Information and Referral System contains information on non-profit organizations for many communities.

Community websites. Many cities and towns have their own websites, as do other community agencies. These can not only give you information about community resources, but also give you the names of people you can contact who might know a great deal more.

The yellow pages

Town directories, published for your community alone.

Lists of businesses, probably available from the chamber of commerce.

Lists of organizations and institutions that are not generally published. For example, your local newspaper may have its own unpublished list that it could make available to you.

Bulletin boards. Physical or virtual bulletin boards, and community-calendar type listings.

Your friends and colleagues. They may know about other lists available. And even if they don't, they may know of groups, organizations, and community assets that are not on anybody else's lists.

Refine and revise your list.
You can also break your list down in several different ways: alphabetically, geographically, by function, etc.

You now have an inventory of groups and group assets in your community -- the associations, organizations, and institutions that are a fundamental part of community life and that can be used for community improvement. That's an important step.
But what do you do now?

It's possible to put these assets on a map. For more information on how to do this, see the heading on Mapping Community Assets, coming up.

It's now desirable to think about how your list (or map) of assets could be used. See the heading on Using Community Assets, toward the end of this section.

Identifying the assets of individuals

Compiling a list of key groups is one approach for identifying community assets. Another approach is to compile the assets of individuals. This can be challenging, because:

There are many more people than groups. To survey large numbers of people will take a lot of time.

We often don't know people's assets unless we ask them. Their abilities and talents are often unknown. When listing organizations, you often immediately know what that group is about. But we probably won't know what individuals' talents and skills are until we ask them. That takes more time.

For both these reasons, identifying individual assets often takes place over a smaller community area such as a neighborhood.

But many of the above suggestions still apply. Here's how identifying individual community assets could be done in practice:
Answer the 5 "starting questions" previously given.
This step is the same as for studying the assets of groups.
Decide on the geographic area you want to cover.
Do you want to focus on a specific neighborhood or community? Or do you want a broad sampling of the community? Keep in mind the time and resources you have available as you make your decision.
Decide on how many people you are going to ask within that area.
Everyone? A certain fixed percentage? As many as you can find? Resolve this question in advance.
Draft some questions you want to ask that will get you the information you need.
Are you interested in skills, ("I can play the piano"), or interests ("I'd love to learn")?

If it is skills, what kind of skills -- academic, artistic, athletic, interpersonal, manual, office, organizing, parenting, vocational...? Human beings have many talents, and you probably want to narrow down your search, at least a little.

If interests, what kind as well? These too come in many and varied types.
Keep in mind:

Why am I collecting this information?

What do I want to use it for?

Design a method by which these questions can be asked.
Each method has its pros and cons.
Try out your questions on a sample group.
Based on their answers and their suggestions, you will probably want to make revisions. That's a good idea, and a natural part of the process. Professional surveyors do the same thing, many times over.
Collect your data.
You've now got a territory to cover, some good questions that meet your needs, and a method for getting the answers. Good work. Now it's time to put your plan into practice and collect your data.

An added bonus: When you ask people about their talents and abilities, that can also help encourage people to share them with others. So your survey may not only be identifying assets, but also promoting their use.

Once you have collected asset information, it's often especially helpful to put it on a map. Maps are good visual aids: seeing the data right in front of you often increases your insight and understanding. There are several ways to go about this:

One mapping method is to find a large street map of your community, with few other markings. (Your local Planning Department may help here, or you can probably print one out from Google Maps or some other similar site.) Then just mark with a dot, tag, or push-pin (maybe color-coded by type) the geographic location of the groups and organizations you have found. The patterns that emerge may surprise you. You may see, for example, that certain locations have different numbers or types of associations. Those areas where few associations exist may be good targets for community development later on.

This type of mapping can also be done by computer. Software programs are available to help you do this. These programs are more flexible and sophisticated than paper-and-pushpin mapping, for with them you can create "overlays," visually placing one category of map over another, and changing these visual patterns with the push of a button.

It's also possible to diagram your resources on a non-literal map, but one which can more clearly show the linkages among different categories of assets.

There are a number of ways of making a non-literal map. One common one is to start with an inner circle that lists physical spaces - buildings, parks, lakes, plazas - that can be used by the community or provide community services and functions. The next circle out lists community institutions - hospitals, schools and universities, libraries, etc. A circle around that second circle might include organizations connected to those institutions or doing related work. (An adult literacy program might be formally or informally tied to educational institutions, to the library, or to major employers, for example.) The next circle out might list services, the next informal groups, and the last individuals (either specific people or the types of skills and interests you are fairly sure you'll find in the community.) Lines might be drawn between these assets to show how they're connected, or to show how they're connected to the group or individuals making the map.

Other non-literal map methods might involve pictures, a photographic record, even small models of buildings and public spaces. The method really doesn't matter as much as the goal of plotting the community's assets in a way that makes it clear how they might interconnect, and how they can be combined to meet needs or enhance community life.

Using the community assets you have identified

Whether or not you map your assets, the next and most important step is to make sure the assets you have identified get used. There is value just in expanding your own personal awareness of what exists in your community, but by sharing your results, you can also expand the awareness of others.

The real value and payoff of identifying assets is in actions that will improve your community. You want to put your assets to work for you. If you have personal assets, such as savings, you probably don't want to hide them under a mattress. The same applies to the assets in your community. How can we maximize their return?
We'll itemize just a few possibilities below. Think about which might fit best for you, and what your own next steps might be:

Community assets can be the basis for asset-based planning. Planning for community development and interventions can be based on what the community has to work with, and can include strengthening current assets and developing new ones as well as addressing problems. (John McKnight and John "Jody" Kretzmann, known as the founders of the asset-based planning movement, are also the founders and co-Directors of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University, one of the Chicago area's community assets.)

You can publish the assets identified - on a town or separate website, in a community newsletter, in a community service section in the local newspaper, to name just three possibilities - and make them available to all community members. In doing so, you will stimulate public asset knowledge and use.

You can target a particular neighborhood or other area for development, on the basis of the asset patterns you have found.

You can use your knowledge of assets to tackle a new community project -- because now you may have more resources to work on that project than you originally thought.

You can find new ways to bring groups and organizations together, to learn about each other's assets -- and perhaps to work collaboratively on projects such as the one above.

You can publicize these assets, and attract new businesses and other opportunities to your community. In both this example and the ones just above, you are using existing assets to create new ones. (This is what makes community work exciting!)

You can create a school curriculum to teach local students about these assets, thus enriching their knowledge of the community and building community pride.

You can consider creating a "community coordinator," (or some other title), someone who would deal with assets every day. The coordinator's new job would be to find the right assets in the community to respond to any request or community concern. Would this position pay for itself?

You (or the new coordinator) can keep records how assets are used in the community, and use those records to generate ideas for improving asset exchange.

You can set up structured programs for asset exchange, which can range from individual skill swaps to institutional cost-sharing.

Community assets keep getting reviewed, perhaps on a regular basis. New assets are always coming on the scene; it's good to keep up to date on them. By so doing, the whole asset-identification process can become a regular part of community life.

Community assets should be reviewed on a regular basis. Asset identification should be a regular part of community life, so that community assets can be taken advantage of when they're needed.

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Section 8. Identifying Community Assets and Resources

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Learn how to identify community assets and resources, and how to engage them in the community change effort. What is a community asset? Why should you identify community assets? Who should identify community assets? When should you identify community assets? How do you identify community assets?

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Implicit Bias - Page 33

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WEEAC Webinar 1 Part 2 Vignettes #2 - Google Jamboard

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The version of the browser you are using is no longer supported. Please upgrade to a supported browser. Dismiss

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Cover Art by Favianna Rodriguez
Django Paris and H. Samy Alim agreed to answer a few questions about their new book, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World.

Django Paris is Associate Professor of Language and Literacy and Core Faculty in the African American and African Studies Program at Michigan State University. In January 2018, he will join the faculty at the University of Washington, Seattle, as the Director of the Banks Center for Educational Justice.

H. Samy Alim is Professor of Anthropology and African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.
LF: You make a distinction between culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally sustaining pedagogy. Can you say more about those differences? Django Paris and H. Samy Alim: This is an important question, one we have of course thought deeply about. In order to explore this question we'll need to first define culturally sustaining pedagogy: CSP seeks to perpetuate and foster-to sustain-linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism as part of schooling for positive social transformation and revitalization. CSP positions dynamic cultural dexterity as a necessary good, and sees the outcome of learning as additive, rather than subtractive, as remaining whole rather than framed as broken, as critically enriching strengths rather than replacing deficits. Culturally sustaining pedagogy exists wherever education sustains the lifeways of communities who have been and continue to be damaged and erased through schooling. As such, CSP explicitly calls for schooling to be a site for sustaining-rather than eradicating-the cultural ways of being of communities of color. CSP builds on decades of crucial asset-based pedagogical research that has countered pervasive deficit approaches to prove that our practices and ways of being as students and communities of color are legitimate and should be included meaningfully in classroom learning. Whether explicitly stated or not, this tradition of asset-based pedagogical research has fought against persistent, ongoing beliefs in White superiority and the systemic racism they engender. In the past 25 years, this research has importantly included work on the funds of knowledge (Luis Moll, Norma Gonzalez and their collaborators), the third space (Kris Gutiérrez and her collaborators), cultural modeling (Carol Lee), and, to your question, Gloria Ladson-Billings' seminal conception of culturally relevant pedagogy. Indeed, Ladson-Billings (2014) wrote in her recent article in the "Harvard Educational Review" that "culturally sustaining pedagogy uses culturally relevant pedagogy as the place where the 'beat drops'"; it does "not imply that the original was deficient" but rather speaks "to the changing and evolving needs of dynamic systems " (p. 76). It is these changing and evolving demographic, cultural, and social needs coupled with the persistence and even increase of deficit-framed policies and practices that make a more explicit commitment to sustaining the valued practices and ways of being of students and communities of color so necessary in the current moment. For us, then, it is not so much about distinctions between CSP and CRP, but rather about the ways CSP can contribute to the ongoing work of educational justice that CRP and other asset pedagogies have forwarded. CRP continues to guide our work, even as we continue to develop needed pedagogical theory and practice. It's also worth noting that across our own careers as classroom teachers and now as university educators, we have both been deeply informed by CRP and the other asset pedagogies CSP builds from. And we are deeply grateful that the founders of these frameworks are members of our CSP collective and have chapters in the book! So while you can take our word for it, it's really important to read what Ladson-Billings, Gutiérrez, Lee, Gonzalez and others have to say about CSP. Within our new book Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies is the kind of intergenerational "building" that we hope can produce a strong educational justice movement going forward.

LF: What would you say to teachers who claim to "not see color" and teach all students the "same"? Django Paris and H. Samy Alim: No matter how well-intentioned, when a teacher (often a White teacher but as we mention in the book, teachers of color, too, can be invested in "Whiteness") claims that they "don't see color" they are engaging in "colorblind" rhetoric that is harmful to communities of color for at least three obvious reasons: (1) They are denying their own "Whiteness" (and/or their investment in "Whiteness") and all of the social privileges and power that they gain from that, and (2) They are denying other folks' "Blackness," "Brownness," or "Asianness" (as examples) and all of the social discrimination that flows from that, and most importantly, (3) They are constructing racism as individual and intentional, rather than institutional. Racism is structural; it is historical and enduring. The U.S.-unfortunately for People of Color-is structured from top-to-bottom by race (including infant mortality rates, quality of educational opportunities, housing and employment discrimination, and so on and so on; all social science research confirms this). As we write in the introduction to the book, our work on CSP has been informed by justice movements like the Standing Rock #NoDAPL movement for Indigenous sovereignty, land, and clean water for all people and by #BlackLivesMatter. We'll leave readers with this #BlackLivesMatter meme that went viral and, we believe, has direct relevance to this question: SAYING ALL LIVES MATTER IS LIKE SAYING "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL" WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY ENSLAVING OVER 4 MILLION HUMAN BEINGS. If the message still isn't clear, then consider this. Saying that you "don't see color" whenever People of Color are vocal about racism and discrimination is akin to saying you "don't see gender" (or more accurately, gender expression) whenever women (of any gender) raise their voices about sexism and harassment. It is dishonest. And frankly, we have no time for it. What we do have time for, though, is genuine, open, honest, courageous conversations about racism and how education can disrupt racism. This book brings all of us together in a collective effort to address racism and all other forms of discrimination in our educational policies, practices, and pedagogies. We hope you will join us in that effort.

LF: Your book shares lots of teaching strategies. This may be an unfair question, but could you share two or three of your favorites and explain why you like them? Django Paris and H. Samy Alim: This is an unfair question! You'll note that the book is called, "Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies" (CSPs)-plural! In the book we join a collective of educational justice workers (teachers, youth, families, researchers) to forward examples of CSPs across Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and immigrant communities in the U.S. and also in South Africa. Several of the chapters focus on classroom level examples, while others look at entire schools or communities enacting CSPs. Across these long-term, community-engaged studies the book, community accountability and local affordances and constraints mean CSP takes on necessarily different forms across different contexts (hence, the plural). This is to say that what we are seeking to sustain through our teaching, how we seek to sustain it, and why we do so all depend on who the students are, where the school is, who the teachers and school leaders are. Even within this necessary and expected variation, key features across culturally sustaining educational settings include: This means that educators don't see students' languages (e.g., Navajo, African-American Language, Spanish, "standard" English), literacies (e.g., Hip Hop, poetry, social media, street art) or ways of being (e.g., spiritual beliefs, ways of relating to adults and elders) as somehow marginal or to simply be added to the existing curriculum. Rather, these facets of students' selves and communities must be centered meaningfully in classroom learning, across units and projects. Even as this may be in tension with some of the expectations of many school settings, it is also true that such centering has proven to increase student outcomes on dominant measures of school achievement. Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 show how teachers center students' cultural communities in classrooms serving Black, Latinx, Native, and Pacific Islander students specifically. As educators, we know all too well about the many systems of accountability we are subjected to. Unfortunately, being accountable to the communities-the students and families-we serve is generally not something we are required to do. Culturally sustaining educators and schools are in conversation with young people and families about what they desire, what they want to sustain through schooling. Chapters 4, 6, 7, and 13 (among others) give examples of how teachers and administrators reach out to communities and remain accountable to their needs. Culturally sustaining educators connect present learning to the histories of racial, ethnic, and linguistic communities, to the histories of neighborhoods and cities, and the histories of the larger states and nation-states that they are part of. It is crucial when we are seeking to sustain valuable practices that we link those practices up with the past and present of communities. Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Díaz recently told a group of students of color at one of our college campuses that the whole purpose of our educational system was to "make us misunderstand ourselves." He was speaking about the role of educational institutions in colonial and neocolonial contexts. This, of course, can have a deep impact on our communities. When an educational system and larger society continually tells us that we are a "problem," that we lack rich languages, beautiful cultures, and storied histories-that we are deficient in all of these ways-we can internalize false understandings of ourselves, our practices, our communities, and our futures. Across the chapters in the book, educators work to show the value of communities and their practices beyond the dominant narratives of White, middle class, "standard" English monolingual/monocultural superiority which schools largely uphold. These educators are working to refuse, reject, and in some cases, return what Toni Morrison calls the White gaze. Chapters 7 and 9 on the U.S. and South Africa are great examples of this. As teachers we create and adapt curriculum-the stuff of teaching and learning-and we plan how it is we will teach it. Culturally sustaining educators are no different; it's just what and who we value and include in the process that shifts. We work to curricularize-to make into curriculum-the previous four elements as we choose (together with students and community members) what we are seeking to sustain. What will we read, write, perform, research? In what classroom and community settings? Who are the sources of knowledge we must be in critical conversation with? Being and becoming a culturally sustaining educator is dynamic; it's about critically learning with community; it's about, together, sustaining who youth and communities are and want to be; and it's about doing all of that with respect and love.

LF: Is there anything I haven't asked you about that you'd like to share? Django Paris and H. Samy Alim: Thanks for this opportunity to share our work on CSP with the "Ed Week Teacher" audience. We hope the book can be of use to educators committed to equity and justice in a time of continuing inequity and injustice in our schools and in society. For us, it is always important to keep the goals of our teaching front and center. CSPs are about more than just resistance. This book, in fact, is about building the kind of world that we want to see for our children (that's the symbolism of Favianna Rodriguez's brilliant cover design). As we continue to think through the promises and challenges of culturally sustaining pedagogy, we are hopeful that this work can join young people, educators, communities, and scholars in producing a collective vision of an educational system-and a future world-that sustains us. LF: Thanks, Django and Samy!

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Django Paris and H. Samy Alim agreed to answer a few questions about their new book, "Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World."

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Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Video

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Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Video

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Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

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Explainer: What is Culturally Responsive Teaching?

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Rawlin Rosario, a dedicated and experienced Senior Program Associate in Culturally Responsive Systems at WestEd, is a true product of his roots, born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the vibrant cultural tapestry of Harlem. These early experiences have profoundly shaped his educational lens and fueled his unwavering commitment to achieving educational equity.

Based in New Rochelle, NY, Rawlin actively champions the cause of educational equity, channeling his passion into a myriad of initiatives. He lends his expertise to technical assistance activities, meticulously crafts research-based tools and resources, and provides invaluable research and policy support to state, regional, and local education agencies. Rawlin's primary mission revolves around advancing the crucial work of cultivating and sustaining a school system that is culturally responsive and that affirms students’ racial, linguistic, cultural, and other forms of identity.

With extensive experience as an educational leader, Rawlin's impact is far-reaching. He served as a teacher, instructional Coach, school leader, in  numerous school systems, delivering professional development on instruction and culturally responsive practices restorative justice approaches, and ultimately supporting teachers through coaching and championing culturally responsive instruction.

Previously, Rawlin's passion for education policy and systems change led to a Public Policy Fellowship at the New York State Education Department, where he played a pivotal role in developing CRE principles, co-led professional communities, and helped implement socio-economic integration programs.

Throughout his career, Rawlin consistently delivers excellence, providing instructional support, data analysis, and coaching to improve teaching practices. He's a driving force for equitable and transformative education.

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Jackie Peng is a Program Associate II in the Culturally Responsive Systems team at WestEd. Peng supports states, school districts, regional education agencies, and higher education institutions to strengthen and diversify their educator workforce and to implement culturally responsive and sustaining systems. Her areas of expertise include K–12 education and teacher professional learning, teacher education and certification, educational equity, and culturally responsive practices. She is a skilled facilitator and has led DEI work with youth and adults to address bias, disproportionality, and systemic inequity in school settings. Peng received her BA in American Studies and MEd in Secondary Social Studies from The George Washington University. She was distinguished as The Washington Post Teacher of the Year for Montgomery County, MD, and was recognized by The National Education Policy Center for innovative school-based professional development on racial equity. Ms. Peng is a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and a Minority Dissertation Fellow for the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

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It involves holding a student, a student's family, or a student's culture accountable for academic or behavioral difficulties at school. For example, school staff may assume that a student is acting out because they're innately a "bad kid" or because the student's parents "didn't raise them right."

Unfortunately, research also indicates that educators are more likely to engage in deficit thinking when working with students of color, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, students with disabilities, and EL (English learner) students.

This can lead to teachers unintentionally lowering their expectations for students based on factors outside of the student's control. It also paves the way for inequitable outcomes for students from historically marginalized backgrounds.

One example is disproportionate office referrals of historically marginalized students for suspension or expulsion compared to other students.

Deficit thinking is harmful to education for two reasons:

Educators assume that they can't support the student.

It can lead to educators lowering expectations for the student.

Research shows that when educators have high expectations for students, their students will rise to those expectations. In contrast, when educators hold low expectations for students, students are less likely to succeed.

If you were to ask teachers WHY they thought a student was misbehaving, what types of responses do you think you would receive?

I distributed a questionnaire to 300 teachers from six school districts to examine the relationship between deficit thinking and school discipline patterns.

The six districts each had unique school discipline patterns (some had a history of high suspension patterns, some had a history of low suspension patterns, some had large racial disparities, and others had no racial disparities).

The questionnaire started with a brief prompt asking teachers to think about a student they've worked with who has engaged in "disruptive and/or negative" behavior in class. One of the questionnaire items that followed asked teachers to record what they believed to be the "root cause" of that student's misbehavior.

Results revealed a troubling pattern: 86% of teachers reported a root cause that somehow blamed the student or their family.

Some examples:

family background

lack of structure at home

domestic issues at home

"The student is seeking attention because they are not getting attention at home."

no parental support

a learning disability

"The father is not present."

a lack of educational skills

a chaotic household

"The student is spoiled at home."

You may wonder why some of these root causes are problematic.

For example, if a student has a learning disability, isn't it somewhat fair to attribute the student's misbehavior to their disability?

If a student has a difficult home life, isn't it somewhat fair to assume that the student may engage in problematic behavior at school because of it?

To these questions, I respond, "Sure, it's possible."

But sometimes, the problem does not lie in the root cause we attribute; the problem lies in how we talk about and think about our students of these root causes.

They may well determine how we treat students and the expectations we hold for them. These deficit-thinking root causes lie in how we frame them. They lead teachers to believe that there is nothing they can do.

If the root cause is out of our control, what does that say about our expectations? And what do we know about the impact of our expectations?

So what about the other 14% of teachers?

I've termed this small minority of responses as "putative malleable root causes," defined as "root causes that examine the role that school factors play in contributing to and/or causing the problem behavior and can be changed through school-based intervention."

Some examples:

"We need more social-emotional training for teachers and admin."

"The student is bored."

"There are inconsistent expectations from the teacher."

"The student might not be engaged in the current activity."

"There's a negative relationship with the teacher."

"The student isn't being challenged enough."

"The student needs assistance completing work."

"Teacher/school involvement within teams is lacking."

Some fall directly within the line of school factors we can alter, while others can be minorly reframed when teachers perceive students. ( Note: while responses from the latter could be interpreted in a deficit light, these variables do not place inherent blame on the student.)

If a student is acting out because they're bored, what can be changed about the instruction, content, or delivery of material?

If the student is acting out because they need academic assistance, how can we ensure that the student receives the help they need to prevent misbehavior?

How can we alter our everyday practices to meet the needs of our students?

In other words, rather than associating a student's difficulties with a "learning disability" or "lack of educational skills," we need to shift our thinking to consider what supports we can provide for a student with a disability or for a student who struggles academically.

Instead of: "Her parents never taught her how to behave," try: "She may benefit from more intensive social/emotional, behavioral skill instruction at school."

Instead of: "He doesn't receive enough attention at home, so he seeks negative attention at school," try: "He needs more positive relationships and positive reinforcement at school."

Instead of: "The content is way over their head, so they act out because they don't understand," try: "I can modify my instructional techniques and/or the curriculum to better fit their academic needs."

Instead of: "He has a chaotic home life," try: "His current school environment is too unstructured for his needs, and he may benefit from more structure."

Imagine if we did our best to reframe all root causes that blame families or students into root causes that are within our control.

Perception is everything.

Framing is everything.

We may have good intentions when we think about difficulties that arise for students outside of school. But the real question is, when is it helpful to consider the impact of such factors, and when is it harmful?

How are we using the information we know about the student?

How can we reframe the behaviors we're observing at school to be strengths?

How can we use these strengths to better support our students instead of further marginalizing them?

My research got me thinking about the culture of our schools and how we, as a society, think about problematic behavior. The lack of a relationship between deficit thinking among teachers and school discipline data does not mean that deficit thinking isn't harmful to students.

I argue that it reflects an even more troubling finding: our schools are breeding grounds for deficit thinking.

And it's not because teachers are ill-intentioned. Our school staff members are not equipped with the tools or capacity to think about strengthening behavior in this way because our larger society does not value it.

This is why deficit thinking is a social justice issue. Our current method of addressing student behavior in schools is exclusionary because we believe that students who engage in misbehavior are "bad" and/or "unable to change" rather than considering how we can support them.
And just like most social justice issues, our historically marginalized students continue to bear the brunt of the impacts of deficit thinking.
So the next time you're working with a challenging student, rather than blaming the student, lowering your expectations for them, or deeming them a "lost cause," I challenge you to consider the malleable factors contributing to the student's difficulties.

If you think in a deficit light, how can you reframe that root cause into an addressable action? A simple modification of language can ultimately make a huge difference.

Which hypothesis leads you to unintentionally lower your expectations?

Which hypothesis empowers you to support the student?

Photo by Marcelo Jaboo from Pexels

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Deficit Thinking in Schools: A Social Justice Issue

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These deficit-thinking root causes lie in how we frame them. They lead teachers to believe that there is nothing they can do. If the root cause is out of our control, what does that say about our expectations?

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Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Family and Community Engagement. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

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During the final session of our series, we'll examine how we can extend equity beyond the classroom by deepening our understanding of culturally responsive family and community engagement. Participants will gain strategies and practices for partnering with families and communities to achieve equity for marginalized students and communities.

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Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: From Awareness to Action: Equity Detours & the Equity Literacy Framework. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

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Learn to identify common “detours” that can hinder achieving equity, strengthening educators’ equity literacy, and cultivating practitioners’ abilities to create an equitable environment.

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Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Solving Disproportionality & Culturally Responsive Data Literacy. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

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Data informs nearly every aspect of school design, culture, and improvement. During this session, we'll explore the importance of centering culture and equity in data interpretation, particularly as it pertains to students with disabilities. We'll also share ways you can identify and use data sources beyond assessments to inform culturally responsive policies and practices while advancing educational equity.

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Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Foundations of Culturally Responsive & Sustaining Education. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

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Explore how and where culture exists in our schools and shared spaces, and how becoming a culturally responsive educator is critical to addressing educational inequities and fostering student belonging.

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The Exceptional Negro: Fighting to be Seen in a Colorblind World | Traci Ellis | TEDxHarperCollege

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The Exceptional Negro: Fighting to be Seen in a Colorblind World | Traci Ellis | TEDxHarperCollege

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The Exceptional Negro: Fighting to be Seen in a Colorblind World | Traci Ellis | TEDxHarperCollege

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Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Part 2: Beyond Diversity: Achieving Equity by Addressing Systemic Beliefs. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

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Continue the conversation from Part 1 of Session 1 in this series and develop the skills needed to shape conversations that foster understanding, empathy, and collaboration, while also addressing potentially uncomfortable topics with grace. Please note: Breakout rooms will be utilized throughout the webinar. Active participation is encouraged.

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Bias Based Beliefs and Opportunity Gaps Impacts Summary

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Bias Based Beliefs and Opportunity Gaps Impacts Summary

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'But What Can I Do?'': Three Necessary Tensions in Teaching Teachers About Race

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'But What Can I Do?'': Three Necessary Tensions in Teaching Teachers About Race