I am inspired to share a few of my favorite quotes from this interview:
“Anti-Blackness is not bigger than Blackness. Never question your genius, your humanity, your intelligence, your beauty. Never question it.” - Bettina Love, with words of encouragement for Black students.
This powerful quote is highlighted in the interview by author Sherri Gardner with Bettina Love, professor and racial justice scholar. This interview is an important read for everyone.
To advance equitable educational outcomes, educators need to have direct conversations about why pervasive, disproportionate outcomes exist for underserved students (by race, income, perceived ability, and language). That used to be a controversial statement, and in some places it may still be. However, having these conversations can transform adults. They can make identities explicit, uncover hidden biases, and help educators identify inequities and strategies to overcome them in their school. However, they cannot be transformative if they only focus on educators.
Read MoreWho are Courageous Conversations for?
Invest in Yourself as an Equity Leader
Learning from the Equity Leader Accelerator Program
What Are you Reading?
Community Success Needs Community Planning
Instructional Rounds are intentional classroom observations and in-depth discussions to give and receive essential feedback on leadership practices to inform instructional support. These rounds help leaders and leadership teams develop common understanding of key district and school priorities through unpacking “problems of practice” and developing strategies to address them.
Read MoreContinuous Improvement is crucial to our mission of transforming schools into spaces for joyful learning for each and every student. It is a cycle of actions to get us where we want to go. Recently, Michelle Li, one of CLEE’s program directors who specializes in Continuous Improvement, had a conversation with her mentor, Don Peuarch, a leader in the global Continuous Improvement movement and CLEE Board Member, about his new course/community, “Transforming Education in an Interconnected World”.
Read MoreReflect, React and Resolve to Make Lasting Change
Read MoreDo your team meetings feel engaging and leave you charged up with purpose and new learning, as well as suggesting tools and strategies to enact next steps? Do you get a lot done together in a short amount of time? Or do you find yourself thinking that could have been accomplished in email? CLEE can help make your team time more effective and help you advance your improvement goals.
Read MoreCLEE’s ELAP program has been intentionally designed with equitable student outcomes at its core through the use of MA DESE’s Anti Racist Leadership Practices and honing in on the Instructional Core as drivers for the work. In addition to one-on-one coaching, part of the magic of ELAP is bringing together leaders from across the network for peer to peer sessions where educators have an opportunity to celebrate successes as well as receive feedback on some of the challenges being faced in schools today.
Read MoreCreating a strategic plan for my district periodically is not only a requirement, but an opportunity to make changes to improve outcomes for my students. The last time we created a district plan, we did it all ourselves. I was an Assistant Superintendent at the time, so I took on the task not only of leading the strategic planning process, but also creating a planning process for the district. It was like building an airplane and flying at the same time. It took over months of my professional life.
Read MoreLeverage Collaboration to Reach Your Goals
Read MoreRecently a participant was grappling with the complex challenge of figuring out how to effectively engage in an equity-focused discussion with her staff. As an emerging equity leader she was at the early stages of making sense of our work together, and learning how to identify inequities within her own school. Her struggle is one that many school leaders grapple with when first engaging in equity-focused work; they are unsure how to navigate the complexities associated with leading the work
Read MoreLeaders in education feel the weight of their responsibility to their teams and students. This weight can feel like it is theirs alone to carry and can impact their practice and decisions. What if leaders could have partners in this burden of leadership?
Read MoreWith so much in a school leader’s realm of concern, (e.g., regulatory constraints, budgetary and resource limitations, safety, bureaucratic structures, and staff retention) how can one stay in their realm of influence?
Read MoreBring Excitement and Energy to Your Practice
Read MoreHow do you move from being nice to giving and receiving challenging feedback to create equitable outcomes for each and every student?
Read MoreSchool Improvement Plans and District Strategic Plans can be an important roadmap for school improvement, but how do you enact them? How do you keep momentum if leaders and/or educators leave or are added year-to-year?
Read MoreOur new Equity Leader Accelerator Program (ELAP) launched in Massachusetts in August to support new principal mentorship from experienced leaders in their districts. In the first months of this two-year program, we are already seeing an impact.
Read MoreWe start the school year fresh and excited to make progress on the many initiatives aimed at improving outcomes for each and every student. Then, as we begin implementing them, especially the work driving toward increased equity, we may notice in ourselves and others feelings of overwhelm and resistance.
Read MoreHow do you move from being nice to giving and receiving challenging feedback to create equitable outcomes for each and every student?
Read MoreIt is important to start with equity, so we developed a shared understanding of equity and clarified our vision for high and equitable student outcomes in our schools. Strengthening the ability to form a receptive culture for learning and fostering adult learning is key to the success of this continuous improvement work for equity
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