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I picked Linda Hammond's Keynote lecture "Achieving Equity and Excellence: Where We Are and Where We Need to Go. I picked this particular resource for many reasons: First of all, I liked that the title of the lecture included the words "achieving" and "excellence." After all, as educators, we should always be trying to achieve excellence. Second of all, I liked that the title with the words, "where we need to go," hints at a possible roadmap for how to achieve not only excellence but equity as well. Finally, I liked that the speaker was a woman. The "field workers" of education, the teachers, the aides, even the principals are mostly women yet the leadership of education, the superintendents and the directors are mostly men. And while I appreciate that Noguera is a Latino man and I have been inspired by his words in the past, I have never heard Linda Hammond speak so I wanted to hear a different voice.

My two biggest take aways from Hammond's lecture were that "learning is social" and that "we need more courage." I was encouraged by the fact that Hammond believes that relationships are so important. As an teacher of the youngest students, I always try to spend more time at the beginning of the school year getting to know my students as well as letting and encouraging my students to get to know each other. I know that if my students feel that they are part of a community, they will feel safe and thus be more ready to learn.

I believe that the idea of building relationships and encouraging my students to get to know each other ties in with my inquiry project because in order for my students to get the most out of play-based learning, they must first learn how to interact with each other.

Equity is a not just a word. Equity requires action. That's why I really liked that Hammond said that "we need more courage" in order to follow our conscience and do what is right. As a bold, socially responsible leader, I always strive to do what's right, even if it's sometimes a difficult journey.

I know that I will keep these ideas in mind when I begin to plan my Math play-based lessons. I know that I will have to include some Math games in which my students will have to interact and collaborate with each other. Even while using Math manipulatives, my students will be more likely to interact with each other because they have already had many opportunities to do that during our community building time.

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I chose the 2020 Mays Lecture Podcast to focus this week’s assignment on. I found this resource adaptable to connect to my higher education role. What resonated most with me was her description of the application of research to influence policy and the collaboration that was needed to successfully implement change. The success story she describes goes beyond one site, but this highlights how policy change does not stop at the research component and collaboration among stakeholders is necessary to implement change, especially at the large-scale May recounts. Additionally, May speaks about how she used her background to influence her passion.  This was important for me, as I chose an inquiry topic based on my passion to support women in STEM and I am using my current role and collaboration with UCSB’s College of Engineering and Admissions Departments to influence how our institution can support this minority group through enhanced recruitment and retention efforts that are influenced by our current students. May explains her goal of equalizing resources, especially at the university level this is important that all staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills to advise students as they may only meet with one or two of us throughout the recruitment process. For influential change to occur we need to understand our systems and foster continuous collaboration. Equity issues fuel our passions and give us purpose. This purpose creates the platform to create influential and socially responsible leaders.

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I chose the resource “10 Ways Educators Can Take Action In Pursuit Of Equity”.  I wanted to hear more about “taking action”.  We can talk a lot about equity and even research it over and over but without action, there are just some words being spoken and some pages be written or read.  I liked so man things about this podcast/article.  I love that homework is mentioned as an equity issue.  This is something that seems to be almost argued in my department quite often.  I also like that one of the ways involves immigrant students since one of the special populations I want to further research is ELL students.  In the article, they mention International Networks of Schools and I want to check this out and see what information it might provide.  They mention in this resource that you have to speak up and you have to have uncomfortable conversations but also honest conversations which can come across as “not nice”.  This is something that is important to remember in order to become a Bold Leader.  I really liked this resource and want to share it with my school site.

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I listened to the podcast, “10 Ways Educators Can Take Action in Pursuit of Equity”. I enjoyed the entire podcast but the two sections that stood out the most, in relation to my focus of inquiry, were action 3 ( making sure we are using the most effective teaching practices in our classrooms) and action 8 ( embracing immigrant students and their culture).

I originally chose my topic because I wanted to work on something related to my current teaching practice. In the podcast he states,  “The real gap that we don’t close is the gap between the research and the practice. The key is to evaluate, to make sure it’s having an impact…” I do believe there is a lot of focus on creating interactive lessons, but we often don't take the time to solicit student feedback to see if they are really enhancing the learning experience. It is important to continuously evaluate our teaching practices to see if they are effective but also that they are culturally sensitive and relevant. This is especially true and important in social studies. Unfortunately there have been many news stories recently of teachers conducting social studies lessons and interactive activities that are not appropriate and damaging to students.

I  teach at a Title I school and we have a large English Language Learner (ELL) population. Within that population we have a large percentage of hispanic students who are children of immigrants or have immigrated to the United States when they were very young. He states in the podcast, “In the same ways we want to mainstream special ed students, we want to make sure all kids have access to the full resources of the school and the curriculum. Immigrant students, whether they’re English learners or not, need to take rigorous courses, need to have access to counselors. We can’t allow language to be a barrier to providing high-quality educational service.” I wholeheartedly agree with him and feel passionate about providing our students with a quality education. I am hoping that my inquiry focus on interactive social studies activities will further hone my teaching skills and help inform future effective instruction.

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I choose 10 ways in which educators can take an action to pursue equity because I thrive daily to achieve equity daily in my classes due to the lack of diversity in my school community.
What resonated with me in this podcast is CHALLENGE THE NORMALIZATION OF FAILURE! My school has a minority of colored students These students are accepted with an assumption of failure. As always it is easier to blame and point at the home rather than reflecting how better we can support students of color.
I can use what I learned from Pedro Noguera to reflect on our own practices to see how can we support our students. Additionally, get the parents on the same page and partner with them to better assist their students.
As Bold leaders, we need to address the equity problem and take action since actions are always louder than words.

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I chose the article titled Taking on the tough issues: The Role of Educational Leaders in Resorting Public Faith in Public Education. This article not only resonates with my equity project but also my current teaching position. My equity project is regarding the lack of support that students who speak English as a second language receive. This article discusses and tackles some of the problems with our schools leadership and how the leadership affects the whole program at that school site and in the district.

I will use the information in this article to further my inquiry by noticing the leadership abilities of people in our community and assisting in elevating them so they can be better for our students. Another idea that will help me further my inquiry is what the author said about noticing how students learn. It is important to notice that students all learn differently and we as their leaders need to recognize that and adjust our practices accordingly.

As educators it is important to make each student seen. We do that by addressing the differences of students and dismantling the inequities. To do this, we need strong well trained leaders.

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As I reviewed the list of resources provided for this week's discussion post, the interview and transcript, 10 Ways Educators Can Take Action in Pursuit of Equity, stood out to me due to the title including the words, “take action.” I have worked in my school district for almost 16 years and have engaged in a variety of equity training's and discussions regarding the achievement gap and have read countless articles related to creating equitable schools, but there is often a lack of action taken once these training's, discussions and literature readings cease.

One of the suggestions that resonated with me was the suggestion to “teach students the way they learn rather than expecting them to learn the way we teach.” As educators we often become robots by utilizing the same teaching strategies and the same curriculum year after year without making earnest attempts to modify lessons or supplement lessons based on the needs of our students. This robot style of teaching relates to my inquiry project because so often when teaching math educators solely focus on teaching a specific procedure to solve a mathematical problem in order to get the correct answer. With this scripted style of teaching, students often solely focus on results instead of the process of learning and thinking. When this happens students begin to internalize that if they do not consistently solve mathematical problems and get the correct answers they must not be good at math. Then the students' self esteem is lowered and a negative math identity is subconsciously created.

As I conduct my inquiry and analyze the results with my teammates, I will make reference to the importance of teaching students the way they learn rather than expecting them to learn the way we teach. It would be interesting to see if any trends are identified with our students of color and if I can encourage my colleagues to self reflect on their teaching practices.

Equity issues consistently influence the way I discuss student success with my colleagues. As a socially responsible bold leader I am always looking for opportunities to speak up against educational disparities and I am now at the point in my educational career where I am ready to take action to help create change.
-LaChelle McDaniels

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I chose the 2020 Mays Lecture podcast by Linda Darling Hammond on research, systems, and education policy because I felt that the connection to the broader education system and reform was most relevant to my work. We are a private, post-secondary support that receives funding from the California Department of Developmental Services through Regional Centers. Understanding the systems that we operate in, and how they impact our ability to provide programming is important for providing effective support to our clients. One theme throughout the podcast that continually resonated was the power of working together. Dr. Hammond provided the following African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” I felt this is a very powerful and visual way to highlight the importance of a team in education, to enact positive change and growth. Through my inquiry, I will be working closely with colleagues and students to learn their perspectives and gain insight into the current disparities in outcomes and performance. Being open to whatever I learn as I gain perspective will be important to forming an inquiry that leads to action. Being aware of the equity challenges we face, as educators and agents of change, is how we will be conscientious in our policy recommendations and teaching approach to provide each student with the education they deserve.

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I chose Taking on Tough Issues mostly because I wanted to see if there were any insights on taking on tough issues that we face today. Unfortunately, there it was written in 2003 and didn't address any of the issues I would like feedback on, however there were quite a few things that resonated with me. First off, to be in a leadership role gender does not play a role in how strong of a leader you are. I 100% agree that it's the type of person you are. In challenge number 3 he addresses the problems with low performing schools. It speaks about the curriculum and no matter what type of curriculum is accepted at these sites, it doesn't help these low performing schools be successful. My problem with this is that it doesn't help because it is never designed to or scaffolded for the students who are below grade level. I know we want to get them to grade level, but how do we so if we can't get them to understand what they're doing?

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I’m focusing on the podcast featuring Professor Emerita Linda Darling-Hammond (Dr. D-H) who spoke in 2020 at the Crim Center for Urban Education in Atlanta, Georgia. I admire Dr. D-H for her ability to keep things positive, to be warm and kind to all, and to give us hope for education as a sector, for our students, and their futures. The talk connects with my work because I relate to policy as an area where ‘the devil is in the details.’ I work with EL students for whom community, access, equity, and resources are an ongoing challenge. Dr. D-H inspires me to fight for the greater good, and to reflect on my own practice and think about how to make things better. The influence on my research plan is that it can be a guide to me, that the path I am on is meaningful. As Bold, Socially Responsive Leaders we work to find ways to act against poverty, segregation, low performance, and combine these with Dr. D-H's reminders and support for taking a systems view, think of community and wrap-around styles and processes, and access to curriculum as an art and science in the humanity of our work. K Rolph Morales

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I’m focusing on the podcast featuring Professor Emerita Linda Darling-Hammond (Dr. D-H) who spoke in 2020 at the Crim Center for Urban Education in Atlanta, Georgia. I admire Dr. D-H for her ability to keep things positive, to be warm and kind to all, and to give us hope for education as a sector, for our students, and their futures. The talk connects with my work because I relate to policy as an area where ‘the devil is in the details.’ I work with EL students for whom community, access, equity, and resources are an ongoing challenge. Dr. D-H inspires me to fight for the greater good, and to reflect on my own practice and think about how to make things better. The influence on my research plan is that it can be a guide to me, that the path I am on is meaningful. As Bold, Socially Responsive Leaders we work to find ways to act against poverty, segregation, low performance, and combine these with Dr. D-H's reminders and support for taking a systems view, think of community and wrap-around styles and processes, and access to curriculum as an art and science in the humanity of our work. K Rolph Morales

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The resource I chose to write about was the article, “Taking on Tough Issues,” by Dr. Noguera, specifically the section entitled “Using data to guide reforms.” The reason I chose this resource is because my inquiry question is about analyzing the data on the effects of implementing the SEL curriculum at my school site. I was struck by the quote, “Typically, districts amass lots of data, however it is rarely analyzed, processed, and used to make strategic decisions. The big shift that we have got to make if we are going to focus on accountability is to make sure that there is evidence that the changes we are making are actually producing the advances in achievement we hope for.” Using my school site as an example, we regularly collect large amounts of data specifically through standardized tests and surveys, however, rarely do we come together as a staff and analyze the data to drive instruction, but also make strategic decisions to advance the achievement of all students. My goal is to not only collect data on the implementation of the SEL curriculum at my site, but to also analyze the data to make decisions about this curriculum based on the effectiveness or lack thereof. This data may contribute to staff being more on board with using instructional time teaching the SEL lessons. It is the job of a bold, socially responsible leader to not just collect data, but create a group of stakeholders to analyze the data to drive decisions which also includes the school’s budget and curriculum.
Jennifer DeFrance

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The resource I chose to write about was the podcast with Dr. Pedro Noguera where he outlined his, “10 ways educators can take part in equity.” I was drawn to his work because I recognized it from previous assignments related to this master’s Program and it fits perfectly with my current job.  Listening to his discussion on the podcast and his 10 talking points resonated with me for several reasons. First, I love the way he shifts the burden of success of students onto the schools and expects schools to adapt to helping students succeed. It is easy for educators to pass the blame onto those students who fail rather than looking internally at their teaching practices. This connects to my work on a personal level because student success in the classroom is tied directly to our win/loss record. The athletic staff, including me, are dependent on the academic success of our student-athletes. Thus, we continually go above and beyond normal working standards to ensure our students’ success (students having our direct cell phone numbers is a good example). One of the many points I’m taking away from this podcast is we, as educational leaders, need to constantly be reevaluating ourselves and our practices. We need to shift our thought processes inward and look for ways to improve. 

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The resource I chose to write about was the podcast with Dr. Pedro Noguera where he outlined his, “10 ways educators can take part in equity.” I was drawn to his work because I recognized it from previous assignments related to this master’s Program and it fits perfectly with my current job.  Listening to his discussion on the podcast and his 10 talking points resonated with me for several reasons. First, I love the way he shifts the burden of success of students onto the schools and expects schools to adapt to helping students succeed. It is easy for educators to pass the blame onto those students who fail rather than looking internally at their teaching practices. This connects to my work on a personal level because student success in the classroom is tied directly to our win/loss record. The athletic staff, including me, are dependent on the academic success of our student-athletes. Thus, we continually go above and beyond normal working standards to ensure our students’ success (students having our direct cell phone numbers is a good example). One of the many points I’m taking away from this podcast is we, as educational leaders, need to constantly be reevaluating ourselves and our practices. We need to shift our thought processes inward and look for ways to improve. 

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The resource I chose was "Taking On Tough Issues" by Dr. Noguera, specifically the "using data to guide reforms" section. I chose this because that is precisely what I am attempting to do with my inquiry question. I will be collecting years of data, with thousands of data points, in the attempt to analyze that data to guide overall discipline reform at my research site.

What resonated with was this point: "Discipline patterns are another form of data to analyze. Who is being disciplined? What is the profile of kids who are most likely to be suspended, expelled, or referred for punishment in the office? In many districts we disproportionately punish the kids with the greatest needs." I will analyzing every single referral at my research site for the past five years. This data will undoubtedly allow me to see inside the inner workings of my research site's discipline expectations and processes. As the quote says, most schools punish their students with the greatest needs, and my research should be able to determine whether or not my site unfortunately subscribes to that stereotype.

The information that will influence my thinking is: "When you collect data and analyze the patterns, then you will also need to discuss the data with your staff. You want to discuss the data because everyone must embrace the strategies we devise to correct the problems that have been identified. Everyone must know what the situation is. You want that problem to be owned by your entire staff. If the staff doesn’t believe that they share responsibility in coming up with solutions there will be no change in academic achievement. " Since this is no longer the site I am employed at, I need to approach this research with the mindset of handing something to my former administrators that they can form a strategy to lead their staff with.

Equity issues influence our actions as bold, socially responsible leaders by guiding us with how we articulate and allocate our time and energy. Our values determine where we give our focus, and if we want to be bold and socially responsible, out focus has to be on equity.