What we mean when we say ‘equity.’

By Eric Celeste

Equity is discussed with such regularity in education that it’s shocking to discover many of us probably aren’t sure how to define the term. To be more specific: When two people talk about equity, it’s very possible they’re assuming agreement but really talking about different things. Learning Forward believes that equity in teacher development means that all students have a right and a need to be exposed to excellent teaching. This is dependent on ensuring that all teachers have access to high-quality professional learning.

How we can bridge the culture gap:

Stages of change outline a path toward equity.

By Gregory Peters

As the cultural and experience gap between students and educators widens, schools continue to rely on practices that more effectively served a homogeneous group of educators than they do a heterogeneous student population. The Conceptual Framework for Teacher Transformation outlines four stages of work necessary for educators and schools to shift beliefs and practices and maintain a commitment to interrupting and transforming inequities within individual and collective practices.

An equal chance at success:

Culturally responsive teaching practices address students’ differing needs.

By Vicki Vescio

If educators are to support the learning of students who have traditionally struggled for success in school, administrators and teachers must understand the difference between equity and equality and engage in classroom practices that support the former. The most effective way to promote equity for students is through enacting culturally responsive practices that focus on relationships, relevance, and responsibility.

How do I teach English learners?

The challenges content teachers face — and what school leaders can do to support them.

By Felice Atesoglu Russell

A year of research at an urban high school in the Pacific Northwest reveals the instructional challenges content teachers face in working with English learners: meeting disparate individual needs; insufficient preparation for working with English learner students; insufficient information about English learner students’ knowledge, backgrounds, and abilities; and assessment demands and accountability. School leaders can play a pivotal role in supporting and mitigating these challenges.

Questions that lead to action:

Equity audits motivate teachers to focus on English learners’ needs.

By Luis R. Soria and Margery B. Ginsberg

A Chicago Public Schools leader sought to enlist a team to explore the correlation between high attendance and consistently low grades for English learners at a pre-K-8 school. In addition to examining data for student learning trends, the school needed a way to surface some of the less-transparent causes of educational inequity. Drawing on two resources, he created an equity audit — an approach to inquiry that examines aspects of a learning environment related to opportunity gaps in public education.

A process of discovery:

Teachers examine cultural perspectives through collaborative analysis of student learning.

By Amy B. Colton and Georgea M. Langer

The collaborative analysis of student learning is a professional learning design that uses structured transformative learning, a process that allows teachers to discover culturally responsive instruction for students they have struggled to reach. This is particularly critical in contexts in which teachers’ cultural values and beliefs vary from those of their students. The learning design includes two primary features: facilitated and structured analysis of student work and communication skills for dialogue.

We’re all in this together:

Teacher empowerment and leadership transform an elementary school community.

By Michelle Pinchot and Chris Weber

Like many schools across the country, Peters K-3 Elementary School in Garden Grove, California, is committed to equity, social justice, and eliminating achievement and opportunity gaps. To achieve these goals, Peters’ teachers embraced leadership positions to transform teaching and learning across the school, supported by professional learning from the district. This teacher leadership and empowerment led to increases in student outcomes and in parent and student satisfaction with the culture and climate of the school community.

Features

Strike the right balance:

How do school leaders balance district priorities with school and staff learning needs?

By Donna Micheaux

Striking the right balance between overarching, district-led professional learning initiatives and allowing schools the flexibility to work on issues unique to the needs of their staff members and students is a common problem of practice. As part of the Redesign PD Community of Practice, Pittsburgh Public Schools is creating a districtwide professional learning system that helps educators grow collectively, while at the same time allowing for differentiated and personalized learning to meet the individual needs of teachers and schools.

The value of coaching:

Collaborative relationships spur professional growth.

By Grace Y. Kang

A two-month qualitative study of a literacy coach’s relationships with two elementary teachers looks at the nature of collaboration and how it is enacted in teacher practice and instruction. Literacy coaches offer a form of job-embedded, ongoing, and contextualized professional learning. The study reveals that a literacy coach’s collaboration with teachers can result in professional growth and collaborative relationships.

Columns

Lessons from research:

5th-grade science intervention focuses on English language learners.

By Joellen Killion

A curriculum and professional development intervention for 5th-grade students with a focus on English language learners had a positive, significant effect on student achievement in science for all student groups.

From the director:

Where did the Equity standard go?

By Stephanie Hirsh

There is no Equity standard in the updated Standards for Professional Learning because addressing equity is integrated into all of the standards.