Excellence Through Equity

Alan Blankstein
And
Pedro A. Noguera

Agenda

What is an equity agenda key elements

Case study analysis
Why now? Generating urgency
Meeting the needs of diverse learners
Where do we go from here? Taking the work
back to your district

Desired Outcomes
You will:
Be motivated to do the work
Have Clarity on Achieving
Excellence through Equity
Have a plan for next steps

Making equity central

Equity is:
Giving students what they need to be successful
Academic and social
Recognizing that not all students are the same
They learn in different ways and at different paces

Pervasive inequality makes pursuit of equity

difficult but essential
Staying focused on outcomes academic
and developmental

Equity and excellence: compatible goals

Schools frequently fail to ensure that learning opportunities
are available for all students
Access to good teachers

Schools must identify and eliminate practices that contribute

to race/class disparities tracking, special ed placements,
access to rigorous courses (e.g. AP)
Internal accountability is essential in promoting achievement
for all
The primary responsibility of leaders is to ensure that
conditions conducive to good teaching and learning are in
place and that all children have the opportunity to learn

What we know about the

achievement gap
It mirrors other disparities (health, income, employment)
We have historically viewed genetics and culture as the
cause of disparities
External conditions affect academic performance (e.g.
health, housing stability, poverty)
Schools often exacerbate disparities through practices that
reward privilege and punish the disadvantaged
Teacher assignment
Discipline practices
The hidden benefits of privilege homework/parental support

Normalization of failure
Tendency for staff to treat patterns of achievement as
normal
You know normalization of failure is a problem if:
Staff has grown accustomed to the predictability
(particularly with respect to race and class) of academic
outcomes
Teachers and administrators rationalize low achievement
by pointing the finger at their - parents, students,
community
Staff holds fixed view of intelligence rather than seeking
ways to enhance educational opportunities
Theres no sense of urgency about addressing disparities in
achievement

A framework for pursuing excellence

through equity
Child Development A holistic approach to
education and differentiated support
Neuroscience elasticity of brain requires
personalized approaches to learning
Understanding and responding to the way
students are affected by environmental
context
Family Peers Community - Society

We know we are succeeding in closing the gap when

the backgrounds of students (race and class) cease
to be predictors of achievement.

Discussion
What are the greatest obstacles to equity in
your district/school?
What does your data suggest about the
children that perform least well? What are
the obstacles to learning for these students?

Excellence through Equity:

Courageous Leadership to Create
High-Performing Schools

Checking in
1. Tell someone all you learned today about the
Presidents inauguration.
2. Who sang at the ceremony? What is that persons title and what is
her signature song?
3. How does that song relate to mosquitoes?
4. What can you tell about the mating of mosquitoes:
a. How many cycles per minute do the male wings beat? The
female wings?
b. Which one adjusts their tone for the other?
c. What is an overtone?
5. Extra credit: Depict your understanding of the above creatively.

How Do YOU Get Their Attention?

Challenges and Benefits

Of Pursuing
Excellence through Equity:
Adams 14

1. Implicit Association Bias

Fast trapsGoff, UCLA
2. Background & Personality gaps
between adult & student
Lewis and Diamond, U of IL
3. Black v. white student punishment
disparities
Eberhardt, Stanford

Quiz: Edweek.org/go/bias-quiz

Breaking a Pattern
1. Relations/positive experiences with the other
2. Students who Read about great AA scientist
were
quicker to associate black faces and intelligence
3. English natives studying Spanish
4. Transparency of instruction; adult behavior
5. Monoco Elem re-wrote policies re: sending
students out of class
6. Teacher collaborate Re: root
causes for chronic misbehavior
7. Use paras, parents and others to analyze
policies

Now is the time for a new approach

The Challenge of Rising
Job Frustrations
A new national survey finds that three out of four
K-12 public school principals, regardless of the
types of schools they work in, believe the job has
become
too complex,
1/3 say they are likely to go into a different
occupation within next five years.

Rising Job Frustrations

83% percent of school leaders rate
addressing individual student needs as
challenging or very challenging.
78%rate managing the budget and
resources as challenging or very
challenging
53% Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness

EdWeek Superintendent Survey

Professionals Feel Stretched

Common Response

1. Do what is urgent v. what is meaningful

2. Chronic inconsistent search for great
programs v. developing peoples capacity to
continually solve problems
--Jim Collins, AASA, 2013

The NEW Response

Knowing what works plays a very important role

in school improvement, but alone it is not
enough. There are questions about building
capacity to implement what works, (and to)
measure, check, and adapt to changes.
--John Easton, President IES, 2012
Its not about Common Core; Its about Common
Implementation

The Three Ps of any Project

What is Creating These Challenges?

1. Expanding Underclass
2. Disparity of Wealth
3.Growing Student
Diversity
4. Increasing Disorder

Top 1% has more of US

wealth than bottom 95%

1,258,182

1,258,182 homeless

students in public schools

in 2012-2013 up 8%

The Majority of Students in U.S. Public Schools are Now

Minority

64.8

49.8

15.4

16.8

13.5
3.7
1.1

25.8

5.2
2.8

45.1

15.1

29.9

5.5
3.5

We Need a New Paradigm

Beyond zero sum game
Everyone can win
Equity -- Not equality

Equity v. Equality--What works?

Review practices:
Lateness
Truancy
Homework
Engagement
Discipline

Treasure hunt reviews

Anachronisms

Some Outfits No Longer Fit!

Smoking in Public Spaces

Photos

The 10 Ds of Deviance in
Approaches to Difficult Youth
Perspective

Problem Label

Typical Responses

Primitive

Deviant

blame, attack, ostracize

Folk Religion

Demonic

chastise, exorcise, banish

Biophysical

Diseased

diagnose, drug, hospitalize

Psychoanalytic

Disturbed

analyze, treat, seclude

Behavioral

Disordered

assess, condition, time out

Correctional

Delinquent

adjudicate, punish, incarcerate

Sociological

Deprived

study, re-socialize, assimilate

Social Work

Dysfunctional

intake, case manager, discharge

Educational

Disobedient

reprimand, correct, expel

Special Education

Disabled

label, remediate, segregate

Adapted from Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future
(Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 1990)

Whats Right?
What lasts and is Sustainable?

Whats Best?
AP class example

5 Principles of Courageous Leadership

Assuring Constancy
and
Consistency of Purpose

Facing the Facts

and Your Fears

Getting to Your Core

Building
Sustainable
Relationships

Making Organizational
Meaning

1. What are the Ah-has?

2. What are your biggest concerns
moving forward?
15 Min. BREAK

Individualistic Culture

High-Performing Team
Activity

Balancing technical and adaptive work

Technical work - A focus on managing the
operations of the system, insuring that
procedures are working and that employees are
in compliance with policy.
Adaptive work - A focus on the dynamic and
complex nature of the work, its substance,
meaning and purpose. Work guided by a long
term vision, with medium and short term goals.
An awareness that we are trying to achieve our
goals in a constantly changing environment
Ron Hiefitz - Leadership on the Line

Pursuit of Equity Requires Focus on the

Five Essential Ingredients for School
Improvement
- A coherent instructional guidance system
- Ongoing development of the professional
capacity of staff
- Strong parent-community-school ties
- A student-centered learning climate
- Shared Leadership to drive change

Reflection
For each of the 5 essentials rate your schools
performance on a 1 5 scale.
How would you prioritize the 5 essential
ingredients for school improvement?

Brockton scholarship winners 2015

An excellence through equity agenda

Systems to facilitate school effectiveness

Diagnostic assessment
Early intervention procedures
Evaluation to insure quality control
On-site, ongoing professional development
Shared leadership

Equity Agenda

Cultural Changes:
Supportive relationships between teachers and
students
Willingness among teachers to share ideas,
curricula, materials
Peer culture where it is cool to be smart
Partnerships between school, community and
parents

Build capacity for excellence and

equity
Teaching and
Learning

Health and
Nutrition

Extended
Learning

Family

Safety,
mentors

engagement
Community
partnersUniversities

Make good teaching transparent:

Focus on evidence of learning
Make expectations clear and standards explicit
by modeling and exposing students to high
quality work
Utilize diagnostic tools to check for
understanding
Learn about their students interests in order to
make their lessons culturally relevant
Focus on motivation and engagement by
soliciting feedback and questions from students
Analyze student work with a focus on evidence
of competence and mastery

Focus on Engagement
Behavioral Engagement

Preparation
Persistence
Instrumental Help-seeking

Cognitive Engagement
Deep Processing
Meta-cognition

Affective Engagement
Interest
Value

Make good teaching transparent:

Focus on evidence of learning
Make expectations clear and standards explicit
by modeling and exposing students to high
quality work
Utilize diagnostic tools to check for
understanding
Learn about their students interests in order to
make their lessons culturally relevant
Focus on motivation and engagement by
soliciting feedback and questions from students
Analyze student work with a focus on evidence
of competence and mastery

Students in control of learning at

Hollenbeck Middle School, LA

Key Adaptive Questions:

What does it take to educate children in our

schools?

What are their lives like outside of school?

How do they learn at home?
What motivates and interests them?
What challenges do they and their parents face?
What are their unmet needs that may impact learning?

The skills and knowledge of the educators

must match the needs of students.

Indications that cross cultural teaching is a

problem:
Normalization of failure
Differential expectations - lower standards for
minority students
Conflict in the classroom, lack of respect and fear
among teachers
Students perceive racial identity and achievement as
linked
Strained relations between teachers and students,
teachers and parents - distrust, hostility, suspicion
Tendency to blame students and/or their parents
rather than accepting responsibility for their role in
raising achievement

What does it take to teach across

cultures effectively?
Skills and cultural competence - you cant teach
what you dont know
Awareness of and willingness to unlearn
personal bias
Ability to affirm the cultural identities of
students
Research shows students respond well to
teacher that demonstrate:

Firmness, organization and structure

Compassion - students need to know you care
Challenge- students are expected to learn
Understanding - identify and empathize with students

Belle Sherman alumna, pupils join forces to help

Nepal

Belle Sherman Students Cards

for Nepal

CASE STORY

Bob Morrison
Superintendent
Mansfield ISD, TX

Culture of
Engagement &
System for Scaling
Excellence:
Mansfield, TX

Collaborative Learning Walk

Some Criteria for Success:

1. Relevance; Common Purpose
2. Connection; Relational Trust
3. Competence, Mastery; Method to Assure Collective
Teacher Efficacy -- Common language, Common
framework for action, Capacity building

The Drivers of Success for All Schools

The most successful

schools were those that
used restructuring tools
to help them function as
professional
communities
--Newman & Whelage

Three Drivers of Success

1. Teachers pursue a clear, shared
purpose for all students learning.
2. Teachers engage in collaborative
activity to achieve their stated purpose.
3. Teachers take collective responsibility
for student learning.

The Power of Purpose

The human body has an enormous capacity for adjusting to trying circumstances. I have
found that one can bear the unbearable if one can keep ones spirits strong even when
ones body is being tested. Strong convictions are the secret of surviving deprivation:
your spirit can be full even when your stomach is empty.
~Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

Beyond Strategies

Classic Mission Statement

It is the mission of our school to help each and
every child realize his or her full potential and
become a responsible and productive citizen and
life-long learner who uses technology effectively
and appreciates the multi-cultural society in
which we live as they prepare for the global
challenges of the 21st century.

Four Questions of a Mission Statement

to Shift School Cultures
1. If all students can learn, what should they be
learning?
2. How will we ensure engaging and relevant pedagogy
3. How will we know if they are learning?
4. What will we do if they dont?

Trust & Communication Challenges

Four Assumptions:
1. Everyone is already working hard.

2. Every school has excellent teachers.

3. Its an internal journeymost of what you
need is there.
4. The real challenge is building the capacity for
leadership TEAMS to create a culture where
Failure Is Not an Option

Five Practices of Effective Leaders

2.

Theory of Action & Framework to Guide it

Partnership for LA Schools 4-pronged Model:

Strong Principals

Teacher Skill-building

Personalized Learning

Community Partnerships

Cogs

Building Sustainable Leadership

Capacity

Common Mission, Vision, Values, and

Goals

6
Gaining Active Engagement from
Family to Community

PLC

5
4

Using Data to Guide

Decision Making and
Continuous Improvement

1
2

Ensuring Achievement
for ALL Students:
Systems for Prevention
and Intervention

3
Collaborative Teaming Focused on
Teaching and Learning
73

Five Practices of Effective Leaders

4.

Theory of Adoption CREATE

Commit to it
Resource allocation
Excellence defined
Action plans determined
Transference occurs
Embed the process

3. Mastery-Collective Teacher Efficacy

First, who is teaching?

Meet

Who is Teaching?

See no evil Sam

Who is Teaching?

Karate Kate

Who is Teaching?

Smooth Stewart

Random Acts of Excellence?

De-brief:
1.
2.

Which of these teaching approaches is

underway in schools you serve?
Which is most prevalent in these schools?

Case Study of Building CTE

Mansfield, Texas
Case study of Worley Middle School, Mansfield, Texas

In 2008 2009, in- and out-of-school suspensions and

detentions were approximately 2,000 per year.

By 2010 this number was reduced by half to 1,000

At present the number for 2010 2011 is 100

In Synch or Lost in the Translation?

Steps of Instructional Learning Walks

Step 1: Brainstorm a list of observable Indicators of Quality Instruction.
1. Think of a lesson you have taught or observed that was highly
successful in terms of student participation and outcomes.

2. How did you know it was successful?

3. What actions were the students engaging in that contributed to
their successful outcomes?

4. What actions or role did the teacher take to garner the success?
5. What were some of the key attributes of the lesson that contributed
to its success in each category?

6. Think of these categories: teacher behaviors and student behaviors.

7. Individually, list teacher behaviors and actions and student behaviors
and actions that you expect to see when Quality Instruction is present.

Steps of Instructional Learning Walks

Step 2: Norm the Indicators of Quality Instruction as a group
1. In teams or small groups, share your individual lists.
2. Combine and refine the lists to form one comprehensive list.
3. Continue combining and refining until you have a list of three to five
indicators in each category (teacher behaviors, student behaviors).

Steps of Instructional Learning Walks

Step 3: Check Indicators of Quality Instruction
Be sure you have distinguished between Indicators of Quality
Instruction and Lesson Design/Instructional Strategies. For example,
an indicator might be focused student discussion while one
strategy the teacher is using to incorporate focused student
discussion might be cooperative learning. We are looking to identify
the indicator of quality such as focused discussions not the
specific instructional strategy or program.

Conversation shifts
To Support and Scale Excellence
Changing the conversations
From

To

Whats wrong

Whats right

WHO did it

WHAT was done?

We already do this!

What is new to learn here? (treasure hunt)

Construct for developing common language and priorities across the district/network

Factors in M anaging Complex Change

Vision

Skills

Incentives

Resources

Action Plan

Results

Change

Skills

Incentives

Resources

Action Plan

Results

Confusion

Incentives

Resources

Action Plan

Results

Anxiety

Resources

Action Plan

Results

Resistance

Action Plan

Results

Frustration

Results

Treadmill

Vision
Vision

Skills

Vision

Skills

Incentives

Vision

Skills

Incentives

Resources

Vision

Skills

Incentives

Resources

Action Plan

Adapted from Ambrose (1987)

Inertia

FOR MORE
INFORMATION:
To Host an Excellence Through Equity
Summit:
Alan@Hopefoundation.org
Attend an Excellence Through Equity Summit:
ETESummit.org
Obtain ETE Book:
www.Corwin.Com

Where There Is HOPE, Failure Is Not an Option